Thoughts on the 2010 BBQ Season

Tired. Surprised. Elated. These are all terms I can use to describe how I feel now that the best season Big Creek BBQ has ever had is in the books! When it all began in March last year, Tammy and I had absolutely no idea just what kind of wild ride was in store for us! The plan was to cook seven or so contests. The final count was 27! There’s really no way to fully understand what to expect when you launch yourself into a year-long endeavor that will take you and your family to many parts of the United States, requiring copious amounts of time, cash, sweat, tears, and yes, even sometimes blood. Yet, my family and I completed a journey that, despite the ups and downs, would be more rewarding than we could have imagined. Along the way, we learned a lot about ourselves, competition barbecue and what it takes to be a champion. Our story is not so unusual that many others don’t experience the same thing each barbecue season. But for our team, it was a season of events and memories to last a lifetime. It was months of valuable lessons learned, first-time adventures and fantastic highs that all come with being involved in a national championship race. It was also a year of meeting many new folks in barbecue that we will always consider friends. I'm not sure we will ever be able to repeat what we did in 2010 but for awhile, we were very fortunate to have experienced what most teams never do - what it feels like to be a legitimate contender on the KCBS circuit. It is a marathon, not a sprint. It will wear a person down and beat them to a pulp but for as tired and worn out as we were, even at the worst, we wouldn't trade it for the world. Many people out there helped us, encouraged us and urged us on towards the 2010 finish line and for that, we are so very grateful. We don't plan to cook so many contests in 2011 (yeah, we said that last year too!) and I hope to spend some time fishing and traveling WITHOUT the smoker being pulled behind the vehicle! Even so, I still look forward to North Kansas City in March! Best of luck for a great 2011 season to all!