Curie Division Finalists: 399, 188, 329, and robotics wrap up/thanks

FIRST General Forum
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First off: my four years as a student on robotics are done. Completely. Over. Never will I be behind the sticks of a robot again at an official competition. It’s been four years. And the best four years I could have ever asked for.

Our team has had it’s ups and downs with robots, but this year, by far, we put together the best robot in our teams history. And we have the medals to prove it.

…

Atlanta this year was amazing. I talked to Karthik, Paul Capioli, Cory McBride, everyone who I thought would never even recognize our team. But we put on a good show… A pretty dang good show.

…

I don’t even know what to say. Our team put together an alliance that beat the thunder chickens alliance once. Haha. That’s more than I ever expected. Way more than I ever expected.

188, Shawn, your team is amazing. It was awesome working with you guys… We wanted it from the beginning, and we got it, and I’ll never look back on that choice.

329, to be completely honest, I only had a brief glimpse of what you guys looked like, before we picked you. But the data backed you guys up, and you performed amazing. Purely amazing…

One little thing I have to explain - finals match 3, when everyone thought we got lured in to get the super cells scored on us… I had to do it. There were no balls on the field, we had 8 in our hopper, and real time scoring showed us as losing. Da bears were waiting in a corner to pin us against 217’s trailer once we scored. I saw everything Paul was doing over there, but I had to go for it, at least at the time I thought I did. We would score 16 points (and we did) and pick up the lead… Then we had to hope they missed the super cells. If they missed the super cells, and we didn’t score, we still lost (according to the real time… which means I had to make the score). We did what we did, but 217’s alliance simply outscored us. Either way. It was awesome.

You know my favorite part of this whole robotics thing?

I can always come back next year as a mentor, and see some freshman go through the program and experience everything I did. Right from square one.

Thanks FIRST. It’s made high school… so… so amazing. I don’t know what to say. I met amazing, lifelong friends… And it changed my life.

See you all soon. =)

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I have to say that as a mentor it has always been my pleasure to help students out. Let me say that this year’s experience has been amazing to say the least and it has been a pleasure to serve as a coach.

As a previous driver for team 399, I have to say that the experience of coaching a team to success is amazing and an experience that is altogether different than when I was a student. At times you have to support your team through defeat, but it is amazing to me to see the resolve in students to do better as they move on, particularly in the next competition/match.

Along with Brad I have had the pleasure of meeting some great people including, Paul Copioli, Karthik, Shawn Lim (team 188), and many others.

Let me say that I was pleased to match wits with Paul on the field knowing his record as a FIRST master tactician. I couldn’t be more proud of our results against such a successful team, but this couldn’t have been accomplished without our amazing teammates.

Team 188 - You guys are simply amazing! As Brad mentioned, we were looking forward to working with you all from the beginning and it was a pleasure to get to do so in the finals. Shawn, as a fellow coach and future educator, it was a pleasure to get to know you and tackle the eliminations together. You helped bring our alliance together and I hope I have the chance to work with you more in the future.

Team 329 - Two words come to mind, reliable and teamwork. Without you guys it would have been nearly impossible to get to the finals. Our cheer to “execute” was exemplified in our communication between coaches and your amazing robot. We could always count on you to “execute” the strategies every time. It was a pleasure working with you all :slight_smile:

Building a robot that is successful obviously brings a lot of joy to our team. However, it is the relationships that are built and the experiences that brings a joy that lasts beyond the competition. Thank you to all who have made this year such an amazing trip for me and my team.

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Hi guys.

Thank you all for an amazing experience.:smiley: It was great working with you guys.

399- Thanks for picking us. We always wanted to work with you guys and it was an amazing experience to play with you

329- Thanks for delivering the ECs and being a great alliance partner

This was the best year for our team in the history. This has been the furthest we have ever been at world champs and all of this…thanks to our amazing alliance and we hope to work with you guys in the years to come…

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great job team 399
you guy are a great team
we hope to see you guys next year we have to hold our title!!
once again GREAT JOB!!

team 1332 SWIFT

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You guys were our favorite team to play with all weekend!!~
You had a terrific robot and an outstanding set of operators.

