We're Backkkk.....

Back in 2009, we launched this blog to chronicle our initial journey the Jack Daniels World Championship Invitational Barbecue Competition - aka "The Jack.". Billed as the "World Championship of Barbecue", this epicurean "Superbowl" is held in the sleepy little hollow of Lynchburg, TN (pop.361) the 4th Saturday in October each year. It just so happens that Lynchburg is also home to the world renowned Jack Daniels distillery - the primary sponsor and namesake behind this culinary extravaganza.

Each year, tens of thousands of competition BBQ teams from across the United States (and around the world) spend countless hours and weekends competing in sanctioned BBQ events. These teams vie not only for Grand Championships & serious prize money (sometimes as much as $100K) - but perhaps even more importantly, they are all hoping by the end of the "BBQ season" to grab one of the 60 highly coveted spots to cook against an elite group of teams for the title of "world's best" (the "Jack" is by invitation only).

We competed in the 2009 Jack, and finished in the "middle of the pack" - an accomplishment we were certainly proud of. And after more or less taking the year off in 2010, "Hoochie-Que" is ramping up to make another run at a coveted invitation to the Jack in 2011.

So, after over a year of "neglect", we are "dusting off" this little ol' blog to once again share with family, friends, and other BBQ cooks/fans our experiences as we start our journey hopefully towards another invitation to the "Jack" in October 2011.

Also - and especially if you are new to this blog - make certain to read back through the "Blog Archive" to re-visit our experiences and trip to the Jack back in 2009! Some pretty good writing, memories & photos if I do say so myself!

Thanks - and we hope to see you in Lynchburg on October!

"Hoochie"
March 26, 2011

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

In The News...


Hoochie-Que is "in the news" here locally. We made the Salt Lake Tribune - their online blog yesterday, and the actual newspaper today. They made a couple of small mistakes, though... They erroneously stated that Venssa is a "medical doctor" (nope - not a "real" doctor - "just" a dentist! ) - and they commented that we received our invitation to the Jack via a "random drawing". Some teams indeed get to the Jack that way - but nope, we won our invitation outright this year! No having to go through any drawing for us! But hey - we were still very thrilled that we received the coverage! Here is a link to the article that appeared in the blog and the newspaper: Salt Lake Tribune blog

The local Park City television station and good friend/patient Ori Hoffer are coming by on Thursday to do a special interest segment on us while we are doing one last practice cook in preparation for the competition. After that cook, it will then just be a matter of getting things cleaned and packed up, our lists double checked, and then getting ready to hit the road on Sunday for the 26+ hour drive.

It just really "hit me" this afternoon that this "dream" is truly about to take place in our lives! Since receiving our invitation in early September, the whole situation has been a little "surreal" in all honesty... And in my mind until today, it has always been "still a few weeks off"... But the hour is now near at hand!! I feel a little "edgy" - but not nervous... I figure "edgy" is good...

The weather forecast for Lynchburg for next weekend is not looking too hot right now... A 60% chance of showers is in the forecast - and it looks like I may have quite a bit of rain as I travel to get there... Uggh... Oh, well... My smoker is heavily insulated, so I won't have to worry about temperature fluctuations like some teams may run into... Here's just hoping for a decent site location there in Lynchburg on relatively flat and/or well-draining ground!! Better remember to add rain boots to my packing list, too!
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2 comments:

davidb said...

Hey Friends, this is the Brown's (Suli's family)from Judge Football. Just stopping by to wish you the best at the JD World Champ Competition. You guys are a wonderful addition to the team. Best of Luck. Go Get 'em Hoochie-Que!

3:26 PM
Dr. Michael Knight said...

Thanks a million!!! I pull out on Sunday... 26 hour drive... Uggh!! Plan to be there sometime on Tuesday... Comp starts on Fri...

We are so happy to have Reid playing with Suli and the rest of the kids on that team... A truly great group of kids - and a wonderful group of parents... We feel very blessed to have come to know you and your family!!

9:24 PM

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