Weekend Update

Well the Bangor Show was well attended and looked to be a success from a participation standpoint, spectators were in abundance and the vendors looked busy. But that still leaves the entry fee being what it is and now the organizers will be legitimate in claims of needing to keep it at its exorbitant rate for the quality assurance bullshit.

The Windham Show, from reports I've read elsewhere, was well attended but poorly judged, as was expected. I didn't attend the Windham Show or the Settlers Green event, instead I stayed home and did what I wanted.

I did receive an E-Mail from the Cheryl Page that the Adirondack Nationals were a great time and they received a Top Fifty Award. Well deserved and Congrats.

That being said its on to today's rant, Judges and Car Shows. In this State there are several Car Shows that have decided to use judges to upgrade their show and combat the "Buddy System" of participant voting. Kudos to them.

The down side is to the quality of the judges and the experience level of the same. Lets face facts we get stuck with Volunteer Judges whose greatest Automotive Moment was going 90MPH on the Maine Turnpike. Of the 6 judged shows that I have personally attended only 1 was dead on with 1 other doing a fair job, the rest were using the dart board method of awarding the prizes.

The other ill conceived idea is sticking the same judges in classes of car they do not know IE using a Model A guy to judge the Tuners, pissing off people the entire time. Use the resources you have in the best respective spots possible.

The other thing that I hear is the "judge didn't look at my car". In only one case have I seen the judges overlook a car that was completely prepped to be judged. Then again at only one show have I heard it announced that in "order to be judged you must have your trunk and hood open and or be available to open them for judging".

Many people assume that because the judges walk by a car and briefly look it over then move on, that they didn't judge it properly. If the vehicle had the doors closed and the hood and trunk closed, then what was there to judge.

I have been a judge and it is not as glamorous as some would have you think, in plain English it sucks. You get pummelled by yapping owners who suddenly want to be your best friends and take you to the prom and so on. Then you get berated by the same guy because you spent 1.7643 seconds longer on the guy next door than on his. At one time I had participants calling me to ask my qualifications after the show had been over for a week because they felt they were robbed of the proper award.

Guess what, I don't do judging anymore.

What we have are amateur judges some with decent qualifications, using a judging system that changes with the wind direction for organizers that want their buddies to win in most cases and who fail to announce the criteria of open hoods etc for a judge to even look at your vehicle.

The harvest is ready as misunderstanding is ripe for the picking.