Archi-medes!

[Qbranch]

*singing*... Back home again, in Indiana...

Anyhow, from team 1024 I'd like to say thank you all for making this an unforgettable year for all our team and especially our graduating seniors this year (self included ). Unfortunately, we didn't take home the trophy for Archemedes, but this is the farthest our team has ever gotten and we're proud to be Einstein-worthy.

Many thanks to our alliance captains 1124 and their Uber(gripper, arm, bot) (to decode, use the distributive propery of uber ) along with our defending champ 177. It was a pleasure to play with the both of you!

Also, as a from-us-to-us thanks, congratulations and many thanks to all the sub-teams. We couldn't have taken home the World Innovation in Control award without all of your hard work to allow the control system to shine through. Thank You!

Congratulations to all you teams who earned our first ever team awards as well!

A final congratulations to the 1114/217/148 alliance. While I can't speak from personal experience on 217/148, I must say 1114 deserved to be called world champions this year.

Any who dispute it, say they cheated, or whine in general about their slick, smooth Simbot this year has a set screw missing. Congratulations Simbotics on your Championship win!

-q

p.s. 1902 Exploding Bacon: Did you all get your award from us? We went around delivering them and at the time you all weren't in your pit... and now that I'm writing this I don't know if anyone ever delievered it. Please let me know, and if we didn't deliver it, sorry in advance and we'll figure how to get it to you all.

[Alex Dinsmoor]

You guys were amazing out there, I wish you could have gone farther though. Your alliance was really good and it was deserving of it's Archimedes win.

[Akash Rastogi]

Just got home and I really have nothing to say right now..not because I'm speechless, but actually I'm upset. In all honesty, it really bittersweet how we did and what th outcome was. I really don't know what to say. Not to bring anyone down but personally, I don't know what was up with our last pick...I really don't.

71, "running with the Beast" was incredible, you guys made it awesome for me in my first year in Atlanta, it was really awesome to hear it coming from some of the mentors, "We'll take them all next year"

*with sincere tears*- You have no idea how much that means to me and the team.

[Uberbots]

Wow, an absolutely amazing show in Atlanta everyone.

Congratulations to 1024 for an incredible robot, an incredible partner, and jesus what a hybrid (definitely rockwell-worthy)

177- you guys rock. I couldn't have agreed more with that statement that ellen made when choosing you- and with our scouters for making you guys our top second pick. That roller claw you added did wonders.

987- you guys are scary good. combined with 365 and 842 you guys were almost unstoppable. Great show in the finals

525- i think you guys win the award for breaking our claw the most. some incredible defense we received from you guys

1771- your robot sucked. in fact, it sucked so much that the suction reached negative infinite, wrapped around to positive infinite, and shot the ball over the overpass. We never actually had the chance to work with or against you guys, but your robot continued to baffle me whenever i saw it.



*sigh* if only we continued further on einstein. Our autonomous failed to go in the last match, and we lost by exactly the amount of points that autonomous would have gotten us. all because our stupid disable switch decided to be hypocritical (long story).

[smurfgirl]

Wow... we're home, I'm unpacked... and it's really kind of anticlimactic. I had a great time on Archimedes, and I'm really sad it's over. That was the last big event of my time on 1124 before I graduate this spring, so I'm glad we made it our furthest ever and went out with a bang. Making it to Einstein was an incredible experience- being on that field is so different than a regional or a divisional field. Speaking on behalf of my team, we were definitely not prepared for the Einstein experience, but it was a lot of fun, and we learned a ton from it. Thanks so much to our amazing alliance partners for helping us to get there! It was really an honor to work with both of your incredible teams. 1024, as soon as I saw the divisions that 1024 + 1124 sounded like a winning alliance. (-: You had a truly impressive robot, and I can see where all those regional wins and awards came from. 177, it was so much nicer to be working with you instead of against you in the finals. That strategy that you used against us last year definitely helped our alliance to win this year- it's a lot more fun when you know both sides of it. Your team has been such a help to us through our history, and it was great to team up again like our first win in 2006. (P.S. - Did you like the invitation to join our alliance? My teammates made fun of me because I talk a lot.) Your robot performed really well, and if I hadn't seen it in CT, I wouldn't have known that you finished the design at the Championship. 987, your robot was incredible this year. You were so close to another divisional win this season, and we thought you had it. We're a little bit disappointed that we didn't get to work with you because of 525's invitation, but it was fun to play against you again. Team 11, congrats on the first seed in Archimedes. You had a great robot, and seeding first is no easy feat. Congrats also to team 525 for an undefeated record. To the 365, 190, 177 alliance in our last qualifying match, another congrats. You had great strategy, and that gave you a win you deserved, and broke our undefeated record for the season. And... I definitely had a lot more congrats and comments I wanted to dole out, but I forget now that my mom came in and interrupted me. I guess I'll have to get to the rest of it later. Thank you to everyone for a great time on Archimedes!

