[Taylor]

Two thoughts:
1. If the major suppliers really had "insider knowledge" for the games, then (a) we could all get game pieces (b) suppliers' shelves would have been stocked with pneumatic wheels and treads this year (and REV and mecanums* last year) (c) the Ri3D teams would be obsolete. Also, conveniently ignored are the multiple accounts from Frank himself that this game wasn't really conceived until a few months ago.

2. It would be nice if all teams had a full machine shop and a full bevy of mentors to train the students. But we don't have that, and that's why FIRST is how it is. FIRST is here to reach the affluent, already college-bound students with boundless resources; it is also here to reach the poverty-stricken urban and rural students who don't see a diploma as worthwhile, and everybody in between. For low-resource teams of any socioeconomic or technologic level, COTS products can provide the difference between an embarrassing BLT dragging a chain behind it and a functional, respectable machine.