Latest / BBQ Therapy / Kell Phelps — BBQ News Magazine / NBBQA | Hot off the BBQ Press

Transcript

Kell Phelps — BBQ News Magazine / NBBQA | Hot off the BBQ Press · BBQ Therapy

0:00
We're not journalists, but but this is BBQ.
0:03
What kind of journalism are people going to be looking for
0:06
anyway? That's where they they actually
0:09
said, you know what, we're going to put the events out and we're
0:12
going to comb through every Ave. we can to find every event, BBQ
0:19
event in the country. And we're going to list it in
0:22
the back and that'll be the back, but that'll be the premier
0:25
source of BBQ events. And that's what it started out
0:29
as. And to this day that is still
0:33
the number one looked at thing that we have on the website and
0:37
in the magazine is a Viet calendar from all the different
0:41
associations across the country. Yeah, how many pages was the
0:45
first issue? Oh, I had to go back and look, I
0:49
think 8, it was 8 pages, but it was like a tabloid.
0:54
So it was, it was quarterfolded, I think quarterfolded, but it
0:58
was almost like a tabloid bar. Go Ham, BBQ, BBQ, BBQ, BBQ, BBQ.
1:09
Ever notice how the sound of sizzling meat and the smell of
1:12
smoke can silence the noise of the world?
1:14
Now that's BBQ therapy. If the fire moves you, like
1:19
subscribe, share and help spread the message because growth, like
1:23
good BBQ, takes time and patience.
1:26
Welcome to your therapy session. Welcome to the BBQ Therapy
1:31
podcast. My name is Tavis Bryant and
1:34
joining me tonight we're sitting down with a true storyteller of
1:38
smoke, KL Phelps, the man behind National BBQ News, and the
1:42
leadership team at NBBQA. From legacy to leadership, this
1:47
episode is packed with history, insight and vision for the
1:51
future of BBQ. I want to say welcome to the
1:54
show. I got one rule.
1:55
Make yourself at home, speak freely.
1:58
Hey, no sponsors. Hey, listen, man, you just have
2:02
to do it when you say speak freely, man.
2:04
The Southern slang, they really get going here for long.
2:07
If you long as you can put up with that, we'll be all right.
2:09
We're in the same states. Yeah, that's it.
2:13
That's it. Starting off, let's take it all
2:15
the way back to when you were little.
2:18
What was life growing up around? Were y'all barbecuing when you
2:22
were little or how did that come about?
2:24
Was your family seen dealing with BBQ?
2:28
Yeah, man. So we always had a grill of some
2:31
sort, but it really, we really got serious.
2:34
My dad's best friend was dentist and his name was Doc Gillis here
2:40
in town and they were Fishman a bunch.
2:44
They would go River Creek fishing, but they, our families
2:48
would cook together so we would have weekend get togethers or
2:52
whatever. And Don Gillis, he was the cook,
2:55
you know, Buddy, between him and his wife, Miss Francis Man, they
3:00
cooked a bunch. They had four kids, five kids,
3:05
so they were always cooking large amounts, but they're the
3:10
ones that really kind of got us into the BBQ world.
3:14
The Big Pig Jig is about an hour from me.
3:17
And in their heyday, late 80s, maybe middle eighties, 8586,
3:24
they started having regional events around.
3:27
So they brought an event here in Douglas, GA, and that was where
3:34
Doc and his bunch signed up, said yeah, we're going to do
3:39
this. So Daddy said, yeah, man, He
3:40
said, we'll sponsor to the shopping guide that we've got
3:45
here in town. We'll be sponsored.
3:46
Just let us know we'll buy meat and all that and then and we'll
3:50
go from there. But we got to go out and eat
3:53
some of that food and that was the first time we had really eat
3:56
his real good ribs and pork butt.
4:01
Man, it was unreal. So they won the stupid day and
4:05
about 20 teams. So they got the invite to go to
4:08
Vienna to the pig jig. I think they finished, they got
4:12
a 8th or 9th place call or something and man, it was like a
4:17
big old bass on the lunk of Lure.
4:19
They were good. So that's that's how we all got
4:23
started in the BBQ world, man. OK, and what did they, what
4:28
meats did each of them cook? Which ones did your dad cook and
4:30
which ones did he cook? So once we got going and really
4:36
started competing, Daddy was my dad was a nightmare.
4:39
They all kind of helped season it and use Doc Gillis's recipes
4:44
and in the offseason we'd all get together man and we'd tweak
4:48
and we may cook 5 or 6 weeks in a row tweaking the recipe, but
4:54
that me and dad, I would when what few times I would go with
4:58
those guys. I was busy playing ball.
5:01
I played basketball, baseball, tried to play football for a
5:05
little while, but just some of all of it.
5:07
So I was wide open. But the ones close by the pig
5:11
jig, there was maybe one in a Dale, Georgia down in Valdosta.
5:16
The close ones I'd try to make and get to go with them.
5:19
But we were the night men. We would stand up.
5:22
We would stay up and feed the smoker with wood and keep
5:26
temperatures right and try to clean the place up.
5:29
This was KCBS was just getting started, so most of their events
5:34
were still in Kansas City area. So everything was Memphis in
5:38
May. It was Memphis in May had the
5:40
network and it was called the Memphis in May Sanction Contest
5:44
Network. Now it's known as the Memphis
5:46
BBQ Network, but you used to have to win your way into
5:51
Memphis in May for the world championship and that was part
5:55
of that part of their sale for local regional events was the
5:59
winner got a shot to come to Memphis for world championship.
6:03
But since then, and there's nothing wrong, it's just with
6:08
the way things are now, it's just changed.
6:10
It went away. Some of the indeed probably
6:13
early 2000s things started changing with how Memphis and
6:19
May was run, and it just changed and went away.
6:22
And they did away with the sanction network.
6:25
And then thank goodness there was a good group from Memphis
6:29
that took up and took a lot of those events on.
6:33
And it kept having those regional events and it gave a
6:36
lot of communities the chance to still have a BBQ contest without
6:41
having to try to make up rules on their own and have a non
6:44
sanction deal. So.
6:46
And back then winning your way in, did they have the same
6:49
amount of teams in Memphis and May or was it like a smaller
6:53
amount of teams that could? No, it was a large amount.
6:57
I want to say probably Memphis and May 1st time I went, I'm
7:02
guessing there was probably 350 teams there at Tom Lee Park.
7:09
So wow. And.
7:11
What year was your first year you went to?
7:14
The oh man, that would have been 8089 or 90.
7:20
I graduated high school in 89, so I probably didn't go that
7:23
year. That was one of the things that
7:26
always was hard about Memphis in May was always right around
7:29
graduation time. And so I was probably my first
7:33
year out of high school was when I went and I think they got a
7:38
couple of calls, I don't remember sausage or something.
7:41
And then I think they were cooking shoulders and they
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probably got a 7th, 8th place call.
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But that was right before BBQ News started in 1990.
7:50
So, so Tom Lee Park, they've been having it all the time.
7:53
They've been having it there since until recent.
7:57
Yeah, Tom Lee Park was where it first started.
7:59
Actually, it was up the, I believe the first year.
8:03
I'd have to check with Artie Davis.
8:05
He's the if you ever get a chance man.
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He is the BBQ historian on anything competition world.
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But the first year I think they might have actually had it up on
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Beale Street. Maybe that little stretch there
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on the and my directions are terrible, but I think the would
8:24
be the South end of Beale Street, maybe closest down there
8:28
to where the River Park is now. But then they're probably, I
8:32
think they only have maybe 8 or 12 teams.
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I think Mr. Willingham was probably one of the first ones
8:38
there. But that was the humble
8:40
beginnings, man, from what it used to be and what it is now,
8:44
still today. Oh yeah, yeah.
8:46
And Speaking of Willingham, I go up to the big shanty.
8:53
Yeah, man, I'm jealous. I got to get there.
8:55
It's good. They've been hitting me up
8:57
several times. And we're taking a trip up to
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Nashville here coming next week, I think going to do some site
9:03
visiting for a new conference playing in 26 and they're
9:09
planning to stop by there on the way up there, hopefully.
