I will have to say that the judges, for the most part, are wonderful. They come out each weekend and try their best to judge the food as objectively as possible. I don't think anyone here HATES judges but just like any portion of society you are going to have bad judges. I've heard comments from judges like, "if it has grill marks I will NEVER mark well...this is BBQ not grilling." Or how about "I never give 9's to anyone because nothing deserves a perfect score." Or how about "babybacks are cheater ribs and don't impress me I give straight 6's when I see them."
These are the ones we complain about and the ones that should be found out and expelled. I know other sanctioning bodies tract judging performance and try to "level" the tables so that every cook gets a fair shot.
I've been a helper at a number of judging classes. I have seen each one graduate people you'd really like to ask to go home and never think of judging BBQ again because you obviously don't like it. We all saw them when we took our class. The room is asked how they voted on chicken and you get a few 9's a bunch of 8's a majority of 7's a couple of 6's and then no 5's and the proctor asks "Anyone under a 5?" Yep you know it; you saw it at your class. One or two people raise their hands and basically say they just ate dog food. Then the ribs and guess who didn't like them either. The pork? Yep they hated that too oh and then the brisket. Geez you wonder if it was actually meat from the way they carry on. Unfortunately when I get good marks from most and then get that one terrible mark all I can think of is these haters and their comments. I heard one state that the pork "just tasted too much like pork". SERIOUSLY! Yeah the class laughed but this person took the pledge! I know some will say a forget that one mark its dropped anyway. Well the fact is had that person not been judging my marks might well have been better.
From a judges perspective, I couldn't agree with you more. There are just
some who shouldn't. This is in most cooking competitions, BTW (we also
compete in chili cookoffs (CASI), and see the same crapola. Why on
earth someone who doesn't like pork BBQ, or brisket, or chili, or whatever
would go judge this is just beyond me. In my example above, the lady
was judging (and she was certified for a LONG time) an ancillary chili
contest; open chili, most anything goes. Someone presented a great
tasting chili that was made with black beans in it. I'm not here to debate
whether this fits your or my definition of chili. However, she thought it
looked like (these are her words exactly) deer poop, and wouldn't touch
it. Happens that on this day, that was easily in the top 2 chilis, but it
placed at the bottom due to her score. Why do this (judge) if you're
not fully prepared to JUDGE is just beyond me. But, they're there...
I personally ran into an occasion where I got all 8's and 9's on a chili,
then one lady gave me a 1. Yes, a 1. 10 people judging, I get 5 8's,
4 9's, and a 1. How on earth does this happen? Ok, she doesn't like
cumin; I get it. But a 1?..... Anyway.....
Otherwise, most judges are as impartial as anyone can be, and I for
one really appreciate it.