At 11:32 AM 5/30/2007 -0000, Paul J. Piercey wrote:
>If I quit every time I knew I wasn't going to win a contest I'd never be
>on the air.
Yup, ain't that the truth. Insofar as almost all casual operators are
concerned, they get into a contest for a few hours just for the fun of
working a lot of stations within a short time frame; or to work DX that
otherwise doesn't show up often enough in between contests to be "workable".
Insofar as serious contest ops suddenly quitting..... we've all read
accounts, just in the past few days, where folks just up and quit.... but
due to equipment failures, or horrible propagation, or severe weather
disruptions.
However, I've known maybe half a dozen highly-talented guys, back in the
late '60s and '70s, who just could not stand the idea of not being
"competitive" or in first place. We'd hear them in a contest for a few
hours (usually CD Parties, where you could immediately tell how you were
doing due to the SN in the exchange) then suddenly, they would disappear.
Later, we'd find out they just quit because they got disgusted when
encountering a higher SN.
What's interesting is that several of these guys that I remember, decades
later, are now considered among the top contesters. Another one, who, in
those days, was a real inspiration to all the young whipperschnappers, set
a horrible example when, after being disqualified in one contest, never
again entering a serious contest. IMO, he would have been even more of an
inspiration and, perhaps, even have achieved "cult" status, had he
regrouped and come back afterward. But the loss of face at being caught
cheating was just too much and he disappeared from the contesting scene.
As N5OT related, sometimes one has to work on one's contest-attitude in
order to overcome some psychological barrier that prevents one from
continuing and excelling.
Hmmmm.... could that be a possible new lucrative line of work, becoming a
shrink specializing in helping contesters overcome their mental inhibitions??
8-)))))))))
Steve, K0XP
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