Smoke on the Harbor BBQ Throwdown making up their own rules

[CBQ]

I was shocked to find that the "Smoke on the Harbor BBQ Throwdown" in Mount Pleasant, SC. is making up their own rules for winning the contest, and yet it's still considered a sanctioned event.

If you have been paying attention, you know I am not a fan of forced People's Choice, but this goes so far beyond that I think it puts the whole KCBS sanctioning system at risk.

The organizers are requiring teams to cook 30 pounds of chicken wings and 8 pork butts. They are then making this a condition of winning the contest. Their web site says:

All teams are required to cook and prepare the aforementioned amounts of chicken wings and pork butts for public sampling. Any team failing to meet these requirements will not be eligible to win Grand Champion or Reserve Grand Champion and forfeit all prize money.​

In other words, the contest organizers, and not the KCBS Reps, decide who can win this contest. If you attend this contest, GC, and only serve 6 pork butts, the ORGANIZER can DQ you. Really? :shock:

To me this undermines the very concept of KCBS Sanctioning. The whole point of having a sanctioning body is to ensure that a contest is fair and objective. In this case the organizer is making up their own rules that are outside of the KCBS rule set, and making following their rules a condition of winning prize money.

How the fark can they do that in a sanctioned contest?? If you want to have a competitor's series event and impose your our rules, by all means do so. I don't understand how this can be done at a SANCTIONED contest. :doh:

I'm sending a letter to the board. I'm not competing in this contest, and I wasn't considering it, but I think it's a dangerous precedent to allow organizers to determine the outcome of a sanctioned contest.

 

[PatAttack]

That is one of the biggest reasons we decided not to do this contest.

We just couldn't understand how this could be a KCBS contest and get DQ'd if we didn't cook an extra 30 lbs. of farking chicken wings and 8 additional butts!?

Being a two person team, this was going to be a major PITA, so we said fark it.

 

[Untraceable]

8 butts and 30lbs of wings is a hell of a load. 30lbs of wings takes up almost a whole 6' table when laid out.

I don't know many teams with that capacity

and that has nothing to do with the KCBS sanctioning portion of the thread

 

[who cares]

We feel the same way. We emailed the contest 2 or 3 years ago when it was first sanctioned and asked about cooking all the extras. We did and do not have the room to cook that much pork plus our comp meats. We were told basically to bad that's our rules. We have heard it is nice but I am not paying to cook you a ton of food. I don't care about the chicken wings or even a butt or two for peoples choice, but to make it mandatory and part of the GC is what I have an issue with.

 

[DawgPhan]

I dont think the awards are a KCBS issue.

 

[PatAttack]

I dont think the awards are a KCBS issue.

Why would it not be a KCBS issue if you can't win GC or RGC?

If you don't cook all of that other stuff, you can't win, so that makes it a KCBS issue.

 

[nkay]

I think awards are a KCBS issue simply because KCBS sanctions the contest and mandates that the top 5 five places plus the RGC and GC must be paid something. If someone is DQ based on a contest rule and not a KCBS rule (nor a rule advocated by KCBS) then I think it is a KCBS issue. I would have loved to go this event and called them asking if the mandate was a typo but the lady politely said no and that everyone seems to enjoy cooking all that food.

Needless to say I will look up the results Sunday morning as I will not be going.

 

[Jason TQ]

Wow. I would not have the capacity to even cook all of that.

 

[PatAttack]

Not only that but you have to do the peoples choice DURING your turn in times!:shock:

What makes it really sad is I literally live two miles down the road...

 

[cpw]

If it helps any, they gave some of the teams 6 butts and some got 8. The paper work says you have to cooks 10.

 

[cpw]

Oh, and we got 40 pounds of wings too.

 

[landarc]

I agree the precedent it sets is a bad one.

I can also see, that for the organizer, people's choice is what brings in the crowd, and if it goes like the comp I did a few years ago, where around 30 teams showed, but, only a handful did the PC portion, it is bad for attendance.

 

[PatAttack]

Oh, and we got 40 pounds of wings too.

Geez...:tsk:

 

[PatAttack]

I agree the precedent it sets is a bad one.

I can also see, that for the organizer, people's choice is what brings in the crowd, and if it goes like the comp I did a few years ago, where around 30 teams showed, but, only a handful did the PC portion, it is bad for attendance.

