2013 Finger Lakes Regional

[iVanDuzer]

A huge congratulations to team 2809 for their first ever Chairman's Award! Having seen what you guys have done over the past five years, it seemed like a no-brainer. Having knocked on the door with a couple EI wins, it was great to see you guys finally get through it. 3710 was holding a fundraiser dinner and as soon as we heard that you guys won the entire room erupted into cheers. We wouldn't be half the team we are without you guys (actually, we might not exist at all!)

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure that 2809 is only the second Canadian team to win Regional Chairman's at an American regional (1547 won Granite State in 2010, I think). What an accomplishment. Kudos to you guys!

[JamesSpencer]

I'm going to start off by thanking all of the Volunteers to making this event happen. Without you none of us would be able to experience this wonderful event,and for that we are all thankful. A special thanks for the MC Angry Eric, who was entertaining and fun, being the face of the regional.

Teams 1507 & 578 - It was great being on an alliance with you. We worked great together and almost came up with a way to beat the eventual tournament champions. It was our pleasure and hopefully we will have a chance to do it again.

Teams 3003, 1405 & 1559 - All I can say is WOW! You guys impressed me immensely. 1559, that triple hang came out of nowhere, and made a huge difference, and consistent scoring and defense when needed from 1405 and 3003 when needed. You went up against some great competition and came out on top as the 3rd seed. That is something to be very proud of. Congrats on to the whole alliance for getting that blue banner, especially 3003 on that first blue banner. Hopefully there will be many more in the future.

All Elimination Teams- You made for one of the most exciting semi-finals, that I have ever seen. You should all be really proud of your robots, and know that they could all have won this regional if a few more disks had gone the other way.

Finally to my team 2809 - These past 4 years as a mentor have been a journey. The adversity we have overcome is incredible. Without our teachers this year, we managed to knuckle up, and still build a successful robot and keep doing everything we do well. I want to extend a HUGE thanks to all our kids for putting in the extra work that was required of them. Finally after 2 years of winning Engineering Inspiration, we finally made it through the barrier to win our first Chairman's Award. Everyone on 2809, hold your heads high and know you have accomplished something special, lets keep this spirit up going to GTR east this coming weekend.

For anyone who wants to see our Chairman's video

Thanks again for a great regional, and best of luck in your other competitions this year.

[Tetraman]

What. A. Weekend.

I called it before: this was going to be THE most exciting Finger Lakes Regional ever, and was I right. But it wasn't just the best in terms of action on the field, but we had by far the best staff and volunteer crew ever assembled. I have a ton of people to thank and a bunch of congrats to offer:

Firstly, to my awesome FTAs, Liz and Mark and the other field crew Eric, Jeremy, and Tim. Thank you all so much for helping me with my first year as Scorekeeper/Field Power. I don't think I could have been anywhere as successful without Mark at the helm of the goal sensors and Liz taking care of the robots. A giant thanks to Chris and Brett, and all of my other score counters - you were an exceptional team and I offer my deepest gratitude for helping us ensure that the counts were accurate. Also, big thanks to Dante for being the best Head Ref in all of FIRST, JohnDar for being the only Announcer I ever want to hear, and to Angry Eric, Big D Dylan and Karthik for making this a well hyped event.

Next, I have a special message to those teams involved in Semifinal 1-2. To teams 3173, 250, 378, and 1405, 3003, 1559: I had an absolute mental breakdown trying to sort out the score, and I loved it. Thank you for being such great competitors and giving this regional a match to remember.

Then, the teams themselves:

While we had a lot of bumps and problems, congrats to 174 on not giving up at all. You really are one of the best teams to mentor and watching us go from a no-show to active and scoring, I am very proud of you. Head to buckeye with that same passion. As long as there is a match to play, play that match to win!

To Team 3173, for letting me hang around at their friday night meeting and eat their food. You are a very inspiring team and were one of my personal favorites this year (even though your full court shooter made it a pain for us to verify scores. ) I wish you even more success at Boston.

To the winners 1405, 3003, and 1559: You three have been great teams over the years at FLR, and I am very glad to see each of you take home a medal for the first time. You all had impressive robots and played every match of eliminations to the fullest. Your alliance had it all: A perfect 30 point climber, a defensive juggernaut that could score like crazy, and an accurate and fast shooter. You had the perfect formula to win and you deserve this victory.

To team 2809, congrats on your Regional Chairman's award and to 1111 on your EI award.

This also gets me to thank all of the teams coming in from out of state: Usually FLR is a very predictable regional, with all of us set on winning the same awards we have won many years in a row. But you road teams have shown us that in order to be the best we have a lot of work to do. Thanks for being gracious competitors and we hope to see you next year when FLR is a week 4 or 5 event.

