Go back to any episode where the Brothers-in-Arms "won". They always "won" by cheating. When asked to build a bridge machine to bring all four members of the team over a ravine, they "beat" The Mothers Of Invention by cheating, their machine did not bring all four members across the ravine. One of the members had to get off, run across the ravine on foot, and guide the vehicle across the bridge. And on the episode where they "beat" the Techno Teachers by building a mowing machine, they cheated by cutting the hay with their hands, not their machine. How in the world are we supposed to belive that one lawn mower blade can beat out on the incredible amout of hay the Teachers were cutting with their machine even after the clutch fell out. The Brothers went on to "beat" the NERDS in what was the shadiest match so far. The Brothers always build an inferior machine, and yet always come out on top, and always because of some little bending of the rules. By the way, they even cheated when they lost. A man in the audience told them how to fix their machine after the automatic gear box fell out.

-- ed (ed22778@yahoo.com), December 28, 2000

Answers

That's entertainment. I know Dave Strawbridge and he wouldn't willfully cheat at anything. Bend the rules? Maybe, but not cheat. The premise for the show is creativity and teamwork. Besides, it is obvious that key components are conveniently hidden in the junkyard. So sit back and enjoy s

-- Chad Barklay (jetstick@aol.com), December 28, 2000.

1. In the bridge episode, the Mother's of Invention put a spar across the water and walked over. Why is that different that the Brother's walking over their spar?

2. In the harvester episode, both teams were allowed to gather by hand. The Teacher's machine only made one pass while the Brother's machine drove around quite a bit - by far cutting more wheat. And they couldn't have cut enough by hand to change the results.

3. In the Fire Pump episode, it was their military style game plan that worked out all the minor details of the challenge. The Nerds concentrated so heavily on making th epump work that they forgot about propulsion of the vehicle and the routine with the flag.

4. In the drag race episode, the Brothers had tossed it in and surrendered. In an effort to make a race of it, the Meglamaniacs agreed to bend the rules and let the Brother's bodge up some repair. They even lent them their expert to help work out details. It was that or the show would have ended on a low note.

From what I've seen, in each episode the idea of completing the task outweighs minor flubs along the way. And in each episode you can see where the team that lost went wrong with their design. In addition, the producers lean toward stretching some rules to make the show more of a competition in the end. As long as both teams are given the same time frame, what's the difference?

The best machine doesn't always win. In the brick cruncher episode, the hydrolic dinosaur was easily the most efficient machine. But it's breakdowns plagued it into losing to a team with a manual banging device. And they were allowed PLENTY of time to make in-the-field repairs and modifications.

The randon assignment of experts is also a ket factor. The NERDS were at a loss with the underwater sled challenge, and only pulled it off because the design that their expert pushed was better suited than the design from the other expert. They were so clueless as to not even know not to kick their feet while the machine was propelling them - and almost lost because of it!

So all things being equal, it was the Brother's total concept of the challenge and development of the plan that got them the victory in the final.

-- David Allen (davida@airmail.net), December 28, 2000.

In the harvesting machine episode, I thought that was the challenge to build a machine to harvest the wheat. The Teachers machine actually worked, the bothers rotary mower wasn't even close. The only wheat that should have counted for either team was that, that made it up the conveyor. The challenge as presented.

-- justjay-Captain-Three Rusty Juveniles (justjay@neo.rr.com), December 28, 2000.

How does any of that answer haw the brothers in arms got so far with inferior machines?

-- ed (ed22778@yahoo.com), December 28, 2000.

David,

In the bridge episode the Mother's vehicle was the bridge and that is why they were able to walk across. The Brother's vehicle was the truck which was to be used to transfer all the team memebers.

-- Keith Lund (snow_rules@hotmail.com), December 28, 2000.

I don't like the Brothers in Arms either. All their machines seem so lame and their engineering and fabrication skills seem to be so minimal, especially compared to the NERDS.

-- Richard Manahan (rjcyclesk8@hotmail.com), December 28, 2000.

I don't care what any of you say... I love "The Brothers"! They won the water-pumping-boat-fire-putter-outer because they worked as a team! They were ready and waiting to paddle out to the finish when their flag arrived at the boat! (The Nerds paddled too!) As far as the mowing machine went... how much hay do you think they could possibly have harvested with their hands? Enough to make that big of a difference? I doubt it. I understand the Teachers did a little of that themselves! I really don't think any of this should be considered "cheating"... they just always seem to pull a victory out in the end! They are my favorite team so far!

-- Rhonda (mxrs@zianet.com), December 28, 2000.

Regardless of how much "cheating or bending the rules" involved, does anybody else wonder why a bunch of Army guys are so bad at making such a simple Army weapon :THE CANNON?! This is an example where their device/machine sucked and they lost, I believe to the Chemical Brothers.

