[Josh Goodman]

Pat's post is exactly how I interpreted it as well. The ball deflectors do keep the balls from jamming up near the pivot base of the bridge (where all the balls would go without them). The definition said it would help keep the balls from jamming....which it does. It never said anything about rolling them with grace out from under the bridge so your robot can sweep them up with ease.

With the right manipulator, the balls under the bridge are accessible to all teams. It might not have been as readable as "a mechanism to put balls into hoops", but it's clear many teams thought of this problem and built devices to compensate. In my mind, it's all part of the game.