2010 New York City Regional !

[professorX]

Congrats everyone.

I learned so many things this past weekend.

[Jared Russell]

Thank you to all of the teams that made the New York Regional an unforgettable experience! We were the outsiders, but you made us feel welcome from the moment we stepped foot into the Javits Center!

Team 375: We couldn't have asked for better neighbors in the pits. Thanks for all of the tools and support you gave us, and congratulations on your many awards (Engineering Excellence, WFFA, Finalist, Chairman's)! You had a great strategy against our alliance in the playoffs, and hopefully we will get to replay finals match 3 in Atlanta (or at Ramp Riot!).

Team 522: Thank you for all of the support you gave us, and for the Classmate battery that powered us in the finals! Your robot was one of the most unique and entertaining designs this year - good luck in Long Island!

Team 694: You guys are the complete package: A great team with a great robot. Your autonomous scoring, mid-range sniping, and hanging were the key to pulling out victory after victory despite the double teams on Miss Daisy.

Team 3204: Your girls clearly already "get it"! We wouldn't have gotten out of the quarterfinals without the "lead blocking" that you did on defenders, and we were glad to be able to go the rest of the way for you! Hopefully your administrators see the medals around your necks (and more importantly, the ear-to-ear smiles on your students) and we'll see you in Atlanta and for years to come!

Team 2265: You came "off the bench" with no notice and delivered a heck of a defensive show. For those who don't know, 2265 and 1155 (on 375's finalist alliance) are actually the same school; 1155 is the boys' team and 2265 is the girls'. Round 1 goes to the girls! (Oh, and double congrats on EI!)

Frank Merrick and the field crew: Frank, it was a pleasure to finally meet you in person! You guys kept it together despite problem after problem with the field software and with teams' configuration woes. I think that the lessons learned in NYC will help future events this year go much more smoothly.

No thanks to: Mother Nature

[Ice Berg]

To compete with two robots on your alliance in the eliminations is great, but to get to compete with three is amazing. We picked 3204 because we knew they could benefit our alliance, and they gave us the push that got us to the semis. When I saw that they could not move on, I thought it was over. However, 2265 was out on the field helping our alliance win in less than ten minutes after finding out we needed them. And of course team there was Miss Daisy. After our less than stellar Saturday performance, we thought we had no shot at being on your alliance, but your great 3rd zone start and unstoppable close zone scoring coupled with our mid field shooting, passing and hanging, made for a really great cooperative alliance.

I could not have asked for 3 more awesome teams to ally and drive with. Thank you so much to teams 341, 3204 and 2265. I can't wait to see you all again in Atlanta.

-Seth

[jblay]

I have been attending the New York regional for 7 years now and this has been the best one yet including the one in which I drove the robot. The referees and volunteers were more on top of things than usual and it was nice to finally meet Andy Baker.

341-You guys had an amazing robot and even better driving. It was a lot of fun cheering with you guys in eliminations and I love my new hat. It was great playing with you and developing strategies with a team that is so smart strategically. After all my years of FIRST I've never been aligned with anyone with as good strategy as Jared and his scouts. I can't wait to see you guys again in Atlanta.

3204-Without your defense on the defense on Miss Daisy we probably wouldn't have made it out of the quarter finals. I hope you guys can make it to Atlanta, its lots of fun and you guys would love it.

2265-After 3204 went down I was very happy to see that you guys were next on the rankings. You came in and absolutely shut down teams with your defense and confident driving. Your drivers were good to go and I don't recall ever seeing anyone more excited than when we told you we were putting you in.

375-Congratulations on Chairmans! Also congratulations to Mr. Raile on winning woody flowers after all your years of dedication. You guys were a great opponent every time we faced you this weekend and even though we were never aligned and it didn't look like it was possible for us to be paired you were nice and friendly with us all weekend and I look forward to stopping by your pits and saying hi in Atlanta.

522-You are always fun to talk to and play with and against. I was hoping not to face you in eliminations because even though your alliance was depleted by the loss of 354 you had excellent strategy and you were the most efficient hanging team at the competition in the sense that you hung each and every match. I wish you guys the best of luck in Long Island.

[Marc P.]

2836 had an amazing time in New York! We had a pretty good run in the qualification rounds, until one of the kit wheel supports started bending inward towards the frame, causing our drive chain to lose tension and pop off in our last 3 matches. To top that off, a jaguar failed in our last quarterfinal match, preventing our arm from extending to hang. We've already replaced the failed jaguar, and are working up plans to fix the wheel supports, so keep an eye out for us at the Northeast Utilities Connecticut Regional!

Bad mechanical luck aside, our robot performed better than we had ever expected. For a team going from not winning a single regional match last year, to an undefeated run through the qualification rounds, there was no greater feeling than seeing the smiles on the students faces as they saw their ideas come to life, and work so well. Students who in the build season sat back and watched others fabricate and assemble parts suddenly had their hands in the robot applying loctite to bolts, replacing master links in chains, and connecting wires all over. Everyone on the team was busy doing something to help out, eagerly talking to judges every chance we had. It was really a great weekend.

As small in numbers as we were, my ears are still ringing and my voice gone from the cheers after our robot scored a ball in autonomous, and hung for the first time. I'm almost deaf from the crowd cheers when an opposing robot flipped us over on the bump, and we were able to right ourselves with our hanging arm. It was one of the best regional experiences with a team I've ever had, where even through the problems the everyone stayed positive and energized, and we're extremely happy to have gone as far as we did in the tournament.