9:12
Yeah, it is good. Yeah, it's good, definitely.
9:15
Good. No doubt that bunch is.
9:17
They've been doing it a long time, so they don't have any
9:20
excuse not to do. It they invited me into the 10th
9:23
for Memphis and make I took my wife with the Memphis and May
9:26
who was in there with them and they were very hospitable to us.
9:30
So I definitely appreciate. Oh man, I hear you.
9:33
So then you got to hang out with Harry Sue then for a little bit.
9:37
That's How I Met him and I was able to get him on for an
9:40
episode because I met him. OK, Yeah, yeah, love them guys,
9:46
man. Those guys are those guys are
9:48
old, almost as old school as me. But now, yeah, we start talking
9:51
about Willingham, that that really is old school there, no
9:55
doubt. Take us back to How did I guess
9:59
the magazine? What led up to the magazine?
10:02
I guess in preparation, did someone come to your father and
10:06
doc or they just decided to do it?
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Did they have any journalism background or anything like
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that? Not really man, my mom actually
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had no journalism and it was just advertising is what got her
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into the shopping guide. But man, the Lord bless you so
10:24
good. We were printing our own little
10:27
paper and printing other people's papers and helping them
10:30
get going with their little shopping guides in different
10:33
towns around. And but we as they got going to
10:37
the BBQ world, there was nothing to tell people what was
10:42
happening. Competitions were growing.
10:45
KCBS was taking a hold then and actually starting to grow pretty
10:50
good bit there and they decided that it was probably honestly
10:56
the kids, us kids started getting a little older.
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Docs, his big bunch was really a little bit older than me.
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I was the baby almost of the whole bunch.
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So when I once I graduated high school and got they, they wanted
11:10
a lot of people to go with them and help them set up.
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And it was it was a work of art, man.
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We built this front of a log cabin and it was all folded up
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on a flatbed trailer, but we had kitchen sinks and all that right
11:25
behind the front. And that's what we did on site
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judging and all that. But I think that's probably what
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caused most of it. But they just didn't have
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anybody to go with them, much younger guys to help them set up
11:39
and do. Everybody was getting college,
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what's going on, schooling, what's going on, working, what's
11:45
going on for others. And so they just decided they
11:49
were going to judge a little bit, but they really wanted to
11:52
do a newsletter of some sort. And that's where Doc Gillis and
11:56
dad just said, hey, are we crazy not to do this?
12:00
We're not journalists, but but this is BBQ.
12:03
What kind of journalism are people going to be looking for
12:07
anyway? That's where they they actually
12:09
said, you know what, we're going to put the events out and we're
12:13
going to comb through every Ave. we can to find every event, BBQ
12:19
event in the country. And we're going to list it in
12:22
the back and that'll be the back.
12:24
But that'll be the premier source of BBQ events.
12:28
And that's what it started out as.
12:30
And to this day that is still the number one looked at thing
12:35
that we have on the website and in the magazine is being a
12:39
calendar from all the different associations across the country.
12:43
Yeah, how many pages was the 1st issue?
12:48
Oh, I had to go back and look, I think 8, it was 8 pages, but it
12:53
was like a tabloid. So it was, it was quarterfolded,
12:56
I think quarterfolded, but it was almost like a tabloid.
13:00
It's undergone 3 changes. It started out as like a small
13:04
newspaper tabloid. And then in late, I believe
13:09
9596, we started making it our true tabloid, which was a little
13:15
bit bigger than the National Enquirer, like you used to see
13:19
on the newsstand or whatever. It's a little bit bigger than
13:21
that. But it had no fold to it.
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And then we changed it to a full magazine in I think 2000 and
13:31
12:13 somewhere around there. We just went and.
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Back then and if y'all want to see it it's on Instagram.
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The very first issue look at the BBQ news Instagram.
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They had a picture of it on there.
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If y'all want to look at it it was amusing.
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I love that y'all posted it like that just to see the very first
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issue like that. So launching the.
13:54
Magazine. Yeah, man.
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Was it smooth sailing when it first came out and printing
13:58
everything or were there hurdles getting their printing and stuff
14:02
like that? Not really, because we own their
14:06
own print press and all that. It gave us a little bit longer
14:09
to work on the issues and stuff. But our biggest goal then
14:13
obstacle was trying to make sure we sourced correct information.
14:20
We knew about events that happened the year before, but
14:23
trying to find telephone numbers, contact information of
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the people who actually run those events was fairly hard.
14:32
We spent a good amount of time tracking that information down.
14:37
Let me back up. They spent a good time tracking
14:40
that down. I was in the background.
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I was the one running the print press.
14:44
Even though I'd hear about their Fiasco's and wild, wild events
14:48
they would go to, how much fun it was and all that.
14:51
I was there working on the weekends printing newspapers for
14:54
other people, but I always printed the BBQ news since it
14:58
started. And to put it in perspective, so
15:00
because people, the younger people don't know, there was no
15:04
Internet, there was no cell phones, so.
15:09
No, they were. I think there might have been
15:12
the bag phone might have been just now surfacing about 1991,
15:17
something like that. You could, I don't know, check
15:20
out James Bond, some of the Doji Bond movies.
15:23
You see what I'm talking? About because my first one, he
15:26
said. I graduated in 94, so my first
15:29
one was a little blue Nokia phone where you had to get
15:32
minutes, pay for the minutes on there.
15:34
And they don't know that texting wasn't free.
15:37
Texting wasn't free and it wasn't unlimited.
15:39
So back in the payphone. That's the reason.
15:45
Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah, man, you didn't
15:48
show up late. My kids caught me all the time.
15:51
Damn. Caught by the train.
15:53
And I think I'm going to be a few minutes late.
15:55
And I know, Daddy, you couldn't call from the car, tell them you
16:00
were going to be late. You just got a tail whooping
16:01
when you got there. So when you officially stepped
16:04
in the family business when you were working back then, did you
16:06
have any plan to do anything else or did you always want to
16:10
be working with the magazine? Man be honest with you, being a
16:15
printer was a dying breed. I it just was not a very, My
16:20
town was like 10,000 population, so it's not a real big town, but
16:24
it was only two or three of us that had ever run printing
16:28
presses and I was raised up around it.
16:30
I started catching papers and straighten them and putting
16:36
bundling that what we call bundle.
16:38
It was a string tire that would put a piece of string around it
16:42
and tie a knot on it. The old school man, that was
16:45
where I started from the very beginning.
16:48
But I learned differently. Even when I was in school.
16:51
I was not a Wiz kid at all. I played a bunch of ball, I said
16:55
earlier, but it was a struggle for me to keep the grades up.
16:59
But to read a book and go learn something.
17:02
I did not do that very well. But now if I could see somebody
17:06
do it. And that was probably why I
17:10
excelled at athletics better than school was.
17:14
They would hands on show you this is the way you throw, this
17:17
is the way you swing or this is the way you run, you know.
17:22
So being able to see that same thing, printing newspapers, I
17:26
could see what was causing things to happen and what needed
17:31
to be fixed so that didn't happen and get into trouble.
17:34
But learning that, I don't know. I just learned differently.
17:38
I don't back in the day it was probably considered a disability
17:43
and not being able to focus or whatever.
17:45
Now they call it ADHD or there's 14 different issues with a with
17:51
learning things now. But if they'd had YouTube back
17:55
then, man, I probably would have been a Wiz kid because I could
17:59
have probably saw it a little better.
18:01
But thankful I had some really good teachers who understood
18:05
that saw me struggle with the book method and they would take
18:09
me under the wing and really show me step by step what to do.
18:14
I got out of school and got the got to play ball all through
18:17
school and all that. But the printing press, I really
18:21
learned that from watching and learning.
18:24
That was where all that come about.
18:26
But first started on the magazine or whatever.
18:30
But the but BBQ news that was that was something totally
18:34
different from anything that was out in the BBQ world for sure.
18:39
Kansas City started their what was called the bull sheet back
18:43
then and I think they still do it now on a digital basis.
