Battle of the BBQ Brethren Nation-wide?

Cue's Your Daddy said:

Very well written skip.. NICE JOB. but did u get a headache from writting it LOLOLO

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dmprantz said:

I've been thinking about this for the past few hours, and I really only see one of two directions here: 1) Competitions just for Brethren, or 2) Contests for every one with Brethren as a new sanctioning body. I'm not sure what a "Battle of the BBQ Brethren" event that is KCBS or FBA and open to non-brethren buys. Am I missing something? I think that either of the above two is an intriguing idea, but if it's not one of those...what's the point?

dmp

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motoeric said:

That's an interesting question. I had meant for grilling, but all four categories would be sort of cool.

I should have been more clear, but it opened up an interesting concept.

Eric

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Captain Caveman said:

I think it would be cool to pair up a pro team with a backyard team, and the pair with the highest combined score would get bonus $$$. That would ensure plenty of knowledge sharing from the pro teams.

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Skip said:

I like this idea no matter what the setting. Tag Team BBQ. Require a fun mash up of the two teams names. Have the experienced team pick their backyard teams name from a hat or vice versa. Just a cool idea.

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Sledneck said:

Doubt that would ever happen. Hpw many would be willing to share? To much money invested by teams per contest for something like that

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Sledneck said:

Doubt that would ever happen. Hpw many would be willing to share? To much money invested by teams per contest for something like that

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motoeric said:

I think that another problem would be how to ensure that the experienced team is sharing as opposed to just doing everything for the inexperienced team.

Eric

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Skip said:

Thanks Wes. Couldn't be bothered to look it up.

I think the idea of a BOTB sanctioning body has merit but must be well thought out. A set of rules should be drawn up to closely mimic those in use today by the majority of BBQ societies. Any serious deviation from that might hurt the credibility of a growing sanctioning body. Not that I have any reason to believe that someone would try to discredit it there is always the chance. I think proper planning is the utmost of priorities. A template for the sanctioning body to show the people involved so that people here can offer input. To make it bulletproof I think little deviation from the normal expectation would entice established contests to adopt it as well. I just have a fear that some would try to revamp the rules or normal course of the event to create a serious change in expectation. People hate change and will be less receptive if asked to make a lot.

I think the fact that there always seems to be a charity or cause that the BOTB support makes them something you'd like to be a part of. Maybe the entry fees are linked with a possible donation or the charity/cause announced early so people could get donations from family friends and local businesses. Possibly use that money to pay for a peoples choice or food bank donation. The events do a lot now but with some extra effort money could be raised by the competitors earlier and made available for event time. Possibly make the entry fee the donation so friends and family could write off the sponsorship of a team. Then ask local business to support the prize pool. Gotta be a way to give them a write off too.

What is truly necessary IMO is diligent organization. When you are trying to break into the big game you need your ducks in a row or you will be the rival sanctioning bodies biggest advertisement. Just look at many products out there that have imitators(new Coke anyone). Worst of all flying in the face of KCBS with a new sanctioning body that isn't regional is like MCI taking on Ma Bell at best and like Hunts catsup taking on Heinz Ketchup at worst. It is a daunting task and not without pitfalls and probable monetary cost. This isn't something that would just fall in place and shouldn't be treated as such (not that I am saying it will be). Everything from - garnering local support and sponsorship
- competitor and public friendly venues
- a force to support the vital systems such as power and sanitation
- a proven punchlist of what how when and where to do things
- a oversight into the minutia that some overlook.

To do this you need a local group of volunteers to hit the ground months before the contest even is announced. A local cause will definitely bring in more interest from local businesses especially those that cater to the whole populace like eateries and general markets. Local BBQ supply places can offer merchandise much easier then dipping in their pocket.

Competitor and public friendly is a real key too. Especially if you are bringing it to a locale where you are IT on that specific weekend. If it weren't for your contest they would be shootin' holes in street signs (NTTAWWT). If you can offer a peoples choice event or better yet a give back idea like a "Down home BBQ". Help the charity recruit volunteers to do BBQ side dishes. The competitors could cook ribs and chicken and the town folk could sit down to an afternoon BBQ. People are going to come to BBQ competitions if they can eat BBQ. I know many who hate the attitude of some competitors who can't be bothered to be nice when telling how they aren't allowed to give out food. Yeah it stinks to be asked but thats why they came down. Maybe a way to make that clear to the public before they are disappointed on turn in day.

