Top 10 seasons in FIRST History

[Karthik]

For the past few nights have been unable to sleep for a variety of reasons. So, to cure my late night boredom, I decided to make a list of the top 10 seasons in FIRST history. Before I start, here are some general comments.

1. The emphasis of this ranking was placed on regular season competition results. Off-season events and other awards were only considered, if ever, for tie-breaking purposes. If I were to consider factors such as the Chairman's Award this list would be very different. (Clearly Team 67 of 2005 would be at the top)

2. The Championship Event is more heavily weighted than a regional, but not overwhelmingly so. This list is looking at overall seasons. So a team who was a semi-finalist at two regionals and then won the Championship, isn't going to make this list. On the other hand, this list has a few double regional winners, who didn't fare so well at the big show.

3. This list is probably biased toward the Midwest. Most of my FIRST exposure over the years has been primarily in the Midwest, hence the bias. Sorry Grady.

4. I'm sure I've forgotten some pretty big seasons. There really isn't a great resource for looking up FIRST history. (Something I'd like to change one day) Most of this list comes from my memory, while the rest comes from research I've done via this site, usfirst.org and the Internet wayback machine. If anyone thinks any teams have been left out, please post away.

5. I lied when I said these were the greatest seasons in FIRST history. These are the greatest seasons since 1998. My knowledge of FIRST prior to 1998 is pretty slim, hence I couldn't judge any seasons that happened the pre-karthik era. (Yeah, yeah, I know I shouldn't name eras based on my presence, but whatever)

Without further delay, here's the list.



10. Team 245, 2005

Key Stats: 2 Regional Championships, 1 Regional Finalist, Championship Division Winner

This team came within one match of becoming only the second ever 3 regional winner. (See #2 on the list) What made this season so special was the fact that they knocked off so many other great teams along the way. In their two regional wins of the season, they knocked off 4 teams who would end up being Division Winners at the Championship event. (33, 56, 254 & 330) They were regarded as a "fluke" by many, but in the end their results proved their detractors wrong.


9. Team 69, 2004

Key Stats: 2 Regional Championships, Undefeated season, Did not attend the Championships

Yup, that's right. Undefeated. Team 69 did not lose a single match in which they played. (Their alliances dropped two matches in which they were on the sidelines. The team also had two ties) This season went widely unnoticed because Team 69 chose to forego the Championship Event. How did they follow this great season up? Oh, they just went out and won two more regionals the next year. Yet, again they did not go to the Championship. So, going into 2006 they're sitting on a streak of 4 consecutive event wins. Wow!


8. Team 47, 2000

Key Stats: 2 Regional Championships, 1 Regional Semifinalist, Championship Round of 16 (Divisions did not exist until 2000)

For those who weren't around for the 2000 season, this entry is going to seem somewhat fishy. From a quick glance at the stats, there are many teams who have put up seasons like this one. What sets CD V apart? The dominance they displayed, and the fear they inspired. Team 47 stormed their way through the Chicago and Great Lakes Regionals in 2000. (At this point in history, with there being so few regionals the regionals in the Midwest were somewhat stacked, making these feats even more impressive) Jaws dropped everytime they played, as teams were amazed by the smoothness of their swerve drive. Going into the championship, it seemed as though everyone had The Chief pegged as the favourite. Unfortunately for them, a broken weld ended their championship run prematurely.


7. Team 469, 2002

Key Stats: 2 Regional Championships, Championship Division Finalist

2002 was by far one of my favourite seasons. The nature of the game was such that very little opportunity existed for flukey wins. The teams who built superior and reliable robots consistently found their way to the top of the podium. This is probably because one dominant robot could usually ensure a match victory, if they executed their strategy within the first 10 seconds of the match. Team 469 was one of those dominant teams. If the latched on to two goals at the outset, there was virtually no chance of moving them or forcing them to let go. This dominance was on display when they won the Buckeye and Great Lakes Regionals. They looked as though they were on a collision course with Team 71 (See #4) or Team 60 (See #6) at the championship. Unfortunately in match 3 of their division final their partner, Team 121, was cruising toward the endzone to clinch a victory when they inexplicably stopped moving. IMHO, if this had not happened Team 469 would have at least been a Championship Finalist, if not a winner!



