“lucid.” i am guilty. also: “bloviate,” “swill” and “retromingent.”

very similar to michael m’s idea above.

um…not all of us.

Good Lord.

To say that “Life isn’t ‘Fair’”, then to say that some people do not have an “unfair” advantage over others is absurd. If “Life isn’t Fair” then Life is Unfair and so too are the advantages that some have over others – which is how life really is. People don’t have to “like” that fact, we just have to deal with it.

Life is unfair. It has been since before we existed on this planet and it will be after we’ve turned to dust. Time to get over it and get busy.

Matt-
This whole discussion has not been about you: Matt Riddle. But, for the sake of argument, let’s make it about you.

You won the 2006 USBC through your own hard work and dedication. Without a doubt, you were the best of us competing in Charlotte. Throughout the season you dominated by winning your own regional and besting the Western Champion out of region. No one that’s “in the know” disputes your talent, skill and dedication to what we’re collectively doing together.

But, when we look at the “official standings”, it’s clear. You were in seventh place. You supposedly should have been eliminated from the Finals. An outsider would have to wonder how that happened – how you managed to get into the Finals since the Finals are limited to the Top Six.

By allowing a late protest, allowing a seventh competitor into the Finals and allowing a re-ranking of the Finalists, the USBC Committee has shot themselves in the foot, discredited the USBC and taken away from you what should have been an unblemished and unassailable Championship.

And that is what disgraces all of us and our efforts.

Returning to the subject at hand…

I still pose the question of what is “wrong” with having a competitive advantage? Those like Cho want to argue that the competition is “fair” and that no one has an advantage. An interesting thing to note is that those who posit that there are no advantages are also the ones fielding or members of barista competition teams.

Is it “wrong” that others have a competitive advantage? I say “no.”

John P used to think that I have it so easy. And he’s right because “easy” is relative. I’ve always been very thankful and grateful that I’ve been blessed with having a wonderful circle of friends and acquaintances. Compared to many baristas, I do have it “easy.” I run my own company (which means I decide where we squander our limited resources), I have access to incredible coffee people to ask their thoughts and advice and I’m ever grateful to them for their friendship.

As with anything in life, others have it “easier” than I do. I don’t begrudge them for it. I’m happy for them and work harder so that I too can someday field a team of baristas who are supported by the company with living wages and a lab for them to prepare while they pursue the WBC Crown, the Latte Art Triple Crown and infiltrate the Nordic Barista Cup….muwhahahahaha!

And thanks John P for the kind words of support.

never! the man who said we were beating a dead horse has himself posted 12 of the last 79 posts.

i was wondering where you had been, mark.

kimchi? why kimchi? is nick going ethnic at the nationals?

I just wanted to chime in and say that yes, judges can* taste pretty much as well on the 18th drink (or 15th) as they can on the first series. At least this former judge could. Put me in the 2003 Boston USBC where we had 12 competitors in one flight (and all four sensory judges were also doing technical scoring), then it’s a different story. That was just bad…. very bad.

* in place because there are some sig drinks that will blow out your palate. I’ve been slightly amazed that a competitor hasn’t yet maliciously taken advantage of that yet – even if it can be taken advantage of (it has a big chance of backfiring, and there are unofficial precautions in place should a judge not be able to continue).

Fortunately, we have some patent secret things that can recover the palate somewhat back in the secret batcave, er, judges’ chambers.

now please, don’t muddy the water.

Is it fair?

Yes.

Is the playing field level?

Yes.

Do some people have advantages over others?

Yes.

Do some people have unfair advantages over others?

I say: No.

It’s nothing new. Life isn’t “fair.” There is no affirmative action for barista competitions. If Billy wins the USBC, then it is completely in your right to applaud for him louder, assuming his “Ich bin ein working-barista” has convinced you that he isn’t one of US: the apparently privileged few who dare have support or resources.

I’d love to see a teenaged USBC champion. I’d love to see an AARP-member USBC champion. I’d love to see an African-American USBC champion. I’d also love to see a Korean-American USBC champion. I’d love to see an impoverished kid who grew up in the projects having never even heard the word “coffee” step up and in two weeks be such a brilliant prodigy that she wins the USBC. You’d better believe that Starbucks would step up to be a distribution producer for that movie, baybee.

If you want an underdog-story, then great. Matt’s my buddy, but his “story” isn’t the most dramatic one possible. His story is as mundane as you can get: work hard, learn the ropes, train, compete, compete, compete, win. His coffee though, was AWESOME. His sig drink was BEAUTIFUL. His presentation was SMOOTH. His technicals were PERFECT.

