Congrats to this year's champions: 330 2481 120 1086

[MamaSpoldi]

Congratulations to the winning alliance from Carver who took it all the way and became the World Champs!!! You were amazing on Einstein... everyone in the stands was rooting for you. Our alliance teams 133, 230, 910, and 1775 did our best to make you work for the division title and we are proud to say we lost to the champions.

[TedG]

Originally Posted by MamaSpoldi

Congratulations to the winning alliance from Carver who took it all the way and became the World Champs!!! You were amazing on Einstein... everyone in the stands was rooting for you. Our alliance teams 133, 230, 910, and 1775 did our best to make you work for the division title and we are proud to say we lost to the champions.

Yes ^^ This!!

Congrats again.

[FIXIT]

What a season! Team 120 would like to thank Team 330 for believing in us.
We were very excited when you chose us to be part of your alliance with
Teams 2481 and 1086. We knew this alliance would go far, but to win it all
was divine intervention. Together as a team, we were able to accomplish
more than I would ever have imagined. Team 330, you guys are amazing, an
inspiration for everyone. You never gave up and provided one of the
greatest shows in FIRST history when you were tipped over by a very
aggressive defender and got right back up to score - and then, when you
dropped while hanging, I thought it was all over. But you simply got right
back up and scored again, saving our alliance from certain defeat!

Thank you also to Team 379 for assisting us in getting our robot back onto
the field. This was a true testament that gracious professionalism and
coopertition do exist in FIRST.

[Rachel Lim]

A late congratulations to 330, 2481, 120, and 1086! This year's Einstein matches were some of the most exciting ones I've ever watched. Just to repeat what everyone else has been saying, 330 unflipping themselves (twice!) had to be one of the most amazing things I've seen. I think we were all going crazy in the stands, but they just unflipped like they did that everyday.

[wilsonmw04]

Greetings,
Sorry for the delay in writing this, but I had a few things to do when I got back from St. Louis (The Tax Man won't wait forever).

What an amazing end to an amazing year! Over the three days we played on Carver, we constantly beat the drum of constant improvement. We started the event not hitting a single shot to hitting 6 high shots at the end of the qualification matches Friday night. We hoped teams noticed. When we slipped to the third round, moral was low. Then, 330, 2481 and 120 called our number. We knew we had something special. Thank you for seeing our potential.

The ride was intense! From odd red cards at the division level, to the lack of red cards on Einstein. So many tie breaker matches that I lost count. The 330 calisthenics and the consistent shooting of all three robots on the field were amazing to watch.

To our worthy opponents:2056, 1690, 1405, and 3015, you pushed our alliance as far as rules would allow. You are an amazing group of teams. Congratulations on this year's accomplishments!

Finally, a hearty congratulations to 987 for a well deserved Chairman's win. You have raised the bar this year. A true inspiration to those wanting to follow in your footsteps.

[Joe Ross]

That was incredible. I remember Michael Corsetto posting in 2014 about their constant issues and never enough time to fix things. That was definitely the case for our alliance. Stronghold is a tough game that just wears on the robots. We played 17 matches on Saturday, which is more than we played at the LA regional. Everyone on the alliance was constantly fixing things and making jury rigged fixes. I think our alliance was operating at about 80% by the end. I'm not sure we could have survived another match.

There's a lot of teams to thank and congratulate.

2481 You guys impressed us starting with our pre-scouting. Your shot was awesome. Your scouting data identified helped identify 120. It seemed like everywhere I turned, there was a volunteer with an affiliation with 2481.

120 It's been said that 2nd picks win championships, and that's definitely true in this case. Your consistent climb and and shooting saved our bacon multiple times. It was great reprising our alliance that made Einstein in 2007, and glad there was a better outcome.

1086 Thanks for being there to fill in. We called you in to the highest stress period on Einstein in the semis, and you performed great, after not playing for 24 hours. Congratulations on your 6 blue banners this season.

2056 We had a great time allying with you last year. You guys have an amazing program, and we were rooting for you on Einstein.

1405 I'm not sure that there's anyone left who remembers, but I was a mentor for 1405 during your rookie season, when I was at RIT. I remember watching the videos of your FLR defense. You did great.

987 Congratulations on long overdue Chairman's award. We've enjoyed playing with and against you. Maybe one of these years we can win together.

