[big matt]

Originally Posted by Vince RnQ

We competed in Holbrook, AZ this past weekend and I love the new score sheet. Lot's of great info. I also took a little time and used the new information about tables to crunch a few numbers. Here is what I've learned about that event.

There were 27 teams at the event and 5 tables of judges. The actual CBJ percentage is unknown but I know it is less than 100% per the contest reps.

First I figured the Average Placing for Each Meat by Table and then Overall

Table 1
Chicken - 9.83
Ribs - 13.60
Pork - 4.80
Brisket - 13.60
Overall - 10.43

Table 2
Chicken - 16.00
Ribs - 16.17
Pork - 14.60
Brisket - 15.20
Overall - 15.55

Table 3
Chicken - 7.40
Ribs - 9.50
Pork - 14.67
Brisket - 8.60
Overall - 10.23

Table 4
Chicken - 19.80
Ribs - 20.40
Pork - 22.17
Brisket - 20.00
Overall - 20.67

Table 5
Chicken - 17.40
Ribs - 10.80
Pork - 12.00
Brisket - 10.67
Overall - 12.62

From this, it is very easy to tell that the hot tables were Tables 1 & 3, that Table 5 just a bit cooler, that Table 2 was just about at the average and that Table 4 was the Table of Death.

I also calculated the Number of Top 10 Calls by Table and what percentage that represented of all the Top 10 Calls

Table 1
# of all T-10 Calls - 13
% of all T-10 Calls - 32.50%

Table 2
# of all T-10 Calls - 5
% of all T-10 Calls - 12.50%

Table 3
# of all T-10 Calls - 13
% of all T-10 Calls - 32.50%

Table 4
# of all T-10 Calls - 2
% of all T-10 Calls - 5.00%

Table 5
# of all T-10 Calls - 7
% of all T-10 Calls - 17.50%

From this you can see that 65.00% of all the Top 10 calls came from Tables 1 & 3 and that 82.50% of all the Top 10 calls came from Tables 1,3 & 5.

I then calculated the Number of Bottom 10 Calls by Table and what percentage that represented of all the Bottom 10 Calls. (This contest had one team that was DQ'd for being late so there are only 39 places used for this set of numbers.)

Table 1
# of all T-10 Calls - 5
% of all T-10 Calls - 12.82%

Table 2
# of all T-10 Calls - 10
% of all T-10 Calls - 25.64%

Table 3
# of all T-10 Calls - 5
% of all T-10 Calls - 12.82%

Table 4
# of all T-10 Calls - 17
% of all T-10 Calls - 43.59%

Table 5
# of all T-10 Calls - 2
% of all T-10 Calls - 5.13%

This data shows that 69.23% of all the Bottom 10 calls came from Tables 2 & 4 with 43.59% of those calls coming from Table 4 alone. Table 4 was indeed the Table of Death at this contest.

One would expect that in any field of teams there will be a good blend of experience levels and that since all the boxes should be hitting different tables the numbers should average out pretty close to each other by the end of the event assuming that the Reps took proper care in balancing the tables. It is impossible for anyone other than the Reps and the Judges to know if this was done. I have been told that many Reps balance the tables based upon experience but it would seem that this new scoring program would give Reps the ability to balance the CBJs at a contest based upon their historical scoring average instead of expereince which might be a very good thing.

Now, I can be a bit cynical at times and all this new data leads me to the cynical conclusion of wondering how long we will be able to see the data points of which table every entry at a contest landed. I wonder because it, for the first time ever, gives conclusive information regarding the quality of the work done by the Reps and the Judges and that means a whole new level of public accountability for those two groups. I hope all the information stays visible and that it leads to improvement but only time will tell.

One last thing about this contest that I think is interesting: After the first three categories, the eventual GC and RGC were less than 4 points apart and neither team had landed on Table 4. In Brisket, the GC landed on Table 3 and the RGC landed on Table 4. The final margin of victory was 16 points. I can't help but wonder what would have happened if they and both missed Table 4 or both landed on Table 4.

You make some great points Vince..in the meeting the reps spoke about the table of death and how they try to avoid that..guess it didn't happen but I guess you can't prevent it 100%..I also noticed a lot of us hit the same tables together(not the same table twice)and wondered if that was normal?..hitting tables with the same teams throughout all meats.