Roll Call. Inside 30 days. Sam's Club Nationals

[Rookie'48]

And those of us who judge in the upper Midwest really get to sample the best of the best . That's one reason that there are so many "BBQ Medium" judges here (3XL for me).

[ModelMaker]

Originally Posted by Rookie'48

And those of us who judge in the upper Midwest really get to sample the best of the best . That's one reason that there are so many "BBQ Medium" judges here (3XL for me).

So with me wearing a XL does that make me BBQ pettite?
Ed

[pat]

Being from the center of the bbq universe, I get the joy of getting my a** kicked by the best of the best every week Congrats again to all!

[Scottie]

Dont come to Illinois then. Just the same...

[pat]

Of course not...that's where you reside

[Pickin' Porkers]

Originally Posted by carlyle

Put the Royal Invitational + Open together with Sam's and the consistency of the upper midwest in general and Iowa in particular is apparent.

Add in team of the year standings and the conclusion is clear. Right now the center

of the BBQ universe is right here in the upper midwest.

Those of us who organize contests up here are very lucky ( as in Lucky's Q) to play host to these great teams.

ONLY because the majority of the judges come from that region for each of the contests you listed.

[boogiesnap]

Originally Posted by Pickin' Porkers

ONLY because the majority of the judges come from that region for each of the contests you listed.

interesting slant.

so you're suggesting more judges travel from the upper midwest than the south east and west, AND that their numbers are so great as to influence national championships via predisposition of great BBQ over 100's of teams from mulitple regions?

[jaestar]

Care to explain how Iowa teams came out of multiple regions to make it to the finals or how they do really well when they compete in other regions? Maybe they bring the judges with them?

[Pickin' Porkers]

Originally Posted by boogiesnap

interesting slant.

so you're suggesting more judges travel from the upper midwest than the south east and west, AND that their numbers are so great as to influence national championships via predisposition of great BBQ over 100's of teams from mulitple regions?

I ABSOLUTELY believe that the large majority of the teams in the top 10 compete regularly in that area...and.."that area" is defined as the midwest whether it be the 'northern midwest or what have you'... had a distinct advantage. Obviously none of us know where the 50 judges came from but being the gambling person I am, I would bet good money very few came from the new england area, the southeast or southwest.....OR northeast. Note I am NOT saying NONE came from those regions, but I am confident the majority came from a 200 mile radius of Bentonville....hence the advantage to midwest teams.

As for our poor showing....we deserved the 39th place we got so... "the kid" here is not belly aching or calling it lousy judging. I am sure the judges did the best they could but they do have regional preferences. That is why our "sport" is damn near gambling....because we cannot control what judges like....there is nothing quantitative and there is little we can do but cook our best and hope for the right tables. We did not cook our best.

Anyone that would argue that the outcome of this contest would have been the same if the contest were held in Rhode Island, or South Carolina or Arizona or Washington State would have to be totally eaten up with ignorance. Judges are heavily influenced by their preference in flavor profiles and regional differences definitely come into play. If you don't believe me...take any team you wish and let them compete for two years in another region and see how they do compared to their home territory. Very, very, very few teams score well all over the country....in fact....I cannot think of one team i would put my money on if they competed nationwide regularly....and nationwide is not defined as IL, MO, IA, AR or OK. On the other hand, I am not trying to take away from the success of the teams this weekend..... but to believe that all teams had the same level playing field in terms of judging preference is again...well...like a Carolina Panthers...they will be hyped up about "THEIR" team than looking at stats.

They were searching for judges.....and all Master judges were eligible for participating in this event. An extremely few will make the LONG ASS drive or pay airfare to go judge this cook-off and I do not blame them. SO, this event was loaded with judges from a close radius.

Twist this or turn it anyway you wish if for any reason other than being argumentative....again...bring that contest to another region of the country and let's see how the results differ. The same applies to the Royal and other "National Championships".

