Did anyone else notice team 121?

[Andy Baker]

Of course we noticed 121. They won the UTC Regional, seeded #1 in Archimedes, and ended up with the highest QP average at the Championships.

121 came up with an awesome bot which could get balls as quick as anyone and also tug a goal very well.

We had the opportunity to go up against the 121-469-230 alliance in the Archimedes semi-finals. In the second match, we were planning on getting some balls (slower than 121, or course) and then "stealing" a goal away from 121. We thought that with our metal treads and the ability to lift one goal and pull it away from may teams previously, this would work well against 121.

Oooops... we were dead wrong. I've looked at the video many times, and I'm still suprised to see 121 hold that goal and keep us from pulling them to our scoring zone. We didn't think that 121 could hold their ground that well, so we really underestimated you guys!

I think that 121 did have the best "combo" bot in all of FIRST... they could grab balls as quickly (or almost as quickly) as any team and dump them reliably (dumping easily is not trivial). Also, they had the ability to grab a goal quickly and hang onto it. Plus... I noticed some pretty sweet driving in the quarterfinals and semifinals.

Kudos to 121 on a great robot.

Andy B.