Best BBQ trainwreck at a comp...
 

What was the best/worst disaster you witnessed at a competition?

I watched a hung-over gentleman from the team next to me pick up a wire rack off their grill with their chicken for turn-in sneeze (I think actually on the chicken), turn around, walk directly into a rope holding his tent down, fall backwards and all that chicken landed right on his shirt. He then proceeded to roll over and smash this chicken instead of trying to save it.

Poor poor guy...

Find anyone that is our neighbor at a contest, and I am sure they can tell you a story or two about me that I typically don't remember.

Maybe it WAS you?!?! ;o)

J/K

Is it a train wreck if it has a happy ending?

At the Firin' Up The Fox competition in 2013 I went to glaze our chicken at 11:30 and it was only 145 internal! It is ALWAYS at least at 165 at that point. I have no idea why it was low, but it was. I cranked the temp up on the cooker but by 11:45 it was still too low. So, I cut the meat off of the bone, creating chicken thigh fillets and put them in a pan with some heated sauce and back on the cooker. At noon they were up to temp so we tossed them in the box and my wife ran to the turn in, making it with 3 seconds to spare!

I was sure that we would be DAL in chicken, but we ended up in the top 20 (I thin it was 15th! (out of 50+ teams). I was shocked!

BUT... We ended up 4th overall and a top 10 in chicken would have put us at RGC or maybe GC, so I guess it wasn't a very happy ending :becky:

I haven't experienced (knock on wood) or witnessed any major disasters so far, but I have certainly heard some of the stories!

picture is worth a thousand words ...

ummm, ouch!

I remember that! Ouch!

We broke a spring on our old trailer on the way to a competition in the UP of Michigan a few years ago. Fortunately I was able to find a spring and someone to replace it and we made it to the comp at 5:00pm.

We also burned out a bearing on our toy hauler on the way to a comp. Fortunately we were going down a day early. We got to the comp site at about 8:00pm. Then on the way home our truck developed a transmission problem that ended up in a new truck.

My teammate cooks the chicken, so it wasn't me. Luckily my disaster moments don't usually happen between 11 and 1:30 in the day time. Night time... that's a different story altogether.

My teammate Pat was sleeping in my truck this year at a comp in the streets around the downtown area where the comp was (Bel Air, MD). At 1:30am the truck was hit in the rear by a drunk driver enjoying herself too much at the event's evening happenings.

Pat was sore but ok, the driver's insurance fixed my truck, and we 180'd in ribs the next day! #bbqkarma

Front Fell Off!

Well, there was a team (that no longer competes) in Sayville that ran a double stacked WSM. After having a few too many...they knocked the stack over.

The brisket hit the ground.

The charcoal hit the tent.

The tent went up in flames, causing a lot of other teams to run over to help.

In their alcohol fueled stupor I don't think they noticed. They cried "Save the brisket!", snatching it off the ground and washing it off.

After the tent fire was put out and the smoker reset...they finished with a third place brisket.

(I also dropped my brisket on the ground at Greenport last year as it was going in the cooker. No alcohol, but the 35 mph wind had something to do with it. Remembering Sayville, I rinsed it and re-seasoned. It went in 40 minutes late, but it finished in second place, and we RGC'd the contest. I think there might be something magical about that Long Island dirt.)

First comp cook failure
 

On my first ever cook off I invited a few friends loaded up on beer and partied some what. When it was time to turn in our one rack ribs (poor boy back then) I set them out to cool awhile and went to the truck for wood. When I returned all my 8-10 guests were eating my ribs and complimenting me on how good they were.

Next cook off no guests, no wives, less beer, and took my shotgun along.

I also supposed I should mention we got the nickname of the "most dangerous team in barbeque" because we once knocked an organizer out 10 minutes after arriving at our first contest of the year. I'm talking flat out unconscious and unresponsive for five minutes. Jon Vallone was was helping us load into our spot at the Roc City Ribfest, and was holding our trailer dolly. It's pretty easy to keep in place at rest - you could hold it with two fingers. It also has a stand, so you could just leave it standing on it's own. That didn't happen. Jon let it go...and the 2,400 pound smoker behind it built up a lot of momentum quickly. When he grabbed for the handle, it flipped him over and slammed him into the ground.

The EMTs showed up, put Jon on a stretcher with a back and neck brace, and brought him to the hospital. An MRI confirmed no permanent damage, and he was back at the contest that evening.

Now whenever we get calls at that contest, he says something like "the most dangerous man in BBQ" or "don't let them hurt me..." but they do keep inviting us back. :becky:

(It's a great contest, by the way, and they have a People''s Choice that's fair, fun for the teams, and raises money for a good cause. Take note Smoke on the Harbor.)

Surprised this is still out on the web, but its a good read. I had a front row seat:

http://3eyzbbq.blogspot.com/2010/03/incident.html