[CQ-Contest] The Meaning of Disqualification

[Kennan Low]

I only check the CQ-Contest Archives about once a month - quite surprised to see this thread about AJ3M being disqualified using 4U1WB callsign.   This is completely ridiculous:

- Why now, after so many years where 4U stations never had problems?    

- We have few enough stations in DC to begin with - why try to discourage one of them based on a technicality?

- Giving Masa a DQ absolutely DOES hurt his reputation.   The overwhelming majority of casual hams just review the results, they don’t read this Reflector.   It makes no difference whether it was a ‘serious effort’ or not.   Don’t use a bunch of analogies from other sports to justify a poor ruling.

- If Masa had been trying to qualify for WRTC, he would now be ineligible and would now have two years of serious effort taken away from him.

- Was there a conversation with Masa before the results were published?   How about picking up the phone and talking about it?   How about working out a solution together like reclassifying as a Checklog for 2017, and committing to update the rules for 2018?    We are all friends here. 

- We are all human and we all make mistakes.   DQ’ing 4U1WB was clearly a mistake.    If I had been the Contest Director, I would simply admit it, issue a public apology and move on.

Ken KE3X




On 10/27/2017 8:19 AM, Terry Zivney 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.”