Best Matches Of All Time

[Brandon_L]

If someone hasn't mentioned the finals of NJ '10, those were nuts.

25 v 2016, 25 was on a rampage all day. They won the first match, and it appeared they won the second. Scores came out, 0-6 in favor of 2016. Someone on 25s alliance incorrectly placed a ball on the return ramp, and it fell off onto the field before going through the sensor triggering the 1 pt/second penalty rule for delay of game.

Biggest. Crowd. Roar. Ever.

25 won the last match.

[carlgrass32]

I know that this is somewhat biased but Finals match #3 of 2009 Newton division was insane (Even though we lost )

[carlgrass32]

Also IDK the match # but i believe that it's a 2007 West Michigan Regional match when BOB tossed a ringer (Because of AWESOME defense being played on us) and it landed on the spider (on an open arm) Pretty cool...

[Alex2614]

Originally Posted by MarkoRamius1086

Best or most memorable? Certainly the infamous Match 100 of Curie back in 2010 would make it onto the list! It was the only match of it's kind, after they figured a potential flaw in the ranking system that year.

http://www.thebluealliance.com/team/469/2010

Can somebody explain the reasoning behind 1114 scoring for the red alliance?

Originally Posted by jblay

For me, my favorite match, without a doubt, is Finals Match 1 on Einstein from 2010. 469 + 1114, thought to be unstoppable, defeated by HOT's buzzer beater hang to win by 2 points. What makes this match so very special is that there is 0 video of this post buzzer hang, just Blair saying "watch this machine fly" and the video pans over to 1114 as the buzzer sounds, they have already pulled off their hang and are just sitting there but 67 is still pulling up, worst camera move in the history of FIRST.

I agree. I still watch those Einstein matches for entertainment

[EricH]

Originally Posted by Alex2614

Can somebody explain the reasoning behind 1114 scoring for the red alliance?

A ranking system that will hopefully never return. Basically, they figured they were going to lose the match anyway, and the ranking system rewarded you for losing if you kept your score very low. 1114's partners blocked their own goals immediately, 1114 joined in scoring for red, and there wasn't anything 469 and their partners could really do about it other than watch their ranking plummet.

It wasn't a potential flaw in the ranking system, it was a flawed ranking system. It's also Strike 1 on Coopertition in the rankings. (2012 was Strike 3--the bridge was used to destroy some rankings.)

[Alex2614]

Originally Posted by EricH

A ranking system that will hopefully never return. Basically, they figured they were going to lose the match anyway, and the ranking system rewarded you for losing if you kept your score very low. 1114's partners blocked their own goals immediately, 1114 joined in scoring for red, and there wasn't anything 469 and their partners could really do about it other than watch their ranking plummet.

It wasn't a potential flaw in the ranking system, it was a flawed ranking system. It's also Strike 1 on Coopertition in the rankings. (2012 was Strike 3--the bridge was used to destroy some rankings.)

I remember that a little more now. It was a while ago. If I remember correctly, there was something similar in 2009? I wouldn't really know, as that was our (very) "off" year. Anyway, I really did not like the co-op bridge in 2012. I liked the bridges a lot, just not the co-op.

[Don Wright]

Originally Posted by EricH

A ranking system that will hopefully never return. Basically, they figured they were going to lose the match anyway, and the ranking system rewarded you for losing if you kept your score very low.

Not really accurate. The system rewarded you if you lost and the team you lost too had a very HIGH score. That's why teams scored 6 v 0 instead of just not scoring at all.

And I don't think they figured that were going to lose anyway...they just weighed the odds and with 111 also high in the rankings, the best strategy for them was to 6 v 0...and it proved correct as they ended up seeding first.

[Nuttyman54]

Originally Posted by EricH

A ranking system that will hopefully never return. Basically, they figured they were going to lose the match anyway, and the ranking system rewarded you for losing if you kept your score very low. 1114's partners blocked their own goals immediately, 1114 joined in scoring for red, and there wasn't anything 469 and their partners could really do about it other than watch their ranking plummet.

It wasn't a potential flaw in the ranking system, it was a flawed ranking system. It's also Strike 1 on Coopertition in the rankings. (2012 was Strike 3--the bridge was used to destroy some rankings.)

I may be in the minority, but I really liked 2010's ranking system. I think it produced some of the most accurate rankings of any game. By ranking based on in-match performance and weighting the opponents heavily, rather than just win-loss, the best match schedule for a team was the hardest schedule they could win, not the easiest schedule. It inherently took into account the strength of schedule. My favorite part was the worst possible score was a 0-0 tie. Nobody got any points for that, unlike now, where even though nobody scored, it's still better for both teams than a loss.

