Empire State Barbecue Championship

Boston Hills, Brockport, Wilson and the Oink

Neil Gallagher
Pitmaster - Too Sauced To Pork BBQ

ROC! Rest of ours will be more East, new englandy.

New team this year, haven't even come up with a name yet, but we are planning on Roc City, Boston Hills, Brockport and Oinktoberfest. Still undecided on Troy or Hudson Valley. Looking forward to meeting a lot of you this year.

Pelkster said:

New team this year, haven't even come up with a name yet

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Big Rack Rubbers?
Rub My Meat?
Smoke Up Your Butt?

Ya, there is a reason I wasn't allowed to name the team. :heh:

Rochester, Hudson Valley, Lake Placid for sure
Brockport, Holtsville, Troy - thinking about it

Couple of non-sanctioned events this year. Probably fun, but we normally stick to KCBS events.

at least 4 of the contests listed are not listed on the KCBS calender, 2 of which have links from the ESBC site to 2010 information. Are those contests going to be KCBS? Is there a possibility of other contests being added or is this the final roster?

Well, after I take this great class in a few weeks, I'll be ready for them all!
:wink:

Sean, at least two of them aren't sanctioned from what I can see. One of the web sites says that they might be sanctioned next year, but not this year. Maybe Brian can comment?

I can speak for the Wilson contest, Crossborder Blues, Brews, and Que. We sent in our KCBS application very recently. We are planning on holding the contest in conjuction with a blues competition and a brewing competition. But, as a first year contest, who knows how it will all come together. I will keep everyone posted. BTW, we will be updating the website at some point.

--frank in Wilson, NY
(Doghouse Willie competition team)

Pelkster said:

New team this year, haven't even come up with a name yet, but we are planning on Roc City, Boston Hills, Brockport and Oinktoberfest. Still undecided on Troy or Hudson Valley. Looking forward to meeting a lot of you this year.

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Please go to Cattle Call and introduce yourself, neighbor. :thumb:

Muzzlebrake said:

at least 4 of the contests listed are not listed on the KCBS calender, 2 of which have links from the ESBC site to 2010 information. Are those contests going to be KCBS? Is there a possibility of other contests being added or is this the final roster?

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Given the explosive growth of BBQ in NYS, we have decided to expand the Series to include contests that meet the following requirements:

1. NYS Championship with Governor's Proclamation
2. Blind Judging
3. Professionally Run and Organized
4. Score 4 categories - Chicken, Ribs, Pork, and Brisket

Doghouse Willie weighed in on Wilson. They are in the process of getting their contest going, but reached out early about their interest in the Series. Very much looking forward to this one.

New for this year, will be the scoring method. Teams will earn points based on their overall finishes, rather than using the overall accumulated score. This will level the playing field for contests whose GC scores a 630 versus a 675. A win will be a win, and a rank will be a rank. We're working on updating the website, so please stay tuned.

The Giggler said:

Given the explosive growth of BBQ in NYS, we have decided to expand the Series to include contests that meet the following requirements:

1. NYS Championship with Governor's Proclamation
2. Blind Judging
3. Professionally Run and Organized
4. Score 4 categories - Chicken, Ribs, Pork, and Brisket

Doghouse Willie weighed in on Wilson. They are in the process of getting their contest going, but reached out early about their interest in the Series. Very much looking forward to this one.

New for this year, will be the scoring method. Teams will earn points based on their overall finishes, rather than using the overall accumulated score. This will level the playing field for contests whose GC scores a 630 versus a 675. A win will be a win, and a rank will be a rank. We're working on updating the website, so please stay tuned.

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I had heard about the new system of scoring, it will be interesting how that works. I'm not exactley sure what you mean by a win is win and a rank is a rank. its still your top 4 scores though right?

Just kind of curious what you mean professionally run and organized. Do the events have to be run and organized by a professional promoter?

The Giggler said:

3. Professionally Run and Organized

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In NY ?



:twisted:

Muzzlebrake said:

I had heard about the new system of scoring, it will be interesting how that works. I'm not exactley sure what you mean by a win is win and a rank is a rank. its still your top 4 scores though right?

Just kind of curious what you mean professionally run and organized. Do the events have to be run and organized by a professional promoter?

