Reflection on performance

[MilitantSquatter]

There was a thread a little while ago about what you do with your score sheets after a contest... I finally decided to look at all of them at once and write down the results from contests within the last year...

Everyone has there own way of measuring success or failure of performance at contests
(Ex. # of calls in any category during awards, # of top 10 placings, # of GC or RGC, total points, pt. gap between you and winner, percentile of placing out of total (ex. Is 15 out of 100 teams better than 10 out of 75 teams ??) how much fun you had regardless of scores/placings etc.)

7/06 - 583.427 pts (winner 660.571) placed 15/39, 1 call
8/06 - 609.713 pts (winner 634.713) placed 7/42, 2 calls
8/06 - 630.285 pts (winner 665.714) placed 9/72, 2 calls
4/07 - 602.142 pts (winner 658.285) placed 30/60, 0 calls
5/07 - 615.999 pts (winner 638.285) placed 3/47, 2 calls
7/07 - 616.570 pts (winner 638.857) placed 9/42, 2 calls
8/07 - 603.428 pts (winner 639.42 placed 9/57, 1 call


So, I asked myself which was I most proud of...

contest I scored the most points ?? contest I thought had the toughest competition ?? contest with my highest placing ?? contest with smallest gap to the winner in points ?? Contest I thought my finished product was the best ?? Contest I was best prepared at ?? Contest I had the most fun at ??

In the end, I had a hard time answering for myself. What I wanted to share is that I hope everyone realizes that each contest is unique and needs to be judged as such.

[Pig Headed]

Good post Vinny. Since I only have 2 contests under my belt with dramatically different results, I guess I'll use the "fun factor" for now and I had fun at both.

[SmokeInDaEye]

Very true, Vinny. I 100% believe in putting fun first at contests. I do set a very achievable goal for myself each time out (like getting my first call in a non-grilling category this weekend), but I get to do so few contests each year, I want them each to be memorable.

And for the record, my vote goes to:

4/07 - 602.142 pts (winner 658.285) placed 30/60

You may not have gotten any calls but the Ash Holes had a blast (not to mention the fact that it was your first Spicewine contest).

[Sawdustguy]

We may be having too much fun because since we took 5th at Merrimack we have pretty much sucked.

[timzcardz]

Originally Posted by MilitantSquatter

8/06 - 609.713 pts (winner 634.713) placed 7/42, 2 calls
8/06 - 630.285 pts (winner 665.714) placed 9/72, 2 calls

I am going to guess tht you had the most fun last August 6th, because there is no way that you would have done 2 comps in the same day if you weren't having fun!!! Right?

Some very nice results there, and you seem to almost have a lock on 9th place.

I certainly hope that you are doing it for the fun, otherwise if you don't win or walk it is really nothing but a stinking waste of time.

I have never competed and have repeatedly said that I had no interest in competing, but I have seen some things recently that have made me think about that, for reasons that have absolutely nothing to do with prize money, winning or walking.

[Dale P]

tim once you get a walk you are bit with the bug. What a fun thing comps can be.

[Muzzlebrake]

I dont know if it is obvious to the rest of you who have seen us in action, but our team places a high premium on having a good time. If it were not fun we wouldnt be doing it.

I am not a scorekeeping kind of guy and I like to go by feel and how I felt about what I turned in. Like ted of Q Haven says in another thread, not sense sweating whats out of your control.

In our 2 contests this year, in the first I felt we had good meat and didn't cook it that well. This past weekend I thought we had overcooked the brisket but the rest of our stuff I was proud of and thought we had executed well. I thought our boxes looked great and felt really good about that.

That being said we are trying to get better each time we compete and while we may not have achieved the results we hope to reach, its not from a lack of effort. While we do believe in having a great time, we have too much invested to go out there and be an embarassment and each time out we learn more and more from the veteran teams out there.

We are still going to try and out drink the field, but just be aware that we are taking notes on how to out cook them.

[Greendriver]

Originally Posted by MilitantSquatter

5/07 - 615.999 pts (winner 638.285) placed 3/47, 2 calls
In the end, I had a hard time answering for myself. What I wanted to share is that I hope everyone realizes that each contest is unique and needs to be judged as such.

I love the little spread sheet and items you included on it as well as your evaluation of your contests. I think the 5/7 looks like the obvious best showing unless of course you just didn't have as good a time there. Personally I won't let a good / bad time at a contest influence my evaluation at all because sometime that part of it just can't be helped. What I like to do is evaluate my turn in's for myself and then compare that with the actual results and kinda make a call based on that.