We made the Dominion Post for the very first time. – Tessa Wiegand (2003)
And these guys had no idea that they were already Martians…
We broke our first robot the day before competition and yet all of these Lego teams now trust us. – Tessa Wiegand (West Virginia State FLL Tournament, 2003)
The entire team could fit into the Hodges Hall conference room with room to spare! – Alex Stout (2008)
Our very first robot drove down the hall. – Luke Scime (2008)
This guy came in the Kit of Parts. – Luke Scime (2008)
Our robots were so unsophisticated that we could spend half a day during build season driving on a practice field and the morning tubing at Wisp. – Earl Scime (2008)
Our team colors were Mars Red and Sky Blue. – Luke Scime (2008)
Scouting data was on a napkin. – Everett Bowen (2008)
We had our first match ever; and we won with team 375 by knocking off a track ball at the last second! – Tessa Wiegand (Pittsburgh, 2008)
This showed up at our hotel. – Luke Scime (Pittsburgh, 2008)
They actually picked us!! – Tessa Wiegand (Pittsburgh, 2008)
The emcee asked all of the fans to stop throwing our bouncy balls onto the field during the finals. – Earl Scime (Pittsburgh, 2008)
We learned the difference between Plexiglass and Lexan. –Luke Scime (Pittsburgh, 2008)
I thought we weren't going to win anything. – Alex Stout (Pittsburgh, 2008)
We won! – Luke Scime (Pittsburgh, 2008)
We had our first team pic. – Tessa Wiegand (Pittsburgh, 2008)
We walked down the streets of Atlanta on Thursday morning and saw thousands of people in hundreds of different team shirts and costumes filling the streets and arenas. – Alex Stout (Atlanta, 2008)
Knee socks were a thing. – Tessa Wiegand (Atlanta, 2008)
We thought jumping into a fountain was an excellent idea. – Luke Scime (Atlanta, 2008)
I could feed the entire team three meals over a build season weekend in a small conference room for $50. – Todd Hamrick (2009)
Stand back, this is totally accurate. – Luke Scime (2009)
Old time prototyping… – Tessa Wiegand (2009)
I got eaten… – Luke Scime (2009)
They [FIRST] made us use regolith… – Luke Scime (2009)
I said “so we are having our Chinese-American student speak Spanish to the Portuguese-speaking Brazilian team??” – Earl Scime and Alex Stout (Palmetto, 2009)
Sometimes the human player out-scored the robot. – Luke Scime (2009)
Paula, Nick, and SMP danced down on the field. – Earl Scime (Palmetto, 2009)
We got a team picture with an elephant. - Luke Scime (2009)
We had our very first parade. – Luke Scime (2009)
Congressman Mollohan drove a robot. – Luke Scime (2009)
The entire team could fit in Lavender for dinner on a Wednesday evening after practice... – Earl Scime (2009)
We got a robot to cut a ribbon in the snow. – Luke Scime (2010)
You had to find the locker key before getting any spare parts. – Luke Scime (2010)
We did whatever it took to get to practice. – Luke Scime (2010)
I had been awake for too long. – Luke Scime (2010)
Greg had been awake for too long. – Luke Scime (2010)
We all wished we were this kid. – Luke Scime (2010)
I held my breath during the last 20 seconds of every match. – Luke Scime (Pittsburgh, 2010)
Andy Baker told Earl not to take the job at Auburn because of [Alabama’s] “harsh winters.” – Alex Stout (North Carolina, 2010)
Oh boy. – Luke Scime (North Carolina, 2010)
The green alien joined a band of pirates. – Luke Scime (North Carolina, 2010)
There were teary eyes as we won the Engineering Inspiration Award for the first time. – Alex Stout (North Carolina, 2010)
I’m so sorry Ralph. – Luke Scime (North Carolina, 2010)
We couldn't find a spot tall enough to test the robot arm. – Earl Scime (2011)
Marvin IV’s shoulder gear shattered. - Emily Raque (2011)
3492 [RoboGens/PARTs] beat us and won the regional, and we couldn’t have been happier. - Emily Raque (Pittsburgh, 2011)
