Newton 09

[Wayne TenBrink]

Congratulations to 1507, 121, and 177. It was an honor to share the crater with you. The average alliance score for our three finals matches was nearly 100, and the final match came down to just three balls. When you win or lose a blowout, you tend to forget about it and just move on. When a match is really close, you either celebrate or agonize over every little thing that happened. You got the job done!

Thanks to Team 135. It was nice to meet you folks and share some good match time.

A special thanks to Team 85. You beat us at TC. We beat you at WMD and State. We finally got to stand on the same side of the glass at Newton! Thanks for all the scouting help and sound advise all season long. You are truly gracious professionals and we hope to see you one one side of the glass or the other for many years to come.

This has been a great year for the NC Gears. It's the first time we ever had any success on the field, and thats a great ride while it lasts. Maybe we'll go back to being cannon fodder next year (I hope not!). We got to meet a lot of wonderful people and made a lot of friends. FIRST is a great community and a wonderful experience for the the students. The robots are just the common thread that ties everything together and makes all the hard work, character development, and learning fun.

Thanks again to all the folks that made FIRST in Michigan happen. I believe it represents the best future for the rest of FIRST.

[Heretic121]

WOW... all i have to say is wow... those were by far in my 6 years in FIRST the best qualifying rounds at any regional or championship i have been a part of and there have been quite a few between spectating and participating... this division definitely was the deepest from top to bottom at nationals this year...

Secondly i would like to thank several people + teams... First off team 1507 the 5th seed in Newton for picking us to join their alliance... it was quite a coincidence that we happened to be sitting right next to each other on the side of the field as the selections were in progress and it couldn't have worked out perfectly... I am beyond happy that we could come to an agreement with your team due to our heavy feelings on picking team 177 as our last piece of the puzzle...

Next i would like to thank a few groups of people... first the drive teams of our alliance 1507, 121, and 177 for being great listeners, having great incite, and putting our plan to perfect execution each and every match... without you there would be no gold sitting around my neck still right now...

Second... the scouting team of 177... you guys were amazing... having data for every team and every match throughout qualifying and even more so in eliminations bringing down the sheets from each match knowing how we did, what we did wrong, what we did right, and what our opponents did... this brings me to my next thank you...

Jesse the lead strategist from team 177... you are the best person i have ever worked with for strategy in my many years in FIRST... you made my nationals that much better of an experience by definitely lowering my stress level if that was at all even physically possible throughout the semi-finals and finals of Newton...

Next i would like to thank our opponents throughout the eliminations of Newton, making us really work for our shot to play on Einstein... The 4th seeded alliance teams 2771, 365, and 1726.... The 1st seeded alliance teams 1625, 234, and 768... and of course finalists teams 1918, 85, and 135... thank you all for your very hard fought battles, you definitely made me + Jesse's life as strategists very very difficult and i wouldn't have wanted it any other way...

Second to last i would like to apologize to all of the Newton division for not being able to bring home the world championship to our field, but gave it our all out there representing our great division...

Last but not least... i would like to congratulate teams 111, 67, and 971 for giving us our first taste of what Einstein is all about and i could not be happier to lose to an amazing alliance than i ever have before... and congrats on winning it all i wouldn't have wished it to happen any other way... we now know what we have to do to step up our game and win it all and can't wait till we can play with or against you all next year down in ATL...

[kulisb]

It's been a few days since the Atlanta, and the excitement of the Championship event has yet to wear out! As I had hoped, Newton was an awesome division to be a part of, absolutely stacked with quality teams and robots.

I'd like to thank team 1507 for leading us to Einstein as alliance captain. As soon as you picked us, we knew we would go far together. In 9 years, this was my first time on Einstein. Thanks for putting together the right team to make that happen!

177, it was great to finally get to work together instead of against you. We seem to always be up against your great strategy and stifling defense, and it was a relief to be on your side this time around. Plus, it's always nice to win with good friends from the Northeast! Between your amazing drivers, human player, coach, and strategy team, you turned out to be a better teammate than we could ever have imagined.

Also, excellent job to the rest of our division on making up such a strong field. I have never been part of more exciting elimination matches. Those SF and Final matches against 1625, 234, 768, 1918, 85, and 135 that went to 3 matches were almost too nerve-wracking to watch!

Also, I want to give a quick shout out to teams 1155 and 16. You, as well as some others, stood out as dominant teams all weekend, and were certainly on the top of our list. We were absolutely shocked to see that you were not chosen as alliance partners. We saw what 1155 could do in CT, and we know that you would have been an incredible addition to any alliance. Your dominance throughout the competition was definitely noticed by some!

I, for one, am already looking forward to next year. Hopefully we see some of you at offseason competitions. To those we don't, congratulations on a successful season, and hopefully we will all meet up again!

Brad

[Kit Gerhart]

This was not one of our better years, competition-wise, and may have been the first time in the team's history that we were not in the elimination rounds. Still, we had a great time in Atlanta. The competition on Newton was intense, and the 1507-121-177 alliance represented us well on Einstein.

My most vivid memory of Team 121, Rhode Warriors is still from 1998, when they were runners-up to Team 45, TechnoKats, which I was with at the time. That was the last year without alliances, so being with the last "solo" winning team of the Championship is still one of the high points of my life.

