[MichaelBick]

Having been at SD, I'm sure you saw 1538. They got over the barrier really quickly, fast enough that I would say it is almost as fast as if there wasn't a barrier. Also, if you remember, in one of the elim matches, they had the "ball starvation" strategy being played on them, further worsened by the fact that there was a defensive robot feeding. In that scenario it was important for them to cross the barrier quickly. While maybe not important in quals, it is never a good idea to rule out an idea. This same concept can be seen with the feeder stations of last year. Sure it was slow to get all the way across the field, but when your alliance has tubes being stolen and tubes are being starved, you better be able and ready to make those trips.