IRI 2010 Reflections

[MarkoRamius1086]

I am guessing our coach is going to reply to this eventually, but I would like to put in my two cents on my experiences...

In Blue Cheese's first time at IRI, we had few of our members (as did many other teams I met) due to seniors at college, work, or family vacation. Because of this the members that were able to come along had their hands full, running around doing jobs they normally dont have to do. It is because of this that many of us were given the oppertunity to converse with many of the teams attending that we had not met before, such as Simbotics, HOT, Las Guerillas, Metal in Motion, Killer Bees...

...And also catch up with new friends such as Exploding Bacon, Delphi ELITE, ThunderChickens, Mechanical Mayhem, OP...

I also want to say how well run I thought that IRI was run, match transition was smooth, organization was amazing, and the webcast allowed fans, family, and followers of all FIRST teams to watch this amazing event. The volunteers, organizers, and sponsors deserve a big THANK YOU!

I would like also to congradulate the champions: 330, 469, 359, and 399. They were great competition, and after finals that intense they certainly deserved it.

Apologies from my team (and the rest of our brilliant alliance partners) to Andy Baker and the janitorial staff of Lawrence North High School are another thing that needs to be made. We had some fierce, fierce competition (33, 1718, 70, and 51) in the semi-finals, resulting in a couple of intense and time consuming ties

Simbotics deserves a thanks. Their team, their whole team, deserves credit for many great feats (including insane scouting and a slick robot). In my opinion 1114 is undoubtedly one of the best teams in the world.

OP. A supremely competitive team that we first ran into at Galelio. At IRI, even with brand new drivers, they proved to be the team that we met in Atlanta. 2056 is a team that no doubt deserves a huge thanks from Blue Cheese.

1086 also played 3138 in the Galelio finals this year. As with their partners 2056, they also showed that they deserve the title of IRI Finalists. Without them we would not have made it to the finals, as we had to sit out match 2 of our semi-finals.

Blue Cheese had a blast and will be hoping to be invited again!
Sincerely,
Petrie

[EricH]

One of the matches that I remember had the automode holy grail of the year: a 6-ball autonomous.

It was memorable because the alliance that got it lost the match due to one of their robots dying...

[JNelson]

Code Red had a great time at IRI, and really appreciates those who put the work in to make it happen.

It certainly was a team-friendly event that ran very smoothly. IRI was packed with very accomplished teams of all shapes and sizes, and it was good for our team members, mentors and coaches to rub shoulders with so many of you.

We camped out in tents for three nights and had a blast doing that, even after Thursday's big rainstorm! Hobo pies, s'mores and mosquito bites, campfires and Robotics - you can't beat that! It made for some good good team-building. Thanks for the tip on that, Team 107.

To be honest, our team had planned to cut out early from the talent show because we had a late Thursday night drying out our gear. The talent show was so much fun, we couldn't leave! Who can walk out on ball-boy or Exploding Bacon?

Thanks to all the teams, students, mentors and volunteers who helped make IRI something special.

[Billfred]

I'm still recovering from this IRI trip--it's been the travel story from hell, involving five airports (CAE-IAD-IND-ORD-DCA-CAE). As such, I have to give a few folks my sincere thanks:

Tom Heller (better known as yodameister here) for the initial lift from the airport, even after my 10 PM flight became a midnight flight

Sarah Plemmons for the hotel-venue runs

Andrew Schreiber for getting Chris Picone and me to the airport to pick up my rental car for Saturday night into Sunday

Everybody who tweeted or Facebooked me Sunday after my car was involved in a lovely four-car accident in Speedway. (That's the stands in the background.) When in horribly unfamiliar circumstances (first accident as a driver, first rental car, only me traveling), it's great to have some encouragement. Particularly after that first call to my mother...

Kelli Van Antwerp for putting me up on her couch for the night when United blew my connection. (Nothing is worse than being on the ground in Chicago and stuck waiting for a gate, causing you to miss the connection.)

My travel maladies aside, IRI was a great time. I always love catching up with folks from all over, and finals were nothing short of amazing. I already can't wait for next year...but from here on out, I'm driving!

[Mrs.Drake343]

Originally Posted by Billfred

My travel maladies aside, IRI was a great time. I always love catching up with folks from all over, and finals were nothing short of amazing. I already can't wait for next year...but from here on out, I'm driving!

You can ride with us next year!!!

[waialua359]

Andy, Chris, and the many other volunteers for this event:
thanks for putting on a great event that our team finally had a chance to experience. It certainly lived up to the hype!
What made this event better/different from Championships is that we were all in one division. This certainly allowed members of our team a chance to speak with the many great peoples in FIRST a much longer period of time, instead of the one second passby we get at CMP.