-- bryan (jenkinss001@hawaii.rr.com), December 28, 2000.

i dont care what you say..the NERDS rule! FEAR THE NERDS!!!

-- KaosuMahoutsukai (null@null.com), December 28, 2000.

yea i dont know why the brothers-in-arms won...i think the lawnmower one was cheating...i didnt see the end of the bridge one..but the boat one..i dont know what happened...i dont even see how their water pump put that fire out...

-- CW (chaoswizard@dbzmail.com), December 28, 2000.

I agree with you. I thought the Brothers cheated big time by cutting by hand and got away with it. They didn't even harvest a thing since their conveyor belt sucked and was then discarded completly. Not to mention that they had only one working blade anyway. The difference was that when they were discovered, the judge only said they were to stop - NOT that they be penalized for the vast amount wheat they had already collected by hand, which is what should've happened. As for the fireboat, I still don't know how the Brothers put their fire out since it was weaker than a garden hose and could barely reach the shed. The NERDS screwed themselves, though, by sending the least athletic member of the team to sprint down the path, get the flag and return it to the boat. Plus, he didn't know how to open the box when he got there. They also hurt themselves by not having the boat all ready to go when he returned with the flag. I also believe Geo was pointing the hose too high when he was using it to propel themselves on the boat. If aimed lower into the water they should have gone faster. Either way, you're right that the NERDS had the better machine by far, as did most everyone who competed against the Brothers. The Brothers just managed to blunder their way to victory though.

-- tom (geo5370@aol.com), December 29, 2000.

I'd have to agree that it appears that the Nerds were unfairly treated in the finals. Both teams arrived at the sheds within a few seconds of each other, and the Nerds shed was fully lit while the Brothers was just propane powered. The Brothers fire hose water could barely reach the shed, never mind supply any quantity of water, and as soon as they turned their hose on -without even touching the flame, the fire diminished - automatically by the pyro guys behind the scenes. I also find it very odd that the ammo box was "stuck" closed on the Nerds team. This episode has hurt the show's credability for me. I'm looking forward to the NERDs writeup on their website www.the-nerds.org. Good Job Nerds!

-- Robert Schommer (rhs@systems-interface.com), December 29, 2000.

if i was on the NERDS team in that challenge...i would have taken that nossle and flooded the B-I-A's boat..and waterlog their invention..thank god they didnt win the dragrace...those mustaches must have been clogging up their brain waves or something..those things had to be like 3 feet thick or something..

-- CW (chaoswizard@dbzmail.com), December 29, 2000.

Don't blame the Brothers, they were always braking their backs to win (including bending rules.) That's what you want in a team and they were the best "Team." However, the blame should rest squarely with the producers of the show and judges. It really looks like they favored the Brothers through most of the competitions. They should have been penalized for cutting and collecting wheat by hand. The Techno Teachers' "machine" cut and collected even though they pushed. Then at weighing, the Brothers only won by a small margin. Look how strictly the rules were used to penalize the NERDS in the submarine race. The run for the flag was a poor choice to add to a challenge supposedly designed to test a "FIRE BOAT!" The infamous ammo box was stuck closed and according to Jeff "dp" could not be opened by the Scrapheap crew without a crow bar. The Fire was Propane fed, controlled and subjectively judged by members of the production team. Apparently the same production team who moved the mooring buoys closer to the fire so that the Brother's piddly squirt gun could even reach the fire. Bottom line, the Brits obviously don't want to lose to Yanks and that bias is obvious but understandable. They must have found it very hard to see a team of royal subjects who all worked on underwater equipment for a living lose a submarine race to the NERDS who the hosts had been making big fun of the whole build day. The producers and judges may have felt that by bending their rules (which they do in every competition) they were merely sandbagging a much superior team to make the competition closer. These biases added with the producer's ultimate mandate to create a show with nail biting suspenseful competition have conspired to rob the Teachers and the NERDS of their justly earned victories.

-- El Kid (sizzl@mindspring.com), December 30, 2000.

Answer to David Allens complaint about the Demolition Episode: OBVIOUSLY THE HYDRULIC CRUSHER WAS THE INFERIOR MACHINE BECAUSE IT BROKE DOWN!!! DUH!

-- (AJ@B.COM), February 14, 2001.

Well at least Jeff DelPapa hasn't written in yet with a 1 hour explanation of why he wasn't the one who lost it for them......

-- Frank (frankfurter55@hotmail.com), February 15, 2001.

Frank, Tacky, Tacky........ : )

-- jean (memejohnson1923@hotmail.com), February 16, 2001.

Awe, Jeff can take a little ribbing. He's tough.

-- frank (frankfurter55@hotmail.com), February 16, 2001.