2005 Palmetto Regional

[David Guzman]

Thanks for everyone for the complements.

Thanks to team 25 and 301 for accepting to be in our alliance. I'm still completly positive that our alliance was the best we could have done. Too bad things happend that way. Although I don't agree with the ref's call in the 3rd match of the finals we accept it because a ref's call is a final call.

Also special thanks to team 845 for being so kind with us and giving us such a warm time in their state. You guys are awsome and your robot is a great machine.

Thanks everyone and see you all at The Championships.

Dave

[MikeGriffith]

Originally Posted by David Guzman

Also special thanks to team 845 for being so kind with us and giving us such a warm time in their state. You guys are awsome and your robot is a great machine.

Thanks everyone and see you all at The Championships.

Dave

No problem David, 845 was more than happy to support 1251! You guys are a great team and like i've mentioned before, i'm soooooo glad our teams have become such great friends. I hope we'll be in the same division at Nationals this year, and we can kick some bot . You guys did great at Palmetto and we're proud of you! Hope you'll come back next year. Cya at Nats!
-Mike Griffith

[Swampdude]

Not to get another storm brewing but did anyone else have a problem with the way they started the matches here? Usually the MC will say "red team are you ready? Blue team are you ready? 1-2-3 go". But at Palmetto - she would all of a sudden just "1-2-3 go" and we had 3 different matches where we kinda got caught unprepared (2 of them resulted in penalties and hence losses.)

I just wanted to point this out in the event anyone from FIRST notices this post, because I think it's important for the MC's to confirm whether the teams are ready or not. The Palmetto staff was very efficient, and the matches moved incredibly fast. Much faster than UCF, and it just seemed like we were usually lacking that last second of preparation.

[Stephen Kowski]

dan, that is just how mike & matt (the field resetting monsters) roll.....i dunno about the announcing, but when I was out there the abscence of a blue/red ready statement was the exception not the rule....i know I personally waved off the start of a few matches due to issues with robots (not touching the wall/not turned on were most common)

[George A.]

I wasn't there, but from past regionals working with Chaniqua (sorry if i butchered the spelling) I could offer an explaniation. At NJ she did it an would only skip it if we were behind schedule. And at NY the teams never paid attention to when we asked for the thumbs up. Like I said I can't speak for them I'm just offering my $.02 from past experiences.

[Ed Sparks]

Originally Posted by Swampdude

Not to get another storm brewing but did anyone else have a problem with the way they started the matches here? Usually the MC will say "red team are you ready? Blue team are you ready? 1-2-3 go". But at Palmetto - she would all of a sudden just "1-2-3 go" and we had 3 different matches where we kinda got caught unprepared (2 of them resulted in penalties and hence losses.)

One of those matches was our bad ..........

Our human player was asking a ref a question and touching a tetra when the match started. He was heartbroken when he found out about the penalty. He now keeps those hands in his pockets.

Sorry guys ......

[xzvrw2]

man i was watching some of the matches on the webcast i seen some crazy good robots at that regional. i really liked 25s bot 1466 11 and a couple other teams that i can't recall their numbers right now. congrats to every team there on a job well done.

[Collmandoman]

I don't know how appropriate this is.. or even if my team wants me to... well they are telling me right now to do so..so I do know..
Maybe it is advantageous for us to remain a noname come nationals...
but for alliance pairings.. and potentially unorganized teams.. this is bad for us..
sooooo
thanks xzvrw2 - first post that gave them some credit, that wasn't a member of our alliance.. we seriously and genuinly appreciate it =) thanks again

[R81Honda]

Originally Posted by Collmandoman

I don't know how appropriate this is.. or even if my team wants me to... well they are telling me right now to do so..so I do know..
Maybe it is advantageous for us to remain a noname come nationals...
but for alliance pairings.. and potentially unorganized teams.. this is bad for us..
sooooo
thanks xzvrw2 - first post that gave them some credit, that wasn't a member of our alliance.. we seriously and genuinly appreciate it =) thanks again

That is a good point, I wonder how much of bieng picked for an alliance is Performance and how much of it is reputation?