[boogiesnap]

Originally Posted by Pickin' Porkers

I ABSOLUTELY believe that the large majority of the teams in the top 10 compete regularly in that area...and.."that area" is defined as the midwest whether it be the 'northern midwest or what have you'... had a distinct advantage. Obviously none of us know where the 50 judges came from but being the gambling person I am, I would bet good money very few came from the new england area, the southeast or southwest.....OR northeast. Note I am NOT saying NONE came from those regions, but I am confident the majority came from a 200 mile radius of Bentonville....hence the advantage to midwest teams.

As for our poor showing....we deserved the 39th place we got so... "the kid" here is not belly aching or calling it lousy judging. I am sure the judges did the best they could but they do have regional preferences. That is why our "sport" is damn near gambling....because we cannot control what judges like....there is nothing quantitative and there is little we can do but cook our best and hope for the right tables. We did not cook our best.

Anyone that would argue that the outcome of this contest would have been the same if the contest were held in Rhode Island, or South Carolina or Arizona or Washington State would have to be totally eaten up with ignorance. Judges are heavily influenced by their preference in flavor profiles and regional differences definitely come into play. If you don't believe me...take any team you wish and let them compete for two years in another region and see how they do compared to their home territory. Very, very, very few teams score well all over the country....in fact....I cannot think of one team i would put my money on if they competed nationwide regularly....and nationwide is not defined as IL, MO, IA, AR or OK. On the other hand, I am not trying to take away from the success of the teams this weekend but to believe that all teams had the same level playing field in terms of judging preference is again...well...like a Carolina Panthers...they will be hyped up about "THEIR" team than looking at stats.

They were searching for judges.....and all Master judges were eligible for participating in this event. An extremely few will make the LONG ASS drive or pay airfare to go judge this cook-off and I do not blame them. SO, this event was loaded with judges from a close radius.

Twist this or turn it anyway you wish if for any reason other than being argumentative....again...bring that contest to another region of the country and let's see how the results differ. The same applies to the Royal and other "National Championships".

oooh kay.

so alot of new england judges must travel to tennessee then...

i simply think there are some damn good cooks in iowa. not argumentative at all.

[Pickin' Porkers]

Originally Posted by boogiesnap

oooh kay.

i simply think there are some damn good cooks in iowa. not argumentative at all.

I agree.....not one suggestion was made that there were not any.

[boogiesnap]

no there wasn't. but certainly implied there was an unfair advantage to them as well as a disrespect to them as such. moreover a complete gloss over of the great teams that CAN compete across the country and win and win big.

there's a talent and skill, some have it across the board some not.

[Pickin' Porkers]

Originally Posted by boogiesnap

no there wasn't. but certainly implied there was an unfair advantage to them as well as a disrespect to them as such. moreover a complete gloss over of the great teams that CAN compete across the country and win and win big.

No...it was not implied but stated very clearly.....there is an advantage in many situations.

Enough said from here.....it is like pounding one's chest and declaring the best of all times. It will always be subjective.

[daveinwestmont]

A midwest boy here, and I've cooked against these teams, and have drank with a few of them also. All great cooks in their own right and deserve their spot in the light. Some, two in particular, travel all around the country and cook. They are consistent and score well. I understand the point about this hobby as being a crap shoot at the judging table but we can't discredit consistent winners. For the most part if you are consistently in or close to the top ten, (not me yet), then you are a good cooking team. I had a chance to meet a judge from California at a rib contest this summer and we spoke about this subject. i asked about regionality and his comment was; all judges first looked for correctly cooked meat, (tenderness) that tastes like the product it is suppose to be. Pork tastes like pork and Brisket like brisket, and then worry about the flavor profile, hopefully you get the point.

Great job midwest teams!!! Way to represent!!!

[CBQ]

Originally Posted by Pickin' Porkers

Anyone that would argue that the outcome of this contest would have been the same if the contest were held in Rhode Island...

Our chicken did better in Bentonville

Actually, our 681 would have been a GC in every contest we cooked in this year, except for Fryeburg, ME. These were the top 50 out of the around 750 teams that entered the Sam's Club series. It was a damn difficult field to compete against, but we had a great time and will try it again next year.