[Plowboy]

Thank you everyone. When you do this, you watch someone put that crown and cape on and think how cool it would be. Then, one day, it happens to you. First, you don't know how you got there or what to do. It isn't like you haven't won a contest before(invitational cooks that is). But this is THE AMERICAN ROYAL. This is the grand daddy! This is the square off with many of the top teams in the country. This can't be happening. SNAP. It is over. WTF just happened.

With three top ten calls with a 1st and a 5th, I knew I was in it to win it... but you don't KNOW until you hear that name. Then you don't know if you are going to have a heart attack or piss yourself. I was same close to pissing myself. This can't be happening.

All I could think of was what Mark Hyman told Andy and I when we won our first GC together: Breathe. The flood of friends and well wishers after wards was not only appreciated, but heart warming. It is humbling to know how many people want to come out of their way to come congratulate you. That is how the BBQ community is. We're cutting each other's throats from noon until 1:25p, but then it is a band of brothers.

Since we didn't have meat prepped for Sunday's Open, that began between visits with others. By 2am, we were done for the night and set to get up at 6am. Well, that's when it all hit me. I'm in my trailer all alone sleep and the events of the awards are playing through my head. I go out and walk for a while and end up going to sleep until 4pm.

I am home now. It still seems unreal. I can't grasp the weight of it. It was an experience I'll NEVER forget.