For those who like to analyze their scores...

[71-South]

Hey All,

I like to analyze the hell out of our scores after every competition. I don't do this to play the what if game so much as I do to figure out where we stumbled, what we need to work on, etc.

One of the things I'd like to be able to do is look at trends over time. This requires putting our scores in some kind of database, spreadsheet, app, etc. I couldn't find what I was looking for, so I'm developing one myself (a Windows application.) And I'm looking for help when it comes to what kind of information we can pull out of KCBS BBQ score sheets - either one off, or over time. I'm not looking for money on this thing. I highly doubt there would be enough potential users to make it a viable money maker anyway. If it turns out to be useful, I'll freely share it w/ Brethren members.

The working title at this point is "BBQ-Score-Guru". After a couple of evenings of coding, I have it to where I can input score and event information for each of the contests that we do. I'm going to add fields to keep overall competition notes for each contest, plus notes for each of the four categories.

Here's what the screen looks like for now once you've entered in data for a contest:

For each contest, you just enter the details, then punch in the judges' scores for the four categories and the program calculates the final scores in the upper right, grays out the scores in the grid that got thrown out, and shows you the alternate view for each meat down below.

The program looks at the contest date and uses the appropriate (2013 or 2014) weightings. If prior years are calculated in the same way, it'll be trivial to put those years' weightings in (if they're different.)

The main screen is far from finished. Right now, it just shows the contests I've entered and let's me edit/view them and/or enter new contests.

I may add a place to keep recipes, timelines, etc, so they'd be easy to keep in one place. Not sure about that yet. I'm kicking around ideas on trend reports that I could run on data (from the main screen), but I'm pretty early in that process.

So I ask you, Brethren, any ideas for the direction of this program? I've considered putting placings in for each contest, but that would require a sh*tload of data entry for each one, so I'm waffling on that.

Let me know if you have any ideas, questions, etc.

Thanks much,
Bret

 

[MarleyMan]

I just want to say thanks for working on this! I was googling last week trying to find some type of Excel Spreadsheet or something that I could input our scoring data into to have a better look at our score trends and have a more detailed look at scoring data.

Looks great!! :thumb:

 

[cpw]

Looks great so far, and I would be very excited to use it. A few things I could think of making sure to include (and I'm not sure if you're referencing it above) but a column that includes the placing per category and overall placing for each contest (2nd chicken, 5th pork, 8th overall, etc).

Another thing would be graphing of scores and placing over time. Lastly, the ability to determine over time or per contest (and I have no idea if this is even possible) what the weak link in the category is to show what needs improvement (appearance, taste, or tenderness).

 

[newtwoq]

With the new computerized KCBS system, I wish we were able to get our score sheets electronically. There is so much data to be mined but the input would take forever if you were doing it by hand. For instance, we scored really low on our ribs the last contest and couldn't figure out why, until we looked at our table and found out that table scored in the bottom third for everything that hit the table in all four meats! Things like this would be so useful if there was an electronic score sheet!

I know that doesn't help you, but I highly commend your effort and would be interested in using your software!

 

[TooSaucedToPork]

1. Thanks for this, it looks awesome

2. If possible could a link or share system be coded so that a central list is updated with all users scores, that way the data is entered by many and not just one person slaving away. Also regional and national average scores would be shared for comparison.

Can't wait for beta

 

[71-South]

Thanks guys! Keep the ideas coming. I wish we could get KCBS results electronically as well. I doubt it would be possible, but who could I ask about that?

Good idea, though, having a repository somewhere so it would just take one poor bastard entering the extended results of each comp. I have web sites where I could keep that stuff for users to download. I really hadn't thought about it at that scale yet.

Right now, I'm adding overall notes per event, and notes per meat per event. The "per meat" notes can/will be used on the next item. Next up will be individual (over-time) category reports. You'll access them from the home screen, choose the meat, and choose the comps to include. I'll see what I can come up w/ there.

