Let's have a frank discussion about Throwdowns

DoubleEgger

Over the past few years, the participation in throwdowns has been steadily declining to be point of obscurity. When I first joined the forum, there were throwdowns regularly and a lot of forum members participated. Seeing what others were doing definitely inspired me to up my game. I hosted several throwdowns over the past two years and nothing other than pizza themed ones seem to gain any traction.  Heck, a recent throwdown thread even got buffaloed. I would like to hear from you all as to your thoughts on this subject. What keeps you from participating? What would you like to see in possible future throwdowns? What would you entice you to participate in future throwdowns? etc. The trajectory of throwdown participation needs to change or these contests will just fade away like the mighty Buffalo. Looking forward to hearing from everyone, especially the ones who have thought about participating but chose not to. 

Kent8621

I have planned to participate in the last few but sadly the nature of my work, I get sent around the country in a moments notice without a lot of warning.  I even had a separate cook planned of beef ribs a few weeks ago, people gave great advice and I was excited and off I had to go so they are still in the freezer.  one day I'll make one.

billt01

I'm sure one contributing factor is the "leaders" here and their prickle who chastise people on anything which doesn't align to them. 

I would imagine, People are tired of all the bashing of non food related topics. 

Grillin_beers

I believe that this is symptomatic of a shift our society’s collective opinion of competitions. We no longer strive to be the best, we strive to be inclusive.  I am not endorsing this point of view, simply acknowledging it’s existence. 

JohnInCarolina

I’m just friggin lazy. 

SemolinaPilchard

I will participate if I get a trophy.

northGAcock

Participate when i can....and who the hell is Frank?

FlyOverCountry

I’m jus not into all that kinky stuff folks around here seem to like.

lkapigian

Honestly I would love and plan to, while my cooking skills are good, I lack in presentation and fall in the "Too Embarrassed" category for the throwdowns and tend to lean more towards specific threads such as Sausage Recipe ...

BTW thanks for putting this out there 

fishlessman

the cooking threads in general are getting low post counts, not sure if the what are you doing now thread is taking away from that. pizza threads always do good, hot dog threads as well. the cooks that take time and thought not so much.  made a pesto shrimp pasta dish sunday but taking and posting them isnt te same as it used to be.  could be that the newer eggers are not as charged as they once were or just are finding other places to show their stuff instead of the old clunky forums

ColtsFan

I'm tired of winning in life.

Seriously though, I've been wanting to do one of these. The stars just haven't aligned yet

ColtsFan

billt01 said:

I'm sure one contributing factor is the "leaders" here and their prickle who chastise people on anything which doesn't align to them. 

I would imagine, People are tired of all the bashing of non food related topics. 

But then aren't you letting these people win? Just ignore them and participate if you'd like. Frankly, I don't give a damn what someone thinks about me or what their views are outside of EggLand.

tarheelmatt

I've never cared for the voting.  Wish there was a better way to do that.  

Legume

Busy, lazy, de-motivated maybe because I finally realized I don’t care what you think, forum.  Mostly timing.  When I joined and there were more throw downs and they were really popular, good way to dive in and I was cooking for a full house.  Different situation for me now, but I still like to read then and will participate when I can.

Legume

ColtsFan said:

billt01 said:

I'm sure one contributing factor is the "leaders" here and their prickle who chastise people on anything which doesn't align to them. 

I would imagine, People are tired of all the bashing of non food related topics. 

But then aren't you letting these people win? Just ignore them and participate if you'd like. Frankly, I don't give a damn what someone thinks about me or what their views are outside of EggLand.

@ColtsFan he’s not answering for himself, he’s answering for the underrepresented persecuted masses. Bit of a soapbox post, like if I said “I think people no longer participate because of all of all of those damn people that post about KJs”

AlbertaEgger

Mostly timing for me, summers are busy, and honestly I must have missed the last few threads on it throughout summer. I believe I have only actually participated in one anyways. When I do see them I do follow the threads though, there is always an interesting variety of the same ideas, if that makes sense.  

YEMTrey

I actually prefer the “National Brisket Day” cook type threads over the throwdowns.  This eliminates some of the one-upmanship that may occur.  There’s no pressure to post your cook since you don’t have to worry about lack of votes.

There were a lot of posts in the NBD thread.  Got to see many peoples takes on prep, cook, finish, etc.  At least for myself, I’d be much more inclined to participate in that type of regular thread than a throwdown.

ColtsFan

Legume said:

ColtsFan said:

billt01 said:

I'm sure one contributing factor is the "leaders" here and their prickle who chastise people on anything which doesn't align to them. 

I would imagine, People are tired of all the bashing of non food related topics. 

But then aren't you letting these people win? Just ignore them and participate if you'd like. Frankly, I don't give a damn what someone thinks about me or what their views are outside of EggLand.

@ColtsFan he’s not answering for himself, he’s answering for the underrepresented persecuted masses. Bit of a soapbox post, like if I said “I think people no longer participate because of all of all of those damn people that post about KJs”

I get it. I should have made my post a little more clear. My message was directed towards that crowd

TEXASBGE2018

 lkapigian said:

Honestly I would love and plan to, while my cooking skills are good, I lack in presentation and fall in the "Too Embarrassed" category for the throwdowns and tend to lean more towards specific threads such as Sausage Recipe ...

