2008 New York City Regional

[arhajder]

Unfortunately we were ranked 11 and for some odd reason no one selected us. This year we won nothing. As a matter of fact i don't think a single NEW YORK team won anything except for Saunders(2344 gratz). They got rookie of the regional and probably will win the National rookie team. My school will probably be losing the team after 8 long years. I bet many teams will drop out simply because they cant produce. If we accomplish Dean Kamens hw assignment(double amount of NY teams) I want to make it a NY only regional.

[popnbrown]

Congrats to every1, especially to our alliance members 694 for Engineering Inspiration, and 2234 for being the greatest rookie that we've played it. Someone please send me a link to that really sick 3sec hurdle that 2234 got in?
I think our match was the most intensest(if thats a word) but then again...i'm biased since it was our team.
I'm glad our team followed my lead with spirit...if some did'nt notice we went around chanting "We got spirit! Yes we do! we got spirit! How bout you?" and all the hailing to the different teams. Lots and Lots of funnn..especially when ourr aliiance joined with the cheering and what not, since 2234 was on the other side, we were yelling our alliance color, surround sound style (almost)
But nonetheless great job to 348, 375 and 637, we know you guys had a tough time beating us (;
Congrats to the winners great job
congrats to the spirit team, we almost were at your level
and grats to 116 for chairmans

we'll see you all soon.

O and sign up for Monty Madness at www.montymadness.org, theres not many spots left

[Chris Fultz]

Originally Posted by kborer22

i agree that it was weird that they went back to old school FRC for the alliance selections, but in the rules is says that the order that the teams pick will be repeated for the second alliance partner, while not quite understanding it, they did it right, and apparently other regionals have done it wrong.....

The rules state that the process will be repeated except that it will be in reverse order.
From the Tournament Book, page 6 of 11

9.4.1

Round 2: The same method is used for each ALLIANCE CAPTAIN'S second choice except the selection order is recersed, with Alliance Eight picking first and Alliance One picking last.

[alfredo guzman]

We (2344) made it to the semi-finals and lost , yet managed to walk away with the Rookie All-Star Award and Highest Rookie Seed and Firooz Mirbaha was a mentor of ours =P....... anyways yea.... we may have not won the competition in itself... but we've also won the hearts of others (meaning new friends of course) and all I can really say is that we hope 2 do the same in Georgia. Which reminds me... I heard a rumor that we won 2 more awards, don't take my word for it because I'm not 100% sure on that. I'll find that out at school tomorrow. And I'd personally like to thank every team that we have been paired up with so THANKS FOR HELPING US OUT. And sorry for writing so much and wasting your time

[The Lucas]

Originally Posted by Chris Fultz

The rules state that the process will be repeated except that it will be in reverse order.
From the Tournament Book, page 6 of 11

Chris, they are talking about the FTC tournament. FTC has always been 1-8 for both rounds not serpentine. Refer to 3.5.1 of the FTC manual.

The interesting thing about the tournament is that with 2 divisions every team made elims (even though 2 teams had to switch division)

[Chris Fultz]

Thanks for the clarification.

When I look back, the thread jumps between FTC and FRC and i though the draft was talking about FRC.

[Libby K]

Thank you to the NYC Planning Committee for putting together a fantastic event. I was a referee for the FTC tournament on Saturday, and I was lucky enough to be able to MC the FLL event today. NYC was really fun for everyone I talked to. I can't believe next year will be the big 1-0 for this regional!

Congratulations to all the teams that competed-
FRC: The few matches I saw were awesome. Congrats to the JERSEY ALLIANCE (woo! represent) of 41, 555, and 1989 for being the champions, to 348, 375, and 637 for putting up a great fight in the finals, and also to team 116 for a well-deserved Chairman's win. To quote the infamous Dave Lavery, "It only took 14 freakin' years!!!". Great job, everyone.
FTC: Even through the delay, the competition was fantastic. Good teams, good volunteers, just all-around great. Thanks for making my job as a ref fun.
FLL: I always love seeing FLL competitions. As an NJ FLL mentor, I love to see other states' tournaments. Inspiration has no borders, and it was very clear to see in today's tournament. Thanks to Rich Wong for giving me the chance to be "The Girl in the Tie Dye".

Overall review: Pretty freakin' sweet.
Thumbs up from me!

[millerm277]

Wow, thanks everyone, and props to our alliance partners of 555 and 1989 for helping our alliance win. I'm still in shock...from dead last last year to this. Also, congrats to the winners of the awards.

[Ashley Christine]

I just want to say congrats to all the teams, you all did a great job!

I want to say a special congrats to a good friend of mine - Wayne- for winning the Woodie Flowers Award. I am really happy for you and you deserve it!

As always congrats to the winning alliance and chairmans award winner!

Thank you to team 395 and 271, we really enjoyed working with you as an alliance and we put up a good fight! We couldn't have asked for much more.

Other than that - hopefully I can make it to Atlanta and see some more of you in action!

[andrew348]

Congrats to Wayne.

He has worked very hard in FIRST and I could think of no one else who deserved it more.