Team 233 may be at IRI, but we don't yet know if we can work out the logistics. Also, our being invited is less certain than the last couple years. In any case, I, personally, will be at IRI, and hope to see some of you.

[IKE]

Originally Posted by Kit Gerhart

This was not one of our better years, competition-wise, and may have been the first time in the team's history that we were not in the elimination rounds.

From the stats I have heard, it is true that this is the first time since the alliance years began. I would blame it on the lack of hot pink on the robot this year. More pinker is more betterer. (I think the lack of neon green on the thunderchickens actually helped them qualify higher and be a captain more often this year, but that is purely wild speculation).

DEAR GDC,

Please design next years game so that PINK can be PINK, and Thunderchickens can be Thunderchicken green. Also the BEES and Rush would like to place goldenrod yellow off of the list of targeted colors.

How about a Tie-die taret or one with flames. Both those teams are champions and Chairman winners. they can just coast for a year.

[Tyler Hicks]

It was a great year for the NC Gears!

[flippy147852]

Originally Posted by Wayne TenBrink

Maybe we'll go back to being cannon fodder next year (I hope not!).

Wayne!!!! Don't Jynx us!!

[MrForbes]

I think you'll go on to great things, your team now understands what it takes to succeed

[Chris is me]

Twas a hell of a division and a great way to end the best season I've ever had in FIRST.

First of all I'd like to thank all of our alliance partners, in particular teams 2970, 1629, and 2836. We would not have won our respective qualifiers with your help. 1629's defensive offensive bot was really underrated and without their scoring we would have lost the match. 2970 was a massive scoring partner that rivaled 1625, and definitely tipped the match in our favor. 2836 is a defensive behemoth, I'll be looking toward your team in future seasons simply because you guys have very intelligent drivers who can do exactly what is needed. Also because you had the best pit display ever put up by a rookie. Robot on a spinning turntable? Awesome!

Okay, 2970, I just found it really awesome that this unheard-of team were the leaders of an alliance with legendary teams like 33 and 102. Please be at IRI.

Congratulations to the Newton Alliance! 121, 177, and 1507 was a great alliance in general and upset all the way down the line through smart play. Any alliance can win any match with the right strategy, and you guys definitely proved that.

Now if 2970 went with Code Red Robotics... the alliance selection would have been different. 8th seed would have likely been 1714 / 1726 / 16. How would this have worked ?

[ShotgunNinja]

Originally Posted by Chris is me

First of all I'd like to thank all of our alliance partners, in particular teams 2970, 1629, and 2836. We would not have won our respective qualifiers with your help. 1629's defensive offensive bot was really underrated and without their scoring we would have lost the match. 2970 was a massive scoring partner that rivaled 1625, and definitely tipped the match in our favor. 2836 is a defensive behemoth, I'll be looking toward your team in future seasons simply because you guys have very intelligent drivers who can do exactly what is needed. Also because you had the best pit display ever put up by a rookie. Robot on a spinning turntable? Awesome!

Okay, 2970, I just found it really awesome that this unheard-of team were the leaders of an alliance with legendary teams like 33 and 102. Please be at IRI.

Congratulations to the Newton Alliance! 121, 177, and 1507 was a great alliance in general and upset all the way down the line through smart play. Any alliance can win any match with the right strategy, and you guys definitely proved that.

Now if 2970 went with Code Red Robotics... the alliance selection would have been different. 8th seed would have likely been 1714 / 1726 / 16. How would this have worked ?

From 2970: We are trying to go to IRI, along with 2970's "big brother" team, the Lakeview Legends "Robot Mafia", 1652.

Also: I, along with most of our team, agree with you on Code Red, and the fact was, we kinda skimped on scouting at the last second, hence almost being late for Alliance Selection, and somehow we didn't really have a second pick lined up. I believe that our alliance that we did pick was incredible as far as alliances go (and a big heads up to the Killer Bees, you were awesome, guys) and yes, it would have been very interesting to see how Code Red would have factored into our alliance.

And thanks to everyone else!

[#2970-tim]

Originally Posted by ShotgunNinja

From 2970: We are trying to go to IRI, along with 2970's "big brother" team, the Lakeview Legends "Robot Mafia", 1652.

Also: I, along with most of our team, agree with you on Code Red, and the fact was, we kinda skimped on scouting at the last second, hence almost being late for Alliance Selection, and somehow we didn't really have a second pick lined up. I believe that our alliance that we did pick was incredible as far as alliances go (and a big heads up to the Killer Bees, you were awesome, guys) and yes, it would have been very interesting to see how Code Red would have factored into our alliance.

And thanks to everyone else!

Nick, Robot Mafia( 1625) is NOT our so called "big brother" team.

[Aren_Hill]

Originally Posted by #2970-tim

Nick, Robot Mafia( 1625) is NOT our so called "big brother" team.

And our names not Robot Mafia lol, i believe your saying 1652

[ShotgunNinja]

Originally Posted by #2970-tim

Nick, Robot Mafia( 1625) is NOT our so called "big brother" team.

Of course not.

Robot Mafia (1652) is our Mentoring team. How could I forget. Although there was a bit of coldness between the teams...