Quote:
Originally Posted by midwest_kc
So, what does poker do to engage fans in a live setting? I get the hole cam for tv, but you obviously don't get that live. Are there lessons we can learn from poker? I don't dislike your analogy, but as far as I can tell, unless comp BBQ becomes a bigger tv presence, the poker lessons won't work.
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you can sit and watch poker and enjoy the hell out of it without the hole cams. You still get to the see the bets, you get to see big bets and wonder if the next guy will call or fold and then you get to the final cards revealed when all of the betting is done.
that is a great deal more than the average fan would ever get to see at a BBQ contest where they can't and don't really hang during the cooking process, they don't get to see the final product being presented and the results of whole event are hours past when the "action" was taking place.
KCBS events are not setup for fan participation, and that is understandable. some of the events I have cooked that are operated by local tourism offices seem to do a better job of trying to have some vending trucks, and live music music available which helps create an atmosphere that attracts locals to come out.....but the contest itself is not fan participation activity in my opinion.
being someone who 100% got into this "sport" based on seeing it done on TV and thinking "holy crap that looks fun", I can say that seeing it on TV and actually doing it are two TOTALLY different things.
Watching on TV I thought well that looks fun and maybe a little hard, but I had no idea how much WORK and MONEY it took to do it at a level where you at least have a shot at getting regular calls. So I think the reason some think contests are dying is because it's probably just leveling back down to where it was prior to the TV shows for one. because as people get out there and do it, they realize in a hurry you have to damn LOVE doing this or it really aint all that fun. I do love it, but I have a hard time finding others to love it enough to want to do it with me to the point of practicing and investing time and money into it. so i think alot of folks got into doing it, then quickly got out of it because of what it takes.
also, when I took Myron's class several years ago, somebody asked him what has been the biggest change in the sport in recent years.....and within two seconds he said "the competition"......he was very open and honest about it. he said that back in the 90's and early 2000's he would drive into a contest and know immediately by who he saw was there that he was going to win......and he said after Pitmasters caused a big boom that more and more people were not only doing it, but taking it much much more serious and it has gotten harder and harder to consistently win and compete. and I thought that was pretty cool of him to be that open and honest about it all.
and I have said before, I know when I go to compete that I have to get lucky, have a great cook, get good weather (because I use tents) and some of the real pros have to have an average or bad cook for me to really do well.....I have gotten multiple calls in every category over the years and even had a RGC at a local contest, but I know at the end of the day, I am one of the guys participating that my money is mostly going to help keep the real pros going.....but I love being a part of the culture......just not sure If I will always have the money, time and strength to continue doing it like I really want to do it.