Your team rocked in eliminations and you certainly put together a great alliance!! That combination certainly worked out well and you came so close!!
You have everything to be proud of!!

We hope to see you again next year on the field!!

Robert Steele (and the rest of the Skunks!!)

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Brad,

This comment by you,

I met amazing, lifelong friends… And it changed my life.

sums up why I mentor in FIRST.

Students like you that have passed through our program through the last 10 years keep me in this thing win, lose, or draw.

The message I want all of my students to take away from their time with the ThudnerChickens is pretty simple:

Be excellent in everything you do and the results will just happen.

In other words, don’t worry about the results but strive for excellence in the way you live your life and everything you do.

Good luck in your post high school years …
Paul

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I would like to thank you guys from the bottom of my heart. Our alliance was great and we did so well. That meant everything to team 329 and you gave us it. Thank you.

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(I must apologise for the delay in posting, I had to take care of a trio of exams.)

399
When the divisions came out, we were very high on 399, but honestly knew very little about your team. As you had mentioned elsewhere, a couple of regionals that were not webcasted meant the spotlight was never really very bright on your team. However, when the OPR numbers came out along with your highlight reel, we became believers. We loved your capacity and the ability you had to quickly get in, make a dump and get out; a perfect partner to work with our low volume, quick cycle time game.

Throughout the weekend you really impressed 188, and I heard nothing but good things about your team both on Thursday and Friday night while I was in Toronto (another exam…). When I arrived on Saturday and got a chance to witness things for myself, I was convinced that your robot easily fit at number two on our list (behind a certain group of chickens).

We were honoured to be picked by your team and were thrilled at the prospect of working together. We put together an awesome run and really gave the division champions a run for their money. Thank you so much for selecting us!

329
It always seems happens at the bigger events - the robots that perform consistently well just seem to get missed. As we worked our way down the pick list, we were absolutely stunned to see you still around at 12. A robot that scored 10 balls per match AND delivered empty cells AND human loaded in autonomous AND scored super cells if required available that late? It blew our minds and we did not pass that opportunity up.

Working with you guys was phenomenal. You were so remarkably versatile and opportunistic. You took your shots when the situation called for it, but when the empty cells had to be delievered you were there to do it. In those clutch situations, when a super cell needed scoring, you were there to take care of business. What more could anyone ask of an alliance partner? Thank you for all that you did to make our deep playoff run possible.

217, 68, 247
When 217 selected 68 from the 7 spot, I think everyone on our field knew that the alliance was destined to go deep, very deep. The class of the field with arguably one of the very best dumpers together is scary stuff. Add to that the versatile 247 that could transition so well between the role of defensive behemoth and situational scorer, and a true winning alliance was born. We had a great deal of fun playing against you, and I’m glad we pushed each other to three matches.

Congratulations on your division win and your runners-up finish on Einstein. You came up against the very best, but you put on a heck of a show.

(247, for the second year in a row, our season ends at your hands, we’ll get you one of these years, just you wait ;).)

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Brad, I have to agree with Pauls’ message. I’m in this because I believe in the program and the difference I’ve seen it make in team members lives through the years. All I ask from our team members is that they do their best and live up to their potential and not worry what the scoreboard reads. As for the friendships, I don’t think you could ask for a better class of friends anywhere. Lots of luck in the future.

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My thoughts exactly Rory! The student experience with the design, planning and competition is the most important aspect of FIRST.

Brad,
Your FIRST experience gives you the unique opportunity to help so many others. FIRST needs mentors who know robotics and can relate to the students. You certainly meet both of those requirements. Share your passion. It is infectious. My advice is to make sure you include as many students a possible. You never know who, with the right opportunity, will be your next robotic genius.

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