18:46
But we actually got the opportunity to print it when it
18:49
first started for a couple of years, two or three years.
18:52
And we would ship it, print it and ship it back up there to
18:56
them for I wish. They.
18:58
Still did, but early on to say I was thinking about what I was
19:05
going to do and stay toward the BBQ world, man, I would.
19:10
I fell in love with drag racing and race cars when I was about
19:14
2021 and we worked on the weekends.
19:18
So that made it hard to go racing a bunch.
19:21
Made it hard to go barbecuing with the guys.
19:23
So Daddy and Doc would be also. We were their security blanket
19:28
because we were taking care of work business on that end at
19:32
home while they were going off and doing.
19:35
But we I met and kept up with all their friends through the
19:39
magazine or whatever. And then they would travel
19:41
through. They would stop in and see if so
19:43
I'd get to meet them. But Fast forward 1998, mom and
19:50
dad sold their newspaper, the little shopping guide newspaper
19:55
to about lost the Daily Times down here, a regional group was
19:59
growing and they were buying up some papers.
20:02
So I was the five year contract that stayed on with that group.
20:08
And after about three years, I had enough time on that contract
20:15
that I fulfilled five years. Man, I just I hated it.
20:19
I turned into a. To a number versus it's hard
20:23
coming from a mom and pop own shop where you get Christmas
20:27
presents you get you might have got a Christmas bonus, but they
20:30
didn't care you were supposed to be at work the next day or if it
20:34
something needed to be happening.
20:35
It was Christmas Day. They called, you know, and so
20:39
that was had a wreck after a 30 some hour shift fell asleep on
20:43
the way home and I had a wreck. And that's when I decided, man,
20:48
I got to do something different. And Daddy and Doc were they were
20:52
had already bought. Both of them had little trailers
20:55
down at the river about 40 miles away, and they were looking at
21:00
maybe even selling the BBQ news, but they wanted to go fishing
21:03
all the time. And they they said, man, I think
21:07
you'll be all right with that. And then my dad said, I don't
21:09
think you'll get rich. He said, but if you go hungry,
21:12
it's gonna be your own fault. And so I thought about that
21:16
thing. I said, I tell you what, I'll go
21:17
to the bank Monday and I'll take my little business plan.
21:22
And if they loan me the money and I don't have to borrow it
21:25
from you guys, then I'll go that route.
21:29
I'll do it. And sure enough, about 15
21:32
minutes bank guy come back and he said, Yep, he said we're
21:37
going to loan you that money and set it up on a, I don't remember
21:40
a 12 year note or something like that, but made it so that it was
21:44
a little more affordable than what we had originally planned.
21:49
And I called Val Austin, I said I can give you 2 weeks or you
21:53
can go ahead and fire me now. And so that's how I got into the
21:59
BBQ news position there. OK, OK.
22:03
And at the time, were you married or have you met your
22:07
wife yet then? Yeah, so I was married, had two
22:12
kids, had my baby girl, matter of fact was just born.
22:16
She was a newborn at that age when I had the wreck or
22:19
whatever. And Fast forward a couple of
22:22
years after that, we got divorced, things happened or
22:27
whatever. But but thank goodness I got
22:29
Miss Janet and we're all fit. Exactly what I needed.
22:32
And now she's she's my right hand for sure, without a doubt.
22:36
But but yeah, two kids, my baby girl just celebrated a birthday
22:42
on Friday, Saturday, I'm sorry, 26, and that's 23 years old now.
22:48
And my son is up in Perry, GA. He's between us, I think you up
22:54
north Georgia, up there, up in, in the Atlanta area.
22:57
So he's down in Perry, GA, which is halfway between, Yeah, where
23:01
you guys and we are. But he's, he's doing good.
23:04
He's married and doing his own thing up there.
23:07
But neither one of them, they grew up barbecuing around, going
23:11
to events and doing the whole thing.
23:15
But they love to eat it and they can't cook it.
23:18
But I have really no desire to be in the business side of it
23:22
because they see how much time and effort goes into it.
23:26
A lot of time you get caught up in helping us about somebody
23:30
else instead of helping yourself.
23:31
But that's just the way we roll. But I wouldn't trade it for
23:35
nothing else for sure. Yeah, that's definitely good.
23:38
Yeah, I have a nine year old and a 15 month old, so.
23:46
You just starting out then my man.
23:48
Yeah, and she was 49, but I had her at 48, so I got a ways to
23:53
go. OK, listen, they'll keep you
23:58
young, man. That's the one thing I did
23:59
learn. They will keep you young.
24:01
That's. A great experience.
24:02
I wouldn't trade it for that in the world.
24:04
So I see they they named the street after y'all down there
24:08
Belt throat. Oh, yeah, yeah.
24:10
So our Rd. that we live on, Yeah, yeah.
24:13
That's kind of what happens when you work at the newspaper before
24:17
911 and you start talking about the young ones.
24:20
They surely don't remember none of that but 911 come to town and
24:25
that they voted on it and that's system that the county was going
24:29
to start running and they had to put a name on every Rd. and no
24:35
more. I think it was County Road 378
24:38
or something like that for years.
24:40
And so it had to have a name and all you had to do is fill out a
24:44
form and a petition. And if there was more than one
24:49
name petition then they would call up the neighbors and they
24:53
would vote on what name they wanted.
24:56
And that's luckily nobody else put the name in for the road.
25:01
And that's where we live on the dead end at Phelps Rd. down here
25:05
in Douglas, GA Oh, that's. Cool, so y'all been in Douglas
25:08
your whole life? You've been in Douglas.
25:12
I was actually born in Tifton, GA and we moved to Douglas when
25:15
I was about 6 months old. Yes, Sir.
25:18
Oh wow, and from what I see that look like it's the trailer
25:21
capital of the world. Hey down there.
25:25
I guarantee you if you if you got some type of enclosed
25:28
trailer pulling or know of somebody, if you go look at the
25:32
tag, it's going to either be Coffee County or Axon County and
25:37
there's probably 100 or so of those facilities, but in 30
25:42
miles of my house name. So absolutely.
25:45
Because I was looking, I'm eventually going to get a
25:48
trailer so I can start competing once my daughter get older, but
25:51
I know I'm going to have to go down there and visit one of
25:55
those trailer places. Yeah, man, give me a call
26:00
because make sure you hit a good one because there's something
26:03
that we see them broke down beside the road before they have
26:06
county a couple of times and then boys are shortcut now,
26:09
especially now that there's competition so tight.
26:13
Everybody's trying to cut the dollar it it's not bad, but
26:17
there are a few that are. They're kind of rough.
26:20
That's wild that all of them came to one place like that.
26:26
If you go back, we're talking about old school, but if you go
26:28
back into 70s, early 70s, mid 70s here in Douglas, we built a
26:34
lot of mobile homes here and a lot of those plants are old
26:38
mobile home plants. But that was that was what we
26:43
used to do. I don't know Fleetwood.
26:46
I can't tell you how many plants they had at one time.
26:49
And I think they're, I have two plants here now, maybe 3 in the
26:54
in coffee in Axon County. But there was a lot of
26:58
independently owned mobile homes being made here for a lot of
27:03
years. That's where that all come from,
27:07
no doubt. The people that talk out for
27:09
writing articles, how did y'all go about gathering them together
27:13
for the magazine? A lot of luck, really over the
27:18
years, man. We've had a ton of really great
27:23
contributors. And the thing we talked about
27:27
earlier wasn't about journalism because what we it's the
27:31
funniest thing in the world. We don't want nothing to do with
27:34
journalism or correct grammar or whatever.
27:37
We get called out a bunch about that over the years, and that's
27:41
OK. That's kind of what we are.
27:44
We're just. Down Home BBQ magazine, trying
27:47
to help somebody have a better experience and we do that
27:51
through the contributors and a lot of them are competitors or
27:56
some of them may be business owners with small businesses or
28:00
whatever, but maybe judges somehow tied into the BBQ world.
28:06
But we just as we went around folks show with showing
28:10
interest. Hey man, I think I might want to
28:12
try that. And we never that I know of,
28:16
we've never turned away any type of contributor over the years.
