There was a contest that we cooked at last year that ended up short on teams due to some teams backing out because of forecasted weather. The way I understand it, the day before turn ins, there was a last minute team "made up" by a vendor that ended up cooking and turning in as well as a registered team that was asked to split into two separate teams, which they did legally since they had two separate cookers and ended up cooking out of two separate sites. By doing this shuffling, the contest hit the minimum number of teams. I think there was also another team added at the last minute, although no one seemed to see them come in to cook it, but who knows. The list on the score sheet had 25 teams, so technically, it worked.
Now, as far as I know, everything was legal, as in no raw pork or sketchy turn ins.
All in all, the way it all went down didn't sit well with some of the teams that were there, but one of the teams that was "split" ended up with a legitimate GC. We were happy for him (he's a friend), but had things not gone the way they did, who knows who else would have ended up taking the contest (we ended up 3rd that day).
In the end, it was a qualifier, which was cool and all, but it just ended up being a lot of things thrown together to make that happen. I have no idea if people actually had to pay entry fees and I'm not saying there was anything sketchy at all. One one hand, the organizer was looking out for the contest and all of the teams that WERE there, so that's cool. The last thing any of us wanted was to do was invest all the time and money to cook and it not even be a qualifier. The weather didn't end up being as bad as they forecasted (shocker, I know) and it's a regular comp that a lot of Indiana teams always go to. It just went down weird I guess.
I'd rather had it happen the way it did than the other way it could have.
Thing was, though, we checked and double checked with the organizer that he had enough teams and were told several times that he had plenty of teams coming and not to worry. Then we get there and set up and find out about the reality of the situation. THAT didn't sit well with us.
I have to agree, though, that throwing a team and a raw pork box just to make it a qualifier is a bit over the line. I also agree, though, that the winner of the comp shouldn't be penalized for it.
had that not happened there would have been 26 teams and you wouldn't have to worry about this foolish move. I did everything in my power to get there. Living in the middle of no where sure sucks sometimes. The rental company could have gotten me a truck sunday at noon......guess we would have been DQ'd too...lol Enjoy your win, congrats on the GC. maybe we will see you at Hudson valley?