Bob, if you don't do the PC portion of this contest, you have no chance at the monies.

 

[Gowan]

It will be interesting to see what the KCBS position on this.

I have seen mandatory People's Choice before, but only with the standard two butts due outside of the main turn-in times. This one does seem to be a Bridge Too Far at first glance, so I am definitely intrigued to see how it all shakes out.

 

[landarc]

Bob, if you don't do the PC portion of this contest, you have no chance at the monies.

Yeah, that's the precedent I don't like.

Just seeing it from both sides. The comp I referenced, I had several folks come up and ask for out PC samples, I explained that we weren't doing that, too small of a team. They got pretty angry, one guy said that all of the teams he was interested in trying were not doing PC and he was pretty angry, he felt that he paid to sample and was getting nothing.

Another comp I was at, I was handing out samples and the Health Inspector turned out to be there on a Saturday, told me I was not to do that. More complaints from folks that paid to try comp BBQ not just smell it.

I'm just saying, I see the organizers point of view. Although the KCBS should not allow this, as it is bad for the competition. Small cooker folks won't be able to participate, which is bad in an already expensive hobby

 

[gettinbasted]

Interesting topic. If I'm not mistaken, organizers can and do dictate the requirements for entry and this seems to fall under that category. I have no problem with an organizer making a mandatory people's choice. I file it away as a piece of information when determining what events to attend.

By entering this event, you have agreed to cook X amount of meat for the event. If you agree and then don't follow through, you are no longer entered. Pretty cut and dry.

As most have done, vote with your dollars and attend a different competition. To me, it has little to do with the KCBS portion unless they standardize entry requirements. That would be different if the PC scores counted.

Flame on!

 

[MikeJ65]

With 10 Butts plus my two, I could probably cook at least one decent MM.

 

[CBQ]

By entering this event, you have agreed to cook X amount of meat for the event. If you agree and then don't follow through, you are no longer entered. Pretty cut and dry.

Wouldn't that make it an invitational or competitor series event though? Bear in mind that this isn't what the rules say. The rules say you can't GC and RGC and you won't get paid for anything you do win.

The whole idea that you could go there, cook, win, and be denied the GC and compensation just seems so wrong. How does that work, exactly? Let's say I GC and don't cook 30 pounds of wings. Does the RGC winner get the KCBS points for a 1st place finish? Do I finish 3rd because I can't GC or RGC? Do I get DQ'd and finish DAL? I think any of these scenarios create a mess for KCBS.

How can this be a sanctioned event with these kinds of conditions?

I haven't been to this contest, and have no plans to go, but the very idea of it undermines the whole concept of a sanctioned event. If organizers can do this, what's next?

• "Contestants not attending BBQ Church cannot win."
• "You must buy $200 of 50/50 raffle tickets to qualify for an award."
• "You must be white to enter this contest."
• "You must be dressed as a pirate to win." (GC: Dale Wilson :becky: )

 

[TroyA65]

Wouldn't that make in an invitational or competitor series event though? Bear in mind that this isn't what the rules say. The rules say you can't GC and RGC and you won't get paid for anything you do win.

The whole idea that you could go there, cook, win, and be denied the GC and compensation just seems so wrong. How does that work, exactly? Let's say I GC and don't cook 30 pounds of wings. Does the RGC winner get the KCBS points for a 1st place finish? Do I finish 3rd because I can't GC or RGC? Do I get DQ'd and finish DAL? I think any of these scenarios create a mess for KCBS.

How can this be a sanctioned event with these kinds of conditions?

I haven't been to this contest, and have no plans to go, but the very idea of it undermines the whole concept of a sanctioned event. If organizers can do this, what's next?

• "Contestants not attending BBQ Church cannot win."
• "You must buy $200 of 50/50 raffle tickets to qualify for an award."
• "You must be white to enter this contest."
• "You must be dressed as a pirate to win." (GC: Dale Wilson :becky: )

CBQ - I agree with you completely, this is ridiculous! KCBS has 4 categories not 5! I did a comp recently that had an optional PC and about 18 of the 48 team chose to be part of the PC. It had separate prize money and had no connection with the KCBS. Competitors couldn't serve PC until 30 minutes after the KCBS turn ins were complete.

I thought it was very well done, not perfect but it worked.