2011 Game Hint #1

[JaneYoung]

Originally Posted by jerry w

The conclusion to reach here is that we will be inflating some object. We will be "Blowing-up the game piece".

That would mean clowns.

[Travis Hoffman]

Originally Posted by JaneYoung

That would mean clowns.

I was thinking unwanted Lebron James merchandise myself. Oh, wrong connotation of "blowing up". My bad!

I really enjoyed "blowing up" the wall of bins in 2003. We haven't really had a game since then where robots get to contribute to the entropy of the game pieces in such a dramatic fashion. 2004 had a bit of it with the ability to release the balls in the overhead bins early, but it wasn't THE centerpiece of the game. That kind of dynamic is always a crowd-pleaser, too.

Blowing up a wall of inflatable clowns - with trains - I could deal with that. Bring it on.

[alectronic]

We also know that bumpers are involved, and if Bill annouced them that "early", we can assume there is a good deal of contact or at least multiple elements on the field they are trying to protect.

[Bill_B]

Originally Posted by techalex

We also know that bumpers are involved, and if Bill annouced them that "early", we can assume there is a good deal of contact or at least multiple elements on the field they are trying to protect.

So here goes my one, deeply researched, wild shot at the ecology of 2011's game. Never mind how old the Lavery reference is to Boxcar Willie in his picture post. The boxcar reference merely pulls us further away from the "truth" to Little Eva's Locomotion song. (I also like the "Back on Track" album title as the name of the game this year.)

Instead, delve backwards from the location of Willie's overpass memorial in Red Oak, Texas, part of Ellis county. It's a bridge over Interstate 35E for non-rail vehicles. Prominent in Ellis county history is a relatively recent underground, technological phenomenon. Construction work on it was begun about the time of FIRST's startup in 1991, only to be starved of funding by Congress in 1993. If I mentioned Waxahatchie, would your atoms begin to quiver? Only about a third of the 54-mile circumference was tunneled even though there were 17 access shafts excavated.

Yes, that's right. I'm talking about the Superconducting Super Collider project. My guess is that the six, on-field robots will be engaging in a series of super collisions.

Scoring? Maybe we'll be carrying accelerometers?

Crowd-pleasing? You BETCHA!

Loco-motion? Crazy, man, crazy! Ever hear of demolition derby? on a figure-8 track? We are going to have a pool-noodle flattening, aluminum bending, tire-spinning, full-bore crunch-fest that will be the absolute talk of FIRST's NEXT twenty years!

[Wayne C.]

Originally Posted by JaneYoung

That would mean clowns.

good to have you on board the Circus Train Jane

WC

[JaneYoung]

Originally Posted by Wayne C.

good to have you on board the Circus Train Jane

WC

Wayne,
I'm still recovering from 'loco-motive' - this one is going to require CPR.

Good luck to 25 this upcoming season.
Jane

[IndySam]

Originally Posted by JaneYoung

That would mean clowns.

clowns are scary!