2007 VCU Regional

[GAMO]

I still think that the game is a disappointment not because of the lack of high scoring, but rather the lack of excitement. Sure the finals were exciting because it was the best of the best, but the qualifying matches were pretty tame and couldn't hold much attention in the crowd. Last year's game was immensely exciting because there was more emphasis on contact and scoring, but then again, I guess I have something for projectiles.

[Bluefire66]

hay how "yall" doing just like to say hay and much much thanks to the akward turtles for choseing us for the finals and having the by far best lifting robot at VCU(just my opinion ) but jut made it home couple of hours ago from VCU (15 hour drive to canda) o and another thanks to team 540 making my heart stop when they raced back to home base at the very last seconds to ensure our victory in i think the semi finals i could be wrong but yea cya you all later!

[burkey_turkey]

just a comment about the soap videos,

http://soap.circuitrunners.com/2007/movies/

thats the link to the videos. its interesting cause theres a folder 'va' thats empty and a folder 'va_ken' that has the VCU matches on it. some matches are missing (including my teams first match) and there isnt a nice GUI yet but the videos are there for download and thats what matters.

missing matches are 6,7,21-26,29-45,and if there wre matches past 61 they arent there either. there arent any tournament/awards vids yet either

[lenergyrlah]

hey great job everyone -- it was my first regional & i totally had a blast!

Thanks especially to team 346 for replacing the cylinder for our ramp release -- I built the ramp myself & it was really sad when the piston got bent. Ya'all totally saved us!

[SURVIVORfan44]

My thoughts about this year's VCU Regional:

The game wasn't nearly as excited as last year's game. This year's game was a lot less defensive and less brutal. I am a volunteer; and this year, I didn't pick up many broken pieces from robots. Last year, I couldn't even pick up the balls because I was so busy picking up pieces of pieces of robots that had been smashed off. I like seeing a less brutal game if it means less excitement. It would hurt to know that you work for so long, only to have your robot be destroyed by another robot playing defense. Last year, I felt like all of the teams were prepared and had very decent robots. This year, I felt like the teams weren't as prepared and the robots were not as impressive as last year's to me.

However, there were so many teams that shocked me. The rookies impressed me the most. 2108 and 2068 come to my mind when I think of the word "rookie". These teams did better than most of the teams at the regional. They did better than some of the teams that are veterans to the competition. They deserve a lot of credit.
There are some other teams that usually do not do so well in previous years that shocked me this year.

It was also nice to see different teams win the awards this year. I sort of felt like the same teams were winning the same awards over and over again so it was very nice to see different teams win for once.

I was more than happy to see that 612 won the Chairman's this year--they earned it.

To the three teams that won-2108, 540, and 843--these teams deserved to win. They were the true underdogs for nearly the entire event. They pulled together and worked with some intense teamwork shown by no other alliance. Not to mention the alliance was led by a rookie team.
In my eyes, any of those alliances could have won easily. It was all about collaboration and those three teams that won had it all.
The three teams that won were very diverse. We have the Canadian team, the veteran team/triplet, and last and certainly not least--the rookie team.
Diversity is a good thing. ;-)

Teams that stick out in my mind:
1033--I'd be afraid to compete against them.
343--very quick, great tube manipulator
612--after they took off the ramp, they became a threat.
1885--very impressive, the ramp along with the arm.
116--fast, quick, and precise. (I picked them to win as soon as I saw their robot on the field)
1610--one of the best autonomous programs, very fast and effective.

[team222badbrad]

Originally Posted by joshsmithers

587 is kind-of ready.

i just realized how much i'll miss 222. i will never forget "like shooting fish in a barrel..."

good luck all!

Sorry we are sticking to PA this year.

Going to Pittsburgh and Philadelphia

[thegathering]

Congrats to 2068 for winning the Rookie All Star Award.

Prince William County now has one heck of a track record having 2 teams consecutively win their Regional Rookie All Star Awards.

Hopefully we can collaborate in the future and get all of the schools in our county involved in FIRST!

[Render]

Originally Posted by SURVIVORfan44

My thoughts about this year's VCU Regional:

The game wasn't nearly as excited as last year's game. This year's game was a lot less defensive and less brutal. I am a volunteer; and this year, I didn't pick up many broken pieces from robots. Last year, I couldn't even pick up the balls because I was so busy picking up pieces of pieces of robots that had been smashed off. I like seeing a less brutal game if it means less excitement. It would hurt to know that you work for so long, only to have your robot be destroyed by another robot playing defense. Last year, I felt like all of the teams were prepared and had very decent robots. This year, I felt like the teams weren't as prepared and the robots were not as impressive as last year's to me.

