I think that you guy's get your knickers in a twist over small chit. The KCBS is simply a sanctioning body to the competition cooker. As a competition cook that it all it means. To a contest organizer it means a whole lot more. As an organizer I pay a fee, I get sanctioned and I have someone to administer the competition portion of the event. I will get representatives from the KCBS who will come and make sure the judges have some idea of what to do, make sure the contest is run with respect to rules as set forth by the KCBS and score the contest. It lends credibility to the contest that this portion of the contest is handled by a known third party. As a cooker, all the crap with the MMA and other BS means nothing. As a member of the KCBS I am concerned about some of the stuff that is happening but as a cooker, it really has no bearing. I don't really understand why anyone is concerned with the KCBS as a sanctioning body. Why reinvent the wheel? I don't think I would ever cook in a non sanctioned contest because I get no guarantees. I can cook the best Q this world has ever seen and the organizer can elect to give the prize to his neighbor. Cooking in a KCBS sanctioned event or for that matter any other sanctioned event prevents this. I have no idea why anyone would not want to use the KCBS as the sanctioning body for their contest. They have been doing this for a long time and have some dynamite reps. I know alot of you have dealt with Jerry and Linda Mullane. They are simply the best. I think you would be hard pressed to find anyone that does it as well.