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This new scoring system will tighten the field. The overall score won't matter, the points earned will be based on overall rank. What we found was contests in certain parts of the state were earning higher overall scores than other parts of the state. For example, a GC down state was a 630, and a GC upstate was a 670 - that's a forty point spread for the same win.

We're still using the 4 score system. Teams are welcome to cook all the contest, but we're going to use the top 4 scores. Even as the number of contests grows, only 10% of the teams in the hunt cooked 4 contests. We want as many teams to participate as possible.

Professionally run and organized = reputable contest that's free of any shenanigans that pays out what they advertise. In other words, a well run contest.

ique said:

In NY ?



:twisted:

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Oh, come on now.... I believe you mentioned in another thread that you didn't realize that NY was such a hot bed in BBQ. For once, NY is following a trend. Although, the state wide points race seems to be catching on all over the country. We believe this Series to be a part of getting that ball rolling. :thumb:

And you get growth when cooks get involved in organizing - not talkers, but doers.

The Giggler said:

This new scoring system will tighten the field. The overall score won't matter, the points earned will be based on overall rank. What we found was contests in certain parts of the state were earning higher overall scores than other parts of the state. For example, a GC down state was a 630, and a GC upstate was a 670 - that's a forty point spread for the same win.

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Great job! I've been hoping the NEBS BOD would make this change to their TOY system. Last year New Hampshire's GC was a 626! At Roc City a 626 is good for 12th place.

-Mike

ique said:

In NY ?



:twisted:

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do I have to call you a M******* this early into the season. :becky:

Besides, you sure seem to like those NY contests and I think you have a fine looking lady to remind you of how found of NY you really are.

The Giggler said:

This new scoring system will tighten the field. The overall score won't matter, the points earned will be based on overall rank. What we found was contests in certain parts of the state were earning higher overall scores than other parts of the state. For example, a GC down state was a 630, and a GC upstate was a 670 - that's a forty point spread for the same win.

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I understand all of the reasons why you adopted it. IMO I think that what it is not going going to do is take into account the caliber of the teams that got those scores. Some contest just have a higher level of competition due to the teams that compete there.Say what you want but can't compare finishing 6th at Troy last year to finishing 6th at Lake Placid. No offense to anyone but when the top 3 are a past Jack and reigning Jack champ the #2 KCBS team you would expect higher scores.

Muzzlebrake said:

do I have to call you a M******* this early into the season. :becky:

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Now, now, It was just a joke.


Boston Hills and Roc City were definitely among the best contests I attended last season.

Muzzlebrake said:

I understand all of the reasons why you adopted it. IMO I think that what it is not going going to do is take into account the caliber of the teams that got those scores. Some contest just have a higher level of competition due to the teams that compete there.Say what you want but can't compare finishing 6th at Troy last year to finishing 6th at Lake Placid. No offense to anyone but when the top 3 are a past Jack and reigning Jack champ the #2 KCBS team you would expect higher scores.

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All I can say, is give it a chance Sean. We haven't yet published the process for scoring. Please give us the opportunity to do so, and fully explain this process. Our #1 goal is to have this to be completely transparent, fair, fun, and FREE for the teams.

Just for fun, here are the spreads for the GC's last year:

Roc City - 655
Boston Hills - 670
Lake Placid - 661
Troy - 636
Brockport - 647
Hudson Valley - 656
Brethren - 630
Oink - 674

Was the GC harder to get at Battle of the BBQ Brethren with 36 teams where the GC scored 630? Or at Oinktoberfest with 51 teams where the GC scored 674? Both of those fields had high profile competitors. I'll answer that question - they are ALL hard to take GC. That's a 44 point spread for the same title.

Regardless of the number or caliber of teams in the field, a win is a win, and should count for the same amount of points regardless of the contest. Making an adjustment to the scoring system will allow us to eliminate the big swings of points in the region. The only variable will be the total number of teams in the field, and a team's individual rank in that field. The top position at each will be awarded the same number of points regardless of the competition.

All the contests have a higher level of competition. That is part of the growth we're experiencing. As it has been discussed many times in the Comp Forum, there is widespread differences in scoring due to factors of regionalism, as well as new and master judges. This new scoring system will allow those types of biases to be eliminated.

Have faith, my BBQ Brother!

ique said:

Now, now, It was just a joke.


Boston Hills and Roc City were definitely among the best contests I attended last season.

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And we appreciate the endorsement, Chris. Thanks for the kind words.