2008 New York City Regional

[jayjaywalker3]

Originally Posted by 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

I agree that our matches were very intense. I was amazed by your teams spirit and I have already sent an email to my team talking about your team's spirit in hoping we can emulate it. I have a question about Monty Madness. How do we get our robot over there? I know you guys are able to go to Nationals because I was at Trenton also but I hear you guys may not be going. Why not? If you were then our entire alliance would be there even without winning it all because 2344 got rookie all star and my team got EI.

Originally Posted by alfredo guzman

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

I just want to say you could have been paired up with teams that caused you to lose every match and I still would have chosen your team to join our alliance.

Originally Posted by 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.

I want to thank your team for the additional scouting information.

Originally Posted by JaneYoung

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

Jane

I just want to say that discussing strategy with Wayne for our qualifier match was amazing. I didn't even realize it was him at first until after we finished talking. I was thinking that guy looks a lot like Wayne Penn. When I talked to him again I was blown away at the compliments he gave my team and our robot for this year saying that he knew we worked hard and did not let our mentors build our robot. He left me feeling excellent. I just did not appreciate it when I told him that his first choice for his team's alliance in new york was not working (according to that team's head coach) and we were going to find out, he had a private discussion with a mentor from that team while I waited and never got back to me. I understand that mentor might have told him that I was lying or trying to slander that team (which I wasn't) but he could have at least told me what happened instead of ignoring me.

[Akash Rastogi]

Originally Posted by 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.

694 won EI award which is a huge deal and they are a NY team. and that sucks when you're a high seed an dont get picked. I know that ppl may say like "keep your chin up" and stuff...but yea, i understand what that feels like. There's almost nothing that someone can say to cheer you up. But hey, if you need help in getting support, funding, or mentors, just hit up anyone on Chief Delphi.

[arhajder]

Originally Posted by lilstogi11

694 won EI award which is a huge deal and they are a NY team. and that sucks when you're a high seed an dont get picked. I know that ppl may say like "keep your chin up" and stuff...but yea, i understand what that feels like. There's almost nothing that someone can say to cheer you up. But hey, if you need help in getting support, funding, or mentors, just hit up anyone on Chief Delphi.

You know what makes it worse. We played with 41 and 555 and came up with an awesome strategy and blew the other alliance out. WE got along well. When the finals were going on the guy came up to us and said sorry he completely overlooked us. So close and yet so far. I didn't even go to school im so depressed...sigh

[dlavery]

I would like to add in a special "thank you" and recognition to the entire referee team, and in particular to Mark Sharfshteyn, the Head Referee. I thought that they did an exceptionally good job at the NYC regional. During the matches I observed, the penalty calls that were made were appropriate and reasonable, and I don't recall any obvious missed calls. As has been previously mentioned, the best officiated games are the ones where you don't really even notice that the referees are there, where the officiating is appropriate for the play and does not artificially affect the game. The referee team in New York certainly fit this definition. In particular, I was impressed by Mark's open communication with the teams. In virtually every instance that I saw, whenever a team had a question about a call or ruling Mark took as much time as was necessary to explain the ruling and make sure that the team understood exactly why something was called the way it was. They may not have liked the ruling, but Mark was always careful to explain in as much detail as they wanted why a ruling had been made and where it was backed up by the official rules. When they had something to say, he listened. His ability to do this in a respectful and informative manner set a great example.

-dave



.

[galewind]

Yes, I will say that from my side of the table as backup game announcer, I really felt the refs did a great job of keeping us informed as to what was happening. Mark was a fantastic head ref, and was always clear, professional, and polite, even when a dufus like me was trying to announce his calls. He definitely deserves a lot of credit, as I know it's often a very unappreciated job.

[danman2991]

Originally Posted by 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.

I think most of us are still in shock from the whole thing, it was a great experience, being a 2nd year team and already having a regional under our belt, couldn't have done it without your guys and team 555 with us. Hopefully we can get an alliance together in Atlanta and pull a repeat Hope to see you guys there

[Scott Carpman]

Congratulations to everyone involved, from the teams to the volunteers to the judges and refs.

116 truly earned it, I'm shocked that this was your first Chairman's in 14 years of FRC. Good luck at Champs!

I've had the honor of working with 694 on and off the field and StuyPulse deserves EI. Have fun in Atlanta.

Saunders...you're my personal favorite to win Rookie All-Star at Champs. Keep up the enthusiasm and learn from the Hall of Famers, you guys have the potential to be one of them some day.

Oh, and congrats to 41, 555, and 1989 for winning NYC and 348, 375, and 637 for being Finalists.

