I would like to know what is your favorite part of traveling with the team? What is your most memorable time with your team?
I was just interested in hearing some crazy stories.
other than the competitionā¦
my team stays a team 811ās school (thank you 811) for the time were competing at BAE so every night after the competition we go back to the school and play halo 2. we have 2 Xboxās connected with 3/4 players on each. we usually play team 885 vs team 811 and since were in separate rooms its quite fun and entertaining. also this past year we had a snowball fight in the parking lot at like 9 at nightā¦the fun part was that none of had any kind of snow gear so we were in our tee-shirts without any kind of glovesā¦it was a blast.
not exactly crazy but quite fun
/forest
Mine would have to be one of our team members (last year) (former team (not saying who)) attempted to āget onlineā using the NAVYās system (MD)ā¦ And was nearly arrested for hackingā¦ (btw, the kid is off the team nowā¦)
The best part of the story, is that I was talking to the guy from the CIA at UTC (this year), and he was like, āyeah, I heard this crazy story of this kid who tried hacking into the NAVYās system last year, Iām pretty sure itās not true thoughā¦ā. I was like, āIām pretty sure it is!ā
Yeahā¦ good times, gooood times.
Jacob
the best part of travelling is any part that does NOT involve airlines/airports/airplanes
The time Matt got stuck in the Taco Bell restroom is right up thereā¦
My favorite part of traveling?
I canāt really say.
I love meeting new teams. We donāt go somewhere local for our second competition, itās either Atlanta or somewhere far off.
I love staying at the hotel. I have some stories to comply with each of those.
This year we went to the Boilermaker regional. Being the only team from New England there, we decided to add a bit of New England flare. We made āWicked Awesomeā T-shirts to wear on Thursday. We chanted āWicked Awesomeā during our matches, and many times before matches in the Elimination rounds. We accepted the Alliance invite with āTeam 166 thinks it would be āwicked awesomeā to play with you guysā. Letās just say we overused the phrase, but it got us noticed, and thatās the best part about going to a regional somewhere away from home.
Hotel!
Last year in Atlanta, we (my hotel room) probably did the most outrageous thing anyone could do in a hotel. There was no vandalism (noā¦ we didnāt break any elevators), as far as I know, we did nothing illegal, it was just really fun. Basically, our hotel room had a balcony, and looking to the right there was a huge wall. One of the students had a projector that he bought a while ago and decided to bring. Soā¦ long story short, we set up an X-Box on the balcony, pointed the projector at that wall and played a quick game of Halo 2. We ended it quickly realizing that there might be something wrong with this.
We play alot of cardgames at the hotel, often in the hallway. If thereās another FIRST team at the hotel they have been know to sit down and play a few rounds with us. Itās a great way of meeting new people.
My team also plays alot of pranks, but only on each other, so donāt worry if you come over to play cards with us we wonāt hurt ya. For example, that one freshman and the orange nail polishā¦
Favorite part of traveling with the team? I donāt honestly knowāthe one year I was a student on 1293, we traveled separately. That general arrangement has followed me through three seasons as a college student (and a team change, to boot). The perils of living a half-mile from your one regionalā¦
That said, I have racked up a few miles going to other competitionsāIām aiming to break the 20,000-mile career mark this off-season. Iāve gone to events by plane (Cal Games), train (Mission Mayhem, 1902ās Vex event), and automobile (everything else), and I have to say that I much prefer not doing the drive myself. (That said, the budget generally doesnāt allow for thisā¦but the travel is a side benefit, more often than not.)
My favorite part of traveling is meeting all the folks that I wouldnāt have met otherwise. Sure, the biggest names in the FIRST world come within four hours of me once a year at the Championshipābut catching them at a regional or off-season event can be a far more rewarding experience. Whether itās talking with folks at 4:00 in the morning, rebooting an off-season event in twelve hours, getting creeped out standing next to 254ās tetra arm*, or just taking humor in a slightly screwy field barrier, there are many things that just canāt quite be replicated anywhere but in their natural habitats.
*On the way from SFO to San Jose with Cory, we stopped at 254ās facility to load some things into his SUV. Their 2005 arm (with or without a base, I canāt remember) was fully upright, a good ten or twelve feet up, and didnāt appear to be held in that state through any sort of locking device. Cory did tell me it was safe, but I didnāt feel the need to press my luck nearly three thousand miles from home.
did this kid graduate or was he terminated from the team
Termination!
Itās against both FIRST rules and law to do this (I thinkā¦)
Jacob
The best part of traveling is being away from that other world and entering the real world, the FIRST world. The companionship that forms within the team is impossible anywhere else. In Atlanta, the guys were able to stop four escalatorsā¦ but we went to see Blades of Glory, and the Georgia Aquarium, and the Hard Rock Cafe, and spent four or so hours in the hall of the hotel after the competition was over discussing next year. Thereās no place else that you feel so at home, so loved, needed, appreciated. Itās the best. Traveling allows you to step outside yourself, do everything for the benefit of the team, and meet tons of great new people. Thereās nothing else like it in the world!!
