Well, DF and I went and did our best, for now.
Not a happy camper here.
Just got home to Son's house in Tampa (they are gone to Orlando).
Alarm is chirping-no problem-I have the code.
Except, I have been up for all but 3 of the last 40 hours, the room light is low, I have no idea where my glasses are, and I am dog assed tired!
Their alarm is really loud and effective!
Police man was nice and we got it squared away just fine.
DF can tell you about the "scenic route" I led him and his travel trailer on to depart Sebring--too embarrissing!
Slugged a couple of beers (first 2 in 2 weeks) and need to vent.
We finished 26 of37 teams. Can't pay the bills or feed the ego with that crap!
We have a personal and professional ($$) goal of top 5's in FBA within 3 events. If we are not capable of that--wrong line of work!
We seem to have a real challenge/problem here with the FBA.
Our Chicken and Ribs were only "OK". If they had scored in the top 10, I would have said "The Judges were sippinig the hard stuff!"
We were 32nd in Chicken and 29th in Ribs. I can live with that, no problem. Not a fine offering from us.
I am here to tell you our Pork was "Money Meat" if I ever saw it, cooked it, or judged it! Easy top 5 in any field. We were scored 32nd.
Brisket was awesome. Easy top 10 in any field. We pulled 15th.
Looking at the scoring rusults, we were killed by low ball judges, plain and simple.
Our "so-so" chicken ranged from 7.5 (average) to a 10 (perfect)--gimmie a break--it was 7.5 to 8.5 at besti
Our prized Pork ranged from a 6.5 (well below average) to a 10!
The scoring range was measured in micro-points. Any abnormally low or high score could move a team many places up or down--way too damn sensitive.
The acutual usable scoring range is acutally 8.5 to 10--the vast mahority of the scores issued are there- clustered at the very top with no room to identify really great or bad product.
We saw the same sensitvity at Mulberry in our first FBA competetion.
I could go on and on, but no rhyme or reason and really wild score ranges for all teams.
We have at least 3 really awesome and talented FBA teams, They are really great cooks in all areas, including the "ancillary" events. It appears that they have defined "great" BBQ and it may take DF and I too long to figure out what is the "real standard". The standard used does not match the written guidence in the rules nor provided in Judges training.
Scoring in the FBA is "hyper inflated". DF and I saw that at Judges training and while judging the FBA state championships.
They judges are never told to appreciate the magnituude of their scores and that thousands (or hundreds of thousands) of dollars are at stake based on an accurate accessment of the meats.
They are told that teams spend several hundred $ to compete, and "we should reward them for their effort"!
There appears to be no quality control mechanism to identify judges who are habitually very high or very low. FBA counts all scores, unllike KCBS.
The bottom lin is this--DF and I do not have the $$ to hang out with the FBA, try new things, and (hopefully) break the FBA quality code.
So, we are gonna:
Fold it up.
Or, just do KCBS (big logisical problems from Florida).
Or, ??
Had anouther precious beer--
Thanks for letting me vent!
Nighty night--
TIM
Not a happy camper here.
Just got home to Son's house in Tampa (they are gone to Orlando).
Alarm is chirping-no problem-I have the code.
Except, I have been up for all but 3 of the last 40 hours, the room light is low, I have no idea where my glasses are, and I am dog assed tired!
Their alarm is really loud and effective!
Police man was nice and we got it squared away just fine.
DF can tell you about the "scenic route" I led him and his travel trailer on to depart Sebring--too embarrissing!
Slugged a couple of beers (first 2 in 2 weeks) and need to vent.
We finished 26 of37 teams. Can't pay the bills or feed the ego with that crap!
We have a personal and professional ($$) goal of top 5's in FBA within 3 events. If we are not capable of that--wrong line of work!
We seem to have a real challenge/problem here with the FBA.
Our Chicken and Ribs were only "OK". If they had scored in the top 10, I would have said "The Judges were sippinig the hard stuff!"
We were 32nd in Chicken and 29th in Ribs. I can live with that, no problem. Not a fine offering from us.
I am here to tell you our Pork was "Money Meat" if I ever saw it, cooked it, or judged it! Easy top 5 in any field. We were scored 32nd.
Brisket was awesome. Easy top 10 in any field. We pulled 15th.
Looking at the scoring rusults, we were killed by low ball judges, plain and simple.
Our "so-so" chicken ranged from 7.5 (average) to a 10 (perfect)--gimmie a break--it was 7.5 to 8.5 at besti
Our prized Pork ranged from a 6.5 (well below average) to a 10!
The scoring range was measured in micro-points. Any abnormally low or high score could move a team many places up or down--way too damn sensitive.
The acutual usable scoring range is acutally 8.5 to 10--the vast mahority of the scores issued are there- clustered at the very top with no room to identify really great or bad product.
We saw the same sensitvity at Mulberry in our first FBA competetion.
I could go on and on, but no rhyme or reason and really wild score ranges for all teams.
We have at least 3 really awesome and talented FBA teams, They are really great cooks in all areas, including the "ancillary" events. It appears that they have defined "great" BBQ and it may take DF and I too long to figure out what is the "real standard". The standard used does not match the written guidence in the rules nor provided in Judges training.
Scoring in the FBA is "hyper inflated". DF and I saw that at Judges training and while judging the FBA state championships.
They judges are never told to appreciate the magnituude of their scores and that thousands (or hundreds of thousands) of dollars are at stake based on an accurate accessment of the meats.
They are told that teams spend several hundred $ to compete, and "we should reward them for their effort"!
There appears to be no quality control mechanism to identify judges who are habitually very high or very low. FBA counts all scores, unllike KCBS.
The bottom lin is this--DF and I do not have the $$ to hang out with the FBA, try new things, and (hopefully) break the FBA quality code.
So, we are gonna:
Fold it up.
Or, just do KCBS (big logisical problems from Florida).
Or, ??
Had anouther precious beer--
Thanks for letting me vent!
Nighty night--
TIM