The American Royal, 2005
September 29-30 -- October 1-2, 2005
Posted by Dan Cannon
 
      
Pictures are followed by write-up

BBQ TEAM
SIMPLE GREEN

Team Simple Green
taking 11th in Pork Ribs, out of 467 teams.
Brent Walton, Todd Eves (Team Captain), Kevin Graf, Dan Cannon, Noel Van Herk
  

Team QN4U
taking 10th in Pork Ribs, out of 81 teams in the Invitational
(the best of the best in the WORLD).
Brent & Kim Walton
   

Todd Eves and Noel
     

Brent & Kim Walton
Team QN4U
          

Todd, Dan, and Brent, actually in Clovis, not Kansas

Kevin Graf