Thanks again!

 

[Untraceable]

looks cool

BBQscores.com already does alot of this.

 

[ShencoSmoke]

look great! can i have your chicken recipe?:wink:

 

[cubs204]

Ive been putting together a spreadsheet (albeit rather slowly as work has me swamped) attempting to do exactly what you are working on. Excellent idea! One thing I would really like would be a trending line graph tab for each category, so you could see the overall trend of how you are doing through a specific time period.

 

[Jorge]

So I ask you, Brethren, any ideas for the direction of this program? I've considered putting placings in for each contest, but that would require a sh*tload of data entry for each one, so I'm waffling on that.

Let me know if you have any ideas, questions, etc.

Thanks much,
Bret

Why not scan and scrape, dumping the data into a database?

 

[71-South]

look great! can i have your chicken recipe?:wink:

Three weeks later, w/ the exact same recipe, we took 53rd out of 54. Go figure. The 180 pin is pretty cool, though.

 

[71-South]

BBQscores.com already does alot of this.

That's cool. I'll check them out a little closer.

One thing I would really like would be a trending line graph tab for each category, so you could see the overall trend of how you are doing through a specific time period.

I'm working on that (and some other stuff) as soon as I get the notes stuff done.

Why not scan and scrape, dumping the data into a database?

Do you mean OCR? I'm not sure I trust OCR to be that accurate when it comes to small print and that many numbers. I haven't played w/ it in a while, though. Do you think accuracy would be an issue?

Thanks all,
Bret

 

[Jorge]

Yes. You can scan to HTML and then it's no different than scraping the web. Accuracy shouldn't be a problem. Scanners and off the shelf software have come a long way.

At that point it's just a matter of scraping the saved HTML pages and saving the data to a database. Something like MySQL wold work well, and is free.

 

[ynotfehc]

Add info off of comment cards from judges, and maybe a place for our own self-critique based on the same format

 

[Blanton]

If adding how you finished, is there any merit to add the size of the field?

 

[bbq.tom]

I believe that there definitely needs to be a "notes" field for how you felt about the entry being turned in. I realize that not everything that I turn in for score is identical from one contest to another. I may use the same recipe, but it doesn't turn out exactly the same. Without a field to define each entry the score comparison isn't as valuable as it could be.

 

[Harbormaster]

I wrote and posted this spreadsheet for folks to download.

Your program is pretty cool, and way beyond my limited skills!

 

[shares]

The CalBQue.com Score Summary Tool looks like exactly what you are looking for and more. Data entry is super fast and private. Hope this saves you some programming time.

 

[markG]

One thing that has to be factored for scores is the judges average score from the sheets. This would be for both higher and lower (table of death) scores. It is hard to quantify scores without weighting in the scoring trends by table.

I tend to really scan the numbers the night of the competition and then move on to the next week. If I do more than that, I am afraid that my head will explode! I am sure that we all have made "the best BBQ of our lives" only to have a judge claim that we poisoned them with our entry! I know I have made things that I was afraid would kill a judge only to see some really high scores as well. You can't adjust a recipe or timeline when there is such a disparaging difference between your thoughts and the judges. JMHO.

 

[Burnt at Both Endz]

One thing that has to be factored for scores is the judges average score from the sheets. This would be for both higher and lower (table of death) scores. It is hard to quantify scores without weighting in the scoring trends by table.

I tend to really scan the numbers the night of the competition and then move on to the next week. If I do more than that, I am afraid that my head will explode! I am sure that we all have made "the best BBQ of our lives" only to have a judge claim that we poisoned them with our entry! I know I have made things that I was afraid would kill a judge only to see some really high scores as well. You can't adjust a recipe or timeline when there is such a disparaging difference between your thoughts and the judges. JMHO.

Agreed! It makes my blood pressure go up too much if I stare at the numbers too long. You need a memory like a football defensive back, if you ask me.