Steve Pearson
New member
Hey. Longtime member/lurker, first time poster. Thanks for reading.
So the lovely bride and I just returned from donating another $250 to the organizers of a local KCBS contest. In the process of tipping a few beers with another ham and egg team parked next to us, one of the guys made the comment that Competition BBQ is the "New" NASCAR. Later on while tending the WSM's (we call 'em "The Boys") I got to pondering his comment and came to something of a conclusion that his statement had some validity to it. For those amongst us who are not NASCAR fans, permit me dissect the analogy.
As recently as the late 90's NASCAR was something of a regional sport. It drew a devout core of fans who enjoyed getting together, doing a little tailgating and spending the afternoon watching the "Boys Have At It" for a purse of a few thousand dollars. THEN NASCAR decided to get it's marketing act together. Before you could say "Jeff Gordon" purses jumped to the millions and longtime fans found suddenly found themselves pushed out of their campgrounds and seats, replaced by a new breed of fan...Fans who drove 400K motor homes towing trailers with matching Harley's who didn't know what NASCAR was 3 years prior (and if they did, they called it "NeckCar")...
Segue to Competition BBQ. When the lovely bride and I entered our first contest 6 or 7 years ago, it was a simple affair. 30 or so teams,with maybe a pop up camper here and there but mostly people just sleeping on cots or just simply staying up all night. Most of the teams were cooking in -some- kind of non-mechanical wood burning apparatus and anyone who did embrace all this technological wizardry was viewed with something of a suspicious eye. Then the KCBS got IT'S marketing act together and before you could say "Set it and Forget it"...Well lets just put it this way, most of the contests we've cooked lately resemble the campgrounds at a (new) NASCAR race...Gone are the ratty pop up campers, having been replaced by big buck motor homes towing toy hauler trailers that contain "Set it and Forget it" smokers worthy of the Space Shuttle...Gone was the friendly "won't ya be my neighbor" feeling of earlier contests...Replaced by people lurking behind tarps, awnings and camper doors performing Lord only knows WHAT kind of (legal ?) meat magic...
Just curious if anyone cares to add to or rebut this analogy ? Personally I'm wishing for the "Good ol' Days" of NASCAR -AND- BBQ.
So the lovely bride and I just returned from donating another $250 to the organizers of a local KCBS contest. In the process of tipping a few beers with another ham and egg team parked next to us, one of the guys made the comment that Competition BBQ is the "New" NASCAR. Later on while tending the WSM's (we call 'em "The Boys") I got to pondering his comment and came to something of a conclusion that his statement had some validity to it. For those amongst us who are not NASCAR fans, permit me dissect the analogy.
As recently as the late 90's NASCAR was something of a regional sport. It drew a devout core of fans who enjoyed getting together, doing a little tailgating and spending the afternoon watching the "Boys Have At It" for a purse of a few thousand dollars. THEN NASCAR decided to get it's marketing act together. Before you could say "Jeff Gordon" purses jumped to the millions and longtime fans found suddenly found themselves pushed out of their campgrounds and seats, replaced by a new breed of fan...Fans who drove 400K motor homes towing trailers with matching Harley's who didn't know what NASCAR was 3 years prior (and if they did, they called it "NeckCar")...
Segue to Competition BBQ. When the lovely bride and I entered our first contest 6 or 7 years ago, it was a simple affair. 30 or so teams,with maybe a pop up camper here and there but mostly people just sleeping on cots or just simply staying up all night. Most of the teams were cooking in -some- kind of non-mechanical wood burning apparatus and anyone who did embrace all this technological wizardry was viewed with something of a suspicious eye. Then the KCBS got IT'S marketing act together and before you could say "Set it and Forget it"...Well lets just put it this way, most of the contests we've cooked lately resemble the campgrounds at a (new) NASCAR race...Gone are the ratty pop up campers, having been replaced by big buck motor homes towing toy hauler trailers that contain "Set it and Forget it" smokers worthy of the Space Shuttle...Gone was the friendly "won't ya be my neighbor" feeling of earlier contests...Replaced by people lurking behind tarps, awnings and camper doors performing Lord only knows WHAT kind of (legal ?) meat magic...
Just curious if anyone cares to add to or rebut this analogy ? Personally I'm wishing for the "Good ol' Days" of NASCAR -AND- BBQ.