[Alex Dinsmoor]

I feel bad that 1771 didn't make it further than it did, they had potential but their alliance couldn't stand up to the #1 alliance.

Does anyone have a video of when we tied with 27's alliance? It was so intense I can't remember a thing of it

[Nuttyman54]

Congrats to all teams!

To 1124, 1024, 177, 987, 365 and 842, thank you all for some absolutely amazing finals matches. It was rough having 987 and 177 on opposing alliances and trying to root for both.

To 365 thanks for the amazing defensive strategy you came up with for our qualifying match with you, that was a ton of fun to execute!

To 177, congratulations on making 3 consecutive trips to Einstein, each on a different field. Maybe you can win Curie next year!

See you all in 09!

[Luckyfish05]

Hey ya'll,

Man oh man, what a ride what a ride. There were so many competitive matches I really lost count of how many I saw. I was so impressed by the hybrid period, everyone seemed to be moving in some form or another. Then President Bush 41 being there for opening ceremonies along with Dean and everyone else. I'll admit, originally I was not too thrilled with the game, but I left the Championships saying "that was good", and I was floored as I am every year by the winning alliance and final matches.

Big shout out to team 201, and 41! Thanks for partnering with us, you both were awesome partners and we almost pulled it out! We can't wait to see you next year.

1024 man once you guys got your bugs out you were moving and going again. Your robot was on target, you got the game.

71 every year you go out to impress and you succeeded this year again.

987 I loved your team, I loved your 'bot. Thanks for the help with the seats Saturday, you guys were on it! To bad we never got to play together, maybe sometime in the future.

RUSH what a piece of competition you were. Your pick up mechanism was so incredibly original that it took me a while to really figure out all the parts too it. We had some great matches in the semis.

MOE thanks so much for your help when our "brains" of our robot fried, it's too bad we didn't get it fixed just two minutes earlier so we could have been on the field with you for that match.

I could go on and on, but for now I'm going to leave it. I loved this weekend congrats to 1114, 217, and 148 your finals were awe shocking. Thanks so much for making the Championship a great one everyone.

[raffi383]

Originally Posted by Luckyfish05

Hey ya'll,

...Big shout out to team 201, and 41! Thanks for partnering with us, you both were awesome partners and we almost pulled it out! We can't wait to see you next year...

Team 292,

Thanks for picking us as your alliance partner and for saving a "photographer" seat in the front row. We came so close to making it to the semi's.

I can't remember your Mentor's name that does the scouting but he does a great job. He was able to predict before each of 201's qualifying matches which alliance was going to win.

Thank you for seeing the potential of our robot.

Hope to see you again next year.

Raffi

[Akash Rastogi]

Originally Posted by Alex Dinsmoor

I feel bad that 1771 didn't make it further than it did, they had potential but their alliance couldn't stand up to the #1 alliance.

Does anyone have a video of when we tied with 27's alliance? It was so intense I can't remember a thing of it

I absolutely hated having to go up against 1771, our whole team wanted to be with them.

Like I said before, so many things were just bittersweet. But hey, "se la vi" right?

I really love everyone on my team who is leaving. As its been said before, my second family is leaving after graduation. I hope to god they all either come back or start their own teams because trust me, any team that has a mentor or founder who has been a student of MORT and has been taught by Mr. William Mc Gowan is probably one of the luckiest teams in the world. Some of them are best friends and some of them are like brothers. Its different in my case because our mentor may or may not be retiring. I was so proud of the seniors and was so happy to be part of their final and most successful year on MORT. It was a pleasure talking and hanging out with teams like 107, 190, 555, 816, 1124, 1, 27, 1676, 103, 71, and most of all there was this one FLL team from Jordan that we played football and ultimate frisbee with.

