Sandbaggers......
 

I know a cook that as soon as turn ins are done he has nothing good to say about anything they cooked. Well invariably, this guy walks almost every time in all categories.

Anybody else see this a lot?

I can recall so bays saying rib were really crooked and placing. :rolleyes:

I can honestly tell you that at my last KCBS comp in Nevada, Iowa I WAS that person. To me my chicken was overcooked, ribs were mushy, pork overcooked but maybe with luck it would firm up and my brisket was absolutely horrible, I have seen dog food that looked better. Everybody came by asking how it was and I said those exact things. I said no chance of a call, but if we got lucky in pork my wife would go up because I sure didnt deserve anything. I said this type of stuff many times to anyone and everyone. Long story short we got 9th place calls in chicken,ribs and pork and a 2nd:shock: in brisket. So my first 4 call contest(the 9th places hurt us in overall though).

I would guess I must have been called a sandbagger or worse at least a dozen times after awards.

No one is ever completely happy with their cook, at least anyone I hang with. I've been that guy before. So have a lot of my friends and other cooks. I dont think they are sand baggers, some days you get lucky when you dont think your product deserved it. We actually had a few people get mad at us for saying we weren't happy with our product and finishing well. So now when they ask how our cook went we tell the 4 -180's and GC, No one else has a chance. hahah

I do it every single entry, its a superstition thing I guess. If you think (or at least say) that it is good then I wont get a call, right???. I am well aware that there is zero logic in that.

:loco:

If we like it, the judges don't. If we don't liket, the judges do. We only cook Alpo now and some times get calls. ;)

been there, definitely said that, and got the call too. I don't think it's sandbagging, more like just second guessing every single thing you did from the weekend.

I am very critical of what I've turned in. Even when we GC I still get critical about what could have been better. You also have to look at your scores with an open mind, unless its judge #2, table 7 at the Springfield, Ky. contest. That person needs to go back to judging school or find another hobby.

For me, the days I was fairly confident we'd do well, we sucked, and on those days where nothing was right I walked in most and sometimes every category... Go figure.

It's quite common for a cook to call Alpo on his food and then get a call, so much so now I've got teams that say they cook crap just for the good mo-jo.
Ed

2 of our brisket calls I thought for sure were awful, and there was no way we were going to get a call. Ended up getting 3rds both times, both times beating way better brisket cooks than me.

When I competed, I was always the most critical Judge in the house. 8)

Not sandbagging at all, just "picky" and "realistic" about the quality.

TIM

"The harder they cry, the higher they place."

There's one guy that we always burst into theatrical sobs whenever we see him, because he's always boo-hooing about his food or the terrible mishaps that befell him during the cook.

I get being realistic about your product, but the most I want to say anymore is either "the [meat name here] just didn't have it today" or "we gave ourselves a chance" because damn, it seems either way I'll be proven wrong!

I think I know when I put good product in box so if its good I will say it. But you will always have the box where you wonder WTF were they thinking either good or bad.

Says the guy that told everyone this past weekend that asked that he cooked the best brisket of his life and got 44th out of 50 teams. :shock:

It is pretty rare for a team to say how they really feel :-P.

Right there with ya:loco:

ha!.. I hear ya!!.. I cooked a so-so brisket as was 43rd, and the best brisket I've ever tasted was 41st!!... I don't think judges know a good brisket if it hit them in the face.

I cooked a very good brisket hit a table with good cooks and they hated all of us. was looking down the snoot at a gc finished 6th..Steve a nice man got a 180.

I am super critical and so usually when someone asks me I am sort of pessimistic. other cooks I know always love everything that comes off their cooker

We overcooked our brisket in Green Lane this year and got first with it. I'm pretty sure there must have been judges that write 4s that look like 9s to the reps. We have great stuff get shot down, so I no longer try to guess.

I hear what you are all saying, and I agree. I too am very critical of my turn ins, as well as anything I cook.

However I'm referring more to the guy who always walks but also always low rates his turn ins. Maybe he's just superstitious.

This!!! I don't like to say anything after the cook. I even tell my teammate to shut up when he starts critiquing our turn-ins. The most I divulge after a cook is usually the "Well, I got everything turned in on time. The rest is up to the judges."

I've only been doing competition BBQ for a relatively short time, but one thing I've noticed is that competition cooks are some of the MOST superstitious people on the planet.

Or judges on table 12 at Munfordville.

I'm honest when I say I don't know, or I didn't like something.

I sent my wife a txt one comp said chicken was best ever, almost finished DAL with it. I can tell when my brisket is good and I can tell when the ribs are good, other two categories I'm usually dead wrong.

Superstitious yes, not wanting my feelings hurt at awards when I think I have killer stuff and get no calls, yes...yes...yes! It's better for me and my ego to down play my turn ins by pointing out the negatives then get all hyped up and get my balloon popped.

I remember one contest that I thought my brisket was horrible. So bad that after turn ins I threw the whole thing away. Got a 5th out of it.

I have only competed a few times, and I do this, too. I am the harshest critic when it comes to what I turn in. I love talking to all the "looky loos" that walk around at competitions, because I met guys that were really friendly by once being that guy that walked around and observed. People always ask how I think I will do, and I always say, "Well, I did the best I could today, but it is up to the judges now." A little modesty goes a long way. I wouldn't call it sandbagging, I'd call it keeping myself in check.

I used to be more descriptive, but now when asked I just say "Well it was our usual product. Not better or worse, and we'll see how the judges like it." And that's about it. I might share a little more with folks I know well, but not much.

I cringe whenever we are asked "How did your cook go?"...

When we like our chicken - it takes 43rd... When we hate our chicken, maybe get a call... Have point that is overcooked and flat that is undercooked - and have to turn in chopped instead of burnt ends? Get a call... :crazy:

I give up.

I like to refer to our only goal: Get all 4 in on time and have fun. If that happened, everything else is gravy.

Can't agree with you more. That Sam's contest we cooked in, I thought our chicken was a dog. We got third! I thought our brisky was excellent. Bottom of the rung???:loco:

I told my teammate whatever I think is good will fail and what I think sucks will get a call!:thumb:

Welp, we got that one over with, lol :caked:

There's a certain top 10 ranked team we cook against often. If he says any of his meat turned out poorly, you can expect him to finish top 5 with it. Every time.

Happens to me all the time.

The meat I feel confident about finishes low.
The meat I feel that I tanked get's a walk.

Go figure.

At our first contest the promoter came up after turn-ins and asked how I thought we did. I told him I didn't know about pork or chicken, and we had completely screwed up brisket, but we still felt good about our ribs... we won brisket that day.

You just never know

Our chicken cook last weekend in Nelsonville was a complete disaster....finished 4th. I am my own worst critic. Best chicken I've ever cooked with perfect bite through skin scored abysmally in Kettering a few years ago....even got a comment card trashing the tenderness of the skin. I give up on guessing. I thought we have a good cook in Madison IN this year and it was our worst contest.

I think that after I've done all I can with the meat, baby sat the cooker, presented the meat, I have no judgment left to analyze what I've done. My pat answer is that "I did the best I could with what came out of the cooker."

Now when it's bad, I can tell that. My brisket at the Royal got one judge that gave an honest score, 544. I worry about the rest of the judges that scored it higher. It really was that bad...

Yeah, that's why I do it. :biggrin1: