2009 Palmetto Regional

[ttldomination]

Team 1261 had an off regional, and things simply didn't go our way and we lost..we lost a lot.

So going into finals, we were really hoping for a second pick, and thanks to the 4th seeded alliance, we were able to join the finals.

Giving thanks where it's due, I would like to thank 1052 and 1746 for picking us. It was the highlight of a relatively "down" regional, and the alliance was AMAZING. With 3 scoring robots, we easily passed the quarters, and
in the semis, one of teams acquired a second yellow card and got an automatically loss, a match we should have won. Coupled with a loss in the third match, we were out of the championship, a proud, but still hungry alliance.

So I am most grateful to 1746 and 1051.

Congratulations to 1771, 2415, and 21 on the win. 1771 was due for one, and they deserve it. We were hoping to be aboard that epic GA alliance, but 4th seed really gave us a warm welcome, one we couldn't refuse.

Now to worlds. We have minor things to do, and I hope that 1746, 1771, and 1261 are in the same division so we can give this GA alliance another try.

[ebarker]

Originally Posted by BenX02

And why was the Peachtree team social canceled? When I was watching the Webcast last night, they are like "Team Social at 6:00", my jealousy level went up by 10 points.

Nearly the entire system is not having socials this year due to the economy. There are only 3 or 4 system wide.

It is easier for a university to pull it off if they use their facilities. Much harder if you have to rent a venue.

[alicen]

On behalf of Team 1379 I would like to once again thank Teams 3025 and 2815 for choosing us to join their alliance. You both are amazing rookie teams, and have managed to best some well-worn veterans, we hope to see you again in coming years.

I'd also like to thank 1771, 2415, and 21 for some amazing final matches. We are honored to have lost to such great opponents. I hope you do well at championships.

I'll be there at championships giving VIP tours and be ready because i'll be around telling the VIPs how amazing all of your robots were and how well you compete as teams.

[santosh]

Thanks guys. We were really worried about things when we were 1-3 but were able to close out with a 5 match winning streak thanks to some GREAT alliance partners. Some times not the best alliance but great strategy helped us prevail.

I want to especially thank 1771 for picking us team 21 for being such phenomenal alliance partners. Yall were great and we worked nearly flawlessly together. I would especially like to congratulate all the Georgia teams. In my 6 years in FIRST, I have never seen that many Georgia teams going that far in a regional. FIVE TEAMS. Norcross 1379, Forsythe Alliance 1746, Peachtree Ridge 1261, North Gwinnette 1771, and us Westminster 2415.

I would like to thank all the volunteers for helping getting everything to fit in littlejohn... sort of haha.

Thanks to all the Georgia teams and mentors (Jeremy Roberts and Mr. Rosen) who were continually texting me throughout with support from home. And for Mannie Lowe who was there for us as well at competitions. Wasting my unlimited texts...

Congrats to 1676 for winning Chairmans and 281 for winning EI. I hope that one day our team can match yours in involvement and in embodying the values of FIRST.
Thanks to the Spartans, 425, for helping cheer us on as well at 2438 for helping us as well.

and Congrats to my little "Kiddies" for winning the Entreprenuership award AGAIN and a Regional Championship AGAIN. Maybe we can go for 3 of each in a year at Championships haha...

It was a lot of fun. Kinda like a roller coaster, but without all the wind

[ttldomination]

Hm...Just a comment about the venue,

I think it's time that Palmetto Found another place. Maybe like a convention center or something. Clemson is great, but their court simply doesn't work anymore. The pits are tight, and heck, some of the pits weren't even with the regular pits, they were in the back.

Just a thought, but still none the less, a GREAT regional.

[Magiciandude]

Congrats 1771, 2415, and 21!!!

I can't wait to see you all at the world competition!!!

I would also like to thank team 1051 and 1261 for being such awesome alliance partners in the finals! Thank you for picking us as well!

Congrats to team 1676 as well on the chairman's award! Maybe I'll get a rematch in Smash Bros. now

It was an awesome weekend and a great regional!
I hope I can come back and visit next year

-Chris
P.S. Are you happy that you got your Fork Trick, Santosh?

[santosh]

To Magiciandude... thanks for the congrats and Hell yeah I am happy. I have been waiting a long time for the trick. FINALLY.
And yeah ttldomination, I am sure that Clemson gives Littlejohn to FIRST at incredibly discounted rate (which is important during this time), and in turn they were able to plug the univ. of Clemson (which ALL you Juniors in hs should definitely look at (this is coming from an Emory univ Student)), I think they should consider lowering the # of teams or just keep it how it is. It wasnt that bad in all honesty. at first it seemed that way but I think it was fine.

and that is also why they had a social here. the university has the facilities just like Mr. Barker was saying

[Akash Rastogi]

Working with 1771 this season has been awesome, and I look forward to our collaboration in years to come. Good stuff Sean, good stuff. See you in Atlanta dude.

2415, you guys owned, 2 regionals...i mean c'mon

2815...holy $@#$@#$@#$@#!

[PlatyPi Gunner]

Congrats to 2415 on two in a row! and congrats to 1771 for getting a championship! and to 21, whom we might see in Atlanta

[RMS11]

Originally Posted by PlatyPi Gunner

Congrats to 2415 on two in a row! and congrats to 1771 for getting a championship! and to 21, whom we might see in Atlanta

Thanks. It all started with you picking us, when things started to finally fall into place!

[rspurlin]

Some thanks and congratulations:

First, congratulations to 3025 for a great run, winning highest rookie seed by being #1 at the end of quals, and for being a regional finalist in their first ever event by captaining an alliance through some truly tough competition. Thanks to you for choosing us to share your moment of glory.

Congratulations also to our regional finalist alliance partners, team 2815, also a rookie who are cherishing their well deserved rookie allstar award along with their finalist medals.