Our “deathly ill” team member [Nick Ohi] and parents drove nine hours through Friday night to make it to the competition so that he could drive the robot in the eliminations. – Alex Stout (Palmetto, 2011)
We lost with MORT, and then became best friends. - Emily Raque (Palmetto, 2011)
Earl thought the season was over for sure… And then we won Engineering Inspiration! – Tessa Wiegand (Palmetto, 2011)
Our first four-year team members were seniors. – Tessa Wiegand (St. Louis, 2011)
Phil and Herb got tattoos. – Luke Scime (St. Louis, 2011)
It felt like I was changing either Marvin V’s drive belts or polycord belts every match. - Emily Raque (Da Whole Season, 2012)
They announced that we won Chairman’s… and all of the tears that came after. – Kari DeMicco (North Carolina, 2012)
We won Chairman’s for the first time and I bawled my eyes out. - Emily Raque (North Carolina, 2012)
We watched our Chairman’s video on the big screen. – Alex Stout (North Carolina, 2012)
All of the hard work paid off and the obstacles were worth it. – Kari DeMicco (North Carolina, 2012)
Caroline was serenaded by a member of another team singing “Sweet Caroline.” – Kari DeMicco (St. Louis, 2012)
Adam tried to bring the 70’s back. – Kari DeMicco (St. Louis, 2012)
We re-nominated Earl for Woodie Flowers… and he won! – Kari DeMicco and Alex Stout (St. Louis, 2012)
Emily and I read Earl his Woodie Flowers submission…. and he cried. – Kari DeMicco (St. Louis, 2012)
We tried killing the driver… and it didn't work. – Kari DeMicco (St. Louis, 2012)
Marvin V triple-balanced for the first time! – Kari DeMicco (Indiana Robotics Invitational, 2012)
Marvin VI's turret broke and we scrambled to the parking lot, trying to salvage Beta's shaft. – Adam Roh (Pittsburgh, 2013)
Marvin VI’s turret sheared off. - Emily Raque (Smoky Mountains, 2013)
I saw Secret City’s robot for the first time, and instantly fell in love. - Emily Raque (Smoky Mountains, 2013)
Phil missed the team picture, so we tried to Photoshop him in. – Alex Stanescue (Smoky Mountains, 2013)
We won our first team award at Worlds, and screamed “WE ARE MARS” from the nosebleed section. - Emily Raque (St. Louis, 2013)
The FLL team I was coaching gave me a best mentor award! – Matt Gramlich (2013)
Running into the ocean with the team in the middle of a winter night at Myrtle Beach. - Elizabeth Lister (Palmetto, 2014)
Matt drove like he stole it and we won Smoky Mountains with Secret City! - Earl Scime (Smoky Mountains, 2014)
We actually pulled off a 26 hour 14 minute long endurance FRC event. What insanity. - Earl Scime (WVRoX, 2014)
We became "that team" in the pit area with a beautiful pit structure. - Earl Scime (2014)
We finally had the practice field we had always dreamed of. - Earl Scime (2014)
No more fear that an axle would fall off our rickety old trailer and end our season, we have a trailer! - Earl Scime (2015)
The great water event of 2015 - "save the robots was the cry" and then the parents came in and dried everything off the next day. - Earl Scime (2015)
We discovered water on MARS! - Ethan Scime (2015)
We recovered from the night of infinite water. - Earl Scime (2015)
Giving another team's robot [Team Tiger] too much "oomph" in their autonomous play. Oops. - Elizabeth Lister (Smoky Mountains, 2015)
Discovering the true meaing of "just under the wire." - Luke Scime (Smoky Mountains, 2015)
The Smoky Mountain Alliance pulled off a win by 0.5 points. (And gave Earl a heart attack.) - Ethan Scime (Smoky Mountains, 2015)
Diane and I somehow parked right next to each other at the Pittsburgh airport. - Luke Scime (St. Louis, 2015)
We finally won CORI! - Earl Scime (CORI, 2015)
Phil finally won the Woodie Flowers award and then we lost him. The church was packed with all the students and people whose lives he touched. I lost my friend, my partner, my good right hand - but what we built together survives in each of the students. - Earl Scime (2015)