Laurelin, your Pap is gorgeous. Magnificent coat on that boy.
In my breed, coat doesn't matter at all. As long as the dog HAS hair, it'll do. Same goes for coat color, eye color, markings etc. Bite, on the other hand, IS important. A dog needs to have a healthy bite in order to do most kinds of work. Soundness is the most important thing in Borders, because they do have a job to do and must be physically fit to handle it. With breeds like Paps (and I'm not just picking on Paps, I have one and he's a blast) it's just a beauty contest.
If a Border Collie is able to put in a full days' work, at least several times a week, without being in pain or having any physical difficulties, its structure is obviously good. Now, would any dog that can work be good in the ring? Nooooo friggin way. The ring is very partial to heavily coated roughs, tipped ears, full blazes on the face, full white collars, thick jaws, etc. I was told at a show recently that my boy didn't have enough coat to impress most judges. Ack!! He's a hairy beast.
Pawz, the AKC standard hasn't ruined ANY breeds. It's the breeders who breed towards showring fads that ruin breeds. It's the breeders that pay no mind to the fact that the conformation standard is only ONE aspect of breeding to keep in mind. I am not going to breed a splay-footed, cow-hocked, over-angulated dog because that dog wouldn't last one minute herding. A dog that truly conforms to the standard will have ideal structure as a working dog, but if the working ability is ignored in favor of that ideal structure, then what good is it? Breeders need to focus on the entire picture. I just don't like seeing some writing on paper blamed for the actions of indiscriminate breeders.
As for american lines, I actually prefer the american-bred show type Borders to the ones from Europe and Australia (though I did see a very nice Japanese bitch over the weekend) I especially don't like what the Australian breeders have done to the BC (turned it into a different breed entirely!) and I'm willing to bet most American show-bred Borders have Australian lines behind them.
But I digress. I guess I don't see the point of showing a s/neutered dog, though. It's very expensive and your dog gets very little out of it besides a title. Most pet owners don't really care about titles, IME. s/n dogs can compete in matches, though.