There are a couple of problems with this outlook, Doug.
First, not everyone is capable of winning a contest. They are trying for
personal or team best. Only a few dozen stations of the many thousands of
competitors in contests are going to make it to the top 10. Yet, by
observing real-time scores, they can be motivated to operate longer,
persevere through tough operating conditions, get over a slump or simply
strive to be better than some other competitor.
Second, there are quite a few top-10 contesters (S/O, M/S and M/M) who do
not share the view that posting their score is a disadvantage. If you had
been looking at the scoreboard during the past couple of contests, you would
have seen that.
By the way, those competitors who stay on the air are providing potentially
more QSOs for those reaching the top 10.
I'd say, if you look at the club competition from this year and past years,
you will see bigger numbers from more stations.
Many comments I've received from competitors around the world have said that
looking at the real-time scores helped them improve their score -- mostly by
running mini "horse races" with other members in the area or in their club.
If you do not believe their is any benefit from looking at others scores,
why not post yours and motivate others? You do not have to look if you
post. I'll bet the disadvantage of posting your score is far outweighed by
the number of people who will be motivated to stay on the air longer, to try
and catch you in some way. When people see a huge KR2Q score in a
published result, they are amazed -- and motivated to try and seek a similar
score. However, that thought occurs many months outside of the actual
competition.
In the M/M category, if ANY of you believe that posting your score will give
advantage to some other station, you're not thinking clearly. You are all
beacons of propagation, calling CQ 24/7, and your 1st QSOs on a band or to a
rare multiplier or your own spots will be on the packet network within
seconds of a QSO. You will be watching packet far more than the live
scoring site.
As a S/O, having a second monitor on the scoreboard allows you to monitor
your close competition (if you have any). It does not take away from your
effort. There are several top-ten contesters who used the Scoreboard this
season, and as far as I can see, it did not hinder their performance.
I do agree that if the only benefit of posting your score is to make you
feel good as it appears on a real-time list, you are not really a
competitor. However, the only one you are hurting is yourself. Like
every other tool in contesting, it has to be used to your best advantage.
I'd encourage anyone who participated in real-time score reporting to
include their feedback in the soapbox to contest sponsors.
73, Gerry, W1VE
On 5/28/07, kr2q@optonline.net <kr2q@optonline.net> wrote:
>
> I think that the ability to post REAL TIME SCORES is just so much mental
> masturbation.
>
> For M/M, if you have "extra" guys, I guess they can watch the
> scoreboard. What is the value unless you're looking for some inside secret
> info to take advantage of?
>
> If you're S/O, looking at the scoreboard means you're not optimizing your
> score (winning).
>
> Knowing the results immediately post-contest is nice. As I recall from
> multiple decades ago, we did this using 3830 (hey...isn't there a reflector
> with that same name?). You didn't need to see it on line, you just tuned in
> and gave your score. M/M also gave band by band breakdowns. It was
> immediate and tension-relieving.
>
> It was considered a courtesy effort among M/M guys - and had expanded to
> include lots of other categories. If a M/M did not give their score, they
> were viewed in a negative light (and they know where they were...but their
> feathers did change). Why, I even recall a QRPer calling in with his score
> for a couple of years until a transplanted Texan called him STUPID for doing
> qrp (gotta love the no-innuendo aspect).
>
> I suppose that an analogy in favor of real time scores would be
> horse-racing where the ACTION is the excitement of the entire race (2
> minutes) as the competitors close to the finish. Horse-racing excitement
> would not be the same if all you got were the win/place/show listing. But
> sitting there, watching a 2 minute event, is a lot different than watching a
> 48 hour marathon. I like to look at my "finished lawn" but I don't want to
> watch the grass grow.
>
> Wishing everyone a safe holiday and thanks for the Q!
>
> de Doug KR2Q
>
>
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