1197 Welcome to the ranks of South Bay teams making Einstein.

133, 230, 910, 1775 You guys were awesome in carver. We knew we were in trouble when 133 and 230 joined together, as you guys had such good fire power.

910 and 573 Thanks for letting us join your scouting alliance.

3476 3 Einstein appearances in 6 years is awesome. You've been on the hard side of 2 tough decisions. Keep it up. Thanks for letting us use and break your practice field. We couldn't have gotten our auto tuned without it.

294 Thanks for the strategy ideas on Einstein. It's really hard to see things from the field, and your perspective helped.

973 and 3925 Thanks for helping us qualify for the championships at Ventura. We had an awesome alliance and the strategies we used helped us at the Championship.

Personally, I would prefer that tiebreakers were not used. It would have been nice in 2010 (we missed our flight home from IRI after playing a 5 match semifinal, and many other ties in other playoff matches) but in any year with enough separation in scores, ties in eliminations should be settled with another match.

[barn34]

Well, it's been a week, and I've come to realization that I'm probably never going to completely come to grips with everything accomplished in that improbable run through elims in St. Louis. This whole week has been a very awesome outpouring of congratulations and support from all of our amazing sponsors, family, and friends (both in the FIRST world, and out). I'm not sure if there are words grand enough to express how thankful we are for all of the kind words and support, but I will do my best to convey them with the following, much deserved, recognition. Bear with me, this is probably gonna be a long post.

330 - There's nowhere better to start than our incredible alliance captains. Thank you so much for believing in us with the selection at the number 2 slot. Similarly to you, we identified the potential fit with you guys from our prescouting efforts, and we were absolutely thrilled for the opportunity to make that alliance pairing a reality. Our machines were perfect compliments to each other on the field and I feel our teams mirrored that off of it, as well. Unfortunately, we will be separated by the 2 champs split moving forward, but you will always have the unquestioned support of the Roboteers. We will enthusiastically be rooting for you in Houston!

120 - Incredible job, guys! It was an awesome opportunity to get to share the field and the sideline with you guys throughout the elims run. Wonderful team to work with. As Joe mentioned in his post above, our scouts raved about you guys, and rightfully so. You were a team we identified in prescouting and your performance was rock solid at champs cementing your spot near the top of our list for recommendation to 330 during alliance selection. I believe both of our teams were thrilled when we were able to call your number to invite you to join our alliance. You played a very critical role for the alliance each and every match out there, and you played that role flawlessly every time out.

1086 - Excellent job as the support for our alliance. Because you and 120 were different in your capability sets, we were looking forward to the flexibility that offered our alliance, depending on matchups. As 330, us, and 120 started clicking offensively and the all out offensive blitz proved to be overwelming our opponents, those matchup opportunities and advantages just didn't present themselves with how the elim brackets went. However, you filled in exceptionally when 120 was down heading into Einstein semi-finals and you awesome in helping support the entire alliance mechanically throughout the rest of the run, helping in any way possible, to make sure all 3 of us were able to remain functional. Throughout the entire run on Saturday, your team stayed ready, prepared, and always on top of every situation. We knew that if we ever had to switch things up, nobody needed to worry about you guys being able to go, full tilt, at the drop of a hat. Awesome team to work with and I'll gladly look forward to any chance to do so again in the future.

379 - A HUGE thank you for the amazing showing of gracious professionalism in assisting in getting 120 repaired and back on the field, as well. We had everyone we could fit huddled around their robot, and you guys were right in the thick of it doing everything you could to help, and it was amazing. I'm not sure if we would have been able get them back out and onto the field without you. I've been witness to a lot of amazing examples of GP in my 8 years of being involved with FIRST. They never cease to amaze me and really hammer home how great the FIRST culture really is. This is one of the best examples I can remember and it was incredibly appreciated. You guys are all class acts. Thanks again!

987 - Massive congratulations on the World Chairman's Award and joining the Hall of Fame! I know I'm not alone in my sentiments that this was long overdue and no team was more deserving. You are a beacon of inspiration for every team around the world to emulate. You perfectly embody everything that FIRST should be about. Excellent job!

