2009 Lone Star Regional

[amariealbrecht]

Good luck to all teams participating in the Lone Star Regional. From experience with competing against and as alliance partners with, I know that you will have a firm competition.
Best of luck to all teams!

[JaneYoung]

Folks traveling,
Keep an eye on the weather as you travel and bring your rain gear, there may be showers. The temps should be mid-70s to 80.

I head towards Houston tomorrow and am looking forward to seeing everyone and enjoying a fantastic competition.

[Andrew Schuetze]

Originally Posted by lynca

I think doubling the # of teams in a state is a bit fast for one state. The real results will show by how many teams return for next year.

A lot of this growth is related to foundation type support of partner schools with a multi-year commitment to financial support so we likely won't see heavy attrition due to lack of financial support. It is a dimishing support model so all of these teams will start wading into the deeper end of the sustainability pool starting in August.

So major Kudos goes out to the group of new and existing volunteers at the regional events as well as the many veteran FRC teams that are pitching in to help make the first FIRST experience for many of these rookies a positive and rewarding experience.

I also don't think FIRST and key volunteers in Texas are looking to add regional events for the sake of having more. It is a two or three year effort to put in place the needed volunteers and sponsorships to support and operate these events. So it may be another two or three years before a third regional comes to life. Which is a good thing

Not to be lost in this discussion is that FTC went from 18 teams and one championship event the last two years to 54 teams and two championship events this year. Quick math indicates a tripling the number of FTC teams in the State. A few veteran FTC teams in Texas actually have just finished their Texas Two Step of Arlington and San Antonio

Short and Sweet plenty of opportunities for Chairman's Award efforts by all with alot of that already happening via the community of FIRST teams.

[ShadowNinja]

woooohoooo! HOWDY! Good to see former teams back in Lonestar....Goodluck to all teams this is going to be fun, intresting, and exciting! I cant wait to see what is possible.....Team 231 High Voltage welcomes all!

[Coach Norm]

Team 2468 is excited to be coming back to Houston for LSR. We have seen some of the other teams at OKC and Dallas. 148 put the hammer down on us with the help of 418 scoring the super cell on us.

Chaos was in OKC with us as the two lone representatives from Texas.

Best of luck to everyone and be safe on the road.

Oh by the way, we noticed some of the Lynca's scouts up in Dallas last week.

Big Thanks to Lynca for all the updates, reminders and information he sends out.

Good luck to our mentors from last year: 418 and 2158.

[AndyB]

Anybody watching Lonestar today? I'm very impressed by the caliber of the teams there as a whole.

[TLuck234]

Friday of the Lone Star was pretty good. There is definately some good robots, especially the defending world champions 148. There design is great. Team 34 is ranked 8th right now and we are ready for tomorrow. Good luck to everyone

[ShadowNinja]

There are lot of teams here with some spunk and skill...Lonestar is where all the action is!

[ginosoprano09]

Congratulations Teams 2587,704, and 1421!!

Congratulations Discobots for being Alliance Captains

[Stuart]

Yeah 704. Great group of people. Congratulations to The Discobots, Team Chaos, and the Warriors.

[Akash Rastogi]

Woot! Congrats to Lewis and all of 418 for THREE Regional awards. WFA and RCA. Congrats!

[Stuart]

go LASA!!! . . and yes between 2 regionals they got a "triple crown" ( WFA, RCA, Game).

[crake]

The regional was a great event complete with awesome performances with a touch of drama and suspense!

I took photos at the event (I was one of the photogs running around the field) and I'm making them royalty-free for FRC team use. Here's the link:

http://www.crakephotography.com/FIRST%20FRC

There are two galleries - one of robots in starting positions on the field. I didn't start taking complete sets until the afternoon, so I'm sure I'm missing a few (sorry!). The other gallery is everything else: lots of driver shots, field shots, set up, and some pit and crowd shots.

Enjoy!

[mjazzka]

Great job to all teams involved, it was a really intense regional!

Congratulations to teams 704 (Warriors), 1421 (Chaos), and 2587 (Discobots)!!! Those last matches were so intense, it was a pleasure competing against you guys. And 1421, I'm glad that you got your revenge on us after Bayou, we will see you at Nationals!

Thanks to teams 3028 (Nice Young Men) and 3103 (Iron Plaid), our rookie alliance partners who helped us get SO far! Finals were amazing, and you guys were so easy to work with!

Also, good job to team 418 on winning both the Chairman's Award AND Woodie Flowers, not to mention being number 1 seed! You are an amazing team, and we hope to see you again at Nationals and next year!

A special shoutout to the DJs! They played Kyptonite when we got up to play and were extremely friendly and amicable, we hope to see them next year!

Judges, referees, and all the officials were extremely friendly, and I just want to thank them for such a great regional!

Can't wait to see 1477, 2173, 148, 418, 1421, 704, and 2587 at Nats, ya'll are all great teams with great 'bots.

See everyone at 2010 LSR!!!!

[Taylor_Ratliff]

That regional was amazing. I drove for team 704 in 2004 and 2006, and came close to winning but never did. I am now a college student at UT Austin, and mentor. I was at both Dallas and Lone Star regionals helping the team. Our victory yesterday will send our team to the championship for the first time.

Firstly, thank you to all of the volunteers and judges that make these events possible, its a great deal of hard work and their dedication is fundamental to the way the FIRST operates.

We also want to thank our alliance captain 2587, and partner 1421 for being amazing teammates. Our teams really connected and I believe the teamwork was key to our success.

There were so many other amazing robots and teams there. Our opponents in the finals, 3038, 624 and 3103 all earned their place there and put up an amazing, penalty free performance.

Congratulations to LASA for the "Triple Crown" as its known.

We enjoyed working with 148 as well, and hope our paths cross in Atlanta.

There was so much talent, dedication, and innovation from many teams at Lone Star and Dallas, both veterans and rookies at both events were exemplary.

We hope to see you in Atlanta!

-Taylor Ratliff