We had a great time working with all of the other teams, especially 341. Miss Daisy is an awesome robot with an unparalleled ability to navigate the bumps, zip around dodging defensive bots while possessing a ball, and score from just about anywhere. The people were awesome too, always willing to help out. Thanks to them, we were introduced to the link and a half as a much easier way to shorten our drive chain, rather than fuss with half links (which worked out really well, we came in with 5 half links, gave away 4 to other teams in need, and used the last to shorten the other drive chain). It was a great experience pairing up with you guys, putting up the NYC Regional high score of 11 points (12 before penalties), and we really appreciate the Best Team-Mate award! It's going up with the Engineering Excellence award in the trophy case. Congrats on the well deserved regional win, and the same to 694 and 3204/2265!

As for our alliance partners, not enough good things can be said of 395 and 1302. 395 has always been a classy team as long as I've known them. 2 Train always puts together a solid robot, and this year was no exception. 1302 fought valiantly until the end, playing amazing defense in a 2 on 1 situation in the far zone. We really appreciate the support from you guys in helping fix our chain. It was an honor playing with both of you in our team's first ever stint in the elimination rounds, and we apologize that our mechanical problems kept us from performing at our best in the elimination rounds.

It was also great being in a pit next to 1156, and so close to 759. I know there have been Canadian, British, and Brazilian teams for a while now, but in personally working side by side with them it really drove home the idea that FIRST is truly an international community, where no border, mountain, ocean, or distance can separate students, mentors, and parents from a passion for science and technology.

A big thank you to the field crew, inspectors, referees, queuing personnel, announcers, emcees, and all volunteers who did their best to keep things on time. Sometimes field problems can't be avoided, but you guys made the best of it and kept things moving, and did a great job of making sure things went as smooth as possible. Thank you Andy Baker for your services inspecting, and for being awesome. Just having you there was an inspiration in and of itself.

181, we're looking forward to seeing you guys again in Hartford, but on the same color alliance. We had a great time cheering with you in the stands, and hope to do that again in Hartford as well.

Even the lousy weather couldn't keep our spirits down, after having as much fun as we did. Thank you again, to everyone at the New York City Regional, for such a great time!

[Marisa A.]

To Jared and all of Team 341 : First off, we really enjoyed being in the pits next to you guys! From the back door into your pit from ours, the massive amounts of blue shirts that always seemed to be around, and the Gracious Professionalism award we were thrilled to received, you guys showed us what Flower Power is all about! Endless thanks go out to all the items borrowed, and endless congratulations are in order for the Website Award, Entrepreneurship Award, and of course, winning the Regional with 2265 and 694. We were really disappointed that we never got to play a true match against you guys where our robot was fully functional, but we're looking forward to it, whether it happens at the Championship or (hopefully!) Ramp Riot! From our team to yours, best of luck at the Philadelphia Regional!

To Joe and Team 694 : Thanks for all the congratulations! We're so proud of Mr. Raile, and so glad that the judges at NYC realized what an inspiration he is to our whole team. We were also really happy to receive Chairman's! We've been working towards spreading the spirit of FIRST for a while, and it seems like we're finally getting somewhere! Congrats to you guys for winning Innovation in Control, the Regional title, and of course, to the Dean's List Finalist Award winner on your team! Good luck at the Connecticut Regional, and we'll see you in April!

Some other notes :
To our friends on Team 522, we are so sorry for declining your invitation! We had our reasons, but we know that it would been AWESOME for us to team up for once. Hopefully, one day soon, our little teams from little ole Staten Island will be on the same side of the drivers' station!
To our friends on Team 527, we missed you guys in the stands! We wish you the best of luck this year, especially at SBPLI!
To our other pit neighbors Team 371 : We really admire your perseverance. You guys seemed to have a lot of issues in the beginning, but you worked it out in the end, and that's something to admire.
To Team 1617 - The safety captain of our team (Alex) and I really enjoyed helping you guys out. I have to admit, at first I thought that we might not be able to help you guys pass inspection, but you got through it all! We may have helped out a bit, but we would have never been able to do it if you guys weren't willing.
To Teams 371, 522, and 1396 : We've seen from firsthand experience all the damage that was done on Staten Island, and we're hoping that you all got home safe, and that there was not too much damage to your properties, or your families.
Teams 271 and 1155 were great alliance partners! We had some mechanical difficulties, but you guys were amazing! We made it to the finals together, and that's something to say about the sixth seed alliance! 271, best of luck at SBPLI! We hope to see both of your teams next year at New York! Maybe we'll pair up again... Who knows, maybe this time we'll bring home gold?

-All the teams at New York were great this year! We all had our problems, but we worked them out to have a great competition. Congratulations to all the award winners, good luck at any other events you guys are attending, and just remember : Our regional is one of the many reasons why people think New York is the best city in the world!


(Just some thoughts we've gathered after recovering fully)

[jblay]

Originally Posted by Marisa A.

Hopefully, one day soon, our little teams from little ole Staten Island will be on the same side of the drivers' station!

Back in 2001 522, 375, 694 and another team went all the way to the finals at ny. It is crazy to think how far all of our teams have come.

[jblay]

Also any chance anyone has any videos or pictures from the competition?

[MissDaisyGirl]

Miss Daisy's photos can always be found on her Flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/team341...7623628616196/

And I'm glad you like your new hat

[phil-1302]

Great Job to everybody at the competition Especially our captain Team 2836 and our alliance partner Team 395! The weekend would have been much better if Mother Nature cooperated

[paparich]

On behalf of Team 271, we would like to thank Team 375 and Team 1155 for giving us the opportunity to work with you during this years NYC regional.

[AnibaS]

Originally Posted by jblay

Also any chance anyone has any videos or pictures from the competition?

We have some pictures up, and will add plenty more soon!

http://s695.photobucket.com/albums/v...10/New%20York/

The weekend was highly photographed! xD