Once again, I have to tip my hat completely to the finalist alliance of 2056, 1690, 3015, and 1405. Those finals matches were insanely tight and it was an absolute honor to be sharing the field with you for them. At the rate at which our alliance was dealing with issues, I'm not quite sure how many more matches we could have survived, but I would have been on board with playing a 4th, 5th, 6th, or however many more matches would have been needed to determine a clear cut winner between us without the need for silly tiebreakers. 2056, you've been an example of absolute excellence for nearly a decade. The 23 regional win streak may never be topped. Having these finals matches come down to a tiebreaker in the tiebreaker just doesn't feel right. At the very least, we all deserve to share this. I know this may not mean much in the grand scheme of things, but I will forever consider us both champions. Infinite amount of respect, guys.

I also want to recognize the great Carver finalist alliance of 133, 230, 910, and 1775. Those matches were very hard fought, very high scoring, and very close, as well. We knew you guys were going to be an incredibly tough matchup if we ran into you guys in the finals and that proved to be prophetic. Amazing job!

Last, and certainly not least, I want to make sure to recognize the great number of teams who have shown us so much support in so many ways over the years. Each and every one of you have helped the Roboteers in so many positive ways and the impact of those efforts cannot be understated. This victory is shared amongst all of you. We couldn't have done it without your amazing support over the years. Thank you all so much!

1756, 1736, 2081, 2338 - So much appreciation for the kind words and support of our fellow team CAT members. Collectively, we represented team CAT exceptionally well in St. Louis in 2016. We can't wait to share the field with you again in 2017!

1625, 2451 - Fellow IL FIRST brethren and the other two thirds of Robowinnage. It's always a blast to play with you guys and we were so appreciative of the assistance with scouting information from your respective divisions in St. Louis. Also, we gotta give special recognition to 2451 and 2338 for representing IL FIRST so well at championships and assisting Dean with his homework assignment. Awesome job, guys!

2826, 1986, 16, 1519, 624, 2363, 2220 - All of our amazing friends from equally amazing teams all over the country. So many wonderful contributions and so much support from all of you over the years, I don't think there's any way to do it justice here. We consider ourselves incredibly lucky to be able to call you all friends and I don't think it's a stretch to say the Roboteers wouldn't be where we are today without the collective contributions from each and every one of you (as well as everyone else listed above). Unfortunately, 2 champs is going to be splitting some of us up, but we will continue to support you all moving forward and look forward to any and every opportunity to see each other along the way. 2 champs is (hopefully) temporary, but our team bonds should last forever. Thank you all, so much!

[notmattlythgoe]

Originally Posted by barn34

2826, 1986, 16, 1519, 624, 2363, 2220 - All of our amazing friends from equally amazing teams all over the country. So many wonderful contributions and so much support from all of you over the years, I don't think there's any way to do it justice here. We consider ourselves incredibly lucky to be able to call you all friends and I don't think it's a stretch to say the Roboteers wouldn't be where we are today without the collective contributions from each and every one of you (as well as everyone else listed above). Unfortunately, 2 champs is going to be splitting some of us up, but we will continue to support you all moving forward and look forward to any and every opportunity to see each other along the way. 2 champs is (hopefully) temporary, but our team bonds should last forever. Thank you all, so much!

Dude you had me freaking out that our teams got split in @2isgreaterthan1champs, until I checked.

[Joe Ross]

I forgot one other big thanks. Before Einstein we were doing a systems check and tightening everything, and found 2 stripped screws on our turret. We didn't have spare, and a search of our well stocked alliance partners supplies yielded nothing. 987 not only lent us the screws we needed, but an entire spare Igus slewing ring.

[evanperryg]

Originally Posted by barn34

***snip***

Thanks for the shoutout! It's crazy to think we haven't been at a regular season competition together since champs 2013, maybe next year will be the year 2481 and 2338 finally find themselves on the same side of the glass. You've set the standard high for the other IL Cat teams, being the first Cat team on Einstein and the first Cat world champion! (We're still working on first Cat HoF team, maybe it'll happen some day) Your success has been an inspiration for us to achieve at the highest level possible. #teamCAT?

[waialua359]

Originally Posted by Joe Ross

Personally, I would prefer that tiebreakers were not used. It would have been nice in 2010 (we missed our flight home from IRI after playing a 5 match semifinal, and many other ties in other playoff matches) but in any year with enough separation in scores, ties in eliminations should be settled with another match.

The memories. "Costly" win to say the least but all worth it.