IRI thanks and reflections from 2826

[trilogy2826]

2826 had a great time at IRI this year, but it was way more than about the win. We made some fantastic new friends, have some great stories and played with and against some of the best in the world. It doesnt get any better than that.

When we dropped into 5th seed, we knew that we would have a long road ahead of us and incredibly difficult task to be able to even get as far as the finals. Way before the alliance picks we had a strong gut feel that 1114 and 4334 were our team. As Paul Copioli said when he introduced us: "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em"

It was such a pleasure to finally get to work with HoF 1114. They had the perfect combination of speed, scoring and bridging, and all this with brand new drivers at IRI. It went way beyond the robot and drive team. Karthik and Kyle had such an innate sense of how things can play out, see things that might be and plan effectively around the shortcomings. It was an honor to be a part of your process.

4334 has been offered a lot of praise since they made it to Einstein and in my opinion deserve every bit of it. It has been said that they designed to one function and they simply did that well. I agree, but they did another amazing piece of work in SF1-2 playing some phenomenal physical D against 148. Not only did ATA push them back across the bridge, but halfway across the Red side of the field. It was one of my personal favorite moments of IRI.

245. Thanks for your patience and helpful inputs. Even though you didn't get a chance to play, you were always there with a helping hand.

I also couldn't be more proud of our pit crew. 16, 330 and even our own driver beat the snot out of our intake, necessitating a full replacement each time. Our pit crew had us up and running without us having to use our timeout card. Just awesome.

Again, my favorite part was seeing our old friends on 67, 2194, 48, 71, 111, 1732 and 1714 and making some great new friends in teams 33, 973, 2337, 1114, 2056, 245 and 4334. To be part of a community with such talent and dedication is something that you just don't get anywhere else.

Finally, thanks to Andy, Chris and teams 234, 45 and 1024 for putting on a great show. After 3 years attending IRI, it keeps getting better.