The Last Word

The coordinator of the Belgrade Show, and his friend, sent comments, and asked me to post them. While I am not willing to debate this further, since it is going nowhere, it is only fair to post their comments. However, interspersed in their comments will be my own response to points that I feel need a response. That said, here are their comments:

MIKE (re: the Pine Tree Academy show): "I noticed that judges had their cars in the show...not a problem in my eyes, but if you folks (HotKarz) are going to BLAST Belgrade folks about this, you should point this out with all shows."

HOTKARZ RESPONSE: HotKarz did NOT "blast Belgrade" about judges having their cars in the show. Our readers did, and we simply posted their comments as we are posting yours. So HotKarz would appreciate it if you refrain from making untrue accusations. My article on judges' cars that was posted earlier states emphatically that we do not have a problem with judges' cars. Our only problem is with poor judges. A poor judge does not become a good judge just because you remove his car. And a good judge does not become a poor judge just because he has a car in the show.

SCOTT (Belgrade Show Coordinator): " We have LOTS of changes planned for next year. First, I am not judging..."
HOTKARZ: Good change.
SCOTT: "...however, I will be overseeing the whole operation since I am the coordinator.But we will be adding 4 more judges, we will hold judges meetings, adding more classes, more activities, also possibly adding some Saturday events, Early Bird specials."
HOTKARZ: Excellent. However, no one complained about the quality of your show - only about the quality of the judging.
SCOTT: "And the judges will be going around in groups of two this time. And the judges cars will be in the show, but in a (separate) class of their own, and judged by the top 3-6 car owners pulled out for outstanding detail, with the same judging sheets the judges use."
HOTKARZ: We do not have a problem with that, though it sounds a little "overdone" and unnecessary. And what qualifies those car owners to be judges? Just because their cars are well detailed? Whatever. But I could bring a new 2009 off the showroom floor, expertly detailed by the car dealer, and win, but that does not qualify me as a judge. Just my thought on this.
SCOTT: "Also in each class we are considering going with 4 trophies per class. As far as the comment someone else put up about pulling out the 4 cars from the rest. Well, that will be different as well. We will do that only after the judging. The point of doing that was to make it so not one person wins all the trophies like 1st in his class, best engine, best of show and peoples choice. This gives more people a chance to win."
HOTKARZ: Now that is where we see a real problem, Scott. Anyone concerned with fairness would not prevent anyone from winning a trophy they rightfully earned. If someone does such a great job as to be WORTHY of more than one trophy, then he/she should win as many as they are entitled to. If he wins 1st in his class, and he ALSO has the best engine, best paint and best car in the show, then he deserves the awards for being the best. To limit the number of trophies an entrant can win does nothing more than cheat a deserving person out of awards they worked for and earned. EXAMPLE: If you get shot saving your entire regiment in a war, and you EARN the Purple Heart, the Silver Star and the Medal of Honor, should you only receive the Purple Heart? Or, you bust your hump working two jobs. Should you only get paid for one, and the other paycheck given to some welfare guy because he needs it more? As for giving "more people a chance to win", you should reconsider that - if they are not the real winner, they should not win. They would not be "winning" anything. They would simply be getting the trophy that someone else earned - and that is wrong.
SCOTT: "I Think the Belgrade Show is run very much like every other show in this state..."
HOTKARZ: There is no "standard" in Maine - all shows are different. And no one had a problem with your show - they only objected to problems in the judging. And I think the folks would like to have seen you offer changes in the quality and fairness of the judging, since that was the source of their discontent. But that issue seems to be absent in your comment. I hope you give as much thought to choosing/educating GOOD judges as you apparently put into the other aspects of your show.

Again, HotKarz would like for those who attended the Belgrade show to submit their input/suggestions/criticisms to Scott at chevyshowtrucks@yahoo.com. Scott has asked for thoughts and ideas.

And as far as the Belgrade show is concerned, that is the last word. HotKarz is moving on...

Bill