Father’s Day weekend is a great time for a BBQ contest. For the second consecutive year, I was invited to be a judge at the Big BBQ Bash in Blount County, which benefits the Helen Ross McNabb Center. We tasted chicken, ribs, pulled pork and “anything but” entries from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Saturday. Each table of judges got different items. My table sampled some tasty macaroni & cheese balls during the last round, which involves “anything but” chicken or pork that is cooked on the grill.
Before the 9:15 a.m. judges’ check-in, I took a walk around the property at Smoky Mountain Harley-Davidson to look at the team tents. One of my favorite things about BBQ contest is the punny team names. I remembered Uncultured Swine from last year. This year I also spotted Dirty Ol’ Butt Slappers and Boared Out of My Mind.
That same afternoon, Frank Jr. send me the following text from his new home: “I’m here at the Swinetastic BBQ fest at the Frederick Fairgrounds! Reminds me of the kind of event you would be judging.” I asked him to send me any interesting BBQ team names he saw. Here’s his list:
- Aporkalypse Now
- Smoke Wind & Fire
- Team Meat Coma
- Dorks Who Like Pork
- Everything But The Oink
- H.O.T.T. (Heroes of the Tailgate)
- Show Us Your Rack