New Jersey Regional Thanks

[JohnBoucher]

Team 237 wants to extend their congratulations to teams 1279, 103 and 375 on their win at the New Jersey Regional. It was a very exciting regional and a tremendous round of finals. The play was very intense and well fought. All six teams in the finals deserved to be there.

Not one of us on Team 237 ever imagined that the winning alliance from 2004 would be able to play two years in a row for the regional championship. We all believed it was fate and deja-vu all rolled into one. It was more than we had expected, it was destiny.

What we did not expect was to get out played. Teams 1279, 103 and 375 simply played the game better than our alliance. Somewhere in the discussion of the final matches, the line between passion for the game and the emotion of the moment got crossed. When, who or how it got crossed is really not important. We need to know where that line is and play right up to it.

The magical feeling that I get from being a mentor on a F.I.R.S.T. team comes from what the team accomplishes during build season. The regionals and the championship are really just the icing on the cake. We all want to prove that we built the best robot, but all we need to prove is that we built our best robot.

The secret to this whole thing is that it's the robot that builds the team. What I saw in New Jersey were 53 robots that built 53 teams. Team 237 extends their warmest congratulations to all that attended the New Jersey Regional. We look forward to playing with all of you again.