This post is going to pale in comparison to the OPs, but I kind of approach the "FIRST is about Inspiration" line in a different way.
Personally, I've been much more inspired to pursue engineering because of the hands on learning experience I've had with it. I don't really even get how FIRST can only be about inspiring engineering, where nothing else matters... Honestly, I'd probably be more inspired by Battlebots than by watching my mentors build a robot. Battlebots is more exciting
Obviously, FIRST experiences are different for everyone. Ultimately, FIRST is about inspiring, and nothing else is more important. Perhaps this is just crafty logic to get at what I think FIRST should be, but I've always been of the opinion that you're much more inspired if it's
your work on the field.
Thus for me, teaching and inspiring are basically the same thing. You can be inspired without learning anything, but then how would that be different than just watching matches on Nasa TV, or Battlebots? Watching Battlebots as a kid made me go "I wanna do that!", but I wasn't really motivated to pursue it very much other than thinking "wow, that is cool". But when working with mentors, teaching me engineering, leadership, and problem solving skills, the whole experience changes. When you see a net result that you can say is
yours succeeding in competition, you look at yourself and your hard work and go "Look at what I can accomplish!".
I can say that if I didn't learn basic fabrication and design skills, and if I didn't have input on the robots I've helped build, I probably wouldn't be an engineer.
Basically, I agree with the OP. I don't see how FIRST works without the learning, but it obviously does.