2014 Waterloo Regional

[Racer26]

Originally Posted by Citrus Dad

It appears that you're revealing as much information at RobotParent. Hmmmm.

More importantly, it is not easy participating on Chief Delphi--it is not user friendly. I recently spent 15 minutes trying to figure out how to change my user settings (and I've been working on computers since 1985). Asking a parent who may not be as familiar with various Internet forums in general and Chief Delphi in particular is too harsh. More often than not it's not that someone is trying to hide here, but rather it's too difficult to figure how to reveal themselves. Please withhold your judgement.

My profile shows no team affiliation because I currently don't have one. As you can see from my post count, rookie year, and reputation bar, I'm no sock puppet.

I was on a team earlier in the 2014 season, but due to a post I made in frustration a few weeks ago, not unlike Karthik's post, I'm no longer working with them.

[LeelandS]

Goodness gracious. It's incredible how harshly people judge your words when you're a "celebrity". I wish I could say I have a place to speak on this matter, as it seems very pressing, but I was neither at nor do I have a vested interest in the results of Waterloo, amazing regional it was.

That said, I do find the backlash at Karthik for him posting his personal views about Waterloo absolutely disgusting. First of all, if any person in all of FIRST Canada should be allowed to express frustration, I would vote Karthik. Karthik, a man who dedicates countless hours to helping build FIRST Canada as a whole, as well as being a mentor of a team who has served as inspiration for teams worldwide for years. The fact that Karthik often does not express his feelings on these things publicly is just a testament to the kind of man he is.

Secondly, Karthik is a human being, just like every single one of us, and his views are his own. There is no expectation of Karthik to be unbiased; he very proudly represents himself as a part of 1114 and if you've ever actually worked with him at competition (which is rare, considering all the work he does Emceeing), you can tell he takes the competition of our organization very seriously. So for 1114 to be brought down in the manner they were, it's natural for him to feel frustrated; every other one of us would be. And guess what? He is absolutely entitled to, A) Have those feelings and B) Express them as he sees fit. As a matter of fact, I'd bet Karthik's expressions were more well-mannered and respectful than 90% of any of our's would be.

At the end of the day, Karthik is still a great role model. Hands down. He is a dedicated, professional participant in our program. I wish I could be more like him. And I'm a mentor; most students would find Karthik an even greater inspiration. Let me tell you, this guy is what FIRST is about. Anyone who thinks otherwise doesn't know him.

I know Karthik doesn't need defending or justification for his statements. While he cares a great deal for the FIRST Community, he is steadfast in his views and I would bet the naysayers aren't getting to him at all. I am defending him because I believe Karthik has every right to what he is feeling and has no reason to be judged because he is expressing his frustration.

On an unrelated note. Karthik's decision to no longer emcee in Ontario is very heartbreaking, coming from a non-Canadian FRC Participant. He's been in the spotlight for so long now; that said, it's a great opportunity for a new emcee to step up. I look forward to seeing their work.

On an unrelated unrelated note. Rochester is a lovely non-Ontario city to emcee in. Just saying.

[dodar]

Originally Posted by LeelandS

On an unrelated unrelated note. Rochester is a lovely non-Ontario city to emcee in. Just saying.

Orlando is a tad bit warmer that week of the year.

[Woolly]

Originally Posted by dodar

Orlando is a tad bit warmer that week of the year.

Kansas City has barbecue.

[dodar]

Originally Posted by Woolly

Kansas City has barbecue.

....we do too.....lol KC is alot more known for it than Orlando though.

[stefanp]

This was one of the greatest regionals to watch live... Everything was just amazing about the competition. The caliber of play was amazing, the MCing was extraordinary, the field reset crew was SO fast, the audience was great! Just watching this regional inspired me to try to get my team to this same caliber. It was amazing recognizing so many teams and people that you saw in videos at this regional. A shame fouls had such a large impact on eliminations and there were some technical problems in the last match of the finals.

Watching this regional as a rookie makes you want to come here next year and compete with the best of teams. Also three ball hot goal auto by the poofs was something else to watch in real life.