Thanks to 330, 469, and 399 for a great run at IRI. It wasnt pretty sometimes, nor was it ever easy at any given point. But we gave it our best against the best to squeeze it out at the end.

Paul, you are one crazy guy! But the perfect MC for any event......and maybe Dave should consider putting you in the GDC.

Great seeing members from 148, 1114, 294, 71, 16, 343, 1538, 118 and the many others we saw during the course of the season.

See you folks next season!
East Coast-2011!

[JOClarke]

Blue Cheese is home and already working on the 2011 season. IRI was incredible, over the top, beyond my expectations. Champs are over whelming by the sheer number teams and students but IRI really was the best of the best. Blue Cheese hopes to be a part of this incredible event next year.

Team 1086 and I would like to thank Andy Baker – Chris Fultz & Families, Mark Koors, IRI volunteers, Team 234 - 1024 - 45, Paul & Mike Copioli, Ken & Noel –Mechanical Mayhem, Travis Hoffman
THANKS
Old friends: ThunderChickens, Exploding Bacon, Delphi Elite, Mechanical Mayhem
New friends: Jim Zondag – Killer Bees, Jane Young – IRI queuing, KOKO ED – IRI queuing, Glenn – Hawaiian Kids and team HOT

Special thanks to: Karthik – Simbotics, Tyler – OP and team 3138 Innovators, we gave the # 1 seed a run for the money but those last couple of balls after the match ended made all the difference. It truly was an honor running with you guys, hopefully Blue Cheese is allowed to cross the border for a chance to play again with our new Canadian friends or maybe the state of Ohio and the innovators can welcome us.

We appreciate all the support we got from all the teams at IRI. Next year we hope to do IRI right with a larger team. Team 1086 learned a lot and hopes that the lessons we learned from HOT and Simbotics, will carry Blue Cheese to a new level of success.
Thanks Again
From THE BIG CHEESE

[Karthik]

IRI was once again another amazing event. The intensity of the elimination rounds was unparalleled. Where else do you see three Einstein teams picked outside the first round? Looking back at the matches from Saturday afternoon, I quite certain with just a couple different bounces of the chains any of the top 6 alliances could have ended up in the winner's circle.

Special thanks to our elimination alliance partners. It was an honour to be picked by 1086, a team we had heard a lot about this year. They totally lived up to the expectations created by their two regional wins and division finals appearance. I'd also like to thank them for accepting our input into strategic decisions. This team was a blast to work with and I expect to see them continue to bring home big awards in the future. As for Team 2056, this was their first ever event that didn't have the same drive team that they had used from 2007 to Atlanta this past year. This rookie drive team kept improving all weekend long, fully hitting stride with an amazing performance in the elimination rounds. (Also, thanks for the amazing #8 hat. I'm wearing it with pride right now.) Finally, Team 3138. I have no idea how we got a team as good as these guys as our 4th robot. They were the ultimate professionals, always ready to play at the drop of the hat. It's hard to top a rookie year that includes a trip to Einstein and the IRI finals, but after seeing the determination of this team, I expect nothing else.

I could go on and congratulate a multitude of teams on amazing performances this past weekend, but I want to draw special attention to one team. Often within the FIRST community and especially on this forum we lose sight of greatness. Too much time is spent extending sticky sweet platitudes and making sure everyone feels like a winner, we sometimes fail to stop and appreciate true excellence. I'd like to take a moment to recognize the dominance of Team 469 this year. In my mind they were easily the best robot in FIRST this year, and possibly the most dominant robot since Beatty in 2001. Two different games were being played this year, traditional Breakaway when 469 wasn't on the field and "469 Breakaway" when they were. With 469 on the field, every team had to adapt their strategies and play this new game. It was a sight to behold. I'm still amazed that 469 had the courage to undertake such a risky design strategy and the engineering prowess to execute it flawlessly. On top of all this, they had to deal with an obscene amount of "hate" just because they were that dang good. Despite all the negative attitude displayed towards their team this year they were unfazed, always moving forward in the most professional way. I was already a huge 469 fan before this season, but this year they earned my highest level of respect. In sports we talk about and glorify great teams like the '27 Yankees, '85 Bears and the '96 Bulls. In terms of FIRST history every discussion of greatness should include the 2010 Las Guerrillas. ¹

1. Other teams to consider in this discussion, 47 in '98, 71 in '01 & '02

[Cynette]

Originally Posted by Karthik

... Two different games were being played this year, traditional Breakaway when 469 wasn't on the field and "469 Breakaway" when they were. With 469 on the field, every team had to adapt their strategies and play this new game ...

