The 2013 FBA
Triple Crown Series
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Big Papa Takes Ft. Pierce . . . . . . Click for Scores
| Big Papa's Country Kitchen won the Treasure Coast BBQ contest in Ft. Pierce, his first Grand of the 2013 Season, taking a 1-point lead in a very close Team of the Year race. Blitzkrieg BBQ was Reserve in the second annual running of this event. Other than Big Papa's 1st Place Pork, neither team managed to wow the judges, but when the scores were tallied, it was a clear win. | 
Grand Champion:
Big Papa's Country Kitchen | 
Reserve:
Blitzkrieg BBQ |
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Another First - Tie for Grand Champion . . . . . . Click for Scores
| Well, it had to happen eventually - a tie for the Grand Champion at an FBA event. And sure enough, Tavares, FL produced it. Hot Wachula's and Glenn Bob's BBQ shared the winnings as the first two teams to tie for 1st Place. Just to complicate matters, there were also two ties in the Pork category - 7th and 9th place. Of course the first question that many of the teams asked, is the barbecue becoming so much alike that tie scores are becoming all too common? One thing's for certain, it's getting harder to win these days with so many experienced judges at the tables. | 
Grand Champions: Hot Wachula's
and Glenn Bob's BBQ |
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First Grand For Smokey Butts . . . . . . Click for Scores
Grand: Smokey Butts | 
Reserve: Hick Town BBQ | 16 contests into the season and we have 16 different Grand Champions. Smokey Butts became the newest Grand Champion at Barnesville, GA, more than 5 points ahead of Hick Town BBQ, who was Reserve. Hick Town took 1st Place in both Ribs and Brisket and Smokey Butts was 1st in Pork. But neither team made the top 10 in Chicken at the ninth annual Barnesville BBQ & Blues Festival. |
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Sweet Smoke Q Takes Their First Grand . . . . . . Click for Scores
Grand Champion:
Sweet Smoke Q | The taste of victory must have been as good as their cooking, as Sweet Smoke Q won the 4th Annual Suncoast BBQ & Bluegrass Bash in Venice, FL. A pair of 2nd places - Chicken and Ribs - swayed the judges just enough to edge out Blitzkrieg BBQ, who won Reserve. This was the first Grand for Sweet Smoke Q, pushing them to the top of the 2013 Team of the Year Race. With nearly fifty teams cooking this event, Venice, FL has become a hot spot for barbecue in Southwest Florida. | 
Reserve:
Blitzkrieg BBQ |
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Consistent Cooking Wins Contests . . . . . . Click for Scores
| Just ask the Big Kahuna - Cary Sapp. Placing in the top 10 in each category, 2nd in Chicken his highest score, Big Kahuna BBQ won the 2013 Paint n Pork Fest in Marianna, FL., his second Grand at this event. Cook's Portable Smokehouse, with a 1st in Brisket, was Reserve out of twenty-six teams. |
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Tie Scores Rule The Day In Dothan . . . . . . Click for Scores
| With ties for 5th in Chicken, 7th in Ribs, and 1st in Brisket it's amazing that Bubba Latimer managed to fight his way to the top of the pack and win the Tri-State Barbecue Festival in Dothan, AL. Haulin' Butt BBQ was close behind, taking Reserve with nearly an eight-point lead over Jacks Old South and at least a half-dozen other world-class teams. In the Backyard Division, Smokin' Gunz was the winner with a score good enough to have placed them in the top 10 of the Pros. | 
Grand Champion:
Bub-Ba-Q | 
Reserve:
Haulin' Butt BBQ |
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Wooley Bully Wins Their 2nd Grand . . . . . . Click for Scores
With a win at Thomaston, GA, Damon Wooley's Wooley Bully BBQ Mafia becomes the first team to win two contests in the 2013 FBA season. His 1st Place Chicken and 2nd in both Ribs and Pork gave him an almost five-point lead over Big Papa's Country Kitchen, who took Reserve. Big Papa missed a perfect score in Brisket by just 7/10s of a point.
Grand Champion: Wooley Bully BBQ Mafia | 
Reserve: Big Papa's Country Kitchen |
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FBA Founding Member Passes Away
 | Norm Spradlen, a founding member of the Florida Bar-B-Que Association, died April 2nd in hospice with his wife, Carolyn by his side. Norm cooked as Dumplin Valley in the early days of the FBA, founding a sauce company with the same name. He will always be remembered for his quick wit and down-home funny jokes. The thoughts and prayers of the entire FBA community go out to his wife and family and friends.
This is a link to Norm's obituary. |
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Close Contest at Ashburn . . . . . . Click for Scores
Grand Champion:
Budmeisters | Less than half a point won the contest for Thomas Henry's Budmeisters at Ashburn, GA. His 1st Place Ribs were certainly a factor. However, even with a 1st in Pork and 1st in Brisket, B&T BBQ Cook Team needed something in either Chicken and Ribs to win, landing Reserve instead at the second year of the Fire Ant Festival. With nearly 40 teams, this contest is poised to become one of the premier events in Georgia next year. | 
Reserve: B&T
BBQ Cook Team |
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Eagle Lake, FL - a First Year Success . . . . . . Click for Scores
Starting off their slot in the busy FBA Spring schedule with 30 Pro teams, the Eagle Lake BBQ Festival was a total success for Organizer Jim Elser. Jim, who cooks as Sweet Smoke Q, drew the cream of the crop for this first year event. And sure enough, the cream rose to the top in the form of Team Unknown taking Grand as well as 1st in Ribs. Terry McKay's Git-R-Smoked was Reserve, just 3-1/2 points back of the winner.
Grand Champion: Team Unknown | 
Reserve: Git-R-Smoked |
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Swamp Boys Cranks It Up . . . . . . Click for Scores
| With his first Grand of the year, Rub Bagby not only set a new high score for the 2013 FBA Season, but also jumped into first place in the Team of the Year competition at Ft. Myers, FL. Matt Barber, head cook of Hot Wachula's, was Reserve, nearly 13 points behind the leader, and might have had a shot at Grand if the judges had been more favorable with his Chicken and Pork. A total of 28 teams cooked the second year of the Vikingfest in what was near perfect weather for March in South Florida. | 
Grand Champion:
Swamp Boys | 
Reserve: Hot Wachula's |
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From the FBA Contest Calendar