And lastly, thanks to Charles and Brett from AndyMark for turning me into what they call an internet celebrity. I have no idea if that is true, but it was great meeting you both and I look forward to seeing you again somewhere. I'm happy to have made your TraVlogs entertaining, if you are still reading this and haven't checked out their TraVlog, you should do that now: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17KAFKSXMhU

To all of those I haven't mentioned, I thank you as well. This was an epic event and will be difficult to top next year. Good luck to all teams at their next event and we will see you all next year.

[Jonathan Ryan]

Just wanted to extend a huge "thank you" to teams 48 and 1126. It was an awesome alliance and an epic elimination round for us on 145.

Thanks to 48 for seeing beyond the wins and losses, and taking a chance on us! To 48's coach, you were the Zen-master!!! Calm, cool and collected while working with us on strategy. Great machine, great driving, great team!!!

To 1126 for implementing 48's "Horseshoe from Hell" defense. We knocked off a lot of the teams that have dominated FLR in the past. You guys are awesome!

A huge thanks to all of the volunteers! Kate in the pit, Koko Ed in the cue, Taylor(Tonya) the flag girl, Dante, Kathy and all of the refs, the inspection crew, the judges, and especially Angry Eric. You all made this event very special for us.

[Grim Tuesday]

I want to extend my thanks to the organizers and volunteers of the Fingerlakes Regional. I've been to six different locations in my time in FIRST and can say with confidence, FLR is the best of all of them. The venue is just the right size for watching closeup but the stands never seem empty nor cramped. The pits are an easy walk and scouts always have a good view, not to mention that there is free internet in the pits and stands provided by RIT. The planning committee deserves intense kudos.

We managed to get our dream team this year with JonDarr and Karthik, and Angry Eric is quickly becoming one of my favorite MC's. The refs, led by Dante are amazingly vigilant and make fair calls. They are truly a gold standard. The inspectors (special shout out to the amazing LRI Rob) are fantastic: helpful, quick and competent. And let me not forget the field reset (first week regional running ahead of schedule!?) pit admin and all the other volunteers that made the event run so smoothly and constantly spoil our team when we go to any other events.

What makes FLR so great in my book is the comradeship of the teams and how deep the event is. We saw deep strategy in the elims that I don't think we'll see again until week 7. The gameplay wasn't just great for a week one, it was amazing period.

There are too many teams I want to shout out to so I'll keep it to a minimum, but I want to congratulate 3003 on their win this year. We had a great time on an alliance with you last year, we knew you would go far this one. Good luck in St. Louis! I also want to compliment 1126 on the defense they played, it really put us to shame. You guys were a real second round steal. I want to thank 1450 for their help with our robots numerous problems. Every time we asked for help with anything, someone from them would poke their head into our pit (they were diagonally across from us) and help us.

Congratulations to 1111 for your EI, we know how exciting it is to win that unexpectedly. It was great having you guys at the regional, sitting next to you and made a lot of new friends on our team.

Finally, I think 2809 deserves incredible respect and congratulations for winning Chairmans. To win it over all the amazing teams at Fingerlakes that applied is really impressive. Congrats. Would you be able to post your essay as well as your video? I'd love to take a read.

Thanks to everyone who made this an exhilarating Fingerlakes Regional. I can't wait for a second chance at Buckeye!

[Travis Hoffman]

Originally Posted by Jonathan Ryan

Just wanted to extend a huge "thank you" to teams 48 and 1126. It was an awesome alliance and an epic elimination round for us on 145.

Thanks to 48 for seeing beyond the wins and losses, and taking a chance on us! To 48's coach, you were the Zen-master!!! Calm, cool and collected while working with us on strategy. Great machine, great driving, great team!!!

To 1126 for implementing 48's "Horseshoe from Hell" defense. We knocked off a lot of the teams that have dominated FLR in the past. You guys are awesome!

A huge thanks to all of the volunteers! Kate in the pit, Koko Ed in the cue, Taylor(Tonya) the flag girl, Dante, Kathy and all of the refs, the inspection crew, the judges, and especially Angry Eric. You all made this event very special for us.

Big thanks to you and Team 145 for being an excellent alliance partner, receptive to strategy and advice. You guys got stronger as we advanced through the elims - exactly what we needed - great job!

