THanks for a great Duel on the Delaware

[Rich Kressly]

Thanks 316 and 365 for a great Duel on the Delaware as usual. Special attaboys to the field side volunteers that struggled through the FMS Light issues and ultimately devised a plan that worked so well.

To all of the teams, who handled the enable, disable, auto, teleop sequence directly from the DS's in the player stations - what a great job. Can't think of a better showing of coopertition in recent history.

Congrats to all the winners and participants. We had a great time exposing fresh folks to the drive team experience and I even got to coach matches for the first time ever.

[Kristian Calhoun]

I too would like to thank teams 365 and 316 for hosting yet another successful Duel on the Delaware. This was my first event as a returning alumnus, and I must say that I had an excellent time. It was great to see our rookie drivers step up to the sticks and take it all the way. I'm very proud of you guys! Of course, it could not have been done without the support of our alliance partners, 316 and 007. Also, congrats to the finalist alliance of 222, 816, and 84 for a set of extremely close final matches.

Congratulations to Team 1089 for winning the Spirit Award, and thank you for allowing me to coach your drive team! I really enjoyed working with you!

Some final thank-yous go out to Wayne Penn/Mr. Gregory for emceeing/announcing, the refs and field crew, and to Chuck for giving me a ride to the event.

And finally, as always, it was great meeting up with some of my old FIRST friends and creating new ones. See you all at Brunswick Eruption!

[Petra Hartman]

Likewise, a thanks to 316 and 365 for hosting an awesome off season.
Some very close matches with a good deal of ties added into it. And even with the problems in Light Issues the game never got too far delayed.

Completely, absolutely worth weekend 8 hour train ride right before finals to be a scorer there. Massive amounts of studying on the train, then massive amounts of fun helping out. Perfect balance, and a lot more interesting then just studying in the library until 2am

Thanks again Kressly for the bus ride from Lower Merion to duel, and Carol for letting me volunteer.

[Foster]

Let me add my thanks to 316 and 365 for hosting another great off season event. I was impressed by how you handled the field glitch, almost like you had planned and practiced for it. Your volunteer team was fabulously organizied from the pits to game management to food service.

Thanks also to the team from NASA, without your support we couldn't have events like these. You help put the "Fun" in FRC!

[Big Kid]

Thanks to 316, and 365 for organizing. Thanks to 365 and their alliance partners for the my first and most epic semifinal as a driver, really got scared after the second match lol. And same goes to 316 and their alliance partners for my first and best final as a driver, I would not like to lose to no other team then you guys. And I do have to thank my special surprise coach, The Fro, I really couldn't of done it with out you there buddy.

[Akash Rastogi]

A congratulations to 222 816 25 and 316, all teams we've had the pleasure of working with at some point in the '09 season. 816, all I can say is keep it up, I'm really proud of you guys.

[Prash R.]

Being a rookie driver, this competition was my first real experience of what competition was like from the view of the driver station. It was a great experience for me because of the dedication of all of the workers and teams 316 and 365, for making this such an enjoyable event not just for me, but for all the teams that attended. THANKS!!!!!!!

[darkember]

Thank you for a great duel. We had a blast. We would like to thank our alliance 365 and 1980 for a great run and for helping us with our jaguar problem.

[thefro526]

First of I'd like to say congratulations to 25, 316 and 007 for winning such a close competition. It was truly a pleasure playing against you guys in the finals.

Also, thank you 222 for picking us to join your alliance, I'm glad we were finally able to play with each other after joking about it for so long. Also, thank you for all of your guidance and coaching suggestions, they really helped a lot.

84, playing with you guys was so much fun, I don't know of any other team that would've "played dead" in a semi-final match. Hopefully we'll be on the same side of the glass again.

Finally, thanks to 816 for letting me return as coach. I'm so proud of all of you guys and what you were able to accomplish with such a little bit of practice and experience. Nick, Dan and Joe, I'm still amazed at the level of maturity and skill you guys showed out there - you definitely didn't look like rookies by the end.

[Mr MOE]

Lots of Thanks are necessary for an event like this. Unfortunately, not everyone can be thanked personally. Here are a few of the people who made the Duel special:

Bill Clark and Salem Community College
Even without your lobby and concession area, together we figured out a way to make this year's Duel work. NOTE: Salem Community College Received the DUEL HERO award this year for their support to hold the event at the Field House despite all the facilities work.

Rob Thate and NASA
Once again, NASA provides the opportunity for many of us to hold off-season events. Thanks so much!

Bob Dudek, Duel Planning Team Leader
Bob was instrumental on developing the plan for the tent concessions area and in implementing the competition field change when FMS Light was having problems. Great job!

Peggy Beattie, Volunteer Coordinator
Even though she was not present the day of the Duel, Peggy was the driving force for our 120 great volunteers for this event.

Joe Perrotto, FIRST Tech Challenge PlayDay Lead
Joe is not only a member of the FTC Game Design Committee, but he built the official field in his basement and had it available to any FTC team who wanted to use it on Saturday. Thanks, Joe!

Scott and Chrissy George, Team 316
Scott and Chrissy loaned the Duel the use of their RV for concessions support, Chrissy ran the concessions show, and Scott fabricated all of the special Duel Awards trophies. Awesome job!

Susan McNeil, Success Won't Wait
Success Won't Wait has become part of the Duel on the Delaware the past few years. Thanks to all team members, who donated books (and sneakers) and to Susan and her crew for packing them up and distributing them to those in need.

Paul Dennis (Team 1719), Wayne Penn (DEKA), Chris Gregory (Team 1089), and Pete Kieselbach (Duel FTA), Sunny (Head Ref)
Thanks for working so hard to overcome the challenges of the day. You guys were fantastic.

Award Winners
Duel Master Volunteer - Mike Siegel, Team 375
Duel Champions - Teams 25, 316, and 7
Duel Finalists - Teams 222, 816, and 84
Book Drive Winner - Team 423 (Thanks to Charlie Affel for delivering the books personally)
Sneaker Drive Winner - Team 316
Spirit of the Duel - Team 1089
Most Books Collected for Next Year's Duel - Team 84
Duel Dedication (8 years, every year, from Richmond, VA) - Team 422

and lastly, all of our VOLUNTEERS and ATTENDING TEAMS Thanks for everything you have done to make this another memorable Duel.

See y'all soon.

[Larry Albert]

Thank to teams 316 and 365 again for hosting The Duel. What a great off-season event this is! Its a wonderful way of kicking off the new season. Thanks to teams 375 and 365 for selecting us as alliance partners.

[komaru84]

Chuck 84 would like to thank Teams 222 and 816, it was an honor being able to be on your alliance. Also, congratulations teams 25, 316, and 7, as well as 222 and 816.

Also, congratulations to Team 423 on your books!

[camtunkpa]

Thanks to all the folks from 365 and 316 who put on a great event year after year! Thanks to all of the volunteers who helped 316 and 365 put on a great event. Thanks to all the teams we played with and against for helping train our rookie drivers. Of course thanks to our alliance partners 816 and 84. 816 we've joked about being on the same alliance almost all season and finally got to make it happen at Duel. Your bot and game play were a huge asset to our alliance. Team 84 what can I say we're sister teams. It's great to play with you guys on alliance any chance we get. Thanks for some great defensive play! Thank you to both of our partners on giving our somewhat unconventional strategy of a dead bot a try.

Congrats to the champions 25, 316 & 007! you guys all played hard and made the finals very exciting!

We'll see everyone at Brunswick Eruption & Ramp Riot!