I feel your pain. We just got our ass handed to us at the sams local in ches.va. This was our 7th contest and we had been struggling somewhat because of limited resources and opportunities to practice beforehand because of work commitments. Overall, I thought we were getting things dialed in. Well, the wheels fell off this past weekend. It was not bad judging that done us in. Quite frankly, I just did not cook at the level I normally do and my scores were justly deserved. To score well consistently like you see the top teams do, requires serious attention to detail and really staying focused. The teams that continue to shine have done their homework, they don't rest on their laurels, they continue to improve and tweak. Even these teams have a 'bad day' sometimes. Trust me, it hurt my eyes to look at my scores. I was embarassed. But the scores we got were pretty much what we earned. Product was average at best. I will learn from this and study my scores, practice and refine my technique, learn my new cooker better, amp up the flavors and get back in the hunt again come early next year. I feel I have a clearer understanding of what the judges expect and also realize we can vastly improve our product for future contests. Yes I was deeply discouraged over our results, but it was our fault. I will learn, improve and come back stronger next time out.