Both of these rookie teams are very impressive and we hope to see much more of you in the future.

Congratulations also go out to team 1771, a team we share some history with. We hope we can strengthen those bonds as we both go forward. After some tough luck at Peachtree, you guys certainly deserved the win.

I cannot say enough great things about 2415 from Westminster. After winning Peachtree, you come north and take a second regional banner home. You're going to need a lot of wall space if you keep this up.

And finally congratulations to Team 21, a great partner for the two of our local teams I'm so familiar with. I hope to learn much more about you and see you again at coming events. I was the one who was honored to help you with your team pictures in the parking lot after the event. I hope they came out all right.

Congratulations are also due to both 1746 and 1261, teams we also consider close members of our local family. Beside both being excellently well run teams that consistently perform well, both overcame adversities in South Carolina to reach eliminations. I'm especially proud of all our Georgia teams that came to Palmetto and all five found their way to the semis. Seeing 1771, 1746 and 1261 together would be a treat at Championships.

I'd also like to add a special thanks to Clemson for their hospitality, along with the Palmetto Regional Planning Committee for staging an excellent event. Don't be surprised if you find some of your ideas adopted a little further south. The team social was great and hopefully a lot like what we'll do at Peachtree when we bring it back.

[Andrew Y.]

Originally Posted by Magiciandude

Congrats 1771, 2415, and 21!!!
P.S. Are you happy that you got your Fork Trick, Santosh?

WHAT!!.... Santosh? forget santosh...i was sad! I wanted my second fork trick. what am i going to do with one fork....i need two....i expect 4 at championships

WOW....Thanks to 1771 and 21 for a GREAT run! Cant say enough on the teamwork and strategy that was going on.

THANKS to everyone for your phone calls and texts!

THANKS to all the teams who helped us out and offered help when me.....um....flipped our robot over befo a mach

THANKS to the parents teachers and staff of WESTMINSTER schools AND all our sponsors for supporting us!

SEE ALL YOU GUYS AT CHAMPIONSHIPS

[MikeReilly]

Too sleepy still to write coherently, but here goes a try:

Thanks to 1379 for giving us our start, literally housing our team for the first couple of years, sharing tools, even feeding us. A privilege to face off in a finals with you.

Thanks to 1261 (especially Val and Mary) for their input and guidance on the growth and opportunities for our team.

Thanks to 1746 for sharing their practice facilities, advice, and FIRST spirit with us, we still have a lot to learn from OTTO (except in the case of shipping, we're good there.)

Thanks to 2415 and 21 for a great match, an amazing strategy!

Thanks to Meggitt Training Systems (http://www.meggitt.com) and Gwinnett County (with encouragement from Cisco) for finding that last minute funding to come to Palmetto, and of course GlobalAgendaGame.com for their new sponsorship ( and a really cool game! ).

Finally, we have rocking mentors: Martin, Sean, Jon, Bobbi, Gerald, and many others, we could not do this without you.

For those I left out, sorry, it's early. Pretty cool stuff.

[Billfred]

Don't ask me how I still have my voice, but I do.

Today was a rollercoaster of a day on all levels, one that's thrown the gauntlet down to all of the teams I've worked with. Some shouts:

1293, my alma mater, for finally making the elimination rounds. The kids that were freshmen my last year mentoring them are now seniors, and it's been three LONG seasons. (And, as someone who was there at the start, a LONGER five.) This year, everything just came together. Even if it was just two matches, I hope it's the beginnings of something much more.

1676 for winning Chairman's. They were 1618's neighbors at Palmetto and nothing but a class act. I hope it takes them less time to come back to Palmetto again. (They medal every time they do!)

1730 for helping out all the folks they've helped out. If someone told me they'd helped every other team in the arena, I would probably believe them. It got to the point that I had to ask if they brought a kitchen sink. (They hadn't.) Teams like yours save teams like mine from all sorts of calamities.

The Clemson Ph.D. student who inspected 1618 for not failing our inspection as my self-restraint with regard to Clemson jokes started to slip. (He gave as good as he got, though.)

Everyone who complimented 1618's shirts. It seemed that every time I would go over to other pits to talk strategy, the topic came up. Even if our robot wasn't quite delivering the goods, it was good to know that we'd hit something out of the park. Thanks.

1746 for owning up to their coach touching the controls in SF1-1. I can only hope I'd have the same nerve to admit that in the same situation (their alliance had won the match). Also, congrats on the Imagery award--we were gunning for you hard on 1618 (see above), but I was nodding my head in agreement as the citation was read.

2815 for a hell of a run at Palmetto. I didn't rejoin them until eliminations, after my duties with 1618 were done, but they took the lessons learned from Bayou and used them to reach that much higher. Their RAS efforts were much improved, their robot was driven better (in my view), and the team was that much louder. No team I've worked with, past or present, has worked as hard to earn their spot in Atlanta, and nothing thrills me more than to know they got it. Now, um...anyone happen to have $5,000 lying around?

[Jeff Pahl]

Congratulations to 1771 on a very well deserved win!

Originally Posted by MikeReilly

Thanks to 1379 for giving us our start, literally housing our team for the first couple of years, sharing tools, even feeding us. A privilege to face off in a finals with you.

It's been a lot of fun watching your team develop and mature over the last few years. One of the highlights of my time in FIRST was getting to see you guys pick up the very well deserved Xerox Creativity Award at the Championship last year. You have come a long way from building a robot from the scrap aluminum from the old school bleachers!!

However, I don't think I ever want to try and keep two Kits seperate in the same room ever again

Looking forward to seeing you, 1261, and 1746 at Championship.

And congratulations to 1379 for making the Finals for the first time ever!

And thanks to 801 for making the webcast available, so that I was able to see all the fun from up here in MN.