28:21
Sometimes it's hard because it's a monthly, it comes due every
28:26
month and it becomes a chore. It's about serving up good food.
28:31
If you're on the cul-de-sac in your neighborhood and you giving
28:35
away free food every football game, it don't matter if it may
28:39
not be super good, but it's free.
28:42
They're going to keep coming, right?
28:43
Yeah. So same way with contributors.
28:48
Sometimes the information ain't super good or whatever, but man,
28:52
we're trying to fix it up, make it as readable as possible.
28:57
But somebody's eating that up. Somebody's learning from what
29:01
they're sharing and they're telling them about it, man.
29:04
I saw your article in there about the Pats of butter and
29:08
make sure and use unsalted butter or whatever the tip was.
29:12
And that's just as good as feeding them a free meal because
29:16
it just keeps them coming and it gets them excited about writing
29:19
the next article. A lot of contributors are
29:24
basically just like us, man. They just want to help somehow,
29:27
someway, somebody have a better experience in their BBQ journey
29:32
for sure. Who's wrote the longest?
29:34
Once one contribute the longest. Oh wow, My mom, bless her heart,
29:40
she still writes at 83, she still helps us out, and she
29:44
writes some articles. So without a doubt, she's been
29:47
there since the very beginning in some form or fashion and
29:51
maybe not continually, but without a doubt she's been there
29:55
the longest. And then you got Dana Hillis
29:58
down in Florida. He's been there since I was, I
30:01
got those guys when they Florida BBQ Association just started and
30:07
we were there official publication for a while and Dana
30:11
was volunteered by, he was on the board of directors.
30:17
And so he wrote his, he started writing articles about what he
30:21
was doing in events. Even after he like got off the
30:25
board and we weren't the, they went a different way with
30:29
digital newsletters and stuff. He, he's still hung in there
30:33
with us and so he's probably the second longest going with us for
30:38
sure. That's good.
30:39
And we're going to switch over to the Rubs of Honor and the
30:43
Sauces of Honor. A 15th year this year, correct?
30:49
Yes, Sir. How did that concept come about
30:51
when you all started doing that? It was really from several
30:55
different rub and sauce makers and we started with the sauces
30:59
first before doing the rug. We did this sauce I think a
31:03
couple of years, but all these other sauce events, they base it
31:07
off of different categories by what base is in the sauce,
31:13
whether it's vinegar base or fruit based or whatever.
31:17
But there was nothing really that garnered or crowned the
31:24
best sauce for a potential a particular whether it's chicken,
31:28
beef, pork, seafood that we do it.
31:31
And so that was that made it a whole lot simpler for people to
31:36
understand what they were buying from a promotional standpoint.
31:42
But it also it gave people an opportunity to try different
31:47
sauces because we did not limit it to marketing or commercial
31:53
sauces. So if you were competing or
31:56
looking at trying a sauce that you think may actually potential
32:01
go into the market, that was the whole concept behind the sauces
32:06
and rubs of honor. So do y'all receive some like in
32:09
a Mesa dryer with? Yes, Sir, we sure do.
32:13
Matter of fact, in the rules, we actually tell you how to seal
32:16
it. You make sure and pour it in
32:18
there hot and make sure that the jar seals tight on the sauce and
32:23
keep it from spoiling. So yeah, absolutely.
32:27
That's cool. Yeah, people allowed the
32:29
certificates, but they'd be bragging as soon as they get a
32:31
certificate. I got second place.
32:33
I got first place. But that's that's kind of good
32:38
for us when they start bragging like that.
32:40
But but also it gives them some credibility because golly, I'm
32:45
not sure, but I think last year we had the largest BBQ sauce
32:49
contest there ever in the world. We had we had over 600 entries.
32:54
I want to say 700 entries. I'd go check with Janet numbers
32:59
and names. It's not my thing, so I
33:01
apologize about that. But we're looking at this year,
33:04
maybe trying to contact Guinness and see if they'll come down and
33:08
verify as we go and do it. But it just gives people a huge
33:14
opportunity to try and see how they rank up against other
33:20
products, whether they're commercial already or homemade.
33:24
Our judges give feedback. I don't know how much longer we
33:28
can do that. Sometimes it's taken 2 1/2 weeks
33:30
now to get all those comments transferred to an e-mail and get
33:35
back to them. But we've we have always let the
33:40
judges write comments on the sauces or rubs that they judge
33:44
and then we send them back to the people.
33:46
They're the only ones that see it almost like a comment card in
33:50
the BBQ world. But we've done that since the
33:53
beginning and that seems to be a huge plus.
33:57
People love getting those comments to see what what people
34:01
think. Yeah, that's a good idea that
34:04
y'all came up with and the concept doing it is going to
34:08
meet versus the base. That's an excellent idea too,
34:12
because it's different and a lot of people's stuff is versatile.
34:16
So it it works on they can win different categories and have
34:21
the same sauce. So that's definitely good.
34:24
OK, OK. Yeah, absolutely, ma'am.
34:27
All right. We're going to switch over to
34:28
the NBBQA. Could you give us a rundown of
34:32
how that got started and what was it geared towards for the
34:36
BBQ community? Yeah, absolutely.
34:39
So National Barbecue and Grilling Association started in
34:43
in 1991 and daddy and my dad, Joe Phelps and Doc Gillis, they
34:49
were both founding members and helped get that thing started.
34:54
But it was geared toward the business side of BBQ, whether
34:57
whether you had a restaurant, whether you were catering, if
35:00
you had a sauce and rub, if you were manufacturer, That was what
35:05
that organization was for, was to be a Trade Organization.
35:09
And that's how it kicked off. Had some rough beginnings, man.
35:14
One of the first guys that first president made his first meeting
35:19
and never saw or heard from him again.
35:23
He they went through the trouble and setting up a nonprofit and a
35:28
lot of work. It's even back then it was a lot
35:31
of work to set those things up. But I got it started and that
35:36
was it. And it was up to the board
35:39
members to take it over and thankful there were some good
35:43
ones. And the first trade show and
35:46
conference was held in Las Vegas in 1992, I believe might have
35:52
been the end of 91. I had to go back check.
35:54
But good thing is with the magazine, we've got all that
35:57
documented. We've actually got a pretty good
36:00
library. All those issues are bound in
36:03
the big books. And so we get ready to go back
36:07
and look something up. It takes us a little while, but
36:09
we've got it. And like we were talking about
36:12
before, that's why we love the, we love the print stuff because
36:16
you can go back, it's there forever.
36:17
It's not so hard to find. But the digital stuff, it, it
36:21
might get changed 3 or 4 times before you go back and see what
36:26
you thought you saw back in the day.
36:30
But anyway, all that's documented in the BBQ news and
36:34
in the there, but that's how we got started and got going and
36:37
just the cool deal man thing is helped a lot of people in the
36:42
business world. And I cannot say enough about
36:47
some of the heroes that jumped in and worked so hard tirelessly
36:53
on that with that organization. I think about Mike Mills.
36:59
I cannot even begin to think about how many hours that he
37:06
mentored help people, whether with advice or invited him up to
37:11
his place in Murfreesboro, Illinois to work with him side
37:15
by side and the man. There's a ton of people I think
37:20
about famous Dave, same thing man as always gave helping hand
37:25
and whatever sweet baby Ray, Linda Orson.
37:30
Those guys have tremendous stories of their own.
37:35
But I feel like their legacy really and truly is going to be
37:40
how many people they helped when when they get ready to hang up
37:43
there cooking aprons or when their time here is done.
37:48
I really feel like their legacy is going to be looked upon as
37:52
how many people they helped in the BBQ world.
37:55
And for me, that's all I ever want to do, is help somebody
38:00
some way, some form of fashion. But man, I sure had some pretty
38:04
good mentors come down that path many years ago, and then those
38:09
guys leading the way and showing us how to do it for sure.
38:12
Yeah, it's a definitely a good feeling when you have people
38:15
believing in you, especially the people that you looked up to.