Team 48 had a hard-fought and satisfying weekend of competition at Finger Lakes. Bringing a rookie drive team (albeit one that won Rah Cha Cha Ruckus) and a mostly freshman/sophomore team of students to the event, I wasn't sure what to expect. I also knew the bot was packing a subset of features and capabilities we expect it to have at Queen City. I am very proud of my team for extracting significant output from our machine as currently configured. Our #4 alliance was one disc or 10 point hang away from a 3rd match in the finals, and I think we put on a great show for the crowd, so I'm very satisfied with our performance at Finger Lakes. We gained tons o' experience that will benefit us at Queen City, Crossroads, and hopefully beyond.

Big thanks to 1126 for being everything we'd thought they'd be when we selected them as a 2nd pick. Dylan and Alex stopped by our pit and alerted us to the improvements their team was making throughout Saturday. We observed them on the practice field and in their matches, and they looked focused, hungry, and ready to kick butt for anyone who selected them. They did not disappoint. It's always fun to have two defensive-minded teams on the same alliance. I am glad we were able to demonstrate that certain types of defense can be effective against a number of offensive strategies in Ultimate Ascent.

Congratulations to all teams at the competition for putting on a great show - especially the event winners and award winners. Congrats 1405, 3003, and 1559 on a hard fought victory.

I'm very happy for 1111 winning Engineering Inspiration - they stayed at our hotel and ate dinner with us Friday night. I found them to be great people, and the robotics program they've built is simply outstanding - well deserved.

Congrats to 2809 on your Regional Chairman's win! Considering the history of the award at this event, you certainly had to bring some outstanding qualities to the table to earn the award over the highly-regarded teams vying for Chairman's at Finger Lakes.

Thanks to all the staff and volunteers at Finger Lakes who made me not loathe attending a Week 1 regional, as I had previously done up until arriving on Thursday morning. Congrats on a very organized, well-run, and entertaining operation. Thanks also to Karthik and Mark Breadner for showing up and making the event feel just a little bit like old school GTR.

[Karthik]

The 2013 Finger Lakes Regional was a fantastic event. When our small contingent from Team 1114 left St. Catharines early on Saturday morning, we had no idea we'd be walking into one of the most exciting events in recent memory. This very evenly matched field played at high level throughout the elimination rounds, making for some exhilarating matches.

Thanks to the entire Finger Lakes Regional Planning Committee and all the volunteers for your immense amounts of hospitality. Thanks for inviting down onto the field for the elimination rounds, and letting me be part of the show. Working with Eric and Jondarr was a real treat. It was great to be able to call some of the intense action.

A huge congratulations goes out to my good friends on Team 2809 on winning their first Regional Chairman's Award. This team has gone through a lot of adversity this season, and seeing them overcome it all and reach new heights is absolutely amazing.

[julinel]

Thanks for the great post! I was reliving the final matches reading your post - what a thrill. Thanks again for picking us!
Teammate 1559 Mechanical Mentor

Originally Posted by LeelandS

Ooookay. As a mentor of a local team who is able to get back to a computer quickly (like Sean and Garrick), I'll through my hat into the annual congratulation fest that follows every Finger Lakes Regional. You can read through them all or just look for a particular one:

1507/2809/578: Playing you guys in the Quarter finals was terrifying. 1507, off of two regional wins the prior year, is probably the scariest FLR team right now, field-wise. 2809, despite early issues, had grown into one of the main scoring machines and they had a winning drive train from Day 1. 578... We were sure 578 messed us up BAD. Their defense tore a bumper off our robot and completely wrecked 3003's drive system, forcing us to use our time out (something I HATE to do in the QFs) and almost call a back up. You guys were insane. I was terrified it was almost over in the QFs, before it even begun.

3173/250/378: Cam and I from 3173 are friends. So when we came head to head in the SFs, we shook hands and fist bumped and wished each other luck. But when I got back to the driver station, I was a nervous wreck, because I knew 3173 was going to be an absolute mountain to climb. In the first SF match, they scored about 25 discs. That's 75 points. FROM THE FEEDER STATION. CROSS COURT. OVER THE FIELD. INTO THE TOP GOAL. Tell me that wouldn't scare you. They wrecked us. Everyone told me that was a contender for match of the year. 103-102, favor them. It was insane. 250 and 378 weren't sitting on their hands either. 250 brushed off some cobwebs and was shooting long range as well, and was the perfect complement to 3173. 378 plays some hard defense that shut us down for a while. It was crazy. So proud of 3173, though. They're a young team I (as a student from 1126) helped out years ago. And look at them now. Fantastic. Just fantastic.