When thinking about my first comment in this whole thread, my first instinct was to come up with other ponderous possibilities for an inequity:
- Can only city-baristas win? What about our rural baristas? WHAT ABOUT THEM?!? NO FAIR!
- Can only chatty-baristas win? What about our intraverted baristas? WHAT ABOUT THEM?!? NO FAIR!
- Can only able-bodied baristas win? What about our handicapped baristas? NO FAIR!
- Can only white or Asian-American baristas win? Let’s conveniently overlook the exception: Lem Butler, SERBC 2005… let me get back to NO FAIR!
- Can only baristas win? What about roasters? NO FAIR!
- Can only Americans win the USBC? What about Laotians? NO FAIR!

The original post reads:

it sort of boils down to this: why did nick place so much higher than all his own employees (two this year, two last)? one would assume the espresso-making standards shouldn’t be that different.

The answer is simple: I’m a better barista. Ryan Goodrow pours better latte art than I do. Katie Carguilo works cleaner than I do. Janet Konz is much cuter than I could ever be. All said, I’m a better barista. That’s what it boils down to.

So in conclusion, I’d like to pose a question right back at the Gentlemen across the aisle: do some people have an advantage at simply being a better barista than others? This is the much more significant question, in my mind. What if Matt Riddle, instead of getting a job at Intelligentsia’s Broadway shop, got a job at the Peet’s shop down the street?

At my church, we’re 90% Korean-Americans. We talk about wanting to be diverse and multicultural, and we’re frankly becoming more multi-ethnic all the time. However, one day, we realized that multi-ethnicity is the easiest form of diversity that we could strive for… the much, much more challenging one is economic diversity. Can our church of yuppie dual-income-with-kids 30-somethings really seek to build a church-community together with minimum-wage earning folks and even the homeless? Could we seek to invite the mentally disabled as well?

The barista competitions are about helping inspire and encourage coffee excellence. It is not about FastStart for baristas. There would be NOTHING wrong with a FastStart program for baristas… but that’s not what the barista competitions are.

Now I will arrogantly declare that to me, this issue is a dead horse now. The odor has been wafting through this comments thread back in post #40. Like I said, cheer for whoever you wish. When I sorta-watched tennis, I cheered for Anna Kournikova. I wanted her to win. But she never did. I guess it’s not fair unless you’re not a bikini model on the side.

I think the USBC Committee would be better served tightening and clarifying the rules to avoid future problems – like the ones we expereinced because of the 2006 USBC Charlotte. Look at those revised standings and it discredits the current champion – and that’s a disgrace to all of us.

I’m confused by this statement, Jay.
Am I a disgrace as a champion? Did I disgrace the US at the WBC by showing up? I know everything isn’t about me, so are you talking about the USBC’s decisions concerning Mr. D’s actions yet again?

>”My job as a judge was to pick the best “ambassador” for espresso and coffee, not reward the guy with the most hours on shift.”

no one is suggesting anything close to this.

>”I can honestly say that the prime factor of my decisions like what was emphasized in the judges workshop…”It’s all about what’s in the cup” I think that was the attitude shared by all the judges in my flight.”

and no one doubts this. what we’re talking about, primarily, is what happens BEFORE the 15 minutes you see as a judge — the many intangible and invisible things that do, however, go into the cup.

your tae kwon do illustration actually helps the point. it is true that anyone with the dedication, passion, talent, etc. can win — theoretically. but you said yourself that “Heck, after I put in 9-10 hours at my desk job, I have to make a concious decision to work out and train. Those guys train for a living…..”

you beat them, but you had more obstacles to overcome to do it. some have done much the same thing on a national barista stage — winning or coming very close, by sheer determination and dedication. the argument has been made many times above that this is DESPITE added obstacles — the things money and backing can conveniently dissolve.

is this unfair? no. could someone dedicated enough overcome it? probably. but let’s try an economic argument here:

despite all the wonderful stories we’ve heard of inner-city people who overcome gang warfare, poverty and incredible odds to “rise above” and, say, make a fortune in rap music, the macroscopic picture stays the same: slum living puts you at a profound disadvantage. so profound, in fact, that government sees fit to help take the edge off for many people through food stamps, unemployment benefits, welfare, etc.

