Midwest Regional Inspirations

[Brian Beatty]

Here are some of my Inspirations from the Midwest Regional:

1) Raul Olivera; Raul and the guys every year do the impossible. This year is no exception. What a magnificent machine. He has two badly bruised fingers from the robot construction. He was really sick the whole competition, but did not miss any of it. Raul, you're an animal. You inspire me.

2) Dan Green; The energy and enthusiasm of a teenager. You cheered for two days non-stop. You inspire me.

3) Al Skierkiewicz; Al is a technical genius, although he will not admit to it. For 10 years, he has given of himself for anybody that needed help. Technical as well as motivational. You inspire me.

4) Frank Toussaint (hope the spelling is right) Frank has been helping FIRST for as long as I remember. He has volunteered for at least two Regionals this year. He is one of those people that doesn't say much, but is there every year doing a job. He is there because he believes in the mission of FIRST. You inspire me.

5) Ron from team 107. Ron is 72 years old and has given of his time and shop to spearhead team 107. He is the nicest person you will ever want to meet and has kind words every year we talk. If you new kids want to know what FIRST is about, go talk to Ron for about 10 minutes. You inspire me.

Enough for now. Just wanted to say a few things to get everyone's thinking back on track.

Brian Beatty

[Ricky Q.]

Good call Brian, here are some my inspirations:

1) The alumni from my team from the class of 2004. These guys came from all over the country to cheer for my team and all the other teams from WI and beyond.

2) Team 383 from Brazil. Seeing you guys work and make it as far as you did was amazing. Go Brazil!

3) All the volunteers. I try and make time to talk to them while waiting for our matches or whenever I can. They are really amazing people. Take some time to talk to them.

[Mike Soukup]

1) Team 1525 - The judges got it right when they read the description for the Rookie Inspiration award, your team inspired Wildstang. Seeing the excitement and dedication of your team - from the first time you came to our shop, to the late night practicing before ship, to you getting picked for and playing in the elimination rounds - you flat out amazed our team. Congratulations on your award, and thank you for inspiring and uplifting our team.

[Chris Fultz]

As a judge at this event, I was inspired by every team I talked to.

What amazed me, is how much I learned about teams that I thought
I really knew - (amazing what a blue shirt can do)!

Rookies were incredible and I am always excited and inspired by my friends from Brazil.

Thanks to everyone for a fantastic event. Your excellence made the judges job a difficult one.

[xzvrw2]

My proudest moment was talking Ken into changing his arm to the skewer and going all the way to the finals with it. Congratulations 71, 111, and 537.

[The Cyborg]

I was inspired by Team Hammond, for making ANOTHER magnificent robot!
You guys never give up, do you?
Awesome autonomous too!

Another inspiration is Paul Copioli, for taking his time away from the ThunderChickens (not to mention winning the Detroit regional the weekend before!) to be the high-spirited MC!

Finally, I was inspired by the cooperation and spirit I seen from team 648.. After they lost eliminations, they continued to cheer! Go 648!

[Collin Fultz]

DSK inspires me every time i hear them

"DIRTY CODE...DONE DIRT CHEAP!"

Also all the mentors who give so much time...wow...what an amazing asset.

Thank you for inspiring me in my new career (well, career in like three years but whatever ) and reeling this prodigal son back into FIRST.

[Josh Hambright]

I have told this story already else where on these forums, But thought i could retell it because honestly it was one of the most inspiring moments i have had in FIRST, in my 6 years i'v been doing this.

After the finals were over, and the winner decided. Ken Patton, whos alliance was defeated, came barrleing over to Chris Noble and I grinning from ear to ear screaming "DID U SEE THAT!! DID U SEE US!! WE DID SO GOOD!! WE PLAYED THE BEST WE HAVE!!! WE WERE AMAZING!! DID YOU SEE US!!" They had done amazing, it didn't matter that they didn't win, that that mattered was that they had had a great time doing it and that they had given it their best. Thats one thing i have always loved about the Huskies over the years, they always seem to stay positive and have that high level of energy that inspires me to take everyone i do when i'm around them to the next level.

[zdeswarte]

I really admired the engineering on the bots of team 71 and 111. If this is what our future engineers can create, I think the world might just become a better place.

[65_Xero_Huskie]

This 1st one is kinda gloating but...we were 31st seed( because of failing arm.. ..) picked by the 3rd ranked team....( we then went from 31st to 3rd) then winning second place ( 31 to 3 to 2 )..YAY

This one is 4 teams 71 11 and 537, nice jobs, u guys were all good at getting 2 tetras at a time...there was no way of winning unless u guys got stuck or a penalty....

Hope to see u all at Regionals