BTW thanks for putting this out there 

My food presentation skills suck also but I still posted a beef rib the other day that got 9 likes. How sad it is that I am proud of that.

DoubleEgger

TEXASBGE2018 said:

 lkapigian said:

Honestly I would love and plan to, while my cooking skills are good, I lack in presentation and fall in the "Too Embarrassed" category for the throwdowns and tend to lean more towards specific threads such as Sausage Recipe ...

BTW thanks for putting this out there 

My food presentation skills suck also but I still posted a beef rib the other day that got 9 likes. How sad it is that I am proud of that.

You should be happy.  It was a killer hunk of beef. 

fishlessman

theres a clear advantage to southern eggers as well,  sunset here will be around 4pm soon here, try taking a pic with a flip phone in the dark john nailed it with lazy, a hotdog cook, maybe best cocktail drink. the old ones where someone suggest 3 ingredients were fun but those cooks always took time and lots of effort

Legume

TEXASBGE2018 said:

 lkapigian said:

Honestly I would love and plan to, while my cooking skills are good, I lack in presentation and fall in the "Too Embarrassed" category for the throwdowns and tend to lean more towards specific threads such as Sausage Recipe ...

BTW thanks for putting this out there 

My food presentation skills suck also but I still posted a beef rib the other day that got 9 likes. How sad it is that I am proud of that.

Dopamine. It’s what’s for dinner.

NPHuskerFL

Haven't heard or seen a TD since the last one I hosted &/or participated in.  Participating was pathetic in #s. As to why you're last TD was Buffalod 🐃 maybe the Buffalo believes in participation trophies. 
If your plated shot looks like 🐕💩 you should expect to lose.

johnnyp

I'm sorry to have missed the last one.

I would guess that participation has dwindled because folks with 10k+ posts may have lost some enthusiasm and newbies are hesitant to jump in the deep end. 

Just an observation about the forum in general.  There is a lack of new members who stick around.  That may be because there is too large of a nonsense to cooking ratio, cantankerous members, a combination, or something else entirely.

I don't perceive a lack of welcoming attitude towards new members, but OT threads can turn hostile. quickly.  That probably scares off the newbies or keeps lurkers, lurking, instead of posting.

theyolksonyou

I got beat by a fork on a grill....

all you people worried about likes need to loosen up and just have fun. 

johnnyp

theyolksonyou said:

I got beat by a fork on a grill....

all you people worried about likes need to loosen up and just have fun. 

but I'm 20 likes away from winning that mini max

fishlessman

maybe a cook that revolves around wendys chili seasoning sauce.  on grilled pineapple over chocolate almond ice cream sounds like a winner maybe just put the sauce on a fork on a grill

HendersonTRKing

It's all a matter of timing and interest in the TD proposal . . . I've participated in a few and even "won" once, which honestly felt like quite an honor.  I *think* as highest vote-getter I was supposed to propose the next TD, but I failed or neglected or just plain didn't do it for a variety of reasons.  Not the least of which was that there was relatively poor participation to begin with and, not being one of the Forum Grand Poobahs, I figured whatever I came up with would be mocked (fine) or widely ignored (making it a waste of time and effort, which I find alot worse than being mocked).

All that said, IF/WHEN there's an interesting TD proposal and IF/WHEN I'm around and able to participate, I usually do bc it makes for a fun time regardless of the voting, winning or losing.  Cooking and competing, feeding my peeps, and seeing what others do is enough reward for me.  But it's timing mostly that keeps me on the sidelines.  

tarheelmatt

johnnyp said:

I'm sorry to have missed the last one.

I would guess that participation has dwindled because folks with 10k+ posts may have lost some enthusiasm and newbies are hesitant to jump in the deep end. 

Just an observation about the forum in general.  There is a lack of new members who stick around.  That may be because there is too large of a nonsense to cooking ratio, cantankerous members, a combination, or something else entirely.

I don't perceive a lack of welcoming attitude towards new members, but OT threads can turn hostile. quickly.  That probably scares off the newbies or keeps lurkers, lurking, instead of posting.

I know I can select "Agree", but I wanted to do more and say "I agree with this".  

I was trying to type this earlier, but was too dumb to frame it like you did JP.  

FarmerTom

I have yet to participate in a throw down, mainly due to being somewhat intimidated by the skill level of most on here. Plus my health since 2010 has severely limited my egging. 
   I still enjoy reading posted cooks on here, though the entertainment factor I once enjoyed immensely seems to have been curtailed considerably, perhaps I haven’t been on at the correct times, but the weekend bantering seems to have disappeared. I assume due to this thin skinned, pc generation that seems to think only their point of view/ moral position, is acceptable.  Anything else is cause for flagging.  Pathetic!!!! 
  Perhaps some day I’ll be able to expand my repertoire, but for the time being, butts, briskets, burgers, steaks, and dogs/brats are about my limit. Not particularly post worthy. 
  But keep on posting guys,  I’m still trying to learn. 

JohnInCarolina

I don’t participate because I don’t have a kick ash basket, because I don’t think they’re necessary, but lots of people here do have them and rave about them all the time, and this conflict has turned me into a bitter old man who yells at clouds.  Also, the Atlanta airport.