In all honesty, I think this was our last shot at Atlanta in terms of my time in high school. I am just a sophomore, but even in 2-3 years with FIRST, the depth of the relationships that are formed are unbreakable and truly make you feel like you are part of something very very special.

To all the seniors: Thank you all so much for being there when I needed help, when I had a question, when I was bored as hell and you found the most unbelievable ways of having fun throughout the 2 years that I have been able to work alongside you all. But most of all, thank you for showing me what FIRST can truly do for someone: how many opportunities it can create, the friends you can make, and the level of pride, confidence, and leadership a young student can have for their team, their school, for FIRST, and for themselves. I will love and remember you all forever, and please, never stop what you are and have been doing in these past years. Its because of friends like you that I understand Dean's, Woodie's, and Mr. McGowan's concept that students in FIRST will change the world.

I will work my hardest to put MORT on the map as will the team you are leaving behind.

We will take Einstein one year...

may it take 1 year, 5 years, or 10 years...whatever, we'll do it. because as they say, "when there's a will, there's a way."

Next season is for you guys.

[Jacob L]

It's been over 24 hours since the 2008 FRC season ended, and my head is still spinning! First of all, congratulations to 1124, 1024, and 177 for becoming the 2008 Archimedes Division champs.

1024, your robot was incredible all year. You have amazed me ever since I first saw you guys at Boilermaker. 1124, I loved your innovative gripper and your incredible hybrid (5 lines, 2 balls!!!) was a highlight of Friday for me. If your robot would have been able to do that on Einstein, I really believe your alliance would have beaten Curie. 177, what more can I say, you guys just know how to win, win, and win.

Funny story about yesterday. When 1024's representative told that little story about how 177 picked them at the Connecticut Regional two years ago even though they had a low ranking, I got a strong sense of deja vu. This is because two years ago, on Galileo, we were ranked in the 60s going into the alliance selections and we did not think we were going to be picked. Out of nowhere, 177 picked us as their second alliance partner, and together with 1126, we won Galileo and advanced to Einstein. Sound familiar? I just though I had to share that one.

Finally, thank you to 292 and 41 for being amazing alliance partners. We gave the #2 alliance all they could handle. It took them FOUR matches to beat us! We were just a couple of bad breaks away from pulling off a huge upset. Even though I'm disappointed that we didn't win, thanks to you two, Team 201 left Atlanta smiling and with a deep sense of satisfaction.

Enjoy your summer, and even though I will be in Ann Arbor, attending the University of Michigan next year, I will keep close watch on the 2009 FRC season. CONGRATULATIONS to all of Archimedes!!!!!

[Luckyfish05]

Originally Posted by raffi383

I can't remember your Mentor's name that does the scouting but he does a great job. He was able to predict before each of 201's qualifying matches which alliance was going to win.

His name is Gerard and you are right he knows a ton about scouting and is very good, but I have to say that it was a combination of him because he organized and analyzed it all (along with some input by the rest of us), but all of our students not on the drive time spent all of Thursday and Friday gaining that information by scouting every match. It was difficult and sometimes tedious, but they did a great job.

As for that photographer's spot, we were glad so many people could get some use out of it, it was the least we could do since we got those prime seats! Share the wealth, huh?

Thanks for the complement and we'll see you next year (at Boilermaker again?)!

[Jacob L]

Originally Posted by Alex Dinsmoor

Does anyone have a video of when we tied with 27's alliance? It was so intense I can't remember a thing of it

Alex, I believe that after a few days NASA will post the archives of the divisions on their webcast site. I'm not completely sure about this, but this is how I saw replays of our matches two years ago....


http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/robotics...a-finals-2008/

[KF987]

Team 987 would like to thank our partners 365 and 842.

We couldnt have asked for better alliance partners!

MOE had an awsome bot this year, and they put on quite a show on archimedes during the eliminations. We loved working with you guys, your an awsome team! Hopefully we convinced you to come out to Las Vegas next year...

842 played insane defense against us in Las Vegas, and we were glad to have you on our alliance. You shut down alot of bots.Congrats on winning Chairmans award as well!

See you next year!

-Keaton

[Alex Dinsmoor]

Originally Posted by Jacob L

Alex, I believe that after a few days NASA will post the archives of the divisions on their webcast site. I'm not completely sure about this, but this is how I saw replays of our matches two years ago....


http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/robotics...a-finals-2008/

I can't wait to see these!