[CQ-Contest] The Meaning of Disqualification

[Mike Ricketts]

>
> The meaning of DISQUALIFICATION for the CQ WPX Contest uses the following
> dictionary definition:
> "to put out of a competition etc for breaking rules. She was disqualified
> for
> being too young." Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K
> Dictionaries Ltd
> Thus, disqualification in itself should not impact ones reputation.
> A recent news story (though not unique), illustrates this point. When
> a high school athlete broke his leg in a cross-country competition, his
> teammate carried him to the finish line. Both were disqualified because
> they broke the rule that runners are prohibited from touching or assisting
> another runner during the race.  The pair's reputations seem to have been
> enhanced by this event:
> http://ftw.usatoday.com/2017/10/high-school-runner-carries-t
> eammate-broken-leg
> On the other hand, if the athletes had been disqualified for using
> performance enhancing drugs, then their reputations would have been
> negatively impacted.




You are correct in that a DQ shouldn't automatically damage a person's
reputation. However simply being disqualified does imply the participant
breaking the rules, which tends to default to a negative connotation toward
that participant.

In both examples you list, a reason for disqualification was provided to
the reader, so that they have an informed opinion of the participant(s).
Most logical people would determine that no cheating had occurred, or that
a rule was broken in the effort of sportsmanship. Yet, no explanation of
disqualification is provided within the contest results. Readers are not
given enough information to determine if a participant were guilty of
breaking rules to give them an advantage or simply caught up in some rule
that they seem to be a legitimate exception to. They are listed right next
to participants that may be using unclaimed assistance or log padding.

It is understandable that there is not enough room to list every reason for
a DQ within the results, but to assume someone's reputation as an
upstanding contester won't take a hit for being disqualified, seems to be
viewing the world through rose colored glasses


73,
Mike ND9G

On Fri, Oct 27, 2017 at 10:19 AM, Terry Zivney <n4tz at arrl.net> wrote:

>  The Meaning of Disqualification
> Masa, AJ3M, has initiated a thread with a lengthy post
> about the disqualification of 4U1WB in the recent CQ WPX SSB Contest.
> Rather than trying to address all of Masa's concerns in one
> long post, I will attempt to compose several focused messages.
> The first message is on the meaning of disqualification.
> Masa sent me the following on October 24:
> "I am sure that you, as a fellow contester, know that considering an
> entrant
> for a disqualification means that the contest committee is challenging the
> operator’s integrity and sportsmanship. I fully understand that the
> CQ WPX Contest Committee’s intention is to protect the integrity of the
> competition and address any violations of the trust that underlies
> radiosport
> competition. My reputation in the worldwide contest community is very
> important
> to me. Our Club’s reputation is equally important. The damage was done."
> The meaning of DISQUALIFICATION for the CQ WPX Contest uses the following
> dictionary definition:
> "to put out of a competition etc for breaking rules. She was disqualified
> for
> being too young." Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K
> Dictionaries Ltd
> Thus, disqualification in itself should not impact ones reputation.
> A recent news story (though not unique), illustrates this point. When
> a high school athlete broke his leg in a cross-country competition, his
> teammate carried him to the finish line. Both were disqualified because
> they broke the rule that runners are prohibited from touching or assisting
> another runner during the race.  The pair's reputations seem to have been
> enhanced by this event:
> http://ftw.usatoday.com/2017/10/high-school-runner-carries-
> teammate-broken-leg
> On the other hand, if the athletes had been disqualified for using
> performance enhancing drugs, then their reputations would have been
> negatively impacted.
> Simply put, disqualification needs to be viewed in the proper perspective.
> I applaud Scott, KA9FOX, for his low-key response on this reflector
> on June 3, 1994 to being disqualified in the 1993 WPX contest for
> signing KG9/KA9FOX:
> "The effort was not serious (nobody would compete seriously from my
> seriously deficient station) so it was no biggie.  Heck, it gave me
> something fun to talk about at Dayton!  (wore a name badge
> with "Dee Qued" as the name)"
> Terry N4TZ, CQ WPX Contest Director
> This message posted at 1519 UTC, October 27, 2017
>
>
>
>
>
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