I agree that in order to be consistently successful a team has to cook quality food, but I also believe that hitting the wrong table can be a problem. As an example, at the competition in Morton, IL this weekend, here is the breakdown of top 10 finishes per table...
Chicken
Table 1 - 0
Table 2 - 1
Table 3 - 2
Table 4 - 1
Table 5 - 1
Table 6 - 5
Table 7 - 0
Ribs
Table 1 - 2
Table 2 - 1
Table 3 - 2
Table 4 - 0
Table 5 - 4
Table 6 - 1
Table 7 - 0
Pork
Table 1 - 1
Table 2 - 2
Table 3 - 2
Table 4 - 1
Table 5 - 3
Table 6 - 1
Table 7 - 0
Brisket
Table 1 - 2
Table 2 - 2
Table 3 - 4
Table 4 - 0
Table 5 - 1
Table 6 - 1
Table 7 - 0
Total Top 10's by Table
Table 1 - 5 (12.5%)
Table 2 - 6 (15%)
Table 3 - 10 (25%)
Table 4 - 2 (5%)
Table 5 - 9 (22.5%)
Table 6 - 8 (20%)
Table 7 - 0 (0%)
Tables 4 and 7 were the lowest scoring tables. At least table 4 put 2 teams in the top 10, but the highest finish that came off of table 7 was 17th.
Also, the GC team was on table 5, one of the higher scoring tables, twice. I thought that was to be avoided? (I am not saying that the GC team didn't deserve the win)
I am also not ruling out the possibility that all 26 entries that hit table 7 (they had 7 entries in two categories) were sub par, but the odds are against that. There was clearly an issue with table 7. I have no idea how to fix that, but the new score sheet made it pretty obvious.
laugh
