2009 BAE Granite State Regional

[JewishDan18]

I'm rather curious as to why team 238 had a 7-2 record in qualifiers. They played in a "qualification match 0", with a crushing defeat, boosting their RS substantially (enough to rank ahead of 20). Reseting the alliances because of one mistake, and not catching this one is unacceptable. I know the field is new, but the FIRST should know how the ranking software works by now.

[Tim Baird]

Originally Posted by TheDark

Yeah, I was quite irritated at the refs for not having updated the rankings based on the last match.

Hey guys,
I've been reading and listening to a lot of people's frustrations about how the past 3 days went. As someone who was physically on the field working, I share your frustration and feel your pain from the double-selecting mishap.

However, please keep in mind that this is a brand new system and that the game play generates a lot of static electricity. I received a zap every time I had to disconnect a trailer this weekend. As we saw, after the airlocks were taped up and water was lightly applied to the carpeting, the system improved tremendously as robots were no longer discharging themselves when they went to drop off empty cells.

When airing your thoughts and displeasure, please try to remember that some of the best crew in FIRST were working that competition. They put in many hours trying to get everything up and running. The refs, FTA, and scoring crew are not out to spoil your day. Trust me, they'd rather see every match played perfectly once and go home sooner. Just be a little patient while all the kinks are getting worked out.

Just my two cents.
Thanks.

[paulamayfour]

I think one of the most frustrating parts of the regonal was that the officials would never expalin what exactly went wrong. There were some matches that went on without problems, but then there would be an error and when we asked what it was it couldnt be explained to us. Also in matches where something clearly went wrong, like robots not being able to move from the begining of the match, the match was played all the way through then replayed. They let it finish which took more time and caused more confusion and frustration. Also when they re picked alliances it took about a half an hour to announce the re-picking. Many alliances had already stratigised and the first matches had already been called for cuing. Alliance pairings is such an important aspect of the competition and they should be checked over before doing the picking. They were not done right and it was fair that they were redone, but the problem should not have come up in the first place.

I understand it was a new system, and that there could be bugs in it, but teams can not do anything to fix the problem. The problems were also talked about as being what the world is like, however teams could not fix this problem and could not have prevented it. It was the responsability of the regional to make sure systems worked and putting it to the system alone and the way problems were handled made this in my opinion a very poorly run regoinal.

[jimwick]

Thanks to all the other five teams in the GSR finals, from Team 885. Thank you for your sportsmanship and good will. Thanks for an exciting final. Thanks for all the help we received from team 811, and many others.

This was a real thrill for our team. Nobody's feet are touching the ground yet.

Yes, there were some problems with the way the matches and the pairing were run. Still, we are very happy for the opportunity to be in the tournament at all, and we couldn't be more happy with the way it turned out.

Jim Wick
Adult Mentor for Team 885

[Chris]

I would like to offer props for the volunteers at the BAE regional for admitting their mistake in the draft order, owning up to it, and redoing the draft.

This is unprecedented as far as I know, and it is an impossible situation.

On the one hand you know that when you redo the draft there’s a possibility that a team that made the finals first time around won't make it second time around. Which is utterly heartbreaking.

But on the other, 238 played by the rules, and deserved the right to draft as the #1 seed, breaking up what would've been a powerhouse alliance (20/121).

In an impossible situation, I think the volunteers should be commended for owning up to their mistake and doing what was right by the rules, even if it added more time, and led to some heartbreak for a few teams.

And for the record it was an absolute travesty that 467 somehow didn’t make the finals the second time around, they were absolutely one of the 24 best teams at BAE, and should be watched out for at Chesapeake. I think some of the drafting teams really missed the boat. Great robot guys!

[RogerHebert]

I'd echo the sentiments that while the competition wasn't perfect, it still was a really enjoyable experience for our Team. Many times in the real world, companies don't "own" their mistakes and proceed as if they didn't exist. The fact that there was a plan of action to correct it (and admit it) says much more to me than the fact that the error occured. If you're waiting for perfect announcers, perfect fields and computer systems, and perfect anything, you're going to be very disappointed in FIRST, as in life. Try to enjoy yourselves and not take everything SO seriously. Dean says it's not about the robot, and that includes the field and competition.

[kristenliz_28]

Originally Posted by Chris

I would like to offer props for the volunteers at the BAE regional for admitting their mistake in the draft order, owning up to it, and redoing the draft.

This is unprecedented as far as I know, and it is an impossible situation.

On the one hand you know that when you redo the draft there’s a possibility that a team that made the finals first time around won't make it second time around. Which is utterly heartbreaking.

But on the other, 238 played by the rules, and deserved the right to draft as the #1 seed, breaking up what would've been a powerhouse alliance (20/121).

In an impossible situation, I think the volunteers should be commended for owning up to their mistake and doing what was right by the rules, even if it added more time, and led to some heartbreak for a few teams.

