Dealing with disapointments

[Chris is me]

I really don't have a good reason to be dissapointed. Our team had our first >50% record since 2006 and won the supermajority of our matches for the first time ever. We won our first regional this year and got picked first overall in Minnesota. I'm extremely happy and proud of my teammates and alliance partners for that. But I dunno, missing a great picking spot in Atlanta by 2 little 9-inch balls just really bothers me.

I've watched that match on TBA 6 times now and can't think of anything we could have done differently at all. The strategy was fine, our alliance partners did really well, our drivers did an awesome job... yet I'm still not content with myself for this reason. I guess I'm just never satisfied.

Yet I feel kind of... guilty... for not being happy with an Atlanta record teams would envy, you know? Grass is always greener on the other side and all that. There's no rhyme or reason for my dissapointment in Atlanta, it's just kind of there. I had fun and I learned something, so I did what I went to do. I just wish things went just a little differently.

At least this way I got to cheer the unheard-of 2970 on as they led an alliance of legendary low numbered teams to the semis. That was pretty cool.

[Andrew Schreiber]

I would like to point out that Akash, instead of blaming others for the losses, looks to himself and how he can personally cope with his disappointment. Too often around here I see people saying, "We would have won if it weren't for our [blank] breaking" or "Our partners did such and such and we lost because of it." All the whining in the world is NOT going to get that match replayed.

I just wanted to say thank you for not whining about your season and blaming it on others. This is a productive thing, we all deal with disappointments, perhaps we can all learn something from each other. Thank You.

[115inventorsam]

We were actually quite disappointed when we didn't get picked in Atlanta. Our robot was performing better than ever at the end of quals, but hardware issues plagued our second and third matches, which caused us to lose comm repeatedly. After we gave 67 a tough battle in our last match on Friday, we thought we had a decent shot at making it, and then one team(1676?) passed around a scouting sheet on Saturday that ranked us 15th, which really got our hopes up. So I felt a little down when we weren't picked.

Looking back however, we've come to appreciate how well we've done this year. Our robot had very few problems the whole competition season, we were finalists at Sacramento, and won EI there, which is how we even ended up going to Atlanta. And our mentor and alumni Patrick noted that this was definitely the team's best robot since 2003(last year's wins were all luck), making this year one of the best ever in our 12 year history. It's all about looking at the positives. I'm sure our team is really looking forward to next year and further building on our successes this year.

[waialua359]

Akash,
Its an example of real life. Sometimes it aint fair, objective, or realistic. Control what you can and live by those principles. At the end of the day, it will allow you to sleep at night and give you the positive outlook and things to look forward to in the future.

Personally, I thought we worked harder this year more than last, but yet our awards weren't indicative of that and we made eliminations last year with a losing record.
Sometimes that's how the dices roll and you have to roll with it also.
There is always next year. That's the best part of it all.

Thanks for the shirt by the way.

[NorviewsVeteran]

After 4 years of competition and Worlds narrowly slipping through our fingers once, I have 3 words of encouragement: At Lan Ta.

I know how it feels to get knocked off your high horse, we got up to 10-0-0 and lost in 3rd round of the finals by four points. I, along with plenty of other people (the others on 1793, to name a few) would kill in the most gracious and professional way possible to even get to where you guys were last weekend. So tell people the good stories, and eventually all the stories will be good ones.

As far as "lessons for next year" go, LEARN from your experiences, just don't FRET over them.

[Akash Rastogi]

Originally Posted by Andrew Schreiber

I would like to point out that Akash, instead of blaming others for the losses, looks to himself and how he can personally cope with his disappointment. Too often around here I see people saying, "We would have won if it weren't for our [blank] breaking" or "Our partners did such and such and we lost because of it." All the whining in the world is NOT going to get that match replayed.

I just wanted to say thank you for not whining about your season and blaming it on others. This is a productive thing, we all deal with disappointments, perhaps we can all learn something from each other. Thank You.

Thanks for noticing this Andrew. If a team blames others for losses, it is both unproductive and hurts TWO teams instead of just one. We know that blaming others for a loss will get us nowhere. Its just something we've never done and never plan to, maybe its an old veteran thing? Either way, thanks for noting this. Each year, whoever we pick or get picked by and whoever we work with in qualifications, we accept losses and wins and move on....kinda where our secondary slogan came from (See my signature)

Originally Posted by Chris is me

Yet I feel kind of... guilty... for not being happy with an Atlanta record teams would envy, you know? Grass is always greener on the other side and all that. There's no rhyme or reason for my disappointment in Atlanta, it's just kind of there. I had fun and I learned something, so I did what I went to do. I just wish things went just a little differently.

Haha, this is actually the perfect way of putting to words how I felt right after Atlanta as soon as 971 got picked (which we were surprised was still around lol)

But yea, this thread has helped a lot, if you read through all the posts I'm sure you'll find some relevancy in a few of the posts that will make you feel better.