I was thinking about what teams have motivated me the most during my time in FRC and here is my list. I just wanted to give some more recognition to these teams that inspired me so much over the last 4 years. Looking at all the pointless threads on CD recently made me want to post this to help remind people that CD should be a positive environment. I would love to see what teams inspired you the most.
1: 1114. This is the team that started my love for FRC. I remember watching them at champs in 2013 and just being amazed by their robot, this was the first high level of FRC I had ever watch. I wanted to learn more about their team and at this point I know almost everything to know about 1114. All of my FRC knowledge stems from watching 1114’s amazing robot in 2013. That’s also why simbot B.A. Baracus is my favorite robot of all time.
2: 2052. 2052 is the team to beat in MN and they proved that again this year with their first Einstein appearance. When I tell new members what it takes to win in MN I always reply with “just be better than 2052 and you will win every event in MN”. Every single regional they go to they always seem to find a way to make it very far at the very least, most of the time winning the event. This is the team I always look up to when I think of local powerhouses.
3: 2056: we all know about the streak, but that isn’t the reason they’re on my list. My greatest moment in my FRC career was being picked by 2056 at IRI in 2015. It just validated all the hard work that I put into 2502 trying to make them as elite as I could during my time on the team.
They’re so many other teams that have inspired me over the years, just to name a few more: 254, 5172, 2175, 1816, 1023, 67, 525, and 2826.
For me, I’d say some personal inspiring teams are 2122, 148, and 2056. All three build really good robots and I enjoy seeing what they build every year. I’ll add more teams as I think of them.
Thank you so much for the kind words, but a lot of what you said can be said about 2502. You guys were a force to be reckoned with both this year and last. What 2502 does both on and off the field is simply incredible. With a 3 year regional win streak, 2 EI wins, an IRI win, and a Division Finals appearance you guys are in a category of your own. I really look foward to seeing what 2502 does next year!
This past year was my third as Fusion 364’s lead mentor/school sponsor and our first without our beloved Tom Holderer steering the design. Through hard work and a bit of luck we partnered with the RoboWranglers #148 and Citrus Circuits #1678 at worlds.
At the Rocket City Regional, we were able to interact with Bomb Squad #16 and the Robonauts #118, loosing to their power house alliance in the finals.
As a grown man, with almost 22 years of military service; these four teams inspired the heck out of me personally. Their professionalism is beyond reproach and they genuinely want all teams to do their best.
I’m fairly confident fishing_cat is 2056’s biggest fan out there (obsessed maybe?)… seriously this guy has been talking about going to Stony Creek, Ontario literally to be near 2056.
The first robot to inspire me in design was team 33’s 2013 robot. It looked amazing and used every inch of space. The first team to really inspire me to be a coach was team 177 Bobcat. 118’s designs always inspire me and display ideas I would have never thought of.
For me, the team that has most significantly inspired is 195. Being in our area, they’ve helped our team grow, and also showed that CT pride with their Einstein appearance this year.
On behalf of 195 thank you for your kind words. I would have to add that ALL Connecticut teams have stepped up their games and have inspired us as well. There is nothing better than when all the teams are working together to ensure FRC is the best it can be in CT.
I’m glad to see the culture of working and learning together is finally coming to fruition through the Connecticut Coalition efforts.
Together we are Connecticut Strong!
Hope to see you all at our practice field in 2017!
I have yet to see anyone who hates Exploding Bacon. From the days of Wendy Austin’s living room and Dan Richardson’s garage a couple doors down, they’ve developed a hell of a program that’s held up over time and through leadership changes. If someone told me a program I started could only ever be as good as Bacon’s, I wouldn’t take it as an insult.
3824 is a great team in Knoxville. In addition to always performing well with an intuitively-designed robot, they’re always willing to lend a helping hand to local teams. I don’t know what my team, 5571, would do without them. They’ve given us so much guidance (and spare parts) since we became a team, and it’s always great to work with them. In addition, they’re always doing some kind of outreach, from home to Germany (seriously!).
I also have to send a shoutout to 3966, the L&N STEMpunks, for their awesome business division. They won the Media and Technology award from Comcast for their excellent online branding, and their robust organization system makes them more productive on the business side than most other teams I’ve seen.
The teams which have inspired 3946 the most are teams we have had live contact with. 16, 1114, 3339 (St Louis 2016) and 118, 233, 1477, 2587, and 3937 (Bayou, and in some cases, St. Louis 2016) all came quickly to mind.
While I certainly see many benefits to moving to districts, losing the benefit of all those great teams (including many I did not mention) roaming the country/world inspiring teams in regions with lower mentor and sponsor availability makes me wonder whether it’s going to be worth it in the long run. While there are a few others who may yet come back, I believe we will only have two student members of our 2018 team who are veterans of our trip to St. Louis in 2016, so finding inspiration locally is essential.
So many FRC teams have inspired me that I will not try to list them all. But two are firmly stuck in my mind: 16 and 71.
I saw both for the first time in Orlando in 1996, my rookie year. (Teams did not have numbers then, and my Arch Rivals from St. Louis are long forgotten; however, 1996 was also the rookie season for both the Baxter Bomb Squad and the Beatty BEAST.)
The Bomb Squad has continued to inspire me in several ways: world class community outreach, growing FIRST in their state, founding a regional, traveling far from home to conduct seminars for developing teams, and a group of mentors and alumni that are sustaining pillars of FIRST. And, oh yeah, they play hard.
71 has inspired me with their work ethic and competitiveness, their RAS in 1996, their first RCA in 2006 (and those 4 world championships in between), and their resurgence in more recent seasons. I posted at the time about watching them work in 2006, and that lesson inspired the way that I have tried to develop the Average Joes since moving to Michigan.
It was really cool seeing both of these teams at IRI this year.
I think for me, the teams that really inspire me to this day are 1114, 254, 3683, 987, and 971.
1114 just never stops helping out other teams in need and has always shown me that you can always keep improving and building on what you already have.
When I first got to see 254 in 2014, I was ecstatic. It wasn’t just the robot that really got me going but also the team especially when I began learning more and more about them. Although I had already been on a FIRST team for two years at the time, I felt like this team was what personally motivated me and inspired me to change.
3683, although not as old as the other teams I have listed is another that has inspired me and taught me to not only think but to always be doing something.
987 really inspires me and motivates me to really push for outreach and STEM in the community and with people I meet who ask me everyday why I’m always wearing a FIRST shirt.
971 is another team that inspires me with the robots they bring out every year.
