what was your favorite first compition

[nuggetsyl]

I bet most of you will think my favorite comp. is 2000 but that is not true my favorite was 98. I think first had it more together back then.

[Jestin McCarthy]

year 2000 without a doubt was the best year.

[Kit Gerhart]

My favorite FIRST competition was 1998, because we won. What made it especially good was that our two previous years were, putting it mildly, not very good.

[Tom Schindler]

98 was most definitely the most exciting year. Oddly enough it was the last year of 1 vs 1 vs 1....... maybe they should bring this back?????

[Joel J]

Considering that 2000 was my first year, I would have to choose it as my best year overall. Also, I wasn't too thrilled about last years game as it did not involve any direct competition at all. This coupled with how well RAGE did during the 2000 season solidifies in my view on this -- 2000, 2000, 2000. This might not be the best view, however, as my field of view is limited to the games from the past two years.

[E. The Kidd]

Well seeing as last year was our rookie year and we beat a load of veteran teams I must say 2001 by far was our team's favorite season

[Katie Atiyeh]

I think 1998 competition was wicked awesome. I really miss the 1v1v1 style, and I also think that human players had it much better. The game depended on the robot and strategy, but the human player could feed balls into the robot (with some restrictions) but they also could make or break the score . . . Just my opinions. . Have an awesome and safe Thanksgiving
-Katie Atiyeh

[jasoni]

2000, hands down.

Almost every single match was exciting, simply because a major aspect of scoring involved cramming 4 robots onto a small platform at the end of the match. The defensive maneuvers were varied and interesting as well.

Those that enjoyed 1v1v1 must not be remembering it well.

I was on team #13 in 1998, the BioBeast. We had a fairly strong machine, I guess we were strong enough to get noticed. We were involved with quite a few matches where our 2 opponents conspired against us. It wasn't just us either, that's for sure. In the tournament at Nationals, I believe every one of the top 10 seeds was sent to the losers bracket by round 2. The finals were between two teams seeded in the 50's. It was sad to see the Bomb Squad and Motorola not end up there. Their machines were fantastic. It was enough of an issue that it was the last year of 1v1v1.

[Dave Hurt]

I'd have to say my favorite year was '99. We went down to Florida as a rookie team, with only 1 or 2 wins in our regional, and we went undefeated in nationals (I think there was only 1 or 2 other teams that managed to do that). That was great for me since I was the driver :-) The only letdown was that we didn't get selected for the finals, but oh well, it was fun.

[Dan 550]

I'd have to say that my favorite competition will be the 2003 comp, because that's when FIRST gets its show (Allegedly).

[ajlapp]

I noticed that a lot of people in this thread weren't around for 1997, so I thought I'd start with that. The thing that made it so good was the use of innertubes. It was a dynamic game and a sophmore year for many of the best teams in the country, including but not limited to beatty, the chief, 3dimensional services, and wildstang......although they kind of competed in the first competition.
Anyway. The robots were incredible(you all should of seen baxcat, a.k.a. heatwave.......that was when they used to be purple and black.......I've yet to see too many robots that matched that machine in pure beauty.)
I'll through a special nod to wildstang for 1997......they broke out that year with their nested telescoping lift. It's been copied but never replicated, at least not by anyone but wildstang. You can see it in the FIRST Place!
Beatty 3was in top form that year also.....winning their first National Championship.
I guess I really loved it so much because it's old school. The competition was small and the robots were amazing. Hopefully we can continue to recapture that spirit in the years to come.

Anthony Lapp
Team 221
MI Roboworks

[Kit Gerhart]

I remember Windstang's '97 machine with the four stage lift made with their usual beautifully fabricated 1/32 inch (?) aluminum. As I remember, the lift was powered by four seat motors in tandem.

[ColleenShaver]

'99 was definitely the best year in my book. it was the first year of alliances and it was a cool game, i thought..

next after that would definitely be '97... 1v1v1 and innertubes rocked..

my LEAST favorite ironically seems to be a favorite among many: 1998. I didn't like the game.. or that you started w/ points and your robot could never move and you had potential to win a match!! (situation: two robots are battling for the win.. knocking balls off, etc, blocking each other from scoring.. other robot never moves but their HP throws in all 3 balls and their 1pt ball stays on the rail... easy win for a broken 'bot ...eeeeek!)

that's it.

[Clark Gilbert]

I think that 2000 was the best year....mainly because it was my first year and we did pretty well.....

I have to agree with Clark, 2000 was cool, the game was competitive, we were winners and runners up of the regionals we went to and we finished top 16 at nationals...