A Shared Victory on Einstein

[hionwind]

Now that the shock of winning the world championship has rubbed off a little, I want to say a few words to all the great individuals and teams who deserve a share of our success.

1678 would not even be here today if it weren't for the example set by Doug Green and team 701 who showed us, back in 2005, what an amazing experience FIRST is.

Since then, we have been inspired by so many awesome teams that it would be hard to do justice to all of them in this thread. Some of the teams in California that have been our great friends throughout the years and have given us so much encouragement and support include teams 100, 254, 692, 701, 971, 973, 1323, 1671, 1868, 2073 and 2085.

Outside of our home state, there are so many teams that have set the highest level of professionalism and who continue to be role models and inspire our team to improve. To name a few that we have personally been involved with, thank you to teams 118, 148, 368, 1114, 1983 and 1986.

Even though inspiration has come from some very experienced teams, it has also come from new teams that have shown us FIRST is also about sharing and bonding. Some of the rookie and second year teams that have really impressed me include 5458 and 5529 (Rookie All Star award winners) and 5027 who provided some the most exciting tug-of-wars this year.

It blows my mind to think how we were able to pull together the alliance that we did. For those who don't know 118, 1671 and 1678 were the first, second and third seeds at the Sacramento Regional (Team #St4ckr4m3nto) and to have a team capable of making 3 capped 6-stacks still available as a second pick was an unbelievable slice of fortune. On top of that, we were able to secure a third pick (5012) who came highly recommended from the Vegas regional as a lover of cheesecake!

Team 118, you are a class act! Your mentors are some of the most knowledgeable but also friendliest I have ever met and your students were gracious and professional in the pit, in the stands and at our strategy meeting. Thank you for believing in us. I hope that we can hook up again in the near future.

Team 1671, we have been waiting for the opportunity to partner up with you again since getting to the finals of Cal Games in 2012. We absolutely love your team and know that your Chairman's award this year is thoroughly deserved. Congratulations once again to Paul for winning WFFA.

Also a huge thanks to all of our sponsors, mentors and parents who provide unwavering support to our team and, lastly, my wife Kris who has stuck by me and put up with my "other wife" throughout the years.