T
The Pickled Pig
Guest
I see, hear, and even participate in a lot of complaining about contest judging in one form or another. Anytime those squirrely judges don't say our entry is the best thing they've seen, tasted, or eaten my natural instinct is to find fault with the judging. I'm very competitive and don't like not winning (double negative intended).
This year I've come to believe that, in a strange yet remarkable way, KCBS judging actually works and works pretty well. My experience is entirely limited to KCBS contests so my commentary is too. Believe it or not, my opinion didn't change because my team is all of a sudden doing so well. We do 6-10 contests each year and have about 50 contests under our belt. We don't win more often than we do and in our best years to date, we've been a middle of the pack team with the occasional Top 10 finish. For the most part, this year is no different.
A few pickled observations:
1) In the years I've been around competition BBQ, I've never even heard a whiff of evidence of a scandal regarding KCBS judging. I've seen and heard about plenty of cheating regarding cooking, but not judging. I've heard of incompetent judges and mistakes and gaffes, but not cheating. I've even been DQ'd once for not separating ribs when that was a physical impossibility since I lifted them individually from a cutting board into the box. I've heard a lot of cooks complaining and forming various conspiracy theories but never anything specific that is substantiated or even rumored. Of course, there probably have been some incidents over the years and some bad apples at the judges table, but I can't see how it is widespread or commonplace.
2) 7 years ago I thought our BBQ was the best ever and could not be improved upon. This year, we're turning in entries that are amazingly better in appearance, taste, and tenderness than what we used to cook and I still feel the same way. I clearly wasn't right 7 years ago and know I am equally wrong about our Q today. Friends and family who constantly give us praise about our BBQ only allow us to perpetuate the fallacy that we are great. They judge based upon what they get commercially which is not even close to contest cooking. Every contest we don't win is another opportunity to improve. We probably wasted 3 or 4 years by not realizing this sooner. I know everyone has heard it before but if you keep doing what you're doing, you'll keep getting what you're getting.
3) The competition is rapidly improving. I have no doubt that if I could go back in time and turn in today's entries 7 years ago we would have cleaned up at the awards ceremonies. Some have said our sport is the fastest growing sport in NA and I tend to believe it. Within the KCBS, the number of contests and the number of participants at each contest is growing so fast from year-to-year it makes my head spin. And, as has been pointed out in this forum, the newer teams have a lot more resources at their disposal to learn and learn quickly. All of this growth means we have to rapidly improve just to stay even. Not appreciating this trend makes it hard to accept getting a lower (relative to prior performance) score even though the entry was superior to our prior entries.
4) I've completed an analysis of the 2007 YTD KCBS contest results for a power ranking system and was surprised by the results. For the Overall category, the Top 25 teams scored 1,695 points out of a total of 7,444 points given. That means 4% of the teams (694 teams were included) are getting 23% of the points awarded. The Top 100 teams (14% of those analyzed) received 3,753 points, or 50% of the point total. BTW, I'm only looking at the Top 10 teams from each contest in my results so know that it would be even more top heavy if the entire field were included. There is clearly a consistency in judging results for KCBS contests nationwide.
5) I have had the privilege to meet many of the top competitors in BBQ and I never hear them complain about the judging. Maybe it's because they consistently win or maybe it's because they're too busy competing, but I tend to think it's because they accept responsibility and spend their time practicing consistency and how to stay ahead of the rest of us. In any case, they have somehow figured out the mojo it takes to win contests on a consistent basis. Out of the 6 contests I've competed in so far this year, 5 have been won by the same team and I highly doubt that's because of some sort of judging fraud. I think it lends a great deal of credibility to the judging system in general.
6) When I first heard about the comment card system I thought it was the best idea since sliced bread. However, after a little reflection I'm not so sure it's ready for widespread implementation. Some people will avoid confrontation at any costs and if they're forced to comment on low scores, they might not give them in order to escape conflict and that would be a tragedy. If the system ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
As I get ready to step down from the soap box, let me just acknowledge that competitive BBQ has made me a better cook. If I take nothing else from my experience I know that my BBQ is wildly better than it used to be. I never would have endured the improvement process if not motivated by my desire to win.
