Brian’s story
It is the dream of every hog kid to win the NBS judging
contest. This is a dream that was shared by me and my best friend and teammate
through college, Jeremy Jones of Bluffton, Ind. As kids growing up in the same
county, we both had a drive to pursue judging at the college level and made the
decision to attend Black Hawk East Community College. There were many nights
that Jeremy and I would stay up in our college apartment talking about our anticipation, excitement and absolute fear of the NBS contest. We even tore out
contest results and ads from the Seedstock EDGE to cover the walls of our
apartment.
I remember the pilgrimage trip our sophomore year like it
was yesterday. I placed the last class of Berkshire gilts backwards at the Iowa
State University workout and thought the world had ended. I’m pretty sure one
of my coaches considered making me walk to Austin, Minn., from Ames, Iowa. I called
my dad the night before the contest, and I remember him telling me to sort the
hogs like I was in the barn at home. The next day, our team judged in Crane Pavilion,
and we had an outstanding day off the floor. Our drops were between 5 and 12
points individually. One of my favorite memories was being a part of the
winning team and hearing Jeremy’s name announced as high individual on Tuesday
morning.
Two years later, Jones and I continued as teammates at
Purdue University. Our senior year, I was fortunate enough to win high
individual in the University division. For me and Jeremy, it was a storybook
ending for two kids that grew up in awe of the NBS tradition.
I have many other great memories as a former coach of
unlikely students that stepped up on contest day to help the team. One thing is
for sure, anyone that has had a chance to travel on the pilgrimage trip and
compete in Austin walked away from that contest with their own stories and new
friendships along the way.
Katie’s story
Even though I grew up a "cattle kid," the National Barrow Show
judging contest was the most defining competition of my judging career. I like
to say it was both my best and worst moment as a collegiate judger.
Unlike a lot of the “hog kids” reading this story, I entered
Crane Pavilion petrified. Hogs were always my "make-or-break" species. And being on the floor for the NBS meant I would
mark cards on the toughest swine classes
we would see all year.
Amid all the classes that I sorted that day, Yorkshire boars will always be the one I remember.To this day, I could describe the four boars in that class. I think I will probably be able to describe them until the day I die. Frantically, I filled up my steno with everything I saw, and swirling in my head was what I believed would be the greatest set of reasons I could give. I confidently marked the card, turned it in and headed for the reasons room.
Amid all the classes that I sorted that day, Yorkshire boars will always be the one I remember.To this day, I could describe the four boars in that class. I think I will probably be able to describe them until the day I die. Frantically, I filled up my steno with everything I saw, and swirling in my head was what I believed would be the greatest set of reasons I could give. I confidently marked the card, turned it in and headed for the reasons room.
I remember it was the only set I didn’t feel nervous
giving because I felt so sure of the way I saw the boars. I walked in that room
and didn’t just deliver that set – no, I nailed it!
When our coach picked us up, I went on and on about that
set.
“Oh Chip, you should have heard it. I’ll give it to you
right now, because it was amazing.
That set was flawless.”
Although he was happy I felt I’d done well, he had a
bigger question, “How’d you place them?”
I’ll never forget the look on his face when I told him.
“What? That’s dang near backwards,” he exclaimed among other
things. At that point, I felt the blood drain from my face, and I became yet
another cattle kid who floundered in Austin, Minn.
I was feeling pretty defeated as I sat next to my teammates
waiting for the awards ceremony at the breeding hog show on Tuesday morning. Then
the speaker announced, “4th Place in Senior College Reasons from the
University of Missouri – Katie Maupin.”
What? Was there a
mistake?
I couldn’t believe it as I walked down to the floor. The
only thing I could think was, How?
Our coach, Chip, grabbed the results and flipped to the
scores to see that the epic set of Yorkshire boar reasons – the same class
that I placed nearly backwards – scored a 49. To this day, Chip isn’t sure how I
pulled it off. I stand behind the fact that it was indeed a stellar set, and
it will always be one of my greatest accomplishments. That plaque sits in my
office today.
But more important than that plaque or the placing, I
learned a valuable lesson: in judging
and in life, it’s not always about how you place, it’s about your perspective.
