So since my other thread is going so well I figured I would make a similar thread for teams who are in a bit of a dry spell in terms of event wins.
So similar rules to the other thread:
You must compete with the team fairly regularly
The team must have won an Official event prior to 2013
The Team can not have won an official event in 2013, 2014, 2015 or 2016
Teams must already be signed up to compete in the 2017 season
An official event is one that provides a FIRST Blue Banner (Regional, Distict, District Championship, Division, Subdivision, and Championship)
They can not be your team or teams.
So lets go with Florida Teams 86 Team Resistance, and 801 Horsepower.
86 has 4 regional wins to their name (Florida 2007, 2009, 2010, and Orlando 2012) and has a history of ranking well. They have a history of performing well and I can see them getting another banner this year.
801’s last regional win was 2005 Peachtree but they haven’t spent the last decade complacent and have constantly built great machines during their partnership with 1592. Unfortunately though they have got the short end of the stick Blue Banner wise when compared to their twin 1592 (4 Regional Wins during their partnership), that being said 801 is not to be taken lightly they are a perennial contender in Florida and is just looking to add another win to their history.
281: Four regional wins, but the last was Palmetto 2012 (which ended with them needing to call in a backup). 342: Indiana people would call them the 461 of the South. Four silvers, one win (Palmetto 2007), masked by four RCA wins, a WFFA, and a Dean’s List Finalist. Their last medal of any sort was Palmetto EI in 2012. 2815: Yes, they were my team. Yes, their three regional wins were all as the last pick of the draft or as the backup team to 281. But the banner’s just as blue, and right up until they ran into the 118/16/3490 buzzsaw at Rocket City this year, it looked like they had the beginnings of a return to form.
Honorable mentions:
343: Before they won the final Peachtree Regional in 2015, they spent a long time lost in the desert. Since their last win at Palmetto 2010–two cities ago–they went on an absolutely ridiculous silver streak. Newton 2012. North Carolina 2011. Palmetto 2011. Peachtree 2012. Palmetto 2012. They then went home completely empty-handed in 2013 and 2014 before returning to the performance level you would expect from Metal In Motion. 1293: Also part of my history, and ineligible for this list because they’ve never won a regional. Matter of fact, they have somehow eluded any official FIRST hardware since their 2004 inception. Should’ve had at least a silver at Palmetto 2011, but a bad snap decision from a partner flipped a done-deal semifinal match into a red card.
2 Time World Champions (2000, 2012). 2 Time World Finalists (2003, 2006). 2 Additional Championship Division Wins (2002, 2011). 9 Regional wins from 2000 to 2011.
In 2012, they won the Mt. Olive MAR District Event, the MAR District Championship, and the World Championship.
But, they haven’t won an event since. The closest they’ve come is Finalists at the 2014 Hatboro-Horsham MAR District Event, 2016 Birdgewater-Raritan MAR District Event, and 2016 MAR District Championship.
I know Shaun, and he must be hungry for a win. And 2017 is the last year that the “backpack bet” is eligible (If 25 wins Worlds, we get to keep his current backpack and he will buy a transparent one to wear). I want to see an Evil Machine back on Einstein.
Team 131 is due for a win soon. Won their last went at GSR 2012, but fell short in the finals twice in 2014 and had solid robots in 2013 and 2016. Even won a chairman’s award in 2013.
980 has three event wins, none since '08. They’ve sniffed it a couple of times, picking up silver in 2010 and 2014, but no closer. But lately they’ve been fielding fairly competitive robots, after a bit of a dry spell, so I’d be looking out for them in 2017 and 2018.
In Washington, the first team that comes to mind is 2557 SOTAbots. They won the Seattle Olympic Regional in 2012, then…a lot of finalist appearances. Solid robots year in and year out and making playoffs at every event except 2015 DCMP, just never quite getting the gold.
2013 - Finalists at Central Washington Regional, the heartbreaker where they were announced as winners of the rubber match on tiebreakers before the decision was reversed due to a missed red frisbee in the 2pt goal.
2014 - Finalists at Auburn Mountainview, taking their timeout for their opponents to fix a robot before the 3rd match, then getting beaten. Followed that up with a finalists appearance at Eastern Washington, losing in 3 matches.
2015 - Finalists at West Valley once again going the distance to the rubber match but coming up short.
2016 - The finalist streak stays alive, this time going to the division finals on Curie with the #7 seed alliance. They lost in 2 matches by a combined 3 points.
With such a solid resume and getting so close (how many times can you go to 3 matches in the finals and not get the breaks?) I just have to feel like it’s their turn.
I actually looked at 281’s TBA page, and would have mentioned them on the other thread had they not won a regional before.
But the team I would put at the top for needing another win is 1311, Kell Robotics. They have 8 Regional and District Chairman’s Awards, 3 Dean’s List Finalists and 1 Dean’s List winner, a Woodie Flowers Finalist, 2 Entrepreneurship Awards, a Safety Award, and Industrial Design Award, 2 Judge’s awards, a Gracious Professionalism award, a Volunteer of the Year, a Creativity award, and possibly the most unique climbing mechanism of 2013. They won the 2012 North Carolina Regional.
Ever since I can remember, 27 and 33 have been amazing teams and competed at the top level in Michigan. However, during my high school years from 2007 to 2010 they were both on improbably long dry spells in terms of event wins. 33’s last event win was in 2005 and 27’s was in 2003 - which seemed like ages ago considering how often these teams would make the finals. Both of them were able to break their dry spells by beating my alma mater Team 67 in 2011. Since then, both teams have captained a winning alliance at MSC.
33 should have won an event in 2010. From the District Events through worlds their average seed was between 2 and 3. They only missed Finals once, making SFs at MSC.
27’s 2008 robot was amazing and could have easily won the Detroit or Great Lakes Regional with slightly different seeding.
That’s all I got. These two were fantastic teams. Performed at Worlds every year like they had won several events already.
I’m surprised nobody has mentioned 1902. Division finalists 2006, einstein 2007, several finalist performances at regionals, and regional wins in 2009 and 2010.
They’ve made it to the finals four times since their last win at the Granite State Regional in 2011 (Montreal 2012, Pine Tree 2013, UNH 2014, Rhode Island 2015) and typically finish seeded in the top five at their events.
Wait has 461 really not won an event? If not, they should definitely be counted as one of the top contenders for this. They consistently have one of the top performers in FIRST or at least in Indiana.
In Minnesota, 1816 is probably the most overdue for another win. They haven’t won an event since 2006, despite having won an incredible array of awards since then. They have also been regional finalists thrice, in 2009, 2012, and 2014
Definitely team **60 **from Arizona! They have been a finalist 5 times in the last 4 years and haven’t won the gold since 2011. It’s honestly not a matter of if they will win again but when and I think that could be any event they attend. Especially with the drive the current team seems to have as noticed in the recent AZ State champs where they came in with a clone of 987’s robot! It didn’t perform at 987’s level but the effort and potential was definitely there in my opinion.
Though not an official FRC event, team **60 **did win the AZ State Championships in 2015!
For Texas, my absolute “never ever had a win but needs one” pick would be 2881, a Girl Scout team in Austin that has consistently good robots, an awesome image, and all around great people.
A close runner up would be 2587, the DiscoBots in Houston. They haven’t had a win since 2009, and they are a consistent finalist who for one reason or another (including 118, 148, 624, and 1477 or some combination thereof) just couldn’t quite get the blue banner for the better part of a decade.