This year I've come to believe that, in a strange yet remarkable way, KCBS judging actually works and works pretty well. My experience is entirely limited to KCBS contests so my commentary is too. Believe it or not, my opinion didn't change because my team is all of a sudden doing so well. We do 6-10 contests each year and have about 50 contests under our belt. We don't win more often than we do and in our best years to date, we've been a middle of the pack team with the occasional Top 10 finish. For the most part, this year is no different.
A few pickled observations:
1) In the years I've been around competition BBQ, I've never even heard a whiff of evidence of a scandal regarding KCBS judging. I've seen and heard about plenty of cheating regarding cooking, but not judging. I've heard of incompetent judges and mistakes and gaffes, but not cheating. I've even been DQ'd once for not separating ribs when that was a physical impossibility since I lifted them individually from a cutting board into the box. I've heard a lot of cooks complaining and forming various conspiracy theories but never anything specific that is substantiated or even rumored. Of course, there probably have been some incidents over the years and some bad apples at the judges table, but I can't see how it is widespread or commonplace.
2) 7 years ago I thought our BBQ was the best ever and could not be improved upon. This year, we're turning in entries that are amazingly better in appearance, taste, and tenderness than what we used to cook and I still feel the same way. I clearly wasn't right 7 years ago and know I am equally wrong about our Q today. Friends and family who constantly give us praise about our BBQ only allow us to perpetuate the fallacy that we are great. They judge based upon what they get commercially which is not even close to contest cooking. Every contest we don't win is another opportunity to improve. We probably wasted 3 or 4 years by not realizing this sooner. I know everyone has heard it before but if you keep doing what you're doing, you'll keep getting what you're getting.
3) The competition is rapidly improving. I have no doubt that if I could go back in time and turn in today's entries 7 years ago we would have cleaned up at the awards ceremonies. Some have said our sport is the fastest growing sport in NA and I tend to believe it. Within the KCBS, the number of contests and the number of participants at each contest is growing so fast from year-to-year it makes my head spin. And, as has been pointed out in this forum, the newer teams have a lot more resources at their disposal to learn and learn quickly. All of this growth means we have to rapidly improve just to stay even. Not appreciating this trend makes it hard to accept getting a lower (relative to prior performance) score even though the entry was superior to our prior entries.
4) I've completed an analysis of the 2007 YTD KCBS contest results for a power ranking system and was surprised by the results. For the Overall category, the Top 25 teams scored 1,695 points out of a total of 7,444 points given. That means 4% of the teams (694 teams were included) are getting 23% of the points awarded. The Top 100 teams (14% of those analyzed) received 3,753 points, or 50% of the point total. BTW, I'm only looking at the Top 10 teams from each contest in my results so know that it would be even more top heavy if the entire field were included. There is clearly a consistency in judging results for KCBS contests nationwide.
5) I have had the privilege to meet many of the top competitors in BBQ and I never hear them complain about the judging. Maybe it's because they consistently win or maybe it's because they're too busy competing, but I tend to think it's because they accept responsibility and spend their time practicing consistency and how to stay ahead of the rest of us. In any case, they have somehow figured out the mojo it takes to win contests on a consistent basis. Out of the 6 contests I've competed in so far this year, 5 have been won by the same team and I highly doubt that's because of some sort of judging fraud. I think it lends a great deal of credibility to the judging system in general.
6) When I first heard about the comment card system I thought it was the best idea since sliced bread. However, after a little reflection I'm not so sure it's ready for widespread implementation. Some people will avoid confrontation at any costs and if they're forced to comment on low scores, they might not give them in order to escape conflict and that would be a tragedy. If the system ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
As I get ready to step down from the soap box, let me just acknowledge that competitive BBQ has made me a better cook. If I take nothing else from my experience I know that my BBQ is wildly better than it used to be. I never would have endured the improvement process if not motivated by my desire to win.
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