My favorite part of traveling is the bus rides. I know it sound weird, but when you can spend 30 hours together with some people on a bus (to Atlanta), then you will HAVE to get to know them. The bus rides is what i will remember most.
Guitar Hero in the hotel!
Seriously, we have probably 5 GH2 addicts on the team (including myself, now) and we each bring our guitars and go at it! Those are the best times that I remember.
Either that, or dumping a trashcan full of icy water on (name ommitted) in the hotel at last yearās IRI when he was in the showerā¦good times!
And the bus rides are always fun.
Other than James singing āBye, Bye, Byeā on the way home from Atlanta? I donāt knowā¦ everything I guess.
I like traveling through my REAL hometown of Chattanooga, TN. I met some long lost relatives when we stopped for supper and had some yummy downhome southern cooking.
So obviously my favorite part of traveling would be meeting new people (just like many before me have posted) and the crazy town roaming adventures I have with friends (including getting lost)
but if you wanted a traveling story,
[traveling story]
So in my freshmen year, our team volunteered at the Fingerlakes Regional and somehow/someway one of our team members had nunchucks in their luggage? haha sounds pretty weird but anyhow, he got taken in and written up by the police, but was let go with a warning? or was it a lecture?.
[/traveling story]
That was something pretty random that has happenedā¦ :rolleyes:
Living in Michigan we experience a lot of cold weather. Going to Florida or Sacremento is always a nice change of temperature. (from 35 Fahrenheit to about 69).
Hmm my most wild storyā¦Well
Our team was up in two matches and our drivers still hadnāt shown up. I went down to the pits to see what was up. I find the entire pit abandoned. I look around and finally find the entire pit crew in the bathroom. One of our drivers had gotten a bloody nose from the climate change (cold and wet to warm and dry). Everyone was freaking out because our match was in like a minute. What we ended up doing was taking a piece of toilet paper and shoving it up his nose to stop the bleeding for that two minute match. He drove and the instant the match ended he went off to the bathroom.
Another intresting time was acually at nationals last year.
It was our fourth match. We were waiting to see our robot come onto the field. To make a long story short, it never did. We went down to see what was up and apparently the drive team (the ENTIRE drive team) had not returned from the CNN tower (lunch).
And finally the funniest story of allā¦
Our team has been sustained our great programmer for some time. One our way to the florida regional this year we went through the luggage check/metal detector. Our programmer suddenly looks at the metal detector and says āuhhh guys I donāt think this will work out very well.ā We ask him why and we got our answer in a few short moments. Our programmer puts his backpack onto the conveyer belt. They guy running the metal detector takes a look at the backback with the machine and gets a wide eyed look. He tells our programmer to step off to the side. They searched him and found nothing. After about 15 minutes of searching he was let go. We asked him what was in that backpack that made them freak out. He opens it and we look in. Inside the backpack was a FIRST battery, two laptops, a bunch of copper wire, and his cell phone. I think the cops were surprised it wasnāt a bomb.
ahh the memoriesā¦
Ahh the memories
Now that was way too random nevertheless I had a good laugh =).
My Favorite part of traveling is of course by default meeting new people or meeting up with some old FIRST friends. Now as far as Traveling stories Iām pretty sure I have a few but cannot remember them completely so I wonāt even try to tell them but I can say that those were some funny memories.
Every time I go to a FIRST Event I try and take as much time off according to how long the Event is. When I get to that Event whether its NYC, NJ, Champs or PARC I always have a blast, I have not been to one event where I didnāt have fun. I feel like Iām a totally different person when Iām at a FIRST Event compared to when Iām at work or at home. Something about FIRST changes me when Iām at one of the events. And then when the Event is done itās always sad to see everything get packed up. I Miss Atlanta =(. Why does the championship only have to be 3 days.
Best thing I can say about traveling has already been said by a friend of mineā¦
āOn the road again, I just canāt wait to get on the road again.
Going places that Iāve never been, seeing things I may never see again.
I just canāt wait to get on the road again!ā
I usually get weird looks when going through security when we fly to PNWā¦ It usually has something to do with my combat boots, studded metal belt, and spiked blue hair. Oh, and the fast that I have a titanium pin in my left foot (I shattered the arch of it in a freak zip line accident).
So Airport security is always a bit āfun.ā
As for a funny story, here goes. Our programmer is, to say, a bit of a klutz. He has a tendency to lose things and drop even more things. So we no longer let him carry his own boarding pass, as heās lost it in the past. The kid can program a robot like no other, but he canāt seem to hold onto his own possessionsā¦
I really liked playing ultimate frisbee with team 20(?) (not sure exactly, sorry if Iām wrong, so much happened in Atlanta for me to remember all the details).
Hours of bus rides watching movies, playing games, sleeping, and (my favorite) messing with peopleās headsā¦how is that not fun?
This is my first year (Freshman)
So, I learned a few things at BMR.
- I learned that Bawls can do bad things to you (Hence one of our team members (name not to be announced) shaking and laughing histarically in her room the entire time.
- Monty Python and the Holy Grail is officially our troop movie.
This last fall, I loved traveling. Left on a train from Chicago to San Diego and all it was from there to Florida was my bike, the road, and a bag for 2 and a half months. One of the best times I have ever had.