48/145: These matches. 48 is a legend in the FRC community. It seems everywhere they go, they always have a performance in the finals. This time was no different. For a robot that mainly shot for the 2pt goal, 48 was a force to be reckoned with. I never want to be on the opposite side of the field of 48. Because they honestly scare the crap out of me. But one of their drive team members dances a mean Harlem Shake. 145 was one of the top scoring robots at FLR. They were a sharp shooter and hit their shots like it was their job. It was scary when, in the second Finals match, they did exactly what I knew they would do. They all put down a new strategy and almost shook us out. We came out by one point. I was legitimately shaking, it was so close.

1126: My old team. The team I grew up on, was raised by. And I had to team with them in Q73, and then I had to look at them across the field in the finals. It was an emotional roller coaster. But it's how I wanted it to come down the whole time. I love 1126 to death and I knew that no matter how the match ended, we would all hug it out and congratulate each other. It just happened that my alliance did. By a very small margin: 1 point in the last match. I'm pretty sure I shook hands and/or hugged everyone in a SparX shirt today. It was an honor to face them, and to play them in such amazing matches.

3003: Our first pick. Did not disappoint at all. Tan[X] had a rough start, with some drive issues, but over came them and were ready to resume an offensive role quickly. They have a great drive team, and Steve Schlegel (another 1126 alumni) is a brilliant strategist. It was an honor to work with them and help them get their first ever regional win!

1559: I'm no stranger to Devil Tech. I faced off with them in 2011 as a member of 1126's drive team at Buckeye. This time, I got to work with them. We picked them for their offensive threat. And then they showed us their 30 point hanger. We just let them do their thing and they did not fail (until 48 did what I would call the gutsiest move ever, drove under our tower, and pushed them out). Their 30 point contribution plus their consistent autonomous saved our bacon many times. I thank them for being a great partner and team mate.

Thanks to everyone who made this an amazing regional. It was a blast. Being part of the winning alliance was like a dream, and having Karthik do the intros (and call me out) was phenomenal.

It was nice to meet some FRC people who I've only known over the internet. Gregor of 907 and Aaron of 77WHO? were awesome to meet in person for realsies.

See you all next year! I'm off to party with 1126

P.S. If you read this, Karthik. You owe me something! We won the event, now keep up your half of the bargain!!

[coachgallina]

Once again FLR was a success, Every team played hard and the robots were awsome! 3015 would like to thank all the teams that helped us along the way. Congrats to the winners 1405, 1559 and 3003. See everyone next year.

[Jonathan Ryan]

Does anybody have videos of us (145) in the elimination matches???

semi's, quarters, finals...doesn't matter.

Thanks

[Joon Park]

Well, all that should be said has been said, I think, but it being my senior year and all I still would like to chime in and say it again:

What an over-the-top amazing regional. I've told my friends that FLR deserves a scientist name like the fields at the Championship, if this level of competition continues. Sitting there in the stands, watching the elimination matches, Karthik, Eric, and Jon Darr at the mic, scores breaking 100s... You had to be there. And those of you who were there know exactly what I'm talking about.

I want to extend a personal thanks to Karthik for bringing his signature MC flying kicks to the finals, Angry Eric for his fantastic coat, Dante for being the best FRC head ref, and Rob and Liz for being dedicated to making FLR what it is every year.

Even though I won't be attending FLR next year as a part of team 639, I hope the event continues to be one of the most exciting venues of Week 1.

[wakmakr]

Originally Posted by Jonathan Ryan

Does anybody have videos of us (145) in the elimination matches???

semi's, quarters, finals...doesn't matter.

Thanks

Here is the first match of the finals. I've yet to see the final match. I can't wait to see the awesome move by Team #48 on us. It completely caught us off guard!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3IFjVvo4RU

[wakmakr]

Originally Posted by Jonathan Ryan

Does anybody have videos of us (145) in the elimination matches???

semi's, quarters, finals...doesn't matter.

Thanks

Here is the 1st match of the finals. I have yet to see the final match where we get pushed out from under the pyramid. I can't wait. It was an awesome move!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3IFjVvo4RU

[Patrick Flynn]

Congrats to all the great teams that were at FLR this weekend. Thank you again to all the volunteers that make everything run so smoothly.

I have uploaded the elimination matches here, I know everyone was looking for these.
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list...3&feature=plcp

I'm hoping to have the qualification matches that I have recorded up later this week, if anyone is looking for something specific let me know.

[Koko Ed]

Originally Posted by Patrick Flynn

Congrats to all the great teams that were at FLR this weekend. Thank you again to all the volunteers that make everything run so smoothly.

I have uploaded the elimination matches here, I know everyone was looking for these.
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list...3&feature=plcp

I'm hoping to have the qualification matches that I have recorded up later this week, if anyone is looking for something specific let me know.

Dang! they missed 48's defensive gambit.