I have been a part of a winning KCBS team for the last few years, before that I went into 2 comps totally blind and failed like many before me. So when the only backyard comp in my area was still taking place this past weekend, we packed up the trailer! This was a fundraiser for a food pantry so orders were taken in advance and most teams had to cook off and wrap 16-20 racks of St Louis ribs. All the while, making sure you found a few perfect bones to treat up nice for the judges.
After we found our rhythm in the 15 minute pickup windows, we focused on the comp box. An oversized 9X12" that only needed 3 bones placed in it

I made my nice bed of parsley anyways and stacked 6 bones in there best I could. Placed 4th overall - tied with 3rd but the next team beat us on taste by one point.
Long story short, I love comps and the fact that it really is any given Sunday out there. I am CBJ and while taking that class I understood why many teams aren't fans of many judges.
Sweet wins here in the Northeast so that is the competition flavor profile to some dismay - you still see teams crushing with Blues Hog OG sauce shining bright on their pork.