2009-'10 EDITION: Second-Year Teams to Watch Out For

[Akash Rastogi]

Same goes here as my thread from last season: Which second year teams should all the vets watch out for and at what regional? Please leave this to robot performance (not RCA or EI). Must be a team who was a rookie last year.

Needless to say, teams 2753, 2775, 2815, 2826, and 2970 will all bring the hurt this year. Are there any unknowns out there who you think will be big players at their regionals?

[Racer26]

2702 at Waterloo

[bearbot]

2849

[Akash Rastogi]

Originally Posted by bearbot

2849

It is frowned upon if you post your own team.

It is also asked that anyone posting a team please provide some reasoning or background about the team.

Thanks.

[coldfusion1279]

I wouldn't frown upon it, but offering reasoning is very helpful.

There are a lot of blossoming sophomore teams this year that went unnoticed as rookies last year. They just want to get their name out there before the season. Heck, I can't even remember more than maybe 2 rookie team numbers after only seeing them once.

[XaulZan11]

Originally Posted by Akash Rastogi

Needless to say, teams 2753, 2775, 2815, 2826, and 2970 will all bring the hurt this year

2970 is not competing this year.

I would watch out for 2741. They had a very well built robot last year and I'm pretty sure they made some midseason changes to become a dumper. Very impressive for a rookie.

I also think they won the Rookie All-Star at Midwest and an award in Atlanta. (I cannot confirm this as frclinks takes me to 2743's page instead). So, I think they are a team that 'gets it'.

[big1boom]

Originally Posted by XaulZan11

I would watch out for 2741. They had a very well built robot last year and I'm pretty sure they made some midseason changes to become a dumper. Very impressive for a rookie.

I also think they won the Rookie All-Star at Midwest and an award in Atlanta. (I cannot confirm this as frclinks takes me to 2743's page instead). So, I think they are a team that 'gets it'.

2741 is no longer 2741, they broke up into two new teams, team 2704 and team 2949.

[teampronto]

Team ____ took 1st in the seeding rounds at the Seattle Regional. Watch out guys!

Edit: nevermind. it is frowned upon.

[Galum]

3075, they were good last year at the Israeli regional and in the championship they took it up another notch, I got a feeling that you may see them in Atlanta this year as well.

[Bongle]

Originally Posted by 1075guy

2702 at Waterloo

Thanks! We'll also be at GTR.

My own nominee would be 2809 from Kingston, who will be at GTR and Pittsburgh. They had a pretty fearsome encoderless traction control system last year, did well at champs (highest rookie seed in Curie), and will likely be solid this year as well.
http://kbotics.ca/our-blog/

[Vikesrock]

Originally Posted by Akash Rastogi

Needless to say, teams 2753, 2775, 2815, 2826, and 2970 will all bring the hurt this year. Are there any unknowns out there who you think will be big players at their regionals?

Might be tough considering they're not registered this year. I believe I read on here somewhere that they merged with another team.

[XaulZan11]

Originally Posted by Vikesrock

Might be tough considering they're not registered this year. I believe I read on here somewhere that they merged with another team.

I'm pretty sure that last year they broke from 1652 so I wouldn't be surprised if the remaining members went back to Robot Mafia, 1652, who has quietly built very solid robots the the last two years.

[Chris is me]

I'm banking on a certain second year team to do well this year. It's at the tip of my tongue, I know they're from somewhere in New York... Uh... uh... Drat, I forget.

2826 from what has been posted on CD looks like it's only getting much better with time. Considering the level they played at last year, that scares me.

2836 had a solid team last year and will probably quietly build on that. While not the best robot last year, they had a very well run team and played a very good, cooperative game at Champs last year. Haven't heard from them since.

2704 is the offspring of 2741, and they have always built quality robots in FTC or FRC. They're directly responsible for my continued participation in FIRST (they selected my robot in FTC 2008), so I'm a bit biased, but I'd be surprised if they aren't solid.

2846, 2861, 2825 all played well at a very rookie-intensive event last year (Minnesota). At least one of the three will be "up there" this year, though it's hard to see them walk away with the regional championship unless they seed high and grab another vet like 2826.

[Stephen Kowski]

Originally Posted by Akash Rastogi

Same goes here as my thread from last season: Which second year teams should all the vets watch out for and at what regional? Please leave this to robot performance (not RCA or EI). Must be a team who was a rookie last year.

Needless to say, teams 2753, 2775, 2815, 2826, and 2970 will all bring the hurt this year. Are there any unknowns out there who you think will be big players at their regionals?

Don't forget the 2 teams 2815 is collaborating with.

[Enigma's puzzle]

I'm going to have to give a nod to Code Red Robotics 2771, not only were they Rookie all stars at West Michigan, (and i believe Kettering and Traverse City) but they also won that award at the the State Competition.

On to true on the field accomplishments, they were regional finalists at Kettering and were selected in the Newton division as a rookie team.

A pretty nice list, and after we got a chance to see how they run their team I wouldn't be surprised if they made this into an even better year.