PLEASE READ - Important Throwdown Announcement - PLEASE READ

Gore said:

I am convinced that if Chris ran 3 voting threads with the same dishes, he'd more often than not get 3 different winners. How many times have we seen a winner one week get a zero or 1 vote the next... or vice versa? Heck, Guerry even submitted the same dish in two throwdowns, received one vote one week and won the next ... with the very same dish!

Click to expand...

I have also seen some Throwdowns where there was clearly a runaway favorite, and I think in those Throwdowns even if we had put them up for a re-vote the same winner would have been declared.

I suspect that the truth is somewhere in the middle, as with many things. I think when the competition is very close, anybody can win. Sometimes an entry comes in that clearly blows the competition away though, and when that happens they usually run away with the votes.

Gore submitted his Bacon Bugatti shortly after the Fatty Stein. The Fatty Stein was so original, so creative, and sounded so good that it stole the show and won by a huge margin. Interestingly enough, when the Bacon Bugatti was posted, on that first day it received a bunch of votes and was in the lead. However, I had to remove the original vote thread and replace it with a new one due to a late entry which the participants agreed should be included with the vote. When the new vote thread was posted the Bugatti never had the lead. The way I rationalize this is that the Fatty Stein was first of all a higher quality entry (sorry Bacon Bugatti), but that the Bacon Bugatti was still orignal and creative enough to capture peoples interest. However, when given a second chance to vote again, I believe that the level of competition was closer between entries so that after thinking about it again, people picked a different dish than the Bacon Bugatti. The "shiny" factor of a fabricated Gore dish was not as different and new as the week before with the Fatty Stein.

That's what I think anyway. It is just my opinion though. It could very well be a total crapshoot from week to week. I just happen to think it is because so many people here are just good cooks, and pretty much any entry that comes in from week to week is a true contender.

We have had 51 different winners in 101 Throwdowns. So clearly there are no real "favorites" to win in any week and it is not the "regulars" that normally win. Sure, only a small handful of people have multiple wins, but they are also among the people that have entered the most Throwdowns. We have had a lot of people enter just a few times and take a win with them from one of those entries, likewise a lot of people have entered a handful of Throwdowns who did not win and not entered again.

With a few exceptions (myself for example:becky, if you keep trying, you are most likely going to win some time.

Gore said:

However, you cannot hold yourself up as an exception, because you actually won, or at least co-won, the "fried" throwdown in a team entry:

Click to expand...

Nah, I had nothing to do with that. That was all Lulu.:becky:

(bump)

I originally made this post back around the time of the first "Rookie, Virgin, Amateur FNG Throwdown". I made it because the whole idea to have the Throwdown was based on some PM's I had received and some posts that were made.

Everything I said in the opening post holds true today, and is how I would like to see the Throwdowns operate, and I believe the vast majority of members would like to see it operate.

Since making this post I have even more people to thank for improving my photo skills, along with others. The first to come to mind is caseydog, heck, he even doctored up a couple of photos out of sheer kindness even though we were competing against each other in the same Throwdown! That's the kind of friendship these things are about, and they are also supposed to be about fun.

This thread is not being bumped for any reason other than the fact that we recently had another "Rookie, Virgin, Amateur, FNG Throwdown" and I figured both new and old members alike should see this again.

Please read the opening post carefully and thoughtfully, whether you are a new member in the Throwdowns or not.

Let me know your thoughts whether you agree or not. It's very important to have open and honest feedback about the Throwdowns to keep them successful. I appreciate all feedback I receive, both positive and negative, so don't be afraid to be critical if you have some critical thoughts that may help. I always try to keep my emotions in check to never take anything personally. If anyone ever sees me do otherwise, just let me know.

Thanks for your time in reading this.

deguerre said:

The TD section is the most fun thing about Q-Talk. What's to criticize?

Click to expand...

Well, with lots of new members, or older members just joining the Throwdowns, I figured this was a good thing to bump now that the "Rookie, Virgin, Amatuer, FNG" Throwdown is over. It attracted a number of new names to the Throwdowns and based on their first experience they may have some feedback or feelings that this thread can help address. I just want to make sure their parting view of their first Throwdown has at least this perspective.

---k--- said:

Thanks for the bump. I'm still enjoying the good-nature ribbing that goes on.

A new issue that has come up since this post is the "Shortbus" rule. While some Hollywood types would likely be offended by that name, I'm glad you instituted the rule. If someone accidentally screw ups one of the minor rules, I think it is good to still give them the glory of the entry thread. Whether it is worthy of votes or not, that is for the voters to decide. (For the record, I hope they give the Shortbus people only 1 vote!) I don't want anyone to have their feelings hurt because they accidentally failed to follow the rules. I think we're all just her for fun.

It gets a little greyer if someone like RonL would submit his recent porkchop cook (he hasn't, just an example), as I suggested, because it was cooked on a gasser and Ron knew full well that that breaks the rules. That is a tough decision and opens a whole can of worms. I'm glad it is you! I guess that is why you make the big bucks and have access to the executive bathroom.

Click to expand...

I'm liking that new rule too, but it only applies to Master Cuts contests and not the Throwdown contests (they are two different things). In the Throwdowns things are a lot more open, gassers are allowed for example, but if you break the rules you can get DQ'ed. This rarely happens and only ever happens to Gore. I think only one other person has ever been DQ'ed other than Gore, and they were trying to get one in order to add it to their resume. (by the way, Gore has like 50 DQ's or something like that, maybe even more than he has wins).

Now if only I could figure out how to get DQ'ed without it looking like I did it on purpose....

---k--- said:

Ahhh. My head hurts too much when I think about the rules so I try to. :razz:

I didn't realize the no gasser rule was only the "Master's" That makes sense. I didn't like it when I thought it was for all TD's, but it's understandable for the "Master's".

Please excuse my lack of effort to memorize the rules and return to your regularly scheduled program... :-D

Click to expand...

This exact sort of rules confusion has caused me to regret making the Masters Cuts, and the thought to nix it has crossed my mind a number of times. It's just too confusing I think for most. People are having fun entering it...but I don't think the confusion is worth it.

Gore said:

I think I would also like to see pre-DQs; i.e., a DQ awarded before he even thinks about posting.

Click to expand...

Hmmmmmm..........

Me likey!:becky:

Were you planning on making any eggs?:twisted: