Championship Thanks and Final Thoughts

[Kevin Kolodziej]

I didn't find an official Championship Thank-you thread, so I guess this is now it!

Thanks to EVERYONE for making this the best FIRST competition I have been to in my 6 years. The matches were intense and kept me on the edge of my seat.

Without further adieu, thank-you:

John (461): Thanks for a fun time Friday morning. The guided tour of the pits was something that I have not had the time to do in a long time. You always make the day more interesting.

Team 365: Thanks for the pins and Moe-Stix for the "Where is GizMOE?" contest. They will be treasured items for a VERY long time!!

Team 47: Thanks for a full explanation of how the gearboxes are used in your robot!

Andy Baker, Andy Grady, and Steve Shade: You guys gave an awesome presentation about the History of FIRST. You even let me be a guest commentator for the 2001 video =) BUt we won't talk about Andy Baker's video editing career Great job, guys. I never knew what the pre-98 days were like.

Erin Rapacki: Thank you very much for letting me take your Segway for a spin. It made my weekend complete.

Team 71: Thank you for letting me be a part of the team again from a new perspective. Still can't believe you guys pulled it off again but you earned it!

Dean, Woodie, and Dave Lavery: Thanks for the signatures on my game ball. It will definitely be another item that will be treasured for quite a long time.

John-V-Neun: Thanks for knowning who I am! I'd be willing to bet that we take you up on your offer for drive-train help sooner than later.

I think that covers all my thanks.

Overall, I'd say that the move to Atlanta was a good one. The city is beautiful, the dome is awesome, and the pits were much better than the AstroDome, IMHO. The only negative point before Saturday was that it was nearly impossible to find some place to eat Thursday night after we go into town (found the Rock Bottom Brewery five minutes before the kitchen closed at 11). Saturday, however, had a few more negative points. The biggest (and really ONLY) complaint I have was that the teams that won the divisions did not have a place reserved for them to watch the overall finals. At Disney there were viewing areas reserved so that competing teams had a place to stand and watch. I don't remember if Houston had a reserved section or not, but I remember WildStang up front so there may have been one. This year, we (I was with my old team, 71) ended up walking around the Eistein half of the arena for a good 20 minutes looking for a place to sit since the stands were already filled. We went to the middle deck which was also filled and attempted to get to the upper deck but were stopped by security. Eventually a place was found and things wound up okay. We were no where near our alliance partners, however (and I'm still not sure where 435 ended up). Buzz (175) ended up all the way on the right side of the middle deck where they could hardly see the field at all. I think that the middle section should be reserved for the 12 teams that win the divisions so that they can sit together as alliances and be able to see their final matches.

There were a few minor instances other than that, but nothing I can't get over. The escalators seemed to break down frequently...there was a lack of food in the arena (one shop on the Archimedes side; not enough inventory at other shops)...and the security people would not let team members down after the awards to take pictures of their teams that had won (no I'm not a member of 71 anymore, but I was with the group for the weekend and would have liked to have gotten a picture of the group as a whole on the field). I understand that security is doing their job, but Gracious Professionalism shouldn't just apply to FIRST participants - I think something small like this could be worked out.

Whew this was long. I will probably post what I've forgotten after I get back to Milwaukee.

-Kev