Good illustration and you described the problem much better and in more detail than I did, Asa, but I share your views completely.
I don't want to be negative about centered compositions, they have their place, but I doubt that making them the standard to aim for is beneficial in the long run for the photographer. How are photographers going to learn about other ways to compose images - to grow - if they are encouraged to essentially post the same centered composition over and over again, only with a different plant? For sure they will learn to perfect symmetry, but unfortunately it may very well stop there.
I do personally really appreciate variety and I was somewhat heartbroken to read what criteria you and dirt used to choose the best possible entries for the contest. Unfortunately what you two did makes sense. I know I looked at every image full screen before deciding which to vote for, but realistically not every person will do that.
That said this isn't a pure photography site, so if some photos aren't well represented it's not a disaster and web design is of course very, very important as well.