However, there were so many teams that shocked me. The rookies impressed me the most. 2108 and 2068 come to my mind when I think of the word "rookie". These teams did better than most of the teams at the regional. They did better than some of the teams that are veterans to the competition. They deserve a lot of credit.
There are some other teams that usually do not do so well in previous years that shocked me this year.

It was also nice to see different teams win the awards this year. I sort of felt like the same teams were winning the same awards over and over again so it was very nice to see different teams win for once.

I was more than happy to see that 612 won the Chairman's this year--they earned it.

To the three teams that won-2108, 540, and 843--these teams deserved to win. They were the true underdogs for near the entire event. They pulled together and worked with some intense teamwork shown by no other alliance. Not to mention the alliance was led by a rookie team.
In my eyes, any of those alliances could have won easily. It was all about collaboration and those three teams that won had it all.
The three teams that won were very diverse. We have the Canadian team, the veteran team/triplet, and last and certainly not least--the rookie team.
Diversity is a good thing. ;-)

Teams that stick out in my mind:
1033--I'd be afraid to compete against them.
343--very quick, great tube manipulator
612--after they took off the ramp, they became a threat.
1885--very impressive, the ramp along with the arm.
116--fast, quick, and precise. (I picked them to win as soon as I saw their robot on the field)
1610--one of the best autonomous programs, very fast and effective.

Thanks for the compliment! We hope to compete at Las Vegas so we will definitely go to the Championship Event.

[Nuttyman54]

Originally Posted by burkey_turkey

just a comment about the soap videos,

http://soap.circuitrunners.com/2007/movies/

thats the link to the videos. its interesting cause theres a folder 'va' thats empty and a folder 'va_ken' that has the VCU matches on it. some matches are missing (including my teams first match) and there isnt a nice GUI yet but the videos are there for download and thats what matters.

missing matches are 6,7,21-26,29-45,and if there wre matches past 61 they arent there either. there arent any tournament/awards vids yet either

does anyone happen to know why the feed turns upside-down and green during some parts of the videos? was that an error in the live webcast or in the upload?

[geeknerd99]

Looks like an encoding error to me, especially with the audio still intact. Not the first time I've seen upsidedown and green with audio still there.

[Wetzel]

Originally Posted by burkey_turkey

missing matches are 6,7,21-26,29-45,and if there wre matches past 61 they arent there either. there arent any tournament/awards vids yet either

We ran 8 matches a team for a total of 88 matches. We ran 68 on Friday and 20 Saturday morning.

Wetzel

[kjohnson]

I will also post this link in this thread since it did happen at the VCU regional.

Final match 2: 843 gets DQed for tipping 1610.

http://kyle.fnsnet.net/07FRC/VCU/1610tipped.wmv

[Gene F]

Originally Posted by SURVIVORfan44

In my eyes, any of those alliances could have won easily. It was all about collaboration and those three teams that won had it all.
The three teams that won were very diverse. We have the Canadian team, the veteran team/triplet, and last and certainly not least--the rookie team.
Diversity is a good thing. ;-)

I agree completely! From the beginning I have thought that the ability to drive and work as one in the alliance would win!

[AHS1599]

I have to say that as a first year parent volunteer, I am totally pleased with the results of our team's efforts. They built a robot that could place ringers and that had a low angle ramp with room for 2 bots on the top at 14" (even when a wheel went over the edge and dropped, they still qualified for the full 30 points). I personally feel privileged to have been a part of it. The cooperation between the teams as they strategized before each match just got better as the days went along too.
In the end, the game was finally understood and the winning alliance knew that to win meant getting the longest line of consecutive ringers as well as 2 robots over 12" for the full 60 points. I think the next regionals and championship tournaments will show the full potential of the game and we will see the spoilers brought to bear too (something that really hadn't matured during this regional). The final winning alliance will have to master all of these skills and strategies to climb to the top...

[Azure]

Hey, sorry for the subject change, but I'm writing an article on this year's VCU regional for my Journalism 1 class (arrgh, worst class ever) and I need some quotes. (btw, the article won't be read by very many people)

So just tell me, preferably in under 35 words, what you thought of the regional (if you attended), and give me your team's number and name. If you would give me your first and last name too that would be nice.

p.s. This is my senior year in high school and my first year on Team 116, so the regional in Richmond was the first competition I've been to. But yeah, it ain't gonna be my last. Epsilon Delta for lyfe.