[George A.]

Originally Posted by R81Honda

That is a good point, I wonder how much of bieng picked for an alliance is Performance and how much of it is reputation?

Depends on who does the picking. Most of the better teams (veteran or rookie) has scout teams in the stands painstakingly watching every match. They will know if you have an awesome robot but poor allaince pairings, or the opposite, if your robot isn't quite up to par but got really lucky.

I know for a fact that we have picked teams several times that were almost at the bottom of the pack due to their performance on the field. They had an awesome bot but just got unlucky pairings. Yes reputation has some part but make sure your performance on the field is what gives you that reputation!

[R81Honda]

Originally Posted by M.O.R.T.

Depends on who does the picking. Most of the better teams (veteran or rookie) has scout teams in the stands painstakingly watching every match. They will know if you have an awesome robot but poor allaince pairings, or the opposite, if your robot isn't quite up to par but got really lucky.

I know for a fact that we have picked teams several times that were almost at the bottom of the pack due to their performance on the field. They had an awesome bot but just got unlucky pairings. Yes reputation has some part but make sure your performance on the field is what gives you that reputation!

Well our scout team did an amazing job so I know for a fact that we picked our alliances based on thier performance. Only thing is I belive our team has performed very well, especially for a sophmore team, it just seams like reputation is a bit slow to follow.

[Swampdude]

I wish I could comment on you guys. I know you did great by the way the field looked when the matches were over. But you know how it is coaching. I never see anything except our bot and the scoring. We never got to play with or against you during seeding either. Nor do we have any videos of Palmetto. But I can say what you accomplished was definitely awesome. We had you scouted as the 3rd fastest capper there. 1251 1st - us 2nd and you 3rd. Anyhow, sorry if you're offended but you guys definitely put on a great performance. Congrats!

I wouldn't worry about a reputation, I know how some of the other best teams are scouting, and it's based on caps per match - you've got that down pat.

[Collmandoman]

Originally Posted by Swampdude

I wish I could comment on you guys. I know you did great by the way the field looked when the matches were over. But you know how it is coaching. I never see anything except our bot and the scoring. We never got to play with or against you during seeding either. Nor do we have any videos of Palmetto. But I can say what you accomplished was definitely awesome. We had you scouted as the 3rd fastest capper there. 1251 1st - us 2nd and you 3rd. Anyhow, sorry if you're offended but you guys definitely put on a great performance. Congrats!

I wouldn't worry about a reputation, I know how some of the other best teams are scouting, and it's based on caps per match - you've got that down pat.

we met once~ final match on friday =)

[Swampdude]

Originally Posted by Collmandoman

we met once~ final match on friday =)

Doh! my memory..... Is that the one we lost with the Tech Tigers for the HP's getting off the pad? The FIRST match results are all screwed up again for all the regionals. I don't remember that match, who played who?

Originally Posted by R81Honda

Well our scout team did an amazing job so I know for a fact that we picked our alliances based on thier performance.

It is clear from the picks that the seedings were not a strong indicator of when or if you would get picked.

The teams went in this order (the number indicates seeding)
Clearly alliances 5 and 8 (team 845, 1026) were convinced that seeding was not important. Alliance 5 made it to the semis.
-1---2---3---4---5---6---7---8
-5--15--24--10--36--11--18--21
25--28--13--12--35--22--19--38

Seeds 14, 16(r), 17(r), 20(r), 23, and 26 were not selected. (r=rookie)
The 3 remaining rookie teams were not selected even though they were in the top 20. Does that say more about experience, reputation, or performance?

Based on what I saw, 2 of the rookies were basic driving boxes that got some lucky wins, but gained valuable experience. They were thrilled to go home in the top 20.