2012CHAMPIONSHIP

Edward Jones Dome - St. Louis, Missouri : April 26-28

Our photos

Match results : Qualification schedule

Team standings

Friday, April 27 : Updates by Tony V.

8 AM

Just so you guys know, even though we are used to it, waking up at 5:45 AM multiple times to "Dope Nose" on loop can be quite unpleasant and should be done sparingly. That being said, Team 2220 is now a-rollin' and a-rarin' to go (with the exception of nodding off being a more frequent occurrence than we would rather it be).

9 AM

We got face paint, we got hats, we got spirit on top of all that! We also had a well-presented opening ceremony comprised of the rightful recognition of many deserving leaders, mentors, and all-star achievers alike along with a powerful rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner" by a very talented American Idol once-finalist taking the level of spirit in the stadium to a higher plane of conscience. The grand precursor to the day concludes with a bang as the matches are officially commenced.

11 AM

The stadium had about half an hour before the beckoning of munchity, munchity foodstuffs, and that meant last minute rounds before the rush. Bundled up with the notorious Team 2169, our alliance broke out for our first match for today. Both alliances did well in the autonomous phase with the opposing alliance pulling up just a bit further than our Blue Alliance. Things turned kinda sour as our robot met a terrible fate... a fate found face-first on its side. The details are vague, but I believe the incident was on account of a mischievousness little ball that was hiding beneath the blue bridge, taking us very far aback. 2169 did what they could, procuring a sequence of shots plopped nicely into the cradle of the white nets and, for themselves, a nice pair of Coopertition points. The final score still wasn't pretty as we took but two-thirds of our opponent's set of points but, hey, you gotta keep your head up for yourself.

1 PM

Basically taking down a recording of our team matches for now, we took our seats for Round #90. We nearly won with a score of 31 to 36. Besides that, not much to report.

3 PM

Took the victory, so it seems. BLAM-booooh.

Team 2220 & Chalkin' down the road to championships II

  by Tony V.

Wakey, wakey, it's time to hit the road again! Wait, 7 am? Gross. Well, off we go then, to the Edward-Jones Dome where we will gather knowledge, fight robots, and devour the whole lot of fried foods they will DEFINITELY have to offer!

In actuality, my list of fried foods consisted of a $4 Jumbo Corn Dog and (if they fried this I am done) a large cup of sweet tea. Prior to this purchase, there was a moderately slow-paced morning filled with teams with their bots giving a couple o' good test scuttles on the arena floor. Teams from all the worlds roll their robots back and forth between the arena and a humongous hole-in-the-wall known most-notably as "the Pit". This is where both the native and international teams wrestle their automatons into an action-ready fashion while team members go absolutely ba-zonkers nabbing little curios like wristbands, bandannas, what-have-yous, and other fun collectibles in an effort to turn their team shirt into what some may refer to as "button-mail". Be warned, the art of button-mailing is a hazardous task, only fun for those with a penchant for the trenchant!

Moving away from the Pit, which also hosts a college and science exhibit by a whole stew of big-name groups boasting their picturesque and wildly engaging dream of a heavily-scientific future, we move ourselves to several different kiosks and other Robotics-related information centers. One that my friend and I happened to stumble upon stationed an Xbox and a game actually based on this year's game of hoops! Not only was it fun, but very accurate in detailing and configuration, so we really enjoyed ourselves.

Then the morning passed as I attempted to rush myself towards one of the many conference meetings taking place throughout the span of this week. These conference meetings were meant to guide those who attended to understand the importance of the subject they were teaching. Mine, as it happened, had to do with the Chairman's award and establishing ways to build up your team's frame in order to be recognized with this prestigious grand prix. The conference had a huge impact on my desire to participate more in my team, an influence that I'm sure each conference meeting will undeniably provide.

The day flowed on alright, though our matches were not as we had hoped. One match saw us pitted against a fully-functional team virtually alone as a member of our alliance had not been present and the other sat for, well, the whole shebang. Honestly, would that stop us from performing at our best? Is 19 points and a place on the Coopertition Bridge not a triumph on our part, with the fettles we were handed? Not to be totally uppity, but I think the answer's plain to see.

Dinner took place and some hijinks ensued, but overall our day went without hitch (well, with the other exception of the very bad customer service a member our team had the displeasure of incurring at a certain Subways...). The students went about their evening getting homework done among other things and sleep took us later that night, one more time.

Itinerary Items

Friday, April 27th

5:45 AM
     Breakfast for robot crew
6:10 AM
     Robo crew departs for Edward Jones Dome
7:00 AM
     St. Louis Convention Center and Edward Jones Dome opens
7:00 AM
     FRC Pits open/ Machine Shop opens
6:30 AM
     Breakfast-rest of the team
7:00 AM
     Team departs hotel for dome
8:30 AM
     FIRST Championship Welcome and FRC Opening Ceremonies
9:30 AM
     FRC Qualification Matches
10:00 AM
     Scholarship Row, Suppliers Showcase, and Alliance Exhibits
11:00 AM
     FRC LIVE! With Bill Miller (Galileo Field) 
12:00 PM
     Dean's List Presentation
1:00 PM
     FRC Qualification Matches
6:00 PM
     Bus leaves dome
7:00 PM
     Pits and Machine Shops close
8:00 PM
     Robo study session
9:45 PM
     Bus picks up kids from ballpark game.
10:30 PM
     Curfew

Saturday, April 28th

5:45 AM
     Breakfast for robot crew
6:10 AM
     Robot crew departs for Edward Jones Dome
6:30 AM
     Breakfast-rest of the team
7:00 AM
     Team departs hotel for dome
7:00 AM
     St. Louis Convention Center and Edward Jones Dome opens
7:00 AM
     FRC Pits, FRC Machine opens
8:15 AM
     FRC Qualification Matches
10:30 AM
     FRC Alliance Selection
11:00 AM
     FRC Break
12:00 PM
     FRC Division Matches
2:30 PM
     FRC Division Ceremonies & Awards
4:00 PM
     FRC Championship Closing Ceremonies
5:00 PM
     FRC Pits Close to Public and FRC Machine Shop closes
7:30 PM
     FIRST Finale: "FIRST Night Out" in St. Louis
9:00 PM
     Travels back to hotel
11:00 PM
     Curfew