pic: Wildstang 2011 Teaser

[Mike Soukup]

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[Karthik]

Welcome to the Team.

[XaulZan11]

I was ok with occasionally facing an IFI team at the Championship or IRI, but now we have to see one at both our regionals?! I am not happy

Will there be another 'teaser' or will this have to hold me over until Thursday at Wisconsin?

[Racer26]

Interesting. Does this predicate Motorola axing their support for 111 in 2012, or is it simply a case of a Motorola executive decision affecting the direct local support 111 has been getting from Motorola, but Motorola will continue to support 111's program in future? I also wonder if this means simply that IFI has 'rescued' the stranded 111 for the 2011 FRC season, or if this is likely to become 111 joining the Team IFI ranks on a more permanent basis?

[JaneYoung]

Twelve days into the build season, we learned that the shop was shutting down, all the machinists were losing their jobs, and we would not be able to use it anymore.

I'm very sorry this has happened and I'm sorry that all of the machinists faced job loss. ( I can relate to that very easily.)

IFI must be very proud to be 111's sponsor and friend. It is a strong partnership and brings happiness to a sad time.

Good luck this season, 111.

Jane

[Kims Robot]

Wow, what IFI continues to do for the FIRST community is amazing... I wont mention the politics that cause me to be amazed, but lets just say they are the definition of GP

Im certain Wildstang will make IFI proud

[Chris is me]

Wow. Congratulations on your decision. That six wheel drive will serve you very well.

I guess the IFI thing is neat too.

[Rich Kressly]

Even facing these types of grim situations, the community finds a way to sustain excellence.

Two lessons for all the kiddies to learn here:
1. You will not get 100% of the help you don't ask for.
2. No FRC Team, no matter how many blue banners they fly, is immune to this kind of adversity. Prepare. Always.

No matter how well I think I know the IFI folks in Greenville and beyond, even after moonlighting for them for three years, I'm always amazed how they find the energy, time, and resources to support a cause all of us feel is so important in oh so many ways. You could spend a week listing all the contributions and you won't run out of line items ...

[Akash Rastogi]

In the wise words of Wu Tang Clan, "Diversify yo' [funds]!"

Great to see another IFI team.

Any special specs on the 6wd setup?

[Billfred]

I see they also included some silver Sharpies with the parts.

Sorry to hear about the closing of the Motorola shop--hopefully everyone up there (tie-dyed or otherwise) bounces back quickly.

[ratdude747]

With the motorola shop down, where are you guys working now?

Good luck this year. I know what having a big sponsor (or in my case, a promising prospect) back out on you. I would mention who it might have been in my case, but we are giving it another try.

Hopefully there is more than just this teaser...

[Mike Soukup]

The answer to the general question of "what's next?" is "we'll see." Motorola at the corporate level plans to continue to support FIRST and our team. This was just an unfortunate local decision that impacted us. We still have our practice field and we have enough hand tools to get us through this season. We're exploring a bunch of options for machining for next year.

Billfred, we used black sharpies for the red bumpers last year and a disappointing white paint pen for the blue. After seeing John's blog post we decided to give silver a shot and it worked real well.

[Jared Russell]

A NARROW WILDSTANG ROBOT???

What is the world coming to!

[Chris is me]

Originally Posted by Jared341

A NARROW WILDSTANG ROBOT???

What is the world coming to!

They were narrow in 2010, too... I'm so confused.

[Brandon Holley]

Sorry to hear about the Motorola shop closing. It's no surprise to see you guys able to still make a beautiful looking machine despite that setback.

Oh, and team IFI is getting scarier by the year...

-Brando