6. Team 60, 2002

Key Stats: 2 Regional Championships, Championship Division Winner

Everything that I said about Team 469 in 2002, can be echoed with Team 60. They were the #1 pick at every event they attended, which is really a testament to their dominance. This is another team that no one really wanted to play, because if they got those two goals, it was basically a forgone conclusion. They were finally derailed at the Championship when they ran into Team 71. (See #4)


5. Team 254, 2001

Key Stats: 2 Regional Championships, Championship Finalist

Consider the following Regional performance. In 2001, teams were ranked based on their average match score. At the Southern California Regional, the difference between the 2nd place team and the last place (47th) team was 86 points. The difference between the 1st place team and the 2nd place team was 121.5 points!!! As you may have guessed by now, the 1st place was none other than Team 254. Of course much like Team 60 in 2002, this West Coast powerhouse was finally stopped when they ran into a certain team from Hammond, Indiana.


4. Team 71, 2002

Key Stats: 1 Regional Championship, 1 Regional Finalist, Championship Event Winner

Here's the story on Team 71 in 2002. If they grabbed all three goals in the first 5 seconds of the match, you basically could pack your bags. It was over. Simply put, it was the original chokehold strategy in FIRST. You may notice that they did lose at a regional. Yes, it happened. A few teams noticed that 71 has a weakness, if you could turn them them they would be permanently off track for the rest of the match. But here's the thing that made this team so great. They realized their weakness, fixed it, and it was never a problem at the championship.

When I think about the greatness of this season, two specific memories stick out in my mind.

a) In the Newton Semifinals, Team 71's alliance faced off against two powerhouses teams 67 & 68. At the outset of the match, 68 beat 71 to one of the goals. 71 had control of the other two goals, but accidentally their free arm latched on to Team 67. The arm could not release, so 67 wasn't going anywhere. While holding the third goal, Team 68 latched onto one of the goals that 71 was holding onto. What happened next? Team 71 proceed to drag three 180 lb goals and two 130 lb robots across the field!!! That's 800 lbs of stuff they moved, and 260 lbs of it was fighting in the opposite direction. That was by far the most impressive feat I've ever seen in FIRST.

b) Ron Partridge was the announcer on the Newton field on 2002. I swear he was running out of things to say during their matches. Most FIRST announcers never like to say a match is a foregone conclusion, even when it's in the last few seconds. So hearing Ron say "well, I guarantee you this match is virtually over" with 1:45 remaining kind of said it all for me. This team was not being stopped.

They may not have had the best record, but they were probably the most unstoppable FIRST team ever, aside from the year where a team could only stop themselves... (See #1)


3. Team 67, 2005

Key Stats: 2 Regional Championships, Championship Event Winner

This team should be fresh in everyone's mind. I really think that 71 was more dominant in 2002, but the consistency displayed by 67 allowing for their two regional victories give them the edge.

Combining the large drive base with a compact three wheel swerve, this team roamed across the field and put up tetras with ease. A typically well engineered robot by the Heroes of Tomorrow. They also had a shot of winning a third regional, but things didn't work out for them at the WMR.


2. Team 47, 1998

Key Stats: 3 Regional Championships

The last year of the pre-alliance era. This team may have been the reason that the pre-alliance era ended. In 1998, the matches were played 1 vs. 1 vs. 1, up until the final 8. Teams realized that trying to beat 47 on your own unrealistic. Trying to outscore them was a futile effort. Playing defense on them and pinning them didn't really work, because of their innovative swerve drive. So teams realized that the only way to beat them was to double team them. Turn the match into a 2 on 1, and let the human players decide which of the double teamers would actually come out on top. It was a sound strategy, but must have been frustrating for Team 47. They ended up getting knocked out fairly early in the Saturday double elimination tournament at EPCOT. I still remember the shock that went through the pits as word traveled that Team 47 had been eliminated. Considering their regional success, it was mind blowing for them to be finished so early.


1. Team 71, 2001


Key Stats: 2 Regional Championships, Championship Event Winner

Here's how dominant this team was. During the regular season*, if Team 71 executed their game, there was no way anyone could beat them. Period. The 2001 game was great like that. Since it was sort of like a game of golf, a team didn't have to worry about defense or someone getting in their way. The 2001 game involved alliances of 4. Well, with Team 71 on your alliance you only needed one other team to perform a function, the other two teams could just coast down to the end zone. (Although, thing went a bit faster when they had two big ball cappers) It was really a treat to watch. Although, it did make for a fairly anti-climatic Championship Event, as it seemed like Team 71's victory was a done deal. That being said, they still had to come out and execute, and they sure as hell did.

*Team 308 had a robot with similar functionality to Team 71. By the time IRI rolled around, they had it firing on all cylinders and actually managed to beat Team 71


So, that's officially my longest post ever. Hope you enjoyed it. By the way, yes it's official, I have way too much time on my hands right now. This is what happens when I can't get more than 4 hours of sleep a night.