<VV> Worthless awards, was:Concours philosophy

[airvair]

Subjective? Shaun, wake up! Concours judging, by its very nature is
subjective. We're all human, and we all judge quality subjectively. Try
judging some time, and you'll find out. CORSA judges subjectively
determine the number of points to assign to the percentage of perfection
of each item, then the points are added up and compared to determine
place. In the "gold, silver, bronze" system, points totals determine
which award. In a "first, second, third" system, points totals, compared
to others in each class, determine which award.

You bet it's subjective, no matter which system you use to determine
awards. And personalities and politics were never part of the mix.

-Mark

Shaun wrote:
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "airvair" <airvair@richnet.net>
> <Smit>
> 
> >  I've never been a fan of the "gold,
> > silver, bronze" awards, and for a good reason. As you point out, instead
> > of competing against the rest of your peers, you compete against a set
> > scale. This puts undue pressure on the concours judging staff to be
> > "perfect" in their scoring, and even more pressure on whomever draws the
> > line between gold and silver, etc. I call it a "feel good" award, as it
> > proves only that your car can pull numbers within a certain score range,
> > and that it makes you feel good. After all, even a second, third, or
> > even lower ranked car could conceivably get a gold award. And this goes
> > for everything down the line. So to me, the only thing a "gold" award
> > proves is that it's a nice car. It DOESN'T prove that it's the best
> > amongst its peers.
> 
>      I couldn't disagree more. The Gold standard is a far superior method of
> judging, it takes the subjectivity out of the mix. Personalities and
> politics are washed away and only the benchmark of perfection remains.
>      How can you possibly pick a "best" when all are breathtaking? Imagine a
> parking lot full of brand-new Corvairs waiting for delivery. How could you
> pick the best one? Subjectively, that's how. That one is blue, I like blue,
> or that one doesn't have whitewalls and I love whitewalls.
>      We're all aiming for that perfect car, but what if two or more people
> actually achieve the same level of perfection?
> How could it possibly be fair to award a first, second and third prize to
> equal cars? You'd have to start breaking it down subjectively, so red '64
> Spyder convertibles would win everything, right? No. Give "Alice" a chance!
> 
> yea, Vairily ... Shaun