[CQ-Contest] tech challenge - SAY WHAT?

[kr2q at optonline.net]

I think that the ability to post REAL TIME SCORES is just so much mental masturbation.  

For M/M, if you have "extra" guys, I guess they can watch the scoreboard.  What is the value unless you're looking for some inside secret info to take advantage of?

If you're S/O, looking at the scoreboard means you're not optimizing your score (winning).

Knowing the results immediately post-contest is nice.  As I recall from multiple decades ago, we did this using 3830 (hey...isn't there a reflector with that same name?).  You didn't need to see it on line, you just tuned in and gave your score.  M/M also gave band by band breakdowns.  It was immediate and tension-relieving.

It was considered a courtesy effort among M/M guys - and had expanded to include lots of other categories.  If a M/M did not give their score, they were viewed in a negative light (and they know where they were...but their feathers did change).  Why, I even recall a QRPer calling in with his score for a couple of years until a transplanted Texan called him STUPID for doing qrp (gotta love the no-innuendo aspect).

I suppose that an analogy in favor of real time scores would be horse-racing where the ACTION is the excitement of the entire race (2 minutes) as the competitors close to the finish.  Horse-racing excitement would not be the same if all you got were the win/place/show listing.  But sitting there, watching a 2 minute event, is a lot different than watching a 48 hour marathon.   I like to look at my "finished lawn" but I don't want to watch the grass grow.

Wishing everyone a safe holiday and thanks for the Q!

de Doug KR2Q