Hardest Regional

[Jessica Boucher]

Know that little thing about history repeating? We've hit that point in this thread.

Go check the other threads (04 and 05 both have one, and I'm sure there are others), and the result is the same - there is no definitive answer. I'm sure if you dig through those threads, I've probably made that exact same point in there.

Granted, there is one huge difference: the second coming of The Great Leveling. This, more than anything, will shake up any viewpoints, and this time around will have a greater effect than the first.

If anything, I'm looking forward to seeing everyone and having a great time.

[nukelear1991]

I think West Michigan is the hardest regional...at least in the midwest...because the indiana/iilinois/michigan combo of engineering big wig companies sponsoring them. I think the midwest is one of the best places to participate in FIRST because of the Delphi and GM plus like Wildstang has Motorola there are just a lot of amazing teams...like one of my faves

Wo-Bot lol


No but seriously I think west mich. takes it

[Andrew Schreiber]

Originally Posted by nukelear1991

I think West Michigan is the hardest regional...at least in the midwest...because the indiana/iilinois/michigan combo of engineering big wig companies sponsoring them. I think the midwest is one of the best places to participate in FIRST because of the Delphi and GM plus like Wildstang has Motorola there are just a lot of amazing teams...like one of my faves

Wo-Bot lol


No but seriously I think west mich. takes it

Historically that may have been true. But this year West Michigan is Michigan only so no 71, or 111 or 45 or any other outside Michigan teams.

Jessica makes a good point, the new control system will shake things up, a lot. Also, the economy's tanking will have a negative effect on all of us.

[Joe Ross]

Originally Posted by Hachiban VIII

I've always enjoyed the Sac/Davis regional precisely because it was NOT very competitive. It always had an easygoing attitude and lots of spirit, everyone always seemed to be having fun.

Your not very competitive regional may very well have been the most competitive regional in 2005. Championship Champion 330 allied with Championship finalist 56 and lost in the semis. Championship Finalist 254 lost in the finals. Championship division winners 245 and 766 were the regional champions. That's 5 teams from Einstein that were there.

Here's one such thread about how to judge the strength of a regional: http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...ad.php?t=37801

[lenny8]

Originally Posted by EricH

How quickly you forget IRI 2004, 2008, and 2005.

i know but to be honest (i know i'm going to get a lot of shunning for this) but IRI is an off season event and it doesn't count also, most people have rookie drivers at IRI so like i said SoCal bring your real drive team to a real competition and lets see what happeneds

[Akash Rastogi]

Originally Posted by lenny8

i know but to be honest (i know i'm going to get a lot of shunning for this) but IRI is an off season event and it doesn't count also, most people have rookie drivers at IRI so like i said SoCal bring your real drive team to a real competition and lets see what happeneds

I wouldn't be so sure that most teams have rookie drivers at IRI. The dominating teams you are referring to usually have their seasoned drivers because they play to win (IIRC). Because it is after all, where the Egos Go to Play. IRI is hell compared to the Championships.

Anyone want to correct me on this? (from one of the dominating teams I mean).

[EricH]

Originally Posted by lenny8

i know but to be honest (i know i'm going to get a lot of shunning for this) but IRI is an off season event and it doesn't count also, most people have rookie drivers at IRI so like i said SoCal bring your real drive team to a real competition and lets see what happeneds

IRI is tougher than the Championships. Think I'll go take a look at the BBQ/SAUCE for IRI for last year. I'm using the Winner/Finalist numbers.

72 teams, 234 wins/finalists since 2005, 358 total wins/finalists. Now, that's something like: BBQS 4.97, SAUCES 3.25.

That's probably higher than any regional. I won't go so far as to say that it's higher than the Championship, but it's probably pretty close.

[lenny8]

i knew id get flak for this but i know a few team that have rookie driver ( we had a rookie driver) not verry smart but i hope i get to drive at IRI next year and yes i agree IRI is tougher but i dont like that fact that most people dont scout and just go but what have you done...

[Akash Rastogi]

Originally Posted by lenny8

i knew id get flak for this but i know a few team that have rookie driver ( we had a rookie driver) not verry smart but i hope i get to drive at IRI next year and yes i agree IRI is tougher but i dont like that fact that most people dont scout and just go but what have you done...

IRI is THE PLACE for elite teams to go. You have to be a top robot to be on an IRI alliance. It is NOT like one of those regionals in which there's that one team that deserves to be on an alliance because they've had a good showing at the event. You need to have a robot that has been dominating all season and a team with a big reputation. Refer to all of this year's IRI alliances because just by looking at the teams you see a list of elites (with 1 or 2 exceptions). There is no room on those alliances for a team that did "pretty well" comparatively in their season. They DO scout, but they scout to look for a level of teams beyond the norm. Most at IRI just don't fit the mold.

Notice how on each alliance, each robot is one of those top performers who could probably carry an alliance by themselves to victory at most regionals. But after all, this is not a regional.

[Zflash]

1319 has won the Boilermaker, Peachtree, and Palmetto regionals, as well as the Galileo division. So I can only speak on those. They all had thier differences that made them harder and easier in some respects. However I think the determining factor in deciding if the regional is the hardest is the sheer number of teams in attendance. Scouting comes more into play and your odds of winning get less. Sure every regional has it's own powerhouse teams but every once in a while a rookie team or a team that is finally coming into thier own can surprise you. The only way to identify them is scouting efforts.

[lenny8]

Originally Posted by lilstogi11

IRI is THE PLACE for elite teams to go. You have to be a top robot to be on an IRI alliance. It is NOT like one of those regionals in which there's that one team that deserves to be on an alliance because they've had a good showing at the event. You need to have a robot that has been dominating all season and a team with a big reputation. Refer to all of this year's IRI alliances because just by looking at the teams you see a list of elites (with 1 or 2 exceptions). There is no room on those alliances for a team that did "pretty well" comparatively in their season. They DO scout, but they scout to look for a level of teams beyond the norm. Most at IRI just don't fit the mold.

Notice how on each alliance, each robot is one of those top performers who could probably carry an alliance by themselves to victory at most regionals. But after all, this is not a regional.

i see... ok that just mean this year we have to have a good showing huh

[popnbrown]

Originally Posted by Zflash

However I think the determining factor in deciding if the regional is the hardest is the sheer number of teams in attendance. Scouting comes more into play and your odds of winning get less. Sure every regional has it's own powerhouse teams but every once in a while a rookie team or a team that is finally coming into thier own can surprise you. The only way to identify them is scouting efforts.

The number of teams attending is definetely a factor, because like Zflash mentioned chancesof winning are reduced. However, there are definetely those teams that have consistently brought good robots.
the one example I can refer to, would be the New Jersey regional, where over the last 3 years (or 4) 25, and 103 have been allied and have won the regional. To their credit they have amazing mentors and great students who come up with innovative robots every year and that definetely counts towards making a team much harder to defeat, hence making a regional that these types of teams attend harder.
I'm sure if we were to play with numbers and determine the statistics, that these veteran "powerhouse/dominating" teams holds the majority of alliance spots at regionals.

Although, the great thing about FIRST is the exchange of information, which makes it possible for those few rookies that become top 10 at the first regional they attend.

[lenny8]

ok so what is the BBQ/Sauce of boilermaker?

[waialua359]

Being invited to IRI is correlated to some degree, with teams that attend championships. However, in terms of robot performance alone, being invited to IRI is a greater honor than Championships as invitations are only sent to those that had a great/good showing and a reputation for being successful.
The list says it all year after year.
Perhaps the "hardest" "regional" of all is IRI.

[lenny8]

Originally Posted by waialua359

Being invited to IRI is correlated to some degree, with teams that attend championships. However, in terms of robot performance alone, being invited to IRI is a greater honor than Championships as invitations are only sent to those that had a great/good showing and a reputation for being successful.
The list says it all year after year.
Perhaps the "hardest" "regional" of all is IRI.

i agree, i especially like the rules at IRI since they fix the rules that everyone hates like the crossing the line rule but yea luckly our team has been evited every year since our rookie year