The flaw only exists in games where teams are allowed to score for their opponents, which unfortunately was the case in 2010.

In order to use that style of ranking system, the game must be designed to disallow scoring for opponents (eg 2007, 2008, 2011). If implemented with a game which does not discriminate object (2009, 2010, 2012, 2013) then 6v0 will happen. It also has the downside of being incredibly difficult to explain to spectators. I doubt it will ever return, since it's too restrictive on game design and it's too different from what's used in traditional sports to make sense to the layman, but the concept behind the ranking system was sound.

[/tangent]

Originally Posted by Alex2614

Can somebody explain the reasoning behind 1114 scoring for the red alliance?

Long story short, in 2010 it was advantageous to win by a smaller margine than a large margine.

[Kaushal.K]

Originally Posted by EricH

I don't remember a video of this one, but 27 shot corner-to-corner in 2008 for a game-winning hurdle. Note that this is a 40" trackball we're talking about, going 8 feet in the air at peak, going diagonally across an FRC field. I don't know that match, or even remember what event, but I remember it was talked about for a while.

I think you mean this one... This being one of my favourites as well!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1N5doWRskw

[dm224a]

Originally Posted by Jay Money 1058

Hey CD,
After watching championships for the past few days, I've been thinking about what the best matches in FRC history might be. I'd like to hear input from people about matches from numerous years. Your nomination could be because it won some teams a regional or a championship, because of a high score, because of a cool moment or an awesome intro, etc. If you have video to go along with it that would be great!

My nomination: 2012, Archimedes Finals Match 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABTTuwNsu6A

I was only in FIRST for one year, but I'm gonna have to agree with you on this one, I was the photographer for 4143 at World, and this was by far the hardest match I had watched the whole season. We missed Einstein by this much

>-------------------------<

Literally.

[Joe Ross]

My (biased) favorite was 2005 Einstein SF2-3. With 1 second left, 503 capped a tetra breaking up a row (13 point swing). We won by 13 points.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFBQdQXIuwY (the real time score was incorrect towards the end of the match as red owned one more goal then shown).

The match before it, we won by 3 points, so the combined winning margin was 2 tetras.

[Mark Sheridan]

Originally Posted by Joe Ross

My (biased) favorite was 2005 Einstein SF2-3. With 1 second left, 503 capped a tetra breaking up a row (13 point swing). We won by 13 points.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFBQdQXIuwY (the real time score was incorrect towards the end of the match as red owned one more goal then shown).

The match before it, we won by 3 points, so the combined winning margin was 2 tetras.

In my opinion (also biased) that entire semifinal series in 2005 was awesome. How awesome it was with 330, 67, 503 versus 245, 217, and 766? Also that 330, 245 and 766 competed against each other in Sacramento and 67,217, 245 and 503 competing in michigan. I would say both alliances knew each other very well. Finally, I loved it was a huge slug fest between 67 and 217, they just kept on capping.

Do this day I am haunted by the second and last match, we should have tried to make a dive into your back row the break two of your rows.

I remember standing next Einstein after losing, frustrated; I stared at the crown and realized how lucky I was and how surreal it was. I swear it felt like a dream. I didn't even watch the finals, I was too shellshocked that I had made it to Einstein.

I joke that 2005 SF2-3 cursed me that day, I had to become a mentor because I have to return to Einstein. I have been chasing it ever since (well sort of, I put it on hold for college)

[hobbins]

Originally Posted by Jay Money 1058

Hey CD,
After watching championships for the past few days, I've been thinking about what the best matches in FRC history might be. I'd like to hear input from people about matches from numerous years. Your nomination could be because it won some teams a regional or a championship, because of a high score, because of a cool moment or an awesome intro, etc. If you have video to go along with it that would be great!

My nomination: 2012, Archimedes Finals Match 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABTTuwNsu6A

I nominate the 2004 Michigan regional where 1241 played against 67, in which Hot placed the doubler ball into the 1241 robot hopper to keep it from catching any of the balls!!!
This was the last qualifying match that cost 1241 first place at their rookie competition.

[hobbins]

I agree - Best Ever Match... wow did 67 do a number on 1241...
This was one of the lessons that helped us to understand the depth of scouting and its importance in any game!
I also remember the Killer Bees helping us at worlds in our last qualifying match against team 45 in that same rookie year 2004, they gave us good intel to consider when strategizing to play team 45, and it worked...
Well, this year 1241 won worlds...so we did our best to listen to all of the great teams out there in our FRC community.
Thanks everyone, what a terrific sport...see you all at St. Louis