38:19
And if you would never think that you run into or meet and
38:23
you like, man, I can't believe this person is helping me, this
38:26
person helping me and, and teaching me and giving me
38:29
knowledge is like never. I never think I'd be sitting
38:33
here talking to you or some of the other people that, but it's
38:39
all about somebody just seeing the potential in you and
38:42
investing in you. And that's what I, that's why I
38:45
do it just to help people, encourage people to hear other
38:48
people's stories. They can get motivated and step
38:51
out there to do whatever the guy called him to do so.
38:56
It's definitely nice thing. That y'all got it put together
38:59
and it's great to see the people investing in it and helping
39:02
y'all bring it forth. So it's definitely a good thing.
39:06
When you and Janet took over as manager partners in 2022, did
39:10
y'all make any changes or shifted erection or what did
39:14
y'all do when y'all stepped in? Yeah, a little bit, man.
39:18
I tell you, that was a tough deal.
39:20
COVID had about closed down what the normal association was and
39:27
that the yearly conference was the biggest fundraiser that the
39:32
association had that basically one year event would keep it
39:37
running for the whole year. And so when COVID come, there
39:42
was a couple of years they didn't actually have a
39:44
conference. It was a year they had one
39:46
planned deposits, paid the whole 9 yards and then couldn't have
39:51
the event. And so you know, when what they
39:56
come and ask us, hey, listen, everybody's doing their own job.
40:00
And I understand that when you get when you get to that point
40:04
where you're trying to survive and keep a business going, but
40:09
yet you are elected to a board on another, another deal.
40:13
So trying to keep that afloat as well, it can be very
40:17
challenging. We sit down and they, we talked
40:21
about it two or three times and then we, we basically went back
40:25
to same thing. I just, we just talked about all
40:27
those people who had gone before us helping and showing the way.
40:32
We're like, man, we called two or three, four of them up and I
40:37
told them what we were thinking about doing and what had been
40:41
presented for us to do. And every one of them said, man,
40:46
I don't know that I would do it, but we think you'd probably be
40:50
the right people to do it. And if anybody can make it
40:53
succeed, it would be you. So with that pat on the back,
40:57
it's almost like a going out there with a no hitter going and
41:02
pull you in from the bench and slap you on the butt.
41:04
Go get you a hit, man, Go get it.
41:06
Basically what we changed up, you ask about changes.
41:10
We turned it as we purchased it or transferred it.
41:14
However, we took it from a nonprofit where it was run by a
41:18
board of to a for profit business where we wouldn't be
41:24
under that constant roller coaster of a board that was
41:29
ready to work and serve and go at it.
41:32
Versus having a steady stream of ambassadors and people who were
41:39
leading us, guiding us as to what they thought.
41:42
And we even looked at setting it up as a nonprofit where it was
41:47
an appointed board where we could appoint the board that we
41:51
wanted. And the way it was actually set
41:56
up before it had to be dissolved and reset back up and in the
42:02
state of Georgia would probably have been frowned upon for us to
42:06
try to set up a nonprofit in that manner with a different set
42:12
up from what was originally the association was made on.
42:15
That's basically the reason why we did it.
42:19
But we made the change was it was just easier for us.
42:23
Is it just to run through the old time process, pick up the
42:28
phone, call these guys. Hey, tell me what you want to
42:31
see at the conference. Matter of fact, we just got done
42:34
with Thursday night. We had the, I believe it was
42:37
Thursday night, might have been Wednesday night.
42:40
We got done with the very first planning conference call for the
42:44
new conference coming be the 35th anniversary happening.
42:48
We're looking now at planning that event.
42:51
So if you're an MEBQA member, man, we want to hear from you.
42:55
That's we're here for you. It's your association.
42:58
And we're just like always, we're taking advice from what
43:02
members want to see, what they, how they benefit the most.
43:07
And some other changes are some of the live fire experience
43:10
events we're doing now. We're showcasing our members,
43:13
putting them out front and hopefully in some public events,
43:17
we're partnering up with other events to make this happen,
43:21
maybe looking at doing our own event or two coming up in the
43:27
future. Biggest thing there is the
43:30
volunteer help. A lot of times when you got a a
43:32
nonprofit association, you may have 30 or 40 volunteers open up
43:37
in an event like that. But with the fall off from where
43:40
we haven't built it back yet, I think we're about 400 members,
43:44
but we're looking now at building that back up as well.
43:47
And so trying to sell tickets and do all the things to do your
43:52
own event is way more difficult than just plugging in with a
43:57
already successful event, maybe like the American role or
44:01
whatever. And we'll definitely be doing
44:03
that again this year for sure. And yeah, yeah, I saw y'all this
44:07
smoke slam that the setup was excellent, food was excellent.
44:13
Me and my wife enjoyed it. You're right, people don't know.
44:17
It wasn't no, just hear a little bit just the taste that they was
44:22
feeding folks out there. They were feeding folks out
44:26
there and it was a lot of people there.
44:30
Absolutely, man. I tell you, when they approached
44:33
us about bringing the live fire thing to, to smoke slam, we were
44:40
beyond excited, man 'cause this live fire thing is really taking
44:45
off and not everybody can do it, man.
44:49
I'll be honest with you, it is it's a hard, it's a hard process
44:54
to learn because there's so many.
44:56
Every element, whether it's wind or wood or charcoal flame,
45:02
you've really got to be on your PS and QS to make sure you don't
45:06
ruin a piece of meat. But I will say this, when it's
45:10
done cooking that way over the live fire deal, you will never
45:15
be able to duplicate that flavor profile in any form or fashion.
45:20
And I think that's what amazes people when they get an
45:24
opportunity to get up out of that, they're like, Oh my gosh,
45:27
different, This is different. That was the way the Cavemen did
45:30
it back in the day before there was cookers, they were cooking
45:33
on rocks and stones and all that stuff.
45:36
But that, that show appeal is really what turns people on.
45:42
But when they get that taste and they get that whole experience
45:46
of what's going on for us, we feel like that's what that's
45:50
what the key is. And if we can take and pull our
45:53
members in front of those people and showcase it and plant seeds
45:59
and other people want to try to get a part of that, then we feel
46:03
like we've done our job and hopefully brought something to
46:06
the event that was different. Yeah.
46:09
And Fast forward to this year, like you say, they put us on the
46:12
pavilion of different field. We were actually in the shade
46:16
for not out in the sun, but just a tremendous set up there.
46:22
The smoke slam has got going and I feel like we probably double,
46:26
maybe even triple the size of that thing coming up next year
46:31
based off of the response we got this year from.
46:33
Oh yeah, you give free food away there.
46:38
You buy a ticket to get in, hey? It was worth it, but.
46:41
Yeah. They weren't giving.
46:44
No, we had a couple. They.
46:46
Would give a good meat. We had, we definitely had a
46:50
couple people come and say, hey listen man, I feel like I rooked
46:53
y'all for 25 bucks. I need to give y'all 25 more
46:56
because I eat a bunch. So that's a good thing though.
47:00
Yeah, now he's a bad man. I'm going to be a bad man so.
47:07
He has definitely got the live fire figured out, man.
47:11
He is a man. He is and I cannot tell you how
47:14
many people he has taught that craft to over the past probably
47:19
7-8 years that he's really been into that, showcasing it.
47:24
But his crew, the way he just hand takes him in and shows him
47:30
piece by piece, he's so calm. He never gets upset.
47:33
It doesn't matter what goes on. Oh my gosh, we're out of buns or
47:38
Oh my gosh, we're out of this. He just automatically says,
47:41
let's just don't do a bun. Let's put it in a Stew and make
47:46
something different. But he is, he is a true, he's a
47:50
true artist, but he is also a the best problem solver.
47:55
Or my Mama always told me, we never have problems.
47:59
We only got situations. We just need to figure out what
48:01
the situation is and change. But he's a situation fixer.
48:06
Definitely, that's a good thing to have quick thinking.
48:09
And next we're going to switch over to congratulations on being
48:13
honored at the American Royal for the Impact award.
