Predictions Week 4: Playing in Traffic

[=Martin=Taylor=]

Originally Posted by Looking Forward

DAVIS:
The other California event this weekend is much smaller, and likely, much less competitive. 38 teams will compete in California's capital, many of which will likely struggle at hurdling. Defense, laps, and herding will make a huge impact.
692 lost in the QFs to the eventual champion #1 alliance in Silicon Valley last week, but want to finish stronger in Sacramento. Their hurdling machine should be able to make enough noise for them to be a first round selection.
997 had a mediocre performance in Oregon, and a disappointing start to the '08 season after so much success last year. While I don't think they will make it deep, they should be back in the eliminations this weekend.
1323 was another team that wasn't picked (although they made it to the QFs as a replacement) at their last event. Madtown looks to return to full force in Sacramento as well, but will struggle to make it deep unless they land in a very favorable alliance.
The M-A-Bears were another member of the #8 SVR alliance that lost in the QFs. 766 should be competitive in the shallower field at Davis as well though. Look out for a solid competition from them and a likely first round selection.

You're right about 692. They have a very good robot this year. According to our scouting it was one of the top hurdlers at SVR. And believe me... Their team will make plenty of noise.... If there is one thing the Fembots are good at it is making noise

Team 701 They should also be a major contender. They did pretty well in San Diego, and they've been finalists the last two years in Davis. Perhaps this year they'll get the gold.

Team 2122 Another cool robot you need to check out at Davis is 2122. Its one of the most outrageous designs I've seen all season. Imagine a flop-bot version of 233 with a pneumatic ram in the middle of the roller-claw, and that's 2122. It would have done amazingly well in Portland if the refs hadn't DQ'ed it a bunch of times (they'd never seen a flop-bot before).

Team 2035 - Finalists in Davis last year. Their robot has an excellent autonomous and a nice claw/pneumatic-ram combo. It came very close to beating us in the semis.

Team 1351 One of my favorite robots of this season. Looks like a medieval wooden catapult (and works like one too!)

Some of us from 100 will be coming up on Saturday. Come say hi!

[Jimmy Cao]

I love your predictions! They were spot-on last week, and I wont be surprised if it's the same again.

Just a minor point, every instance of 2237 (except the quote) should be 2337 (i think).

Thanks for the entertainment and fun!

[Donut]

I'll warn everyone at LA now, don't take 1726 or 842 lightly based on their Arizona performance. They both had trouble with shooters not firing which ranked them in the middle of the pack, but if they've fixed their hurdling problems (and no doubt they've been working on them) they'll be adding a good 40+ points to any alliance.

Thanks for these great analysis, it certainly helps instruct those of us who miss what happens on the other side of the country which teams to watch for!

[Madison]

We've got some things in the pipeline to make holding on to the balls even more reliable. We're excited to see how things pan out tomorrow. We've also worked on our hybrid coding, so it ought to perform even better for us this weekend than it did in Portland.

Don't sell 2046 short. Those guys are awesome and will only get better.

[Doug G]

Originally Posted by Hachiban VIII

You're right about 692. They have a very good robot this year. According to our scouting it was one of the top hurdlers at SVR. And believe me... Their team will make plenty of noise.... If there is one thing the Fembots are good at it is making noise

Team 701 They should also be a major contender. They did pretty well in San Diego, and they've been finalists the last two years in Davis. Perhaps this year they'll get the gold.

Thanks for the props. We've been close so many years. Also let's not forget 1388 - Arroyo Grande. At San Diego they hurdled most matches and one that left field by 20 feet. How can you go wrong with a bot that literally "boots" the ball over the overpass?

[Woody1458]

We had a Govener Davis, but Sacramento is our capitol

[Madison]

Originally Posted by Woody1458

We had a Govener Davis, but Sacramento is our capitol

It's actually your capital.

Your capitol is a building.

[EricH]

Now why is it that you mention 980 for San Diego, but not for L.A.? Without 968 to contend with, they might be able to boost their game.

[Racer26]

I always liked how we seem to be the forgotten Canadian team... We've done historically ok... (2003 CAN Regional Finalists in our rookie year, 2004 Wonderland Invitational Champions, been in the eliminations i think to the semifinals in 2004, 2006, seeded well at the 2007 Brunswick Eruption, and Kettering Kickoff)

I think this might have something to do with that until tomorrow morning nobody has seen our 2008 offering.

I also think its largely because we seem to do better at off-seasons once we've figured out everything we screwed up in the official season. Watch for us to make some waves at Waterloo this weekend though, and maybe get ourselves on the radar for next week at GTR. Also, theres a rookie team that was at the Kettering rookie competition (2609 i think) thats going to be at Waterloo tomorrow too. They won the Kettering competition. Watch for them to make waves too.

