The Regional Wars

[suneel112]

I know its not cool to be egocentric, but here goes:

The Midwest IS WHERE ITS AT!!! LITERALLY In terms of robotics, the Midwest won at least two years in a row, one year with the winning alliance being made up ENTIRELY of Midwest teams

2003 (Houston, Texas): 469 (Las Guerrillas; Bloomfield Hills, MI), 111 (Wildstang; Schaumburg, IL) and 65 (The Huskie Brigade; Pontiac, MI)

2004 (Atlanta, Georgia): 71 (Team Hammond (aka Beatty); Hammond, IN) , 494 (The Martians; Goodrich, MI), 435 (The Robodogs; Raleigh, NC) 2 of 3 were from the midwest.

2005 (Atlanta, Georgia): 461 (Westside Boiler Invasion; West Lafayette, IN), ???, ???

(the last one was just an egocentric prediction)

Anyways, now that I responded with all my egotism, I think its time to get that out and just say that there are great, strong regionals everywhere!

(as long as everywhere means Evanston, IL; Ypsilanti, MI; or Cleveland, OH)

[Pin Man]

Originally Posted by suneel112

I know its not cool to be egocentric, but here goes:

The Midwest IS WHERE ITS AT!!! LITERALLY In terms of robotics, the Midwest won at least two years in a row, one year with the winning alliance being made up ENTIRELY of Midwest teams

2003 (Houston, Texas): 469 (Las Guerrillas; Bloomfield Hills, MI), 111 (Wildstang; Schaumburg, IL) and 65 (The Huskie Brigade; Pontiac, MI)

2004 (Atlanta, Georgia): 71 (Team Hammond (aka Beatty); Hammond, IN) , 494 (The Martians; Goodrich, MI), 435 (The Robodogs; Raleigh, NC) 2 of 3 were from the midwest.

2005 (Atlanta, Georgia): 461 (Westside Boiler Invasion; West Lafayette, IN), ???, ???

(the last one was just an egocentric prediction)

Anyways, now that I responded with all my egotism, I think its time to get that out and just say that there are great, strong regionals everywhere!

(as long as everywhere means Evanston, IL; Ypsilanti, MI; or Cleveland, OH)

I think you mean 88, 126, and 173 in 2005 for Atlanta...

[abeD]

The south definately has a reputation as being one of the most brutal and defensive regionals out there. Teams like 233 and 79 are just two that i can think off the top of my head that are pretty descriptive of what a good southern robot is like.

[dtk]

Of course I know this idea won't happen but anyway... I think the best way to pick the regional teams would be to nominate a captain for each region and let them pick a lineup. Sure deserving teams get left out but selecting teams solely on regional wins or finalist appearances is quite flawed. Not only is there an extremely large amount of luck involved but due to the nature of picking alliances it’s unlikely that all the best teams are represented in the finals. Even if the #1 seed is the best team and picks the second best team at the competition their third partner will at best be the 17th best team. Keep in mind I think any team that makes it to the elimination rounds is deserving, my point is that often the best teams get spread out amongst the alliances. So I say just pick one of the big names, or a group of them if you prefer, from each region and let them fill out the rosters.

So, I would have the regional captain select 10 teams to represent that region and, just for fun, 2 alternates. The format would consist of a best of five matches between two regions with the winner moving on. Each team plays at most one match per round. Lineups are declared at the beginning of each round with all five of the two-team pairings and the match # they will play in.


Although I think you should just give the Midwest the trophy now.

111 & 494 – Worked at nationals.
93 & 67 – 93 catches ALL the balls, 67 caps it and hangs.
33 & 111 – 33 fills the goal, 111 caps and hangs.
45 & 47 – Lots of small balls, 45 caps while 47 hangs.
461 & 469 – With both goals full of balls and doubled why hang?


Also please keep in mind this is a quick list during my break from circuits. I definitely forgot some teams and, with only 10 spots, didn’t get to put in all the great ones I did remember. I would expect anyone given the job of filling out this team for real would have quite the hard time.

As far as getting all those teams in one place, well, that would pretty much be impossible but to save on hotel costs everyone can stay at my house! I do think a location could be found within driving distance for a Midwest vs. NE showdown but those Cali teams are so far away...

btw... what about the Canadians, or the Brazilians for that matter.

-dtk

[Berserker]

Originally Posted by suneel112

I know its not cool to be egocentric, but here goes:

The Midwest IS WHERE ITS AT!!! LITERALLY In terms of robotics, the Midwest won at least two years in a row, one year with the winning alliance being made up ENTIRELY of Midwest teams

but this year the northeast had a lot of really good robots....