48:16
What does that mean for you and your the Gillis's to be honored
48:19
during the American Royal? Man, I got to tell you that is a
48:25
that's a big one. When we got the call, I was,
48:28
it's more about the legacy of what daddy and Doc Gillis put
48:33
together. A lot of people call they
48:37
thought they were just wasting money or spinning their wheels
48:42
or whatever. Having a good time going out and
48:44
traveling across the country doing the BBQ thing, but being
48:48
able to see that it actually had an impact.
48:51
That's probably, that's probably one of the most fulfilling
48:55
things that we've had the opportunity to do is actually
48:59
keep that thing going and see how people have been impacted in
49:05
their lives, whether that be business or competition guys,
49:10
through the products and the work that we've done and
49:13
continue to do. What 2 fishing buddies started
49:18
out doing in the early 90s. Because if you look at this
49:21
magazine, you can't tell that nobody got no journalism degree
49:26
or anything like this. This is very professional.
49:29
We're going to put together, Hey, my hat off to y'all.
49:33
I'm trying to get like that. Oh man, I appreciate that.
49:36
Really, it all boils down to loving what you do.
49:42
We really do. We feel like we got probably one
49:44
of the best jobs in the world and we've seen a million people
49:48
come and go through the rounds of the BBQ world and it's just
49:52
amazing to see each one of them have a different story and a
49:57
different path. Some of them are still kicking
49:59
some of the old timers. As a matter of fact, saw Carolyn
50:02
Wells a few weeks ago in South Carolina and I hadn't seen her
50:06
in a while, but man, talk about a visionary.
50:09
Now that's but when you see those folks and that had an
50:13
impact way back then on people and still impact in the day,
50:19
that sure makes it worthwhile. Getting up in the morning and
50:22
the long nights and the 2000 mile trips and being away from
50:28
home. It sure makes it worthwhile when
50:31
everybody stands up and realizes, hey, they, the two
50:34
fishing boys knew what they were doing.
50:36
They had a plan and. It's good that they acted upon
50:42
that instead of saying, no, we're not, I don't know how this
50:45
going to play out. So we're just not going to do
50:47
it. But they jumped out there and
50:48
took their chance and, and see how it paid it off.
50:52
I'm happy because it it helped me a lot with reading the
50:56
magazines. So I'm one of them people that
50:59
they helped out and I show appreciation to them by
51:02
supporting it and continue to support it every year.
51:06
So y'all definitely got to I'm not wondering people just talk
51:09
to talk. I got all my subscriptions and
51:12
keep them right, keep them together.
51:16
I don't care how old about. Folks like you, man, they're
51:20
supposed like you to keep us doing what we do, man.
51:22
And to hear that even though we have down days ain't every day.
51:27
It ain't the perfect rib. Some days they fall off the
51:29
bone, they old cook they're Some days they're a little tougher
51:32
than others. But when you hear folks like
51:34
that, man, we should appreciate it because that's that.
51:37
It makes it worthwhile. No doubt.
51:40
Definitely. I'm gonna ask a quick question.
51:42
And now, since you're working with Janet, which is your wife,
51:46
what's the secret to balance in family business and the BBQ
51:49
lifestyle without burning out? Learn to say yes ma'am and say
51:54
it very often and yes ma'am, yes ma'am.
51:59
Man it. It just goes back to loving what
52:01
you do and being around a lot of great people all the time.
52:06
If we were around a bunch of tail holes, it really would be
52:10
hard and but we don't have, we don't have that in the BBQ
52:14
community, thank goodness. But man, we are just, we are
52:19
beyond blessed to get up and go to work for a community that is
52:27
first top notch, always goes above and beyond no matter what
52:32
they're doing. I think about the operation BBQ
52:36
relief. You know, I, I remember when
52:38
they first got started and how far they've come and what they
52:41
do now and then to see other small groups here with the
52:46
floods, I can, they were turning semis and sending them down the
52:51
road down where the river had flooded.
52:55
They had so much stuff coming in.
52:57
They just, they were full with what they had and they just sent
53:01
it on down to help somebody else.
53:04
And that's, that's the way I think we feel about it is we
53:09
certainly love each other. But until I say no ma'am, and
53:13
then it turns up the other cheek.
53:16
But just being able to be helpful and to a community that
53:20
that appreciates it and they love us back.
53:23
Seems like no matter where we go or what we're doing, people
53:27
always complimenting this or helping us or giving us advice
53:32
or every once in a while we get some tough love.
53:36
But it's much deserved. Little kick in the tail every
53:38
once in a while, keep you straight too.
53:40
But I think that's how we balance it.
53:42
We just love what you do and then it's not really going to
53:46
work every day. It's.
53:47
Definitely true. The future of Q you could give
53:50
us a little information on that. Man, the future of Q is is
53:54
killing it right now. So a couple of years ago we
53:57
just, we wanted to start highlighting the next generation
54:01
of the BBQ, the the younger generation today I feel are
54:08
letting so many things slip by. I know when I grow up, I grew up
54:12
with a gun in my hand, shooting birds or deer, hunting or
54:17
shooting a bow and arrow, just doing a lot of things that you
54:21
don't see kids do much today to the same amount.
54:27
And not that I'm fearful that the BBQ world will go away, but
54:33
I feel like some of those traditions would were slipping
54:38
away, give up a little secret away.
54:40
We're we're, we're going to start a little interview series
54:43
with some of the old timers. I just got finished up recording
54:48
with Myron Mixon 2 days ago. And man, just the old school,
54:55
his legends class where he actually burns down the wood and
54:59
shovels the coals under the pits.
55:02
That was how some of those guys we were competing with, and
55:05
Douglas, Mr. Ply Mail and some of the farmer guys that were
55:09
competing at the Douglas event I was telling you about with a big
55:12
G, they were doing that. And man, I'm telling you just
55:17
that old school traditional stuff, we didn't want it to go
55:22
away. And so that's why we started
55:24
highlighting those next generations, the youngsters,
55:29
young adults that were taking the lead in the BBQ world.
55:33
And man, golly, we have we have sure got a when you talk about a
55:38
bunch of contributors, we got a bunch of winners in that much.
55:42
And that just I can't tell you how proud I am when we see what
55:47
they're doing and we're able to tell others how good they're
55:52
doing and why they're doing it just because they love what
55:56
they're doing and it makes all the difference in the world.
55:59
But it's basically every month, every other month magazine, and
56:04
we let the kids roll with it, whether they want to share a
56:07
recipe or if it's an event they went to or if it's something
56:11
they did cooking for a volunteer thing, teaching a class.
56:17
But no matter what they want to write about or share their
56:20
experience, it's basically see it so that they can share
56:25
whatever they want, however they want to.
56:27
Try to influence and get more younger people involved in the
56:32
BBQ world so that we know that flame stays lit for years to
56:38
come. When I'm old and sitting on my
56:40
front porch, maybe I'll be looking at one of their
56:43
magazines or something. It's good, It's good because
56:46
it's definitely a good thing to see the younger people
56:49
preserving with has been set before them and not letting the
56:55
flame go out and keeping it going because it's fun.
56:58
Everybody might not get into it, but if some of those going to
57:02
have an interest in it and keep that going, continue to grow the
57:05
sport of competitions as well as train people to cook in the
57:10
backyard or whatever with the recipes and stuff like that.
57:13
So you don't know where these he is going to be 1015 years from
57:18
now. They might be world famous chefs
57:20
somewhere and they started out in the future queue and look at
57:25
them now. So it's definitely a good thing
57:27
to see and that's a good thing that y'all started because they
57:31
they get to see themselves in a magazine and show their friends
57:35
and look it up and boost their confidence and keep them going.
57:40
So it's definitely a good thing. That's it and we're always
57:44
looking for more man. So if any young ones out there
57:46
or y'all know young ones, man, let them drop us a line man,
57:51
because we never just like regular contributors to the
57:54
magazine or whatever. We've never turned the kid away
57:57
that wanted to share what was going on and happy to do it.
58:01
And Kylie, with the high school associations and all that stuff
58:05
happening now, there's a ton of kids and I call them kids.
58:09
I try not to do that, but it's bad, man.