[Billfred]

Originally Posted by stefanp

This was one of the greatest regionals to watch live... Everything was just amazing about the competition. The caliber of play was amazing, the MCing was extraordinary, the field reset crew was SO fast, the audience was great! Just watching this regional inspired me to try to get my team to this same caliber. It was amazing recognizing so many teams and people that you saw in videos at this regional. A shame fouls had such a large impact on eliminations and there were some technical problems in the last match of the finals.

Watching this regional as a rookie makes you want to come here next year and compete with the best of teams. Also three ball hot goal auto by the poofs was something else to watch in real life.

I'm going to underscore this here. A positive first-ever regional experience--Palmetto 2004--is one of the things that got me hooked on FRC way back as a student on 1293. Even when I've been with veteran teams, well-run events have had newbie students rearranging plans to attend the next event of the season.

Waterloo's pre-event hype had me plugging my laptop into my TV for the first time for elimination rounds, but as I watched the whole of the event I saw what really looked like a well-operating machine, reset to announcing fouls. No matter how one feels about the game or what transpired, Waterloo came across as running a tight ship.

Best of luck in North Bay!

[Zebra_Fact_Man]

I suppose if I had to choose the lesser of two (three) evils, I'd rather have a) a game where penalties are called correctly that I disagree with than b) penalties are called incorrectly, or c) FMS flips individual teams the bird, like in 2012.

Unfortunately, some of the latter two points have also been happening this year too, though, with lessening frequency as of late.

[Grim Tuesday]

Originally Posted by LeelandS

On an unrelated unrelated note. Rochester is a lovely non-Ontario city to emcee in. Just saying.

In my first FLR, Steve did an excellent job Emceeing. I'd love to see a switcheroo and have some Canada back in Rochester! Karthik+JonDarr is my dream team, with maybe a bit of Angry Eric mixed in, he has only been getting better and better!

[fox46]

The self-righteous trolls of CD strike again.

I must applaud you; you people who art more gracious than me. It takes a certain kind of person to stand up on a soapbox and berate someone who has done so much good in this community for expressing their thoughts and for this I am truly in awe of you.

I have seen many people on this site be pulled apart by these most gracious trolls. You berate someone for posting something negative or that deviates from the norm about something or other. It's become so bad here that it's nearly impossible to post any kind of criticism on this forum. You have driven away so many knowledgeable and educated people and are slowly watering this place down to nothing more than a pink fuzzy spot on the internet to post your robot pictures and pat each other on the back.

It is impossible to live life by ignoring every distasteful situation or negative occurrence. It's just not possible. To try and do so is to look at the world with blinders on. The fact that you're still trying to protect your children from this fact of life is just bad parenting. They need to know that not everyone thinks the same way they do and not everything is happy and good. In life, people have opinions. Good or bad, their thoughts are their own and it is NONE of your business to slap their hand and tell them otherwise. CD is supposed to be a place for these discussions. Squelching anything that doesn't agree with the general consensus should be unacceptable. It is important to have other ways of looking at things and have an open mind and acknowledge the situations that might not be all rainbows and butterflies.

Karthik- I understand your decisions and although I'm going to miss your awesome introductions, I support you in whatever your choices may be. We will always have a spare hat for you!

[KeeganP]

Originally Posted by fox46

The self-righteous trolls of CD strike again.

I must applaud you; you people who art more gracious than me. It takes a certain kind of person to stand up on a soapbox and berate someone who has done so much good in this community for expressing their thoughts and for this I am truly in awe of you.

I have seen many people on this site be pulled apart by these most gracious trolls. You berate someone for posting something negative or that deviates from the norm about something or other. It's become so bad here that it's nearly impossible to post any kind of criticism on this forum. You have driven away so many knowledgeable and educated people and are slowly watering this place down to nothing more than a pink fuzzy spot on the internet to post your robot pictures and pat each other on the back.

It is impossible to live life by ignoring every distasteful situation or negative occurrence. It's just not possible. To try and do so is to look at the world with blinders on. The fact that you're still trying to protect your children from this fact of life is just bad parenting. They need to know that not everyone thinks the same way they do and not everything is happy and good. In life, people have opinions. Good or bad, their thoughts are their own and it is NONE of your business to slap their hand and tell them otherwise. CD is supposed to be a place for these discussions. Squelching anything that doesn't agree with the general consensus should be unacceptable. It is important to have other ways of looking at things and have an open mind and acknowledge the situations that might not be all rainbows and butterflies.

