Maybe it's because we are spoiled here in GA, maybe it's because I'm picky, maybe it's something else, but we did the Sam's Club competition in Marietta in 2012, and unless there are 29 newbie teams signed up this year and one spot left....you won't catch me at another one.
To me, Troy Black came off as a pompous, holier than thou organizer who came in on a bus with two reps who couldn't have cared less. They were in it for the $$ and advertising, not for putting on a good contest or caring about the teams. And I am generally a mild mannered, southern gentleman, not one to speak my mind.
When we pulled in, I asked 6-7 people working the event about who was pulling teams in, and nobody could point me in the right direction. I waited for 20 minutes in my car with my trailer attached, and couldn't get an answer, so I pulled into a 10'X20' open space between the last competitor on a row and the cones. Troy decided to run his mouth and make me move over 10 feet to prove his point, only to come back 3 hours later after we were fully unpacked, and tell me I could have the other 10 feet.
Couple that with the 200 yard walk to get buckets of water, judges reporting entry numbers hitting their tables more than twice, and Troy taking off before awards, leaving the reps to do the job.....and you have one crappy competition.