Excellence is never political. We got beat plenty of times by politics. But for some pore ol boys from central Texas, we did quite well when we brought the right cattle into the show ring. Concentrate on your quality, That means raising high quality kids and cattle, in and out of the showring. Then everything else falls into place. Getting poloitc'd from 1st to second ends up being of great value when you you've done it right. So, if you guys want to show at a more competitive then do your homework with the kids and the cattle. We started with loosers and ended up quite well. No politics, but plenty of banners, trophies, buckles and great memories. Never one a major stock show but got plenty of firsts and divisions. On top of that, I have two fine young sons who are well on their way to leading productive helpful lives. One on a collegiate livestock judging team and one in law school. Early lessons of travel, competition, hard work and learning cattle helped shape them. I'm probably waxing pilisophical but since you may never do this for a living, its more about raising future leaders than a first class show string.