58:12
At 54 years old, I feel like the old guy now that long, but but
58:17
that next generation for sure. If any of those guys, we can
58:21
help and boost them up, let them share what they got going on.
58:26
And I know social media does a lot of that today already too.
58:30
But we'd love, love to get them involved for sure to keep them
58:34
going and that seeds for others coming behind.
58:37
All right, I'm got 2 quick games for you and then I'm gonna get
58:40
you out of here. Know how in college basketball
58:43
they got the tournament bracket? So what I came up with was the
58:45
tournament bracket of 16 meats that you cook on the grill and
58:49
you just pick which one you like to eat and we'll see which one
58:52
wins. Matchup number one.
58:54
OK, smoked baloney versus hamburger.
58:58
Man, oh, sloppy greasy hamburger.
59:02
You can't beat that. I got to go with the hamburger.
59:06
All right, sausage versus pork chop.
59:09
Oh man, when you know how to make your own, grind your own
59:13
sausage using your brisket trimmings, it's hard to beat
59:16
that like a sausage. So I have to go with as long as
59:20
it's homemade, it's got to be sausage.
59:23
OK, Next matchup, brisket versus hot dog.
59:25
Oh. Man, I love a good all beef hot
59:33
dog, but that brisket when it's cooked man, ain't no doubt about
59:37
it. It's got to be brisket.
59:38
All right, pork belly versus smoked ham.
59:43
Whoa, that's a tough one there. Now I'm a pork guy and I love
59:48
cooking the whole hog. And I, I think that Bacon's
59:50
probably the best part. I love cooking most.
59:53
I'm gonna probably go to pork belly.
59:55
I like it. All right.
59:58
Next one is beef Rios versus smoked Turkey.
1:00:01
Man, first time I saw Dino ribs, I like to fell out.
1:00:05
I didn't really know we'd always had the little thin.
1:00:08
I don't know, I forget the name of the hibachi ribs.
1:00:14
Maybe that real thin got the little three round Bunny.
1:00:18
Anyway, that was what we knew as B Fred.
1:00:20
But when I saw that first Big B Fred and we got together blacks
1:00:26
and they had them on the menu out in Texas.
1:00:28
And I actually, I think I paid about 80 bucks for for a beef
1:00:34
red. I think it was like 4 lbs and I
1:00:37
got to eat, I eat that whole thing.
1:00:40
So I gotta go beef red man, 'cause when it's done, that
1:00:44
thing just melts in your mouth. And it's, it's got, it's almost,
1:00:47
it's probably one of my favorite bites I've ever had in BBQ world
1:00:52
for sure. OK.
1:00:53
Next match up is BBQ shrimp versus lamb.
1:00:58
Oh lamb, hand this down man. I love shrimp but I like it
1:01:04
fried and you can tell. I'm a you can't tell here but
1:01:07
I'm a fat boy. So like fried shrimp, but
1:01:10
compared to grilled shrimp, it's got to be lamb for sure.
1:01:14
Burnt insurance versus pork ribs.
1:01:19
Oh, I'm gonna say pork ribs, man.
1:01:21
Especially if they spare ribs. Like spare ribs.
1:01:25
That's probably my second favorite thing.
1:01:26
All right. Steak versus smoked chicken.
1:01:32
Oh, I'm gonna have to go state 'cause I'm a state guy.
1:01:39
My 2 seconds claim to fame was this very first big SCA contest
1:01:45
they had was at the MEBQA conference in 2013 and I cooked
1:01:52
my dad's recipe. He had just passed and I wasn't
1:01:56
going to do it, but I said yeah, I'll make the donation.
1:01:58
And that recipe, to this day, every time I've cooked it has
1:02:02
done really well in an SEA cook off and I won that thing that
1:02:08
night against about 80 something people.
1:02:11
I think Malcolm Reed still got it on video.
1:02:13
He'd run it up that night. And to think that that that
1:02:18
would be my 5 seconds of fame right there.
1:02:20
I beat that whole crab one night one time.
1:02:24
But I did it with steak. And so yeah, definitely steak.
1:02:28
Very fond of the rib eye steak for sure.
1:02:31
All right, next round, hamburger versus sausage.
1:02:34
Who? I do like a greasy hamburger
1:02:37
though. Man, I just got to tell you I
1:02:39
like greasy hamburgers all. Right brisket versus pork belly.
1:02:47
Gotta be brisket. Gotta be brisket.
1:02:51
All right, beef ribs versus lamb.
1:02:54
Who gotta be the beef ribs, man, That's a tough one though.
1:02:59
Lamb. Lamb is so different when it's
1:03:02
done right though. But yeah, gotta be beef ribs
1:03:05
all. Right pork.
1:03:06
Real verse. Steak.
1:03:09
If it's a rib eye steak done. It's got to be the rib eye,
1:03:13
there's got to be the steak. All right, Final Four, hamburger
1:03:17
versus brisket. Oh boy, just get harder.
1:03:21
Probably, definitely, definitely brisket.
1:03:24
Yeah, definitely brisket. Beef real versus steak.
1:03:31
Oh boy, you're killing me, Smalls.
1:03:38
It had to be steak. Happy steak.
1:03:42
All right, final brisket versus steak.
1:03:44
It has to be steak. It's going to have to be steak.
1:03:47
Comes down to that. All right.
1:03:50
No doubt. Just 'cause I know that's how
1:03:52
hard, man, when you learn to cook for your taste, and I have
1:03:57
been, I'm so blessed 'cause we get to try so many different rub
1:04:00
sauces, accessories, everything to help you cook a little
1:04:05
better. But when you figure out they
1:04:07
cook for what you like. And I'm not being ugly, but the
1:04:10
best thing in the world I've ever eat come right off my grill
1:04:15
when I got it all right here at the house.
1:04:17
A lot of times that's practicing for a contest or something else.
1:04:20
But I don't mean that in a bad way at all 'cause I have eaten
1:04:25
some of the bits, some of the I never forget.
1:04:28
Melissa Cookston was raising her own hogs one time.
1:04:31
She's working on a breed hog and up at Memphis, she called me up
1:04:38
and said, hey, come here, come here.
1:04:40
And I got a bite of that hog that she was cooking and I like
1:04:45
to have just I almost had a hissy fit.
1:04:48
That was Oliver. She rolled up the bacon, put it
1:04:53
that was probably out of port. And to this day, that's probably
1:04:57
been 810 years ago now, but but when you can figure out how to
1:05:05
manipulate me to your taste, I don't mean that ugly.
1:05:09
It's hard to beat what you like. All right, I got one more quick
1:05:13
game. It's another tournament and I
1:05:15
know you're a Georgia Bulldog fan, so I did the top.
1:05:18
Oh yeah. Georgia Bulldog players since
1:05:20
1980 in a tournament bracket, all right.
1:05:26
Boy, you are killing me here now, good gracious.
1:05:30
I got Herschel Walker versus Roquan Smith.
1:05:34
Gotta be Herschel though, man. Herschel was the man.
1:05:38
Herschel was the man. Matter of fact, I got a picture
1:05:41
on my desktop right here. First time I met Herschel and I
1:05:45
looked him in the eye. We was in Greenville, SC.
1:05:49
He was a Smithfield Red or Smithfield celebrity or
1:05:52
whatever. But I walked up to him and I
1:05:54
looked at him in the eye and man, you got to understand, I
1:05:58
grew up cheering for this guy and he was 10 foot tall,
1:06:02
bulletproof. That was gracious, Herschel.
1:06:07
But anyway. All right, next matchup is
1:06:10
Garrison Hurst versus Hines Ward.
1:06:14
Oh, that's running back you for a reason.
1:06:17
So I have to go with Garrison Hurst for sure.
1:06:22
I know Hines had a great career and made a lot of money in the
1:06:25
pros too. Yeah, AJ Green, Jarvis Jones.
1:06:33
Whoa, So I gotta go AJ Green, man, I got AI actually got a
1:06:37
picture in in the other office of AJ pulling one down over a
1:06:41
LSU guy. So I like AJ Green back in the
1:06:45
day. All right, Champ Bailey versus
1:06:47
David Green. Probably champ, champ go both
1:06:53
ways for a little bit. Don't know that back.