It should require a boilerplate for support expectation such as electricians for initial set up and support throughout the event especially during peak times. Water should have the same support, possible redundancies and etc. Sanitation is always hit or miss at a contest so possibly tracking attendance estimates with sanitation complaints to gear for the right ratio of toilets to people. Does anyone know how they do attendance estimates?

All the above could fall onto a punchlist to help the organizational staff cross the t's and dot the i's. This is an area that I think the different organizers on this board could hash out. We've all seen the good the bad and the ugly contest so I am sure that info from each organizers "need to do" list could be used to make something "better" then whats out there.

last but not least you need the attention to detail. No one wants to sweat the small stuff but thats exactly what should be done. You've got 3 outlets for each team on invidual trees yet you wire can't carry the load. Two water connections with 45 pounds of pressure and the end of the line but the transfers are low volume hose so they kep breaking under the pressure. You get a local artisan to fabricate 65 hand crafted works of art for trophies but spells it chiken or carves the wrong date. Unfortunately all the minutia is what is seen and the greatest of efforts can be dismantled by the smallest thing.

I think this community can move mountains if asked. If everyone that wants to be can feel involved in it then the support would follow.

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Skip said:

I think that would be a little too much of a change. For MBA areas it would work because you have the judges pool who understands on site judging but may confuse KCBS judges. There would need to be a class or long judges meeting to explain the on site judging to those who may not have seen it. For some time I am sure that BOTB's won't be the norm in an area so the experience of most judges will be double blind rather then on site. It would make you wonder if judge banter would change scores. There would be no way to get 6 individuals into every site separately for four categories either.

I can't speak to MBA practice as I don't know enough but I believe the judging is split and you may only do one category which may work but would distance the BOTB from the KCBS style. NTTAWWT

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Lake Dogs said:

From and MBN judge and competitor, perhaps a better approach yet
still embracing the difference would be GBA's approach, where all
the judging is blind, but there's still a finals round with a 2nd turn-in
(blind judged, by a different set of judges). Also makes those nasty
ties go away... However, using an "out of the box" system, FBA has
it going on!!!! Enough like KCBS that the KCBS folks wont run, yet
embraces a few of the other's differences and (IMHO) improvements.

I rather like the Brethren-only approach as had been mentioned earlier.

Perhaps break the countries (yes, Canada too) into 6 or 8 regions, allow
teams to compete in one and only one regional contest, then perhaps
allow the top 5 from each region to come to one central Brethren final.

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Skip said:

I think that would be a little too much of a change. For MBA areas it would work because you have the judges pool who understands on site judging but may confuse KCBS judges. There would need to be a class or long judges meeting to explain the on site judging to those who may not have seen it. For some time I am sure that BOTB's won't be the norm in an area so the experience of most judges will be double blind rather then on site. It would make you wonder if judge banter would change scores. There would be no way to get 6 individuals into every site separately for four categories either.

I can't speak to MBA practice as I don't know enough but I believe the judging is split and you may only do one category which may work but would distance the BOTB from the KCBS style. NTTAWWT

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Sawdustguy said:

Lot's of people have been lobbying for judges to spend a contest with a team to learn what goes into competitive cooking. In lieu of that, onsite judging would be a great way for the judge to get a quick snapshot of what is involved without actually cooking an event with a team.

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Sledneck said:

Dog and Pony show not in everybodys favor. I know some MBN guys will jump on me but if I am presenting food from my 2 ezups and folding table and nobodys ever heard of me and lets just say Mixon is next to be judged with his fancy trailer with bar top seating and fame.... See where Im going with this? I did enjoy the sat onsite grilling deal 2 years ago at sayville. that being said I would never do it again. It was exhausting. Typically sat events have little money and always cost more. My investment is for the big show on Sunday.

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