Karthik- I understand your decisions and although I'm going to miss your awesome introductions, I support you in whatever your choices may be. We will always have a spare hat for you!

^This. Very, very well said.

On the topic of Waterloo itself, I throughly enjoyed watching all of the matches that I had the chance to -- some truly amazing and inspiring teams built simply incredibly machines. It was a show to watch and I was compelled to smile just watching the matches from my desk. The level of competition was simply amazing. Thank you to all involved who made it possible for those of us at home to participate and enjoy.

[Sharven]

I just wanted to say a huge thank you to all the volunteers and staff that made this event so great.

Referees, you guys have an incredibly tough job this year. I don't think anyone can doubt how seriously you take your job and how much you guys wanted to ensure the calls were made correctly. This was evident when we saw just how long you spend deliberating the calls in Semis 1-3.

Field reset, I am honestly amazed by the level of skill you guys possessed. The crew was always aware as to whom and where to get the ball back to. The regional couldn't have asked for a better field reset crew than what we had this past weekend.

Queuing was awesome. They got the teams out on the field on time so that we could follow the match schedule quite closely and they had a great system for getting robots on and off the field. It was flawless.

The inspectors were incredible. I don't know how they got everyone fully inspected by the end of Thursday. They did a great job, the teams were safe, we didn't have many robots being damaged or falling apart in the middle of the field so let that attest to the quality of inspectors and teams at the Waterloo regional. It easily shows just how much Tarjote does and how deserving of the Volunteer of the Year award he is.

Scorekeepers, huge shout out to you. You guys were amazing. You were never the people we were waiting for. You were ready to start the match before anyone else, and you knew exactly what you were doing. Your timing was flawless with the MC and that really added to the quality of the event.

Regional Committee and everyone else behind the scenes to make the regional as great as it was, THANK YOU. I don't think people often say thank you to you guys enough. You do all the planning for events like these and get things sorted out far in advance.

We had some of the best teams in FIRST. You were very respectful throughout the weekend and built some amazing robots. The levels of GP I saw over the weekend were second to none. You guys really brought an amazing regional to life. You were spirited and energetic even in the early hours in the morning. You guys came up with some great match strategies and brought very high levels of play. It's unfortunate that only a handful of teams qualify from this event. I really think there were so many more than that who deserve to go to championships in St. Louis. I wish you the best of luck in your remaining regionals, I'd love to see you guys there.

Parth, Liz, and James; a special thank you for helping out at this event. Having the number of FTA's that we did really added to the ease and flow of everything, from troubleshooting robots to keeping the event on schedule. I can easily say the more FTA's the merrier and you guys were pivotal in making Waterloo as good as it was.

John Hobbins, you are an incredible person. You are an amazing regional director. The expansion of FIRST Canada and the amount of rookies you are helping as well as the quality of these rookies proves that. I can honestly say that working with you is a great pleasure and I'd love to work with you more in the future. I am so very excited to see what you have planned for FIRST Canada in the near future because whatever it is, I know it will be great. You are a volunteer whose level of commitment and skills should be something others strive to one day attain.

Paul Copioli, I have been to the Waterloo regional a couple times and have seen you coach in the past. Your depth of knowledge for the game is truly amazing and it really adds to your ability as an announcer. Hearing you announce the play-by-play made the game easy to understand and follow, and gave many people who may not have spectated the game before a clear picture of what teams were doing and why they were doing it. I thank you again for making the trip up North.

Karthik Kanagasabapathy, you are an awe-inspiring individual. Your ability to MC is not just characterized by your vast knowledge of strategy or your understanding of the game, but also your personality and charisma that drives other people to strive for greatness. You not only helped make 1114 the HoF team it is, but helped others achieve their goals in FIRST and well beyond it. I hope you know that you have my utmost respect and the respect of everyone at the regional. Your MC-ing is the best I have seen. I, as well as everyone else I know, love the way you give detailed history between the competing teams. Knowing what teams’ history inside out in over a decade’s worth of FIRST is a really remarkable feature. I hope I don't see the end of the famous Karthik and Paul duo at Waterloo; it's one of the best parts of the weekend.

Thank you everyone for making the Waterloo regional as great as it could be. I can't wait for what will be in store for next year!

[jptn]

Can't believe it's been almost a month!