[Rich Wong]

To all the FRC, FTC, FLL attendees at the NYC Regional,
We want your feedback, good or bad, we want your feedback!

This is the best way for us to improve for next year and make it bigger & better.
You can post your opinions or PM me or email it to me.
Thank you all!

[jayjaywalker3]

The promised frisbee playing space was not there. Although this year I wasn't really able to play much. Other than that everything was absolutely perfect from the MC's to the pits to everything else. I can only speak for myself though and I am only speaking about the FRC part of the event.

[thatguy]

Well the staffing was perfect, they were extremely nice and patient when we had crystal troubles in FTC. I believe noise was the biggest issue there. It would be really nice if you could put FTC in another hallway like what was said in the opening ceremonies.

--Of course this was from an FTC point of view. Too be honest, it was nice that I could visit FRC whenever I wanted to. The other problem was with how hard it was to get food, go to the bathroom etc. Everything was across the convention center, so it would take an annoying jog to get to where we wanted and back in time for the round. I still am not sure what caused FTC to start late though.

[Lil' Lavery]

What was good:
Volunteers-They were great, especially the MCs and refs.
Range of Events- FRC, FTC, and FLL all at once is pretty cool.

What wasn't:
Seating- the bleachers were uncomfortable, especially for the members who sat there for prolonged periods of time (ie scouts)
Lunch on Saturday- the lunch break is an critical time for alliance's to begin preparation for the elimination rounds, and moving it was a HUGE MISTAKE. It made preparing strategy and robots for the elimination rounds very difficult. I understand that a delay had to be produced to allow the mayor to arrive, but I would have much rather seen the qualification rounds end and alliance selections happen first, then having the mayor speak at the end of lunch right before the eliminations began.
FTC Timing- The FTC event running so late caused our FTC to have to miss the awards because they had to leave with the FRC team (who had already been waiting for some time). It made dinner plans very difficult.


Side note: bigger doesn't equate to better. Even though the venue has room for plenty more teams, doesn't mean the event needs them. The mid-60s is as big as a regional should get. Once you go beyond that it starts to become very difficult to get enough matches, proper scouting, and it loses the sense of community conferred by the smaller, "friendlier" events.

[nlknauss]

Congrats to Wayne P on your Regional Woodie Flowers award. You really deserve it and truly represent FIRST well where ever you appear.

FTC Teams - Excellent job competing! I was happy to see everyone working well together throughout the tournament and representing FTC. Thank you for participating at the first ever NYC FTC event. You all were awesome!

[neoshaakti]

I'd like to thank 694 for being such an awesome mentoring team

Moreover, Id like to thank every team that helped us! Props to Bronx Science for helping us with our mysterious drive train issue!

Id also like to thank Spare Parts! You guys were awesome and very patient with us

I hope the team who lent us an orange rubber mallet found from pit admin!

thank you all for making my first regional an awesome experience!

-Neel 2554

[Akash Rastogi]

Originally Posted by neoshaakti

I'd like to thank 694 for being such an awesome mentoring team

Moreover, Id like to thank every team that helped us! Props to Brooklyn Science for helping us with our mysterious drive train issue!

Id also like to thank Spare Parts! You guys were awesome and very patient with us

I hope the team who lent us an orange rubber mallet found from pit admin!

thank you all for making my first regional an awesome experience!

-Neel 2554

I stopped by your pit and your team members seem pretty cool. I liked that you have a good sized team in your rookie year and I know that FIRST can expect great things from your team in the future.

[millerm277]

Good:

Pit Layout-We never had to even ask anyone to move out of the way, plenty of room to get robots out to the field. After the 2nd entrance/exit from the pits was opened, getting from the pit to stands was easy as well.

Pit announcements-We always heard our matches being called and everything else that needed to be announced.

Judging/Officials-Everyone we dealt with was nice, and helpful/interested.

Inspection-No lines.

Volume-Could hear everything properly, both when in the stands and pits, without going deaf.

Not so good:

Food-Javits (from my understanding), allows food to be brought in, so the rule (although I didn't seem many obeying it), of not allowing food/beverages to be brought in, even to the stands was very annoying, especially since the food Javits had to offer was barely edible (in my opinion).

Power-Javits employees wouldn't let us run any sort of power to the stands, would be nice if something was available, to allow us to use laptops and such to scout with.

Pit Size-While I know the pits were at least FIRST regulation size, if not larger, there seemed to be plenty of room, an extra foot or two would be nice.

Overall though, it was a great, and well-run event.