We are competing this week in a Memphis Barbeque Network (MBN) event in Gainesville, Georgia in the professional category. This is a first for our team on many fronts. First of all, the MBN requires on-site judging with 3 visits per category. Therefore, because we are entered in 3 categories (Whole Hog, Shoulder, Ribs), we will have to make 9 presentations during the course of about 4 hours on Saturday morning.
This was supposed to be a warm up event because we have decided to compete at The Big Pig Jig in Vienna, Georgia in the fall. The Pig Jig is a super bowl of sorts with many teams from all over the country coming in to compete. Originally, we decided to just enter the Shoulder and Ribs category, figuring we were not skilled or capable of producing a Whole Hog worthy of competition.
We recently catered an open house at Brantleys Assisted Living, our Milledgeville community, and we prepared a whole hog. We had a great time, learned a ton and produced a decent product. Todd and I, sometime in the middle of the night or early morning hours, questioned why we shouldn’t compete with the pig in Gainesville. After all, we have always been “all in” guys. We have never ever backed away from anything. Why should this be any different.
We used the theme for our Las Vegas meeting with our Executive Directors of “Think Big Things” and, as good examples, decided to practice what we preach. We also planned to participate in the event figuring even if we finished last that we would gain experience and we were cool with that. Well, we don’t roll that way either. We compete to win no matter what we do and if we don’t finish in the money you can count on some discouraged folks when the day is done.
As if all that isn’t enough pressure, when I informed the event promoter that we wanted to enter the whole hog category he asked if we would consider taking the site right next to reigning world BBQ champion, Melissa Cookson and Yazoo Delta Q. I told him absolutely we would take the spot. We are fans of hers and, if you had to take a butt whipping, you might as well have the world champ as your neighbor.
So, no pressure, right? Absolutely, we think we can compete and we think we can win and as long as we continue to Think Big Things, we will always be champions and so will you.
Wish us luck – we need it.
