The 2600 mile round trip to Bentonville, AR for the Sams Club National BBQ Tour Finals proved to be a very good trip for us ending with a 5th Place Overall finish on calls of 4th Chicken, 19th Ribs, 24th Pork and 15th Brisket in a field of 50 teams. This national tournament, the only one of its kind, started with 750 available team slots in the 25 Local events that was pared down to 150 team slots in 5 Regional events that was again pared down to the 50 team Final event. We competed in two Local events, finishing as Reserve Grand Champion in one and 4th Overall in the other, we were Grand Champion at our Regional event and then the aforementioned 5th Overall at the Final event. We had a very good Sams Club season to say the least! Although a team wouldnt normally expect to finish in the Top 5 Overall with only one Top 10 call in the categories, the scoring was so tight at this event that even the slightest mark down in a score resulted in a significant fall in the category standings. Just as an example, the team that finished in 42nd Place in Chicken still had a 170.2628, a score that is almost certainly going to be in the Top 10 in nearly any other contest. To say this field was tough would be an understatement! There are a number of folks wed like to thank and the first is our long-time partner, Rocks Barbque, home of The Stoker forced draft system. The Stoker has been minding our WSMs for 7 seasons now and we can always count on its accuracy and reliability. Rocks Barbque is truly an invaluable member of our team! We also want to thank the good folks at Sams Club, without whom none of this would have been possible. Sams Club has offered up $500,000 in prize money to competition barbeque teams in just 2014 alone and nearly 2 million in the 4 years this series has been running. Thats a great commitment to our sport and we really appreciate it! Were very excited that it will be back in 2015 and look forward to being part of it! Our thanks also go out to Tour Directors Michael McDearman and Troy Black as well as Tour Logistics Coordinator Chris Turner. The commitment of time these people have made to this series is the reason why it has been so successful for both teams and business partners alike. From Sams Club, Bob Fields and Bill Dietz have been avid supporters of our sport and they have done great things to bring this series back year after year. Their belief in the power of barbeque to strengthen the bond between the local Sams Club locations, their members and their business partners gives us all the opportunity to compete in such a great national tournament. We also appreciate the dedication of KCBS Contest Reps Mike & Theresa Lake. Mike & Theresa worked all 30 Local events plus the 5 Regional events and must have racked up more frequent flyer miles and hotel points than anyone else in competition barbeque! They always greet people with a warm smile and a firm handshake, and do their best to see that all of their teams have the best possible experience at the events. There are many more deserving of acknowledgment but well close by offering our thanks to Mike McCloud of MMA. Mike and his staff, along with the staffs of Sams Club and KCBS, made the vision of this tournament a reality which has truly elevated the sport of competition barbeque. We cant thank you enough for all youve done! Our next event will be the Slab O Rama Barbeque Challenge in Bullhead City, AZ the weekend of October 10-11. Maybe well see you there!
Posted on: Fri, 03 Oct 2014 16:14:53 +0000
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