365, 222, 25, 175, 303, 11, 237, 88, 56, and many others

[Chris Hibner]

Originally Posted by suneel112

I know its not cool to be egocentric, but here goes:

The Midwest IS WHERE ITS AT!!! LITERALLY In terms of robotics, the Midwest won at least two years in a row, one year with the winning alliance being made up ENTIRELY of Midwest teams

2003 (Houston, Texas): 469 (Las Guerrillas; Bloomfield Hills, MI), 111 (Wildstang; Schaumburg, IL) and 65 (The Huskie Brigade; Pontiac, MI)

2004 (Atlanta, Georgia): 71 (Team Hammond (aka Beatty); Hammond, IN) , 494 (The Martians; Goodrich, MI), 435 (The Robodogs; Raleigh, NC) 2 of 3 were from the midwest.

2005 (Atlanta, Georgia): 461 (Westside Boiler Invasion; West Lafayette, IN), ???, ???

(the last one was just an egocentric prediction)

Anyways, now that I responded with all my egotism, I think its time to get that out and just say that there are great, strong regionals everywhere!

(as long as everywhere means Evanston, IL; Ypsilanti, MI; or Cleveland, OH)

I want to continue suneel's post (I'm going to stick with the midwest / northeast rivalry here, so I'm going to leave out the teams from the other regions) ...

2003 finalists: 494 (midwest), 25 (northeast)

2002 Champions: 71, 66 (midwest), and 173 (northest).
2002 Finalist: 308 (midwest), 311 (northeast)

2001 Champions: 71 (midwest), 365 (northeast)
2001 Finalists: 111, 33, 349, 144 (midwest)

2000 Champions: 25 (northeast)
2000 Finalists: 111 (midwest), 126 (northeast)
(sorry, my memory is pretty fuzzy from 2000 and 1999)

1999 Champions 176 (northeast), 1 (midwest)
1999 Finalists: 111, 45 (midwest)

1998 Champion: 45 (midwest)
1998 Finalist: 121 (northeast)

1997 Champion: 71 (midwest)
1997 Finalist: 47 (midwest)
(Note: 1997 team numbers are the CURRENT numbers for those teams).

So, since 1997 (since I've been involved in FIRST), the number of championship and finalist participants have been (according to my fuzzy memory):

Midwest: 22
Northeast: 8

Granted, I think I may have missed a couple in 1999 and 2000, but it appears the midwest has the edge. Hey Andy, thanks for getting the ball rolling on the trash-talking thing.

[Andy Grady]

Originally Posted by Chris Hibner

Granted, I think I may have missed a couple in 1999 and 2000, but it appears the midwest has the edge. Hey Andy, thanks for getting the ball rolling on the trash-talking thing.

You see Chris...we in the Northeast don't dwell on the past. To us, its all about next year (i.e. Boston Red Sox Fans). By the way, you missed Chaos in 2000, Gael Force in 1995, Tigerbolt in 1996, and Gael Force in 1992. Thank you, come again!

The northeast will return next year, full force...be afraid, be very afraid!

-Andy Grady

[Chris Hibner]

Originally Posted by Andy Grady

You see Chris...we in the Northeast don't dwell on the past. To us, its all about next year (i.e. Boston Red Sox Fans). By the way, you missed Chaos in 2000, Gael Force in 1995, Tigerbolt in 1996, and Gael Force in 1992. Thank you, come again!

The northeast will return next year, full force...be afraid, be very afraid!

-Andy Grady

I guess my memory wasn't too bad (only missing Chaos in 2000). I guess I'll bump that record to 22-9. I only listed the years in which I was at the competition - I joined in 1997. So sorry about missing the "ancient history" part.

You should try and make it to the IRI this year to see how the midwest teams do it up. Oh right! You were at nationals, so by watching the finals you already saw how the midwest teams do it. (This is getting fun!)

Okay, Andy - I'm going to stop now (I promise). You should know that I respect the northeast as much as anyone. You guys are great. Seriously though, you should come to the IRI. It's a great time.

[Andy Grady]

Originally Posted by Chris Hibner

I guess my memory wasn't too bad (only missing Chaos in 2000). I guess I'll bump that record to 22-9. I only listed the years in which I was at the competition - I joined in 1997. So sorry about missing the "ancient history" part.

Ohhhhhh how convenient that you didn't start FIRST until after the age when the Northeast dominated all of FIRST! We are planning on making our move soon enough, dont you worry!

Who knows...maybe at a certain possible undisclosed special event in 2005, we might be able to find out who really is the best region once and for all.

By the way, you can keep talking trash all ya want...I think its fun, and it adds to the rivalry...just as long as it stays fun and there are no personal attacks or anything like that.

