Alright... I had a response written up that was far too wordy, so here's the point form version:
Good:
- More plays for the $$ for Michigan teams.
- Tiered events let low to mid level teams experience the playoffs sometimes.
- Reduces shipping/drayage costs.
Bad:
- Kinda tough if you're from Windsor (or other community bordering Michigan) and were planning to play in Detroit. Now you have to spend MORE and travel FURTHER.
- "State only" model might be practical (except for above point) but undermines the broad-based international competition that is part of the great appeal of FIRST. Philosophically I like the fact that FRC is currently "blind" to political borders and would like to see it stay that way!
But how....?
- Will they do a quality tech inspection without the practice day?
- Will tech inspectors really keep a team from playing in their first match of the day for a minor rule infraction... say... the wrong colour of wires or incorrect length of pneumatic cylinder? These are all things that get identified by tech inspectors and fixed by a team on a practice day that are not likely to be noticed during an 8 hour fix-it window.
And on that note... will teams really get a better experience if they show up ten pounds overweight and miss their first five matches as they try to meet tech? How will that effect the experience of their alliance partners?
It will be interesting to see how it all works out.
Jason
P.S. There are some interesting parallels between this structure and the one announced for the VEX robotics competition earlier this year.