The entire "should a sport cater to the audience" argument is fairly irrelevant.
They do. This said, whether we wish it to be or not, we have to think under this restriction.
The hint describes a game...not the game describing the riddle...so first I go at this from this direction...first set the parameters of the game.
FIRST Fields flatly have to be all the things required in the post linked to above...most of that can be condensed into cheap and safe. It also has to be fast moving and simple enough for a TV audience so that requires that the refs can read it fast and the field hands can set it up fast. We also have to assume it is the shape and size of a basketball court because the arenas have been rented already.
Foam noodles are very light and breakable but they are cheap to replace. They are also very safe. It would take quite a bit of talent to hurt yourself with one.
On the other hand footballs are also light, bit more durable and rather safe too...and America loves footballs. This might be FIRST's attempt to tap into another audience. However...how much does a single football cost? I honestly don't know what footballs cost but if they are more expensive than say...a plastic bin or the materials for a tetra there might not be many of them on the field.
There is the possibility that both noodles and footballs are used and the footballs are thrown by human players.
I don't think FIRST will ever have a house robot. I may have to eat my words there but seriously it is a good deal more work than normal to reset, expensive, requires maintenance, and is a safety hazard if it gets beat up too badly and is not fixed. FIRST is often short volunteers to do everything already; where are they going to get a full pit crew to take care of a robot that runs every single match? You would probably need at least two of them unless you want to wait between every single match for the motors to cool. That isn't even counting the cost of teams making a mock house robot.
A lot of people are talking about going up a ramp to either a hole or a platform. I'd say platform here because if a robot gets stuck in a hole and another robot drives over it it poses a very grave danger...especially to an electrical board.
That field might be valid but if that is all the game is it would probably descend very quickly into a competition of plowbots. I'm sure FIRST has considered this too...so perhaps there is another scoring area? Maybe one up high?
I think the thing about the camera is that yes it is a hard task if you start from scratch but really the difficulty for a rookie team to complete that task is the amount of work between where the FIRST default code puts you and the end product. If the camera had more background code it might be quite reasonable. No matter what however I'd be willing to bet its back.
The game could very well be five vs five if the size of the robots was decreased. This would allow people to play more rounds, and more robots to go to championships. It would change up strategy considerably and would be a disadvantage only veterans would feel. Rookies are not locked in a 3x3x5 mindset so they don't feel a change but it would require some major changes for those teams who love reusing their old designs.
This may be wishful thinking but I think the days of the multipliers are over. People (viewers especially) need to be able to add the scores in real time.
Also...my friend said that once upon a time there was a cartoon character named Montana Max. Anybody know if this has any relation at all?
Also...in case this helps anybody
Major mountain ranges of Montana are: Little Rockey Mountains, Bear's Paw Mts, Sweetgrass Hills, Lewis Range, Rocky Range, Whitefish Range, Salish Mts, Purcel Mts, Cabinet Mts, Coeur D'Alene Mts, Mission Mts, Swan Range, Garnet Range, Big Belt Mts, Little Belt Mts, Highwood Mts, Castle Mts, Snowy Mts, Judith Mts, Big Sheep Mts, Bridger Range, Castle Mts, Tobacco Root Mts, Highland Mts, Anaconda Range, Beaverhead Mts, Tendoy Mts, Blacktail Mts, Snowcrest Mts, Graverly Range, Madison Range, Gallaton Range, Absaroka Range, Beartooth Mts, Pryor Mts, Big Horn Mts, and Wolf Mts
"Bridger" mountains sound promising but other than that nothing pops out at me.
Also to throw one last thought out there...green could have a double meaning and also be "money" aka points.