One of my favorite moments was when 469 was pulling into queue behind the alliance station and the mentor/coach quipped, "Just once I'd like to play in an end zone!"

[BrendanB]

Originally Posted by Cynette

One of my favorite moments was when 469 was pulling into queue behind the alliance station and the mentor/coach quipped, "Just once I'd like to play in an end zone!"

Haha, and they did too! I think in their first or second match!

I agree with Karthik! 469 is an amazing team and the hatred/flak they accumulated this year is completely uncalled for!

[vance]

Originally Posted by Karthik

In terms of FIRST history every discussion of greatness should include the 2010 Las Guerrillas.

If I could continue the sports metaphor, I consider 469's performance this season tantamount to the '07 Patriots.

This was my first event as my team's operator, and holy carp. You always hear about some awesome teams using a rookie drive team at IRI, I know 2056 and 217 are some examples. It's a little different when your team is a first-timer at IRI and people called the robot "that stupid little Oregon Trail wagon."

I'm incredibly surprised at our results at IRI. The fact that we even got in was an accomplishment in itself. I'm sitting here a week later still in awe that our team was actually an alliance captain. Go NH for being home to a quarter of the alliance captains.

After alliance selection, our teams met up, and for our incredibly difficult match-up for the quarter finals, we had a ton of outside support. Our team likes to think we are good with strategy, and we generally are, but the incredible way our alliance partners 910, 343, and 111 came together for the match took me by surprise. Raul of 111 is definitely a master in his game. We had great help from an anonymous member of 2041, who just showed up out of no where. Our biggest help in hind sight came from 1519, who gave us some 469 info that combined with strategy from Raul led to the events of QF1.2.

In the end, I left this competition with positive memories. I really hope to return next year.

[JaneYoung]

From an outsider's viewpoint who had never seen it before, 910 drew a lot of strategy discussions around them while waiting in the queue. It was neat to observe. That will be how I remember them, along with their very loud group of supporters in the stands. Fun.

Jane

[Josh Adkins]

Team 3138 would also like to send a thanks out to our alliance partners at IRI. Thanks to 1086 for picking us; we were sitting on the edge of our seats during those last few picks and it was a huge relief to know we would get to compete in elimination rounds. But a special thanks has to go out to both 2056 and 1114. Starting with 2056, our season wouldn't be complete with out them. We truly couldn't have had a better rookie year and a large part of that is thanks to the great experiences we had playing with 2056 and 1625 throughout eliminations in Atlanta, specifically on eistien. We learned a lot about how to conduct ourselves as a team and how to strategize, two very valuable skills in FIRST. Although we didn't get to know 1114 as well as we did 2056, we have been impressed with both their team dynamics and the engineering of their robot since pittsburgh, and we would not have been as prepared or proffessional at IRI without the experience of competing at pittsburgh with 1114 or watching them on eistien.

Many other teams have also helped us throughout our rookie year. It would be nearly impossible to thank all of them, but our success has to also be attributed to the help of mentor teams 48,1038 and also 379 who allowed us to use their robot as a pre-rookie team at IRI 2009.

As a side note, 3138 would like to follow the rest of FRC in congragulating 469 on their success and amazing design. Our goals for next year include striving to think outside of the box and create an efficient and effective design just as 469 did this year.

[IndySam]

The Goats had a great time as usual at IRI. Even though we had a bad draw (seams to be our fate at IRI) it was a successful event for the team.

We were able to let some new people experience the fun of being behind the glass and even had one of our students with zero wiring experience help wire half the field with one of our mentors.

But I will have to say the best moment of the weekend for me was our last match of the day.

Our button monkey Nick and I were in the pit discussing strategies to use against 469 (something involving grabbing onto their mechanism with our hanger and pulling, all in jest mind you, we love that machine.)

Up walks Megan and she starts explaining the rule of the ranking system to us. She was so cute, I had to stifle a big smile and patiently listened. We told her we understood and we would do whatever the other two teams wanted because we had zero hope of being in the finals. I also had a good idea where this strategy came from

I was observing from the balcony as our robot was placed in the far zone (we always start in the front zone.) A couple of knowledgeable people on the floor looked up at me and smiled, they new instantly what the plan was.

After auton we turned and scored 5 balls in the other alliance goal and headed down to our zone to block our goal. The combined looks of shock, applause and booing from the crowd made my day.

The team left the field with big smiles and great memories.

Once again a huge round of thanks to all who work hard to make this event so wonderful for all of us who participate.