2018 May June

Finally, Finals!
Thomas Morarre • Lolo, Montana
Points, Points, and More Points –
Getting Ready
for the 2018 Finals in Greeley
Time for getting Finals
points for the 2018 Finals
in Greely, Colorado is
almost over. For some
there will be a major effort to gather
enough points to make it and there
will be lots of trials in May to
provide the chance to do so. There
will even be trials advertised as
“Last Chance For Finals Points”
opportunities. I can’t say for sure
how many points will be needed
this year to make it into Finals,
but I had expected that this Finals
would be quite popular and it would
take quite a few points to get in.
However looking at the cumulative
points as of February 1, 2018, I
was surprised that the 30 th spot in
cattle was only 5.5 points; in ducks
it was 10 points; and in sheep it was 11 points. This includes all
trials from June 1 st of last year up to February of this year. Of
course there will be several trials held before this column reaches
you and several more trials during May. So I expect that the point
requirements for getting into Finals will increase, and predicting
what it will take to make the top 30 in each class of stock may be
premature. However, based on previous years, I would guess it
would be something like 12 cattle points, 16 duck points and 17
sheep points. I am sure that anyone that wants to be included in
this year’s Finals has already been considering these numbers ever
since the last Finals in Bryan. I know several people that keep a
sharp eye on their points accumulation throughout the year as well
as the points that will be needed to make it in.
I took a look at the Finals Standings for the past ten years as
posted on the ASCA website, and although the selection criteria
for Finals has changed twice over that time span, there are scores
listed for every dog that accumulated more than four points – the
minimum required to qualify for Finals. As you may have suspected,
the number of points to reach that 30th position has increased over
the years, but I was a bit surprised to see it was not as much as I
expected it to be. I've included a bar graph indicating the points
required to be in 30th position for each type of stock for the years
2008-2017.
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Points Required for 30th Position
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Finals Year
Cattle
Ducks
Sheep
One can see that the general trend for points earned is upward,
but the increase is not a great as one might have supposed. To some
extent, the variation seems to correlate with the place where Finals
is being held. Some sites are perhaps more popular than others
due to the facilities, location, or reputation from previous Finals
held there. But different site locations don’t really explain the
upward trend. I think the best explanation might be that there are
more people trialing who are trying to qualify to get into Finals. It
seems like the obvious answer. But can it also have something to
do with the difficulty or ease of obtaining scores over 100? Has it
become easier due to the type of stock being used or the judging
standards changing? I have heard both of these factors offered as
an explanation. Maybe all of these and others I have not listed
contribute to the rise in the points required to get into Finals.
But what is the real difference? As I mentioned above, it is not
so great as one might have supposed. The least number of cattle
points required to reach the 30th place over the period looked at
is 6 (in 2008). The highest number of points required to get to that
position in cattle is 14.5 and that was for last year. Average for the
ten year period is 10.2. And, 10.5 cattle points would get you into
the top thirty in six out of those ten years.
The numbers for Ducks and Sheep follow a similar pattern
although the points required are higher. The least number of points
80 AUSSIE TIMES May-June 2018