I didn’t see a 2016 thread yet so I figured I’d start one up. We’re excited to head up to Chicago and play with a lot of teams we’ve never met and a few that we have!
While Trogdor focused on low goals and breaching at the St. Louis regional, we’ve been practicing high goal shooting and hope to be hitting multiple shots a match.
We also have a defense + hang module that can be used by us or by a partner if needed. 4329 loves Cheesecake.
Does anyone know if a stream will be provided? I’d be happy to bring the STL FIRST equipment up and set it up on Thursday. Here’s an example of what the home viewer would see live. As long as the bandwidth is there we can stream & record matches at 1080 resolution.
Midwest looks really strong this season! As always, we will see many of the top teams in Illinois, Wisconsin, and Turkey, as well as newcomers from Missouri and the east coast. Here’s some stats:
Number of teams: 52
Teams with 2016 blue banners: 1 (2451)
Teams already qualified for champs: 4 (111, 1756, 2451, 5822)
Regional finalists: 4 (379, 1736, 1756, 4329)
Number of teams competing for the first time this season: 20
Number of regionals teams have previously attended: 9
Rookie teams: 4 (5822, 5847, 5934, 6237)
Second-year teams: 0
Top 10 OPRs:
379 (48.48)
1625 (45.61)
1736 (41.79)
4143 (38.74)
2338 (38.02)
2451 (36.64)
2062 (34.58)
1756 (32.84)
375 (32.7)
10.111 (30.75)
2338 is very excited to be competing at such an exciting event! We’ll see you all Thursday!
There are 2 teams from Turkey competing at the regional. There were 4 teams from Turkey at the Wisconsin Regional. I didn’t think about this until it was too late. It would be a nice act of Gracious Professionalism if one of them was selected for Playoffs. Maybe a 3rd pick by the 7th or 8th Alliance?
You have to be joking here… I don’t agree with this at all. You cannot just expect the 7th or 8th seeded alliance to pick a team just because their odds of winning aren’t “good”. What entails them to give up if they are facing a strong 1st and 2nd seed to just and to throw picks and choose whoever? Every alliance has a fair and square shot. IMO, even if you are the 7th or 8th seed make the best possible alliance you can. Just because you are up against a super tough alliance doesn’t mean it is impossible to win against them. Upsets will and have happened at FRC regionals.
Strategically it is of your best interest to avoid tough alliances during alliance selections, but if you find yourself with no other choice, do not give up. Make the best possible alliance you can for the best shot to upset strong alliances.
What’s the harm in it? This wouldn’t be the first time a Turkish team went to champs (3646 has a 2016 RCA, 2905 has a 2015 EI), and a lot of them are really good too. 2905, 3646, and 3390 are among the Turkish teams who have made very good robots in recent years. 3646, in particular, was a standout shooter at Midwest 2014.
Another harm in picking them based on this alone is that there are 50 other teams that put their hearts and souls into this competition. Regardless of your position, GP means you continue trying to do your best.
If my team is ranked in the top 24, but we don’t get picked, I want to believe the eight alliances tried to come up with a winning strategy.
On the other hand, if my team gets picked for the playoffs I hope it’s because we fit a winning strategy, not because we’re an all-girl team or something like that.
Obvious disclaimer - teams can pick for whatever reason they want.
When building an alliance you should try to build one that can WIN. [1] Rather than pick teams cuz they are from a far away land, you should pick because you think they would contribute positively [2]. Ok, that’s one.
Second, you make a couple assumptions that the teams you propose pity picking [3] will be a) not in a picking position b) not worth picking in those spots c) not wanting to actually win the event anyway.
Third, let’s assume the 1 seed decides to pick one of these teams[4] what would the harm be in them having been picked if they win it all? [5]
[1] Last I checked, this was a competition… just checked again, yup still has Competition in the name.
[2] See previous comments about it being a COMPETITION
[3] My words, not yours. But the words are there under your GPness veneer.
[4] Presumably for reasons that make sense like, idk, actually contributing to the alliance.
[5] There’s a slight implication here I don’t think you meant that you don’t want them winning.
With Gracious Professionalism, fierce competition and mutual gain are not separate notions. Gracious professionals learn and compete like crazy, but treat one another with respect and kindness in the process. They avoid treating anyone like losers. No chest thumping tough talk, but no sticky-sweet platitudes either. Knowledge, competition, and empathy are comfortably blended.
Out of curiosity, where do out-of-town teams stay? UIC isn’t exactly a tourist-friendly area, but the west suburbs would be a haul through morning Ike traffic.
I would like to remind everyone that this is the Midwest Regional Twentieth Anniversary. Midwest was the first regional outside of Manchester. We have a lot of historical items that will be presented all weekend. It looks to be a great event.
The Midwest Regional (and now Central Illinois) has been a ‘home’ regional for Turkish teams in the past. There is a Turkish Consulate in Chicago. Oh, and they bring some nice candy as well.
See you all there in just a few hours.
I am planning on coming , The Midwest Regional was my first event I ever attended and hold a special place in my heart. That event was the seed that still drives Team 107 20 years later. The competition was crazy and the people I met I still consider friends. Are their any special events planned?
Watch the 20th anniversary Midwest Regional on the FIRST Illinois website here. We updated our streaming equipment, so hopefully it will look great for those watching at home!
For those of you who want to share stories and photos from the event on social media, our official event hashtag is #MWR20.
FIRST Illinois is also getting some alumni together for an alumni social. All FIRST alumni in the area are welcome to join us (even if you didn’t compete on an Illinois team). Our meetup will be Friday night at 7 pm at Wise Owl Drinkery and Cookhouse, just a few blocks away from the Pavilion. All ages are welcome and we hope to see you there!
