[CQ-Contest] Best & worst scenarios - 3830 postings

[Mark Beckwith]

> Posting the preliminary scores is a service to our participants. They
> see their entry, and they see we have some idea of what their score
> might be.

I think it's reasonable to say they also notice where they placed in respect 
to everyone else near them.  I know I do.  Call me competitive.  It's also 
reasonable to wonder why the order changes between the preliminary and final 
listings.  This conversation is all about that.

> But there is a reason they are called preliminary. Scores get changed.
> And anyone who relies on the preliminary score as what their final
> score is might very well be disappointed.

In the best case, the only reason to be disapppointed would be to be 
disappointed in oneself.  The only reason your score should fall is that 
either your copying or your logging were sufficiently erroneous to cause 
your score to slip down past some other operators who copied/logged more 
accurately than you did.

That's a perfect world.

In the real world, it is possible to slip down through no fault of one's 
copying or logging accuracy, but the stated goal of the log checkers, who 
are the first to say the process is not perfect, is that the goal is to have 
a system sufficiently good enough so that this does not happen.  I 
personally have yet to hear of a contender who has slipped a position 
between "claimed" and "final" that can be attributed to the removal of 
legitimate, accurately copied contacts which should not have been removed. 
Some people complain about having good QSOs removed, but did it change the 
order of the box?  I don't think it does.

Therefore, it should be safe to assume the final standings should be pretty 
accurately reflected in the perliminary listings.

Therefore, it should be safe to assume the preliminary listings should be 
able to be counted on as a pretty good idea of how you're going to finish. 
If you move up in the standings, you get an extra pat on the back for being 
more accurate than the guy above you was, and the guy who slipped knows he 
has some work to do in the accuracy/logging department.

The introduction of a new call to the box in the finals is rightly highly 
suspicious and it's better for everyone when that does not happen.  Did he 
change categories?  Did he massage his log?  Did the sponsor accept his log 
after the deadline?

That's not a witch hunt.  That's due dilligence.  It's also easily avoided 
which is good for everyone.  Which is what this is about.

Mark, N5OT