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

[LoganB]

We ended up on the 2nd level but I was on the field as a Team Support. But I would like to thank 71 and 494 for allowing us to be part of the winning alliance to win the Championship.

[Ken Loyd]

WOW!!!

What a great Championship!

I would like to thank everyone involved with FIRST for staging a super event. Sure there were small things that erked me at times, but they were far outweighed by all the positives.

I would like to thank Team 222 for selecting us and team 1405 for giving your all. I am proud of our alliance!

I would like to thank all the teams who helped us go 6 and 1.

I would like to thank the great folks from team 1108 for sharing your seats on Friday. I am sorry we had to face you in our first final series.

I would like to thank Team RAGE for the hanging award.

I would like to thank all the Gila Monster team members. You made this a great year.

I would like to thank all our parents for your outstanding support thourghout the year.

There is no way to adaquately thank General Motors and the employees at the Desert Proving Grounds. Watching all the excited GM teams at the Ice Cream Social on Friday says it all.

Finally, I would like to thank my wife (I hope she remembers me.) To all the FIRST widows out there, THANK YOU!

[Nick Mac]

This years national truly was the best one I've ever been to. It was so much fun. Our team was kind of dissapointed after not getting picked after losing only one match. Irregardless, in Newton we had 21 regional winners which just made the competition that much better. Every match was interesting, every alliance was dangerous and every team could be considered a friend. I can't wait for next year, its going to be a blast.

[tiffany34990]

I say thanks to everyone for a great nationals-- everyone did a great job-- it was def great robots out there!

But S.P.A.M. even though we didn't make it to the final rounds-- we finally got to pick-- 7-0 in seeding rounds-- so that made history in our books---

But Nationals was intresting and i know all have fun-- as always great to see Woodie, Dean and Dave-- those guys are awesome!!!

[The First Lady]

I would like to thank all the teams for making our cueing job fun!!!!!!!!!!! You were awsome and maked sure things ran smoothly. I would also like to thank all the teams for bring us presents. We couldn't get to the pits and you brought the pits to us. We wore your buttons and give-aways proudly. Thanks to Dave, Tom, Frank, Matt, John, Dwane, Nancy, Gene, and Jim for making such a great cueing team on the floor and in the pits. I had a blast and hope to see you all next year.

[TD78]

Just a general thanks to Team 45 for the TechnoKat playing cards they gave out in Atlanta. Rob and I went around on Friday and asked some FIRSTers to sign the cards. Some examples of the signatures we receieved include: Dean, Woody, Dave Lavery, Aidan Browne, JVN, Andy Baker, Ken Patton, Bill and Brian Beatty, Mike and Brandon Martus, Liz Calef, JVN, D@ve, and many, many more. Only a few cards are left over that went unsigned; after we get a complete set then we will probably frame them or something of that nature. Until then over the next few days we hope to post a few pictures of them, so keep a sharp lookout!!!

-Tom

[Mark McLeod]

Thanks to Team 782 -Kilowatts and Team 341 -Miss Daisy for inviting us to play in the Galileo finals! It took the National Finalists to beat us!

Congratulations to Miss Daisy for your Honorable Mention as Chairman's Award Finalists! You run a consistently great educational and out-reach program.

Congratulations to MOE for your well earned Imagery Award. Your spirit and GP are a huge presence (and you're hard to miss in those fluorescent green shirts ). Hey, my computer is acting up why do you think that is?