unbiased judges

[joe bauer]

a major force in the koi world, mr. height, is posting on his forum that he will be boycotting the koi shows in atlanta and orlando because the judges would be biased against him.

[luke frisbee]

JB....now how can he be taken serious? he won all the major awards at the Central Florida Show...if he and some of his staff are claiming that the judges were biased how does he explain him winning practically every worthwhile trophy 18 months ago?

[joe bauer]

i don't think that many who know him and are koi kichi take him seriously. now that he has accused judges of being biased, how can he show anywhere?

the sad part is that for a major force in the hobby like mr. height to say that fish are not judged fairly is not good for the hobby. the hobby depends on shows to keep the excitement level up. who wants to go to a show when a major winner in the past says they are rigged?

[Brutuscz]

Maybe a whee bit of paranoid delusions!!! The whole world is against me now. He ain't that important...the hobby was around long before he was part of it...and it will be around long after he's not in it anymore. So, let him sit home pondering his feelings of self importance...and the people who love koi will go and enjoy the shows!!!

[joe bauer]

Quote: Originally Posted by Brutuscz Maybe a whee bit of paranoid delusions!!! The whole world is against me now. He ain't that important...the hobby was around long before he was part of it...and it will be around long after he's not in it anymore. So, let him sit home pondering his feelings of self importance...and the people who love koi will go and enjoy the shows!!!

i hope you are correct.

if you read his forum, you will find mr. height has many devoted followers who think of him as a diety. he might not influence the koi kichi, but he does have a lot of influence over many hobbiests.

[Brutuscz]

He has a Cute website. His importance begins and ends there. Some success showing fish...big deal! So do many others on this site (thats why I'm here...soak your knowledge like a sponge..lol)
A deity...the guys not even in the hobby 10 years?!?! ...and his big, huge show went over like a lead balloon.
I still rememeber when he threatened to pull his funding from Brian because the people on this board were mean to him. After he started the whole thing with aquatori. Not humble, not a gentleman, and the hobby will be fine without him.

[junglegeorge12]

Time for this one to go outside. The title is defamatory of all judges and the content defamatory of a fellow chat room. No need for it. If you guys have personal beefs with Stephen or disagree with his statements or concerns, why not email him or call him like grown men? Oh wait, my bad, none of us r ready to act like grown men yet, sorry, carry on.

I think if we want to discuss the possibilities of judges being biased it can be done without accusing anyone in particular or deriding someone who feels vulnerable to it.
IMHO, bias is possible, especially since many of those who show post pics on the net and their koi are known and they don't always get along with some of those who judge. Some intentionally post their pics on the forums and get all sweetie pie with the judges right here on bito. Is that cheating? Should judges be forced to refrain from personal feelings or preferences, or does it lie on the people showing to not display pics of koi they intend to show or reveal details about background, history, etc? Then there is a whole seperate issue of folks who sell or breed invariably have tons of pics out there for that purpose and so their line is readily recognizable to the experienced, and they or those who show koi that look very similar may suffer in the judges eyes due to it. It's all part of the game.

I think if the question is posed, "Is it possible for a judge to know who a koi belongs to or what breeder it came from and judge unfairly due to personal feelings or views?" is asked, the answer is yes, it is. I would hope not but the potential is certainly there.

Let the fur fly. Or as my fans say, the 'fir'.

[schildkoi]

First off, a Koi judge judges Koi, nothing else, plain and simple. Mr. Height doesn't even know, nor has even met ANY of the judges for the Atlanta Koi show so why would heeven make such a claim? I'm the head judge for Charlotte and let's face it, Mr. Height has no love loss for me! LOL As I have stated elsewhere, I judge Koi and I don't care who a Koi belongs to and I believe my record in that speaks for itself. Mr. Height has publically stated repeatedly that he would never show Koi again after the Orlando 05 show, and not due to anything in relation to that show directly. So one can conclude for themselves that his statements are simple ploys to attempt to discredit others in a seemingly malicious manner?

Just some "pot stirring" and not worth the time of day in actuality.

Steve Childers

[Brutuscz]

Just for the record..I didn't say anything defamatory against his website. I actually said it was cute. I just think it's crazy that if one person feels he MAY be judged wrongly (which hasn't even happened yet!!!)..he, and his site members, should boycott the show. Just a wonderful thing to do to a hobby you supposedly support. Kind of like cutting off your nose to spite your face. Hey...instead of going to those shows, lets go to the GRANDEST show of them all...oh..thats right, forget I said anything.

[JosephandGabby]

No offense to anyone, but I've heard this same argument at least a dozen times over the past few years. Basically there are two different schools of thought here. On one side there's the average pond owner willing to spend $200 - $500 for a single koi. To some people (like my wife for example), this amount is insane. After all, we're talking about glorified carp here. I've heard the rationalization that if one's a millionaire and has the funds available, then blowing $20,000 or more on a single koi is alright. But is it? Sure, why not. If I had a fortune falling out of my pockets and didn't know what to do with it, I personally wouldn't blow it on a fish, but that's just me. My point is this - there's nothing wrong with spending a small fortune on a fish. The vast majority of koi keepers out there aren't into koi shows anyway. They're perfectly happy with their lowly pond mutts and relaxing by their backyard ponds. I do feel; however, that there should be some way to acknowledge koi keepers who actually raised their grand champion koi from tosai as apposed to those with the funds available to simply buy the biggest, most expensive koi and pay someone else to do all the work. Bar none, Steve has the best koi I've ever seen. But you get what you pay for, and rest assured, he's paid a lot for the fish he calls his own. Most of us would never pay that much for a fish, but that's Steve's thing so leave him alone. He's got the money and if he wants to spend it on the biggest, best koi he can find, then so be it...

Again, no offense meant to anyone.