Big congrats to Vince and Alexa on their Grand at the first Sams Club event in OK.City.
A stellar field. Great to see a WSM team beat all those big shots.
Keep it up Vince!
-CP

Wow you guys have really got your finger on the pulse of KCBS right now. Congrats.

Yes Sir Doing Great

Great work Vince and Alexa! Making Arizona proud!

Congrats and Well Deserved!

Way to go RnQ!!

Thanks, folks! We had a great time and it was a real honor to be a part of this event. It isn't every weekend that any of us gets the chance to test our skills against a field of that stature and winning that contest is something we'll cherish forever.

As you can imagine, the strength of the field was reflected in the narrow gap between the top overall score of 690 and the lowest overall score of 650. That's just 40 points in a 25 team field! The gap between first and last at most events is often in the 150 point range.

And the categories were just as fiercely competitive. Here are the first to last gaps in each:

Chicken - 16 points
Ribs - 16 points
Pork - 17 points
Brisket - 20 points

The judges we spoke to after the event all commented on how good the food was and how much fun it was to see so many entries of such high quality. I'll wager that a judging spot in this contest will be come a highly coveted opportunity.

In addition to the great competition and the tremendous camaraderie shared among the teams was the first class treatment we all received from Sam's Club. We were all kings and queens in their eyes and if there was anything we needed, all we had to do was ask. But that didn't happen very often as they gave us just about everything we could want. Just take a look at the "Goodie Bag" they gave to each team!

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That flatbed cart full of stuff included cases of water, soda, Gatorade and Red Bull as well as everything from foil, paper towels and plates to sauces, spices, steam pans and more. There was probably over $500 worth of goods on that cart and they gave one to each of the 25 teams! Absolutely amazing!

Here's a shot of them all lined up outside the Judge's Tent while we were all in the Cook's Meeting.

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The logistics on Friday when the teams were arriving was handled by MMA President and CEO Mike McCloud with assistance from Dawn Endrijaitis and Kelly Cain from the KCBS office. Dawn and Kelly managed to escape the camera lens but here's a good shot of Mike.

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They all did a great job of getting the teams in place, inspecting meats and answering any questions that came up. Of course, KCBS Executive Director Carolyn Wells was on site and our KCBS Event Reps were KCBS President Mike Lake and his wife Theresa Lake. Here's a shot of all three of them and Kelly Wertz of 4 Legs Up as he is turning in one of his entries. (Carolyn is at the far left, Theresa and Mike are in the orange shirts and Kelly is, well, everyone recognizes that hat!)

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The temperatures were sweltering, even by Arizona standards, and the humidity was very high as well. We were all gulping down water, sodas and the free Gatorade and shave ice that was being offered by the event sponsors. I think I downed at least a couple gallons of water during the course of the afternoon. But we all managed and it wasn't long after the last turn in that the awards were being handed out.

One of the best stories from the weekend was the return to competition of Troy Black of Learn2Q.com. Troy very recently suffered a heart attack, had a triple heart bypass and was in a coma for three days. This event was his first after recovering and his team earned Top 10 calls in Chicken (6th) and Ribs (9th) and finished the event 12th Overall. Here is Troy accepting one of his awards.

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These last two pictures are moments that Alexa and I will not soon forget.

First Place Brisket

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Grand Champions!!!

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As I said earlier, cooking at this contest was a wonderful experience and I think Kelly summed it up best when he gave the toast during the traditional 11 O'clock Shot (which we did at 10:30am). He said, "Whether you finish first or twenty fifth, it is an honor to be in this field", and he was absolutely right!