[Akash Rastogi]

Originally Posted by 1075guy

I always liked how we seem to be the forgotten Canadian team... We've done historically ok... (2003 CAN Regional Finalists in our rookie year, 2004 Wonderland Invitational Champions, been in the eliminations i think to the semifinals in 2004, 2006, seeded well at the 2007 Brunswick Eruption, and Kettering Kickoff)

I think this might have something to do with that until tomorrow morning nobody has seen our 2008 offering.

I also think its largely because we seem to do better at off-seasons once we've figured out everything we screwed up in the official season. Watch for us to make some waves at Waterloo this weekend though, and maybe get ourselves on the radar for next week at GTR. Also, theres a rookie team that was at the Kettering rookie competition (2609 i think) thats going to be at Waterloo tomorrow too. They won the Kettering competition. Watch for them to make waves too.

Although a team's history can play into predictions, you should never base your main point off of it. You probably weren't mentioned because like you said, you haven't made your 2008 showing,

[MrForbes]

Originally Posted by EricH

Now why is it that you mention 980 for San Diego, but not for L.A.? Without 968 to contend with, they might be able to boost their game.

980 is in the pits next to us, they completely changed their robot design today. Should be fun to see how the new herder works, it's very ingenious.

Nice meeting you at last, Eric!

[Looking Forward]

Friday Night Update: Part 1 (may or may not get around to doing the western happenings in part 2, i apologize if I can't find the time)
As shocking as it sounds, there's more going on at Waterloo than Karthik and Paul joking around with Gameday!
Canada's first event of the year has been solid so far, but it's not quite on par with last year. There have been seven scores of 90 or higher, but 1114 has been involved in eight of them (the other had 2056, 68, and 1006). Other teams, such as 188, 1565, and 68, are doing well, but the decline of 854 and 1305 (as well as the lack of 1503, 610, and 1592) is being felt.
1114 is also sporting the top spot, at 7-1 right now, but there are enough matches tomorrow and enough teams within striking distance for that to change. Q50, which features 1114 against 2056, will likely have a significant impact on the final rankings. 1114 is still the hands down favorite, but it's possible that they might have some trouble if they fall from the #1 spot and a less capable teams climbs in. Duke pulled out a 1 point miracle yesterday, 1114 might have to do the same at some point.

Buckeye is shaping up to be very interesting during the elimination rounds. Any number of teams are easily within range to take the top spot. 94 is 7-0 and currently holding it, but 1024 still hasn't lost and has played one less match (5-0-1). 1629 is 6-1 and has a 5 RS lead on 94, so if they can pick up a match on them tomorrow they could pounce into the #1 spot from their current two position.
1731 has done very well again, although they've already landed 3 losses, all but removing them from contention to become an alliance captain. Their last two losses of the day were heart-breaking though, 10 points to 1024 and 4 points to 1629 (in which 1731 got stuck on the wall for about 25 seconds). They might not be able to land on the #1 alliance like in VCU, but they'll land high.
The eliminations will be tough to call, with at least a few alliance likely to land strong scoring machines. If 1629 can acquire either 1024 or 1731 to help them get balls from the overpass (both teams have done well at it, and are very strong hurdling machines) that alliance could be very dangerous. 1126 and 191 aren't slouching much either and could make a big impact.

West Michigan is also wide open. 2171 has a whopping 56 RS, and is still undefeated (although they're currently #2 because 1504 has played 1 more match), so if they can continue winning they're in prime position to take the #1 spot. While no team is clearly the best, 71 seems to be the strongest so far. With the new rollers added to their pick-up device they've improved on their biggest flaw of week 1. This field is still anyone's game, but if I had to pick a favorite it would be 71.

[fredliu168]

I would be willing to bet the waterloo FRC winners will be
1114, 2056, and X

X = 771, 1281, 2361, or basically any other team

[T3_1565]

I have seen less of a interaction with 1114 and 2056 this year than last year. Like I was watching them a lot (they are the two favourites) while I'm not working on our robot (we are one lane away from them in the pits) and they don't seem as friendly with one another than I thought they would be, or were last year.

I would not be surprised if they are not on the same team in the elims, and I'm glad we are "doing well" in others opionion, we finally got our auto back into driving striaght, so, we finally got our four lines again.

I am quite shocked on how few people can get 3 lines in hybrid, so far in waterloo. This is our first year doing any sort of auto mode, and we are roughly the third best at it (some people can get roughly the same consistently as us). 1114 is by far the best here though, and hopefully tomorrow will be as fun as today though, and maybe we get some better luck and things will work out our way!!

Look for us to be better tomorrow!!

[Elgin Clock]

Originally Posted by M. Krass

It's actually your capital.

Your capitol is a building.

Cory started it... Look at post #2. lol
I was going to say something... but don't need to anymore I guess.