[EricH]

Originally Posted by Andrew Bates

Honestly I think it would be much cooler if someone like Neil deGrasse Tyson, or Bill Nye came. Better yet, let's get some engineers who are working on big fascinating projects come and talk. It seems to me like those people would fit much better into the FIRST goals and do much more to inspire people than a basketball player no matter how good they were.

What are FIRST's goals?

Are they to encourage scientists and engineers to do their thing? If that's the goal, then there are the TED talks. The SAE competitions. Research papers.

But if FIRST's primary goals are to get science and technology recognized (and what is the R in FIRST?), and to change the culture, then who better than an athlete? Who better than arguably one of if not the best to ever play basketball, taking on a robot designed to play a derivative of basketball? These guys are heroes to many a young kid (though some of those young kids may be grown up now, some of them engineers). If they're taking an interest in science and engineering, the kids are going to wonder what that's all about. Get inspired.

I think that fits into FIRST's goals quite nicely, don't you think?