1:06:56
You got to be real diehard dog fan to know that, yeah.
1:07:01
David Pollock versus No Shaw and Marino.
1:07:05
Oh I remember when no Shawn come in man he sparked a drunk man
1:07:12
they had. He really sparked offense when
1:07:16
him and Stafford got going. But man, Pollock godly, just a
1:07:22
beast, just a beast. So pride pollen.
1:07:26
He's one of my favorites because he was just he just seemed when
1:07:28
it was needed most, he was the man.
1:07:32
He was the man all. Right next matchup, a Aaron
1:07:35
Murray versus Thomas Davis. That's a good one there.
1:07:39
Now, probably Murray, man, because actually Murray and then
1:07:44
that sport should have got a shot at the natty.
1:07:47
And you probably remember this the drop, It wasn't the drop.
1:07:49
It was the catch. That should have been the drop
1:07:51
in the SEC game where they would have had a shot to go back in
1:07:55
and score and win. But, but yeah, I, I, I'm going
1:07:58
to say Erin Murray all. Right, say Murray Matthew
1:08:01
Stafford versus Todd Gurley. Oh man, that's tough.
1:08:09
And when you look at their dog days, girly, I just remember how
1:08:13
all the hype between him and Chubb and those guys one after
1:08:18
another coming Girly. I'm going to say girly.
1:08:22
I'm a Matt, I'm a stabbing fan, but I love it when Georgia
1:08:26
starts running down their throat.
1:08:28
And when Girly, I remember when he took the kickoff back time or
1:08:33
two, Girly was a bad. Boy, Richard Seymour, Brock
1:08:37
Bowers. Bowers and Bow Bowers is just
1:08:44
he's a beast. He is a beast, no doubt all.
1:08:47
Right next round. Herschel Walker, Garrison Hurst.
1:08:53
Got to be Herschel man got it. Is going to be hard not to have
1:08:57
Herschel in there either for sure.
1:09:00
All right, Champ Bailey versus AJ Green.
1:09:03
I say probably champ, probably champ because he could go both
1:09:07
ways and yeah, all. Right Pollock versus Aaron
1:09:11
Murray. Probably pilot man Art Russell.
1:09:16
Art was gone by then, but Pollock had that grit and just
1:09:23
it. Yeah, Pollock was a bad boy, all
1:09:25
right. Girly versus Bowers.
1:09:30
Oh man, they ain't no easy one there.
1:09:34
Now I'm gonna probably say Girly because without Girly some of
1:09:40
those teams would have probably been 6-7 win teams.
1:09:46
But Girly was a game changer and Bowers was too.
1:09:49
He was, he would actually. He just didn't miss.
1:09:53
If it was in his room, he'd catch it.
1:09:55
But Girly was game changer and that was not the Bowers wasn't
1:10:00
but so I probably going to go with Guardian all.
1:10:03
Right final Four, Herschel Walker versus Champ Bailey.
1:10:07
Both Hall of Farmers, no doubt, but probably Herschel.
1:10:13
Man, just remembering when I was I would have been 10 years old,
1:10:19
ten years old and just remembered how invincible he
1:10:24
looked and just I'm all God. I am die hard.
1:10:30
Jesus is the man God for real. But Herschel was close when he
1:10:37
started running over people. Oh.
1:10:40
Yeah, Herschel would have been Samson for sure.
1:10:43
All right. You got Pollock versus Gurley.
1:10:48
Who I gotta go with Pilot, man, Just that art Eddie.
1:10:53
And I love Art Russell, man, I when he went to Georgia Southern
1:10:57
and saw how he did. Janet and my wife, she was at
1:11:01
Georgia Southern back in those days.
1:11:02
So I get to hear about that pretty regular.
1:11:05
But that junkyard dog that was Pollock was a devil and junkyard
1:11:10
dog for sure all. Right.
1:11:12
And the final is Herschel versus Pollock, which I already know
1:11:15
who you're going. To be ain't got to be Herschel,
1:11:18
man. It's going to have to be
1:11:20
Herschel. I hate that.
1:11:22
But yeah, I don't know how that match up with your tournament or
1:11:26
whatever. Probably epic fail, but.
1:11:29
No, I don't. Hershel was the truth all the
1:11:32
way. Pros and college.
1:11:35
Yes, yes he was. And all the way after football,
1:11:39
when he was MMA and everything else.
1:11:44
That was what he was doing MMA when we met him in Greenville.
1:11:48
And it was a MEBQA conference. And I would just, I went in as
1:11:53
president that year and what I remember was they had some
1:11:57
souvenirs and they had a helmet that was signed by Herschel and
1:12:02
people started bidding on it. And I wanted it.
1:12:05
I wanted it bad. And I'd go there and I'd be
1:12:09
like, man, I don't nobody spend that money.
1:12:11
Yeah, I got it. I got it.
1:12:12
Finally they come up and tell me they said this is stop.
1:12:15
They are buying that helmet for you.
1:12:17
Stop bidding them. Stop bidding them.
1:12:22
But after anyway, who I think Brad Orson from the shed that
1:12:26
much wound up buying it. They come gave it to me.
1:12:29
I put that helmet on. I run around the whole.
1:12:31
Thing about four. Or five times.
1:12:33
I was a proud, I was a proud cat man.
1:12:37
That was an excellent story to end off with.
1:12:41
I definitely appreciate you coming on and definitely I'm
1:12:44
going to meet up with you in person either down in Douglas or
1:12:47
when I get a trailer. And like I told you before I was
1:12:50
going, I'm coming up to America Royal to walk around and just
1:12:53
meet folks and stuff like that. So I'll definitely be there
1:12:56
Friday, Saturday and Sunday. So I look forward to meeting you
1:13:00
in person also. You got it, ma'am.
1:13:04
You just make sure you come hungry and let me know.
1:13:07
And we may not do much else, but we'll feed you good and we sure
1:13:11
appreciate all you do. Keep the Motivation Monday thing
1:13:14
going, man. I've been, I've been enjoying
1:13:15
that and I enjoy that one this morning, as a matter of fact.
1:13:20
I definitely appreciate that and if you have any to promote your
1:13:23
website or anything like that, you could do that also.
1:13:27
Yeah, man. So it's a whole bunch of them.
1:13:29
But it's for the next generation.
1:13:32
It's future of Q the letter q.com qa.org with the National
1:13:39
Barbecue and Grilling Association, and it's a BBQ
1:13:42
news.com and it's BBQ spelled out BARBECU enews.com and that's
1:13:53
for the magazine and calendar of events and all that stuff.
1:13:59
So always happy to have help any way we can, man, but we sure
1:14:04
appreciate you having us and look forward to seeing the more
1:14:07
and more shows you got coming man.
1:14:09
I've been enjoying them for So I.
1:14:10
Definitely got a lot of people surprised, but I record them and
1:14:14
they're releasing one by one. They got to slow down for I kill
1:14:16
myself so. Oh yeah, yeah.
1:14:19
Yeah, they're definitely going to see a lot of.
1:14:21
Content. And people coming on and sharing
1:14:23
their stories. But I definitely appreciate you
1:14:25
and all that you do and you representing the state of
1:14:29
Georgia. So I'm definitely happy about
1:14:31
that. So I look forward to what y'all
1:14:34
continue to do. And right now since I got a
1:14:37
podcast, I'm realizing I'm probably going to have to sign
1:14:40
for the NBBQ A2 also just to get any knowledge I can to be more
1:14:46
professional in doing this also so you'll see my membership come
1:14:49
through. Yeah, man, you let us know if we
1:14:54
can help you anyway, my friend, No.
1:14:56
You got it? No.
1:14:56
Problem, but you got it. Thank you and we just wrapped up
1:15:00
another session of BBQ therapy. Remember, stay patient, stay
1:15:04
passionate and keep that fire burning.
1:15:07
Hit. Subscribe, share the good smoke
1:15:09
and pay the secretary on your way out.
1:15:12
Have a blessed day.