RGC – Swamp Boys BBQ

Swamp Boys Take Reserve Grand Champ at Plant City KCBS

Nov 192012

This was our 9th year competing in this 10th year contest. Plant City is only about 45 minutes from home and is always well attended by both teams and the public. Teams came in from no less than 9 different states and Canada, and the crowds weren’t too bad either. We always sell our bbq here and the crew did another great job selling 2 cases of butts, 8 cases of ribs, and 2 cases of corn.

The contest side of things seemed to go very well too. I felt I had done my best and was very satisfied with my turn ins. And for the most part the judges agreed, although they didn’t like my pork and brisket as much as I did. But in the end Swamp Boys was fortunate enough to get a 1st place in chicken, 6th in ribs, and Reserve Grand Champion out of 48 teams.

Thank you to my great sponsors for helping me out – BBQR’s Delight, Butcher BBQ, and 3 Eyz BBQ.

1st place chicken

Reserve Grand Champion!

Swamp Boys Win Reserve Grand in Ocala FL

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Apr 012012

Last year in Ocala I finished as RGC so this year of course I had a GC on my mind. I felt I had a very good cook and put everything into the hands of the judges. They seemed to agree awarding me a first place in both Chicken and Ribs. My Pork placed 6th and my Brisket was 5th, all out of 32 pro teams. In most contests this would be scores worthy of a GC, but not so this time. My good friends and Swamp Boys Q School grads “Unknown BBQ” scored a 4th, 2nd, 1st, and 2nd and edged me out by 0.05 of a point! I guess if I was going to be beat, I couldn’t think of any team better. Congratulations to my brothers from another mother!

On another note this was my last cookoff with my Stumps/Lang setup. They served me very well and now it’s time for the new chapter to begin.

1st place Chicken!

1st place Ribs!

Reserve Grand Champion!

A Reserve Grand at Sebring!

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Dec 062011

I’ve been competing at Sebring for a number of years now and it’s almost always rotten weather. This year it was great and I had a real nice time. I tried some new sauce on chicken and ribs and it seemed to do pretty well. Out of 30 teams I scored a 6th in chicken, 1st in ribs, 15th pork, and 3rd brisket which earned me Reserve Grand Champion!

I also scored enough points to move into 3rd place in the Florida BBQ Association’s Team of the Year final standings. Since 2007 I have finished 2nd, 1st, 1st, 4th and 3rd out of over 200 teams, which I’m pretty proud of 🙂

Reserve Grand Champion!

1st Place Ribs!

The Beginning of the Year

Contests No Responses »

Mar 142010

It has been a rather unremarkable competition year for me to date. The only contest that I was satisfied with my results was the one in Sebring, where I finished Reserve Grand Champ with a 1st in Ribs. The weather at awards was brutally cold, in the low 30’s with a damp north blow. That was my first contest of the year, and it has been a challenge ever since.

Following that we had the FBA “Celebrate Last Year” party which was fun. The whole team came along and we had a great time in Lake City, where we received the coveted FBA Team of the Year award for the second year in a row. This is a very tough award to win, as it takes a lot of time and commitment to be able to cook enough contests, and do well enough in them to win. While it would be nice to take aim at a third TOTY in 2010, I’m not sure I’m up for it. I missed out on a lot of family stuff in 2009, which I don’t want to do again. There will always be more bbq contests, but you only get one chance with your children. Good luck to you guys!