[Joe Johnson]

I have to hand it to FIRST. They have managed to design a game that a wide variety of folks think THEY will be good at -- each with very different machines.

I know enough to know that I don't know.

We have a great machine. But it is only great at what we DESIGNED it to do, not necessarily what it will be REQUIRED to do.

Some folks are sure that balls matter. Some folks are sure that balls are a non-factor.

There are a lot of factors that will determine which robots will be king.

For example: Last year Beatty & other push up from the floor robots were kings. Why? Well, because that was an important skill but even more than that, it was a RARE important skill. As it turns out, being able to limbo and pick up a ball was also an important skill to reaching the highest score but this skill was not enough to make a robot king because there were MANY teams that could do this skill while only 2 or 3 were able to do what Beatty could do (and Beatty was the best at that skill, imho -- sorry Walled Laken & Kingman, I have to call 'em as I see 'em).

Grabbing 3 goals MAY be the rare necessary skill. Grabbing 1 goal fast enough MAY be an antidote to that skill provided that they are paired with an effective ball handler. Lifting goals MAY be the rare critical factor. Effective ball handling MAY be the rare critical factor.

It is an interesting year.

Can't wait to see how it all turns out...

Joe J.