those hardships are a part of life. most normal people experience some form of financial restriction, violence, geographic hardship, etc. but at what point does a disadvantage merit the attention of the powers that be? at what point does should the system help even out some of the largest disparities in the interest of equality, rights, democracy, etc.?

that’s the question i’m asking of barista competitions. and i DON’T KNOW the answer. matt riddle is exactly right — all sorts of stresses, hardships and disadvantages are a part of working and competing. but if the system becomes increasingly geared toward those with money, backing and salaried positions, then should the system compensate?

many on this thread don’t believe we’ve reached a point where there’s any profound money disadvantage. ok, fine. others disagree. but WHEN and WHERE is the point where the system risks leaving behind the things it claims to support and glorify? those are (deep breath) the barista craft and the quality coffee gospel.

how bout it folks? anyone for the economic analogy?

I hear what you’re saying, but isn’t it a matter of perspective? I used to think, “That Jay has it so easy, coffee friends up the wazoo, BGA board member, gets to attend all these BGA functions, etc.” And then I found out that being a BGA board member doesn’t entitle you to much but a lot of hard work, and attending every function, and acting as a coffee-liason for your area–all on your own dime. Now some of these companies have more dimes than most of us, but as Phu Nam pointed out, the working barista (or barista/owner) can train harder because it IS harder for them. There will never be a competition that is truly a level playing field. Spelling Bee–what if the parents of one child encourage voluminous amounts of reading, or they are Enclyopedia or Dictionary salesman? Chess — what if one competitor practiced with a ranked tournament player and everyone else practiced with their classmates? Latte Art competitions –what if some people have used the Faema before and others have not? etc. I agree it’s not a level playing field, and I am one of the ones who can’t afford to do it quite yet, but you can bet that when it comes down to it, it’s about desire, dedication, and a sh**load of hard work. Some just have to work harder than others. Don’t forget the time and hours your put into what you do, and don’t think someone like you or I are not capable of winning the USBC. I know its a lot harder than it looks, especially with the time factor involved because you have to deliver all of your drinks as well. The number of barista with great skills are still only a relatively small amount. And from how well received your fairly recent performance was received, if you really want it, you probably have the skills to pull it off, or at least be a respectable competitor. At least that’s what I think.

I disagree. I was a sensory judge. Along with myself, there were other judges titled “Coffee Enthusiast” Heck, some of the USBC certified judges in the finals were “enthusiasts” (read non-coffee insiders). I was not aware of any of the competitors “coffee rep” as was mentioned in earlier posts…. I can honestly say that the prime factor of my decisions like what was emphasized in the judges workshop…”It’s all about what’s in the cup” I think that was the attitude shared by all the judges in my flight. (of course taking in to consideration the other mandatory factors).

I used to compete at a national level in full contact tae kwon do sparring. I placed in the top three 2 years in a row. I do not own or run a martial arts school, or work in that field, I did not have equipment sponsors, and I paid for all my expenses. One would think that of all the competitors that I beat that owned schools and trained people professionally would have beat me hands down. I trained harder, and I guess just wanted it more. Yeah, I know that some people said to me”You only won because they do this for a living, and you do it for a hobby. Well, I always thought that they would have the advantage because they worked in martial arts studios for a living., Heck, after I put in 9-10 hours at my desk job, I have to make a concious decision to work out and train. Those guys train for a living…..
How was I able to beat them? Apply that same logic to baristas.
They guys I lost to one year when I actually fought for the gold medal was a school owner, the other year I was beat by a baptist minister from Atlanta (who, btw won the gold that year).

My job as a judge was to pick the best “ambassador” for espresso and coffee, not reward the guy with the most hours on shift.

NO ONE is whining here. HOWEVER … “because some competitors have this competitive advantage, I think it’s absolutely foolish for others to pretend that this advantage does not exist and that everyone is playing on an even and equal field of competition.

To liken the sponsored barista who practices during daylight hours (even after he/she has completed their day’s work) to the workaday barista who must wait until after their shop closes to practice until late in the evening or early morning is doing a disservice to this discussion.”

i’d quote the whole thing, but, well … that would defeat the purpose.

may i say this without dissing anyone? when i read about how everyone is equal, it’s all about the cup, anyone can win, etc., i get the same bizarre feeling i get at work where i’m trying to write a story and being spun silly by some PR person. the facts presented are “true” and unassailable, in a sense, but feel … divorced from reality.

how could a salaried, heavily backed, practice-in-daylight barista NOT have an advantage?