Tennessee State Championship BBQ

June 27, 2009

Lawrenceburg, TN

Much has happened since my last contest report. Ed McMahon, Tim Krekel, Karl Malden, Farrah Fawcett, Michael Jackson, & Steve McNair have passed on leaving us to again realize that fame & fortune does not always guarantee a happy life & a peaceful death. In the end, all we leave behind are the memories & impressions that we leave on those left behind. Live every day like it may be your last. No regrets! Above all tell those you love that you do! You may not have another chance. Ok, off the soapbox..... Now for the BBQ thang!

2009 would be DoRagQ's second visit to the Tennessee State Championship BBQ in Lawrenceburg, TN. We first competed in 2007. About all I can remember was it was hotter that a Stick Burner & we did not finish well. As Richard & I headed to the contest site on Friday, we hoped the weather & our food would both be better. Gary "Nickelback" was enjoying a much needed vacation in the Carolina's & would not be making the trip. When we arrived at the contest site we were shown to our site right next to my old friend Ron Montgomery of Team Top Chick. The Top Chick gang has been on fire this year winning a Grand & placing well in several contest. Soon after getting settled Brenda & Buck of High on the Hawg arrived & settled in on the other side of the Top Chicks. We had them surrounded!

Once we all exchanged greetings & visited for a while it was time to prep the meat. No surprises there. With prep complete we met up with Joe & Voncil of Smokey Mountain Smokers, & Buck & Brenda & headed out for some lunch at a Meat & 3 I knew about called "The Taste of the Town". Great home cooked food & service. I highly recommend it if you are in the area. With our bellies full we headed back to the contest site for more visiting. Many of the top teams were in attendance, Lotta Bull, Smokers Wild, Smokin Triggers, & Swamp Boys BBQ, to mention a few. In all there were 56 pro teams. The competition was gonna be tough but then it always is. There ain't no "bottom feeding" at any KCBS contest! We decided to act like the "Big Dogs" & rent us a golf cart. Apparently Richard did not have much experience operating a golf cart as I soon found out! I don't think we injured anybody but I can't say the same for the cart!

At the last contest in Franklin, KY our neighbors Big & Twig & us decided to cook up a "Cajun-Low-Country-Boil" for our Friday night dinner. Well mostly Big & Twig provided the ingredients & the cookin skills & before you knew it, we had a feast that any Cajun would be proud of! Shrimp, andouille sausage, corn, potatoes, & onions all took a dip in the Hott Tub of Cajun Love. B&T added a great salad & some ice cold beer & it was on! We had a great time visitin, & eatin, & drinkin, & eatin, & drinkin, & drinkin, &.... well you know what I mean. A perfect 999 from all that attended. Thanks to Big & Twig for the hook up! You guys ROCK! After that great meal & a few night-caps it was time to "Hit the Hay"!

Morning came quickly & it was time to get serious. We experienced some mechanical difficulties with one of our cookers but with the help of our neighbor Buck we quickly improvised & managed to get everything cooked and in the box on time. I felt our chicken was solid, our ribs were decent, the pork was so-so, & the brisket was in the money! If you follow my blog you know we have been struggling with our pork lately. Richard had some ideas so I told him to go with it. He was totally in charge of pork. Win, lose, or draw it didn't matter as we had not been scoring well. After turn in we packed up Casa DoRag & I drove us up to the awards in the golf cart. I want to mention Carl Counce & his staff did a fantastic job putting on this event. We always had someone asking us if we needed anything, the entertainment was great, & there was lots of locals wandering around. A real festival atmosphere. Thanks to Carl, The Kiwanis Club, & Lawrencburg for a truly first class event.

Now on to the awards. Swamp Boys BBQ took 1st in chicken with South Pork in 2nd. South Pork has also been cookin great lately. Must be that new Backwoods! We must have eaten the best pieces as we finished 46th. We didn't do much better in ribs finishing 39th. JoeBeaz Blazin Butts & Wings took top honors with Smokers Wild finishing 2nd. Then it was time for pork... I looked at Richard as he was saying "there ain't no way we are getting a call in pork" & no sooner had he gotten the words out of his mouth, they called in 10th place DoRagQ! HAAAAAAAAA! I wish I had a picture of Richard's face! He could not believe it. I made him go up & get the award by himself. I tell you that made the contest! What a great moment! The "Legendary" Johnny Trigg of Smokin Triggers took the win with The Grillin Stones coming in 2nd. Big & Twig was nippin at their heels in 3rd. E.M. Azing BBQ took the win in brisket with Smokers Wild & Smokey Mountain Smokers in 2nd & 3rd. The DoRagQ Gang managed to place 9th! The overall win went to Joe & Voncil of Smokey Mountain Smokers! (Way to go Mom & Dad!) Lotta Bull finished 2nd with Smokers Wild in 3rd. South Pork, Smokin Triggers, The Grillin Stones, E.M. Azing BBQ, Big & Twig, House of Q, & good friends High on the Hawg rounded out the top ten. We managed to place 25th in a very strong field. While not our best effort we did finish better than in 2007. It was all worth seeing Richard's face when we got the call in pork!

Once again we managed to finish in the top 50% of the field. Hey we are still learning, tweaking, & experimenting. At least we are getting our name called for something other than to MOVE YOUR TRUCK! We had a great time visiting, eatin, & drinkin with our BBQ Family. I also learned that Ron of Team Top Chick keeps his secrets well as I didn't learn a thing he was doing but it was great seeing Ron, Nancy, & the rest of the Montgomery family! We have a few weeks off until our next cook. July 17-18th at Paris Landing State Park on Kentucky Lake. This is a new series put on by the American Bass Anglers in conjunction with a Bass Tournament. Sounds cool. Come by & check it out if you are in the area. I think I'm gonna let Richard cook everything. Maybe I am holding us back! Cee Ya!