Here is the essay submitted for his WFA

“The fundamental responsibility of a mentor or leader is to inspire others to step up to the plate, take responsibility, and become new leaders.” This is the role of a mentor defined by Wayne Penn. He has lived his life by the quote, and has affected the lives of those around him dramatically.
Wayne Penn started his involvement in FIRST on Team 217, The Thunder Chickens, in the 2001 season as a junior in High School. In 2002, Wayne broke out of his shell and became Driver and CEO of his team.
When Wayne moved onto college at Columbia, he did not stop his involvement in FIRST. In New York, Wayne became involved in Team 395, 2Train Robotics. On 2Train, Wayne was the lead student mentor from his University. He was involved in mentoring efforts and strategy. He helped 2Train win five Regionals in four years and a Regional Chairman’s Award. Team 395 comes from an inner city neighborhood with very low high school graduation rates. Instead of working with the teams that have major sponsors, Wayne chose to help these students. Wayne has said that one of his favorite memories is when a student told him that when he entered high school, he did not expect to graduate. FIRST gave him a reason to stay motivated. He is now an engineering student in college.
One of Wayne’s greatest accomplishments in New York was his involvement in the Region 2 Robotics Initiative. He spearheaded the creation of several FLL team in a Bronx Neighborhood. They held bi-monthly workshops with student and teachers. The borough’s FLL teams grew to 45, the largest numbers for a neighborhood in New York City.
Wayne has been involved in FLL and FRC. He has worked with many FLL teams. He has brought one team to the World Festival three times. In addition, Wayne was awarded the National Invitational Adult Mentor of the Year Award in 2002. In FRC program, he has been involved in the NYC and Boston Regional Planning Committees. Wayne was awarded Chief Delphi’s Unsung FIRST Hero award. He has also emceed numerous competitions. All of this was outside of helping out numerous teams each year.
In the fall of 2006, Wayne entered graduate school at Boston University. Yet again, he still stayed involved. Our team had met Wayne many times before at the New York City Regional. When he told us in 2006 that he was planning on attending BU, we said that he would always be welcome on our team. A few months later, he called and said he would take us up on that offer.
Wayne has helped our team tremendously by providing our team with new aspects of engineering and outlook on the FIRST program. Wayne has been an unbelievable role model for the students of our team. He works well with the students and gets them motivated, no matter what the situation is.
Above all, Wayne thinks about himself last. Bharat Nain of Team 25 says, “The best trait about Wayne is his selfless dedication to FIRST. The last person he thinks of is himself, always making sure to serve his teams and others in need.” Wayne comes down almost every night from school or work and work tirelessly. Last year, we would be dropping Wayne off at the train at midnight. Then the next day, he would be there, working ever hard then the day before.
I remember when a rookie team asked if he was helping out our team for college credits. With out dropping a beat, he responded, “Nope, just for fun.”

I would like to Thank Team 217 and Team 25 (Wayne Cokeley, Alexa Scott, Shaun McNulty & Bharat Nain) for their support in this essay.

Good luck to Wayne at Championship and hope that he wins WFA for the year!

[Kim Masi]

Congrats Wayne, to a well deserved recognition

[Dancin103]

I was at the NYC regional on sunday, and let me just say this, it was a great regional, and just fun to watch. I had a great time.

Congrats to teams 41, 555, and 1989 for winning the regional, and 348, 375, and 2234 for being finalists. Both alliances put up a though fight and in my mind both should have won, but sadly there has to be a winner.

Also a big congrats to team 116 for winning chairman's, it is a tremendous honor and well deserved. And a big congrats to 694 for winning Engineering Inspiration.

And congrats to Wayne for winning WFA! (That was one of the greatest WFA entries I have ever read. I wish I could have written one that good.)

All in all it was a great regional and there were great teams with great talent. I had tons of fun cheering and watching! Good luck to everyone going to championships, and I can't wait to see everyone in Atlanta (next week already)!

[ChrisR_522]

New York City was nothing but problems for The Robo Wizards, probably the worst experience we have ever encountered since our inception in 2001. The high spots (or patches) on the sides of the center median on the playing field were substantially higher than the other 2 regionals we attended, Pittsburgh and Long Island and it was killing us. The high spots were bending our front pneumatic piston with its ball transfer system which allowed our treaded robot to lift itself at the front and pivot from the rear drive wheels, allowing us to turn. We tried to work around it and we made some drastic changes to our drivetrain in an attempt to surpass the obstacles on the field, and it did not work as well as we anticipated. This was also our first regional in which we were not picked to play in the elimination rounds. Overall the New York City Regional was a fun event.

[Libby K]

I cannot BELIEVE I forgot to mention Wayne's WFA! I'm so sorry, please forgive me, Wayne! I must have been completely tired out from NYC.

I have known Wayne for just about a year now- and I can say that he absolutely and completely deserved it. He's a great mentor, and has done a lot for FIRST. I definitely look up to him, and I'm glad to call him my friend. If you ever get the chance- talk to him. He's got a lot of great things to say.

[JaneYoung]

Originally Posted by Libby K

If you ever get the chance- talk to him. He's got a lot of great things to say.

He also pays attention and listens very well. Another sign of a great mentor.

Jane