And for the record it was an absolute travesty that 467 somehow didn’t make the finals the second time around, they were absolutely one of the 24 best teams at BAE, and should be watched out for at Chesapeake. I think some of the drafting teams really missed the boat. Great robot guys!

I agree, I just wish they had caught the mistake in the seedings earlier. To give a team hope that they were in the finals and then to rip it away...that must have sucked.

I'm still thinking about what a 121/ 20 alliance would have been like...though I must give props to 121, 175, 2621 for their victory, good job guys, it was an intense final!

To 40: your crab drive is impresssivee, it was awesome to be allied with you for a second year in a row!

To 885: I loved your multi-material robot =D and y'all were great in the elimination matches!

[Nola]

Thanks for the support everyone! Though at first I was disappointed at not getting picked for the finals, I think that our team still preformed very well and I'm proud of our robot. Paula and Christina, I would like to point out to you that this is the first regional that we competed in where the robot passed inspection immediately, and it also didn't break once, which I found amazing

I think the competition could have run smoother, but I still had a ton of fun participating. 1519 and 1276 thanks for picking us the first time, you both have great robots, 1519- your human player is amazing, and I think we would have been pretty awesome together. Team 58, you guys had one of the nicest drive teams that I've ever worked with, and Think Pink's signs made me laugh (mango pie?)

besides the replays gave us extra practice time

[fimmel]

Oh Man was that amazing! being a member of 885 were not exactly used to being in the elimination matches but making it to the finals holy cow what a way to end my senior year. I would love to personally thank teams 20 and 40 for making this possible for us! and wow 121, 175, and 2621 you guys are amazing ...that was a tough last match and a well deserved win for all of you

...Forest

[NancyD]

I feel confident that since both Woodie Flowers and Dean Kamen were aware that there were issues beyond those of the static problem, that as soon as the regional ended they were reviewing what occurred to make improvements for all future regionals. Hearing Woodie Flowers get angry at the situation of the redo of the finals rounds let our students know that the problems were recognized, and hopefully would be addressed so they do not happen again.

My favorite quote of the competition occurred right at the start of the regional and was, “Don’t ask to have a match replayed, it won’t be!”

[t3dw4rd0]

Originally Posted by BrendanB

We were also upset over the fact that we had to re-pick alliances mostly because we liked our alliance already, not to mention that the event was already far behind and we were looking forward to playing with 467 but it didn't work out

And the alliance name "The Mechanical Duct Taped Blitz" Just sounds cool

That's really nice to know, and 467 was looking forward to playing with you guys as well. And congrats on chairmans 1519, it was very well deserved!

But yea, as many other people have said, this was one of the most poorly managed regionals I have ever seen. I understand the pressure of scoring and judging (from scoring FLL teams once, madness!), but there should not have been nearly as many redos as there were, or at least matches that had already run all the way through that were redone. That's what the foghorn is there for! If a team is disabled without hitting their big red button, it's time to stop the match and check out the system (or splash the field a bit, as we saw towards the end). This regional also showed that it's important not to rush alliance pickings. I could tell that the MC had been told to go as fast as he could, since some teams weren't being asked to accept (although it was true that some of the acceptances were obvious based on reactions). Even though the competition was behind schedule, it would have been more beneficial to take it at a decent pace. If they hadn't been rushed, the ranking mishap might have been noticed earlier.

467 has gone to Manchester to observe the game in past years and to see what teams are doing, and it has always been a smooth running competition. Although this is my last year as a highschool student in FIRST, I hope that next year in Manchester will be as good or better than it's past years past years (and that I can come back and see some more action!).

Finally, congrats to 121, 175, and 2621! You guys did a great job and had outstanding robots. If you're going to nationals, good luck!

And Think Pink, congrats on the spirit award! I loved your signs, and I want to thank you for humoring my request for "Pant."

[Rick]

Thanks for the kind words of congratulations everyone. I would like to thank 175 and 2621 for an awesome alliance! 2621 is looking great for a second year team. Hope you guys can make it to Atlanta!

Also congratulations to all the award winning teams! 1519 sounded like they really deserved that Chairman's Award. Also props go to hard working Kristen Kelso on the WFA win.

PS: The DJ at BAE was awesome.

[Doctorwho]

The DJ did play quite a few good songs, but getting Rick Rolled while the messed up rankings were fixed was a slap in the face.

[kristenliz_28]

Originally Posted by Doctorwho

The DJ did play quite a few good songs, but getting Rick Rolled while the messed up rankings were fixed was a slap in the face.

Yah, I was almost expecting the video to pop up on the screen... *face palm*

[JewishDan18]

Originally Posted by kristenliz_28

Yah, I was almost expecting the video to pop up on the screen... *face palm*

No, that was me