Wow… what a weekend! After a 23 hour bus ride, the reality of it still hasn’t sunk in. Having never won a regional, we never anticipated being the first seeded team in Archimedes, let alone captaining the alliance that won the division and the Championship.
First of all, I’d like to congratulate the alliance of 25, 968 and 195 on being the Newton champions and the Championship finalists. When I found out that this alliance had been formed on Newton and had taken the divisional championship, I knew then that this was the alliance I most dreaded meeting on Einstein, between 25’s legendary camera-controlled shooter, 968’s deadly ramp-camping ability, and 195’s remarkable defensive and corner-goal capabilities. Finals match 2 was the most nerve-racking of my FIRST career, and I remain in awe of the offense and defense this alliance displayed during our two matches on Einstein.
Secondly, I’d like to thank team 968 from the bottom of my heart for their act of gracious professionalism on Einstein. After the first match of the finals, the #25 chain linking the top and bottom wheels of 296’s shooter snapped, and neither we nor 217 or 522 had a spare master link. Team 968 did have one and gave it to us, knowing full well that just one win on our part would result in our winning the Championship. Thank you!
Thirdly, I’d like to thank team 217, the ThunderChickens, for being the best first pick alliance partner we could ever ask for. This team is “good people”, a class act from the top down, on and off the field. From helping us fine-tune our camera settings to giving us a major boost in the strategy department to being understanding when we experienced big problems in the Archimedes eliminations (including being hit for the first time ever with the 8.3V bug in the finals!), not to mention having an amazing robot, the ThunderChickens were an indispensable part of our alliance and we congratulate you on a most-deserved win!
Lastly, I’d like to thank team 522, the original Robo Wizards, for being such a dependable third member of our alliance. I was down on the floor of the Dome during the alliance pickings with Blair, our strategist, and Paul Copioli of the ThunderChickens, and we figured that all the decent shooter robots would be selected by the time it was our turn to choose again. Instead, as the second round of picking proceeded, Blair and Paul were shaking their heads in amazement that 522 hadn’t yet been picked, seeing as they ranked very highly on both our shooter lists. The Robo Wizards turned out to be invaluable to our alliance, playing an amazing game of defense against the high-offense teams we encountered, especially the ramp-campers, and on many occasions they turned up out of nowhere to score boatloads of points when we needed it the most. They are genuinely nice people to boot, and we certainly couldn’t have done it without them. Thank you, team 522!
I hope to see all three teams making up the “Northern Chicken Wizards” at next year’s Greater Toronto Regional!