-Andy Grady

[Mike Soukup]

I've stayed out of the mix for far too long, so here I go...

Originally Posted by Andy Grady

Ohhhhhh how convenient that you didn't start FIRST until after the age when the Northeast dominated all of FIRST! We are planning on making our move soon enough, dont you worry!

Oh, you must be talking about the days when all the teams in FIRST were from the Northeast (*) because that's the only time they dominated. Who's living in the past now Grady? Lets talk about the present. The Midwest has passed you years ago and we're still waiting for the long promised come-back.

* Disclaimer - of course there were some non-Northeast teams back then, but not many

[Andy Grady]

Originally Posted by Mike Soukup

I've stayed out of the mix for far too long, so here I go...

Oh, you must be talking about the days when all the teams in FIRST were from the Northeast (*) because that's the only time they dominated. Who's living in the past now Grady? Lets talk about the present. The Midwest has passed you years ago and we're still waiting for the long promised come-back.

* Disclaimer - of course there were some non-Northeast teams back then, but not many

We are just waiting for you guys to catch up and start playing our game before we totally blow you out of the water. Everyone knows that defense wins championships, and we invented defense in the northeast! Don't get me wrong, you guys are definately starting to catch on (i.e. Martians). But it took you long enough...

Definitions:

Defense (Northeast Version) - When a robot uses full force to bash, ram, or block a team from scoring points, resulting in victory.

Defense (Midwest Version) - Tip over, accidentally get in the way of opponent.

Its ok Mike...I mean look at football teams like the Colts...great offense, alot of fun to watch. Eventually though, they were overun by the stronger, more experienced, defensive masterminds, the New England Patriots. Another case where the Northeast dominates.

-Andy Grady

[Chris Hibner]

Originally Posted by Andy Grady

Its ok Mike...I mean look at football teams like the Colts...great offense, alot of fun to watch. Eventually though, they were overun by the stronger, more experienced, defensive masterminds, the New England Patriots. Another case where the Northeast dominates.

Of course, the reason the Patriots won is because they have a great quarterback from the University of MICHIGAN!

[Pin Man]

Originally Posted by Andy Grady

We are just waiting for you guys to catch up and start playing our game before we totally blow you out of the water. Everyone knows that defense wins championships, and we invented defense in the northeast! Don't get me wrong, you guys are definately starting to catch on (i.e. Martians). But it took you long enough...

Definitions:

Defense (Northeast Version) - When a robot uses full force to bash, ram, or block a team from scoring points, resulting in victory.

Defense (Midwest Version) - Tip over, accidentally get in the way of opponent.

Its ok Mike...I mean look at football teams like the Colts...great offense, alot of fun to watch. Eventually though, they were overun by the stronger, more experienced, defensive masterminds, the New England Patriots. Another case where the Northeast dominates.

-Andy Grady

great point Andy... sure the midwest will catch on eventually but then the Northeast of coarse will think of something even better... That's just how it goes...

Originally Posted by Andy Grady

Definitions:

Defense (Northeast Version) - When a robot uses full force to bash, ram, or block a team from scoring points, resulting in victory.

Defense (Midwest Version) - Tip over, accidentally get in the way of opponent.

Your Northeast version sounds like the 04 National Champions, The Martians (from Michigan) way to play defense...

Oh Grady, how have you forgotten 99 so quickly? Gotta love that 45 machine...the definition of defense

[Mike Soukup]

Originally Posted by Andy Grady

Defense (Northeast Version) - When a robot uses full force to bash, ram, or block a team from scoring points, resulting in victory.

Defense (Midwest Version) - Tip over, accidentally get in the way of opponent.

I can't let you openly mock us like that. It's on!

Here's another set of definitions for you to chew on:

Offense (Midwest Version) - When a robot uses cleverly, beautifully, and specifically, designed assemblies to score lots of points for their alliance, resulting in victory.

Offense (Northeast Version) - Repeatedly bash, ram, or block the opponent in the hopes that they get confused and score for your alliance.

Originally Posted by Andy Grady

Its ok Mike...I mean look at football teams like the Colts...great offense, alot of fun to watch. Eventually though, they were overun by the stronger, more experienced, defensive masterminds, the New England Patriots. Another case where the Northeast dominates.

If you're talking football, I've got one for you. Superbowl XX - Bears vs Patriots. Best defensive team ever vs well...I don't know if the Pats were good at anything that year. Result: 46-10 victory for the Midwest; Northeast goes home and cries. I suppose you'll blame it on the ugly uniforms. Before you mock me for going back almost 20 years for my example, just remember that I'm clinging to my childhood memories of the Bears being a great team.

Who's going to respond first, JVN or Grady? This sure is fun