<!--quoteo
(post=3046:date=Nov 22 2006, 11:02 PM:name=bobrfish)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(bobrfish
@ Nov 22 2006, 11:02 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=3046"><{POST_SNAPBACK}
></a></div><div class='quotemain'>I have heard and seen evidence of trimming fins on
show fish. At present judges are given wide lattitude in what is acceptable and what is not
acceptable.</div>
Question. Do you mean that people
trimmed the fins then let them grow back out before entry or trimmed just prior to entry?
IMO, it depends on the judge. I've shared judging duties with some of the judges that have
judged ACA shows. Some are REALLY good. Others I've never dealt with. I haven't always
agreed with the choice of winners though. I've also aways felt a judge should be available
AFTER a show to justify his/her selection and why. At ACA shows sometimes the judges aren't
even listed or credited after judging. Why?
Just guessing but I think I'd be in the
minority when I say that a previous Best of Show winner shouldn't be eligible a second time. If
at the show, I feel it should be displayed only, and not eligible for any additional awards,
barring competition between previous winners of the award.
I've asked before why
there were no judging standards for the ACA shows. Main reply is "who would do it?"
Number two, "I like it the way it is."
My main beef with judging, aside from
never knowing who did it and how they did it, was that I think it unfair to judge a large fish
against a small fish, with the exception of Best in Show.
It could be that we've
always given top honor to the wrong award. It's possible that the biggest award and the highest
accolade should go to the "People's Choice" winner. Many within the convention room
would qualify as a decent judge of cichlid flesh. Their opinions should count for more than
we've given credit previously.
As for me, I can normally walk into the fishroom and
in short order list the top five, sometimes the top two. Unfortunately, sometimes I feel the top
two are in the same category. Typically that would mean only one is eligible for higher honors.
I'm probably not a real good cichlid judge. I no longer really care what the name of the fish
is or where it's from or even who brought it. Yes, I think most of the judges can or have
determined who belongs to what by the time of judging.
I've also judged shows where
judges were asked to pick the top fish in the show regardless of where the fish ended up in other
classes. The judges then went, in group, to each of the picks and the judge that pushed this fish
pitched it the the others. After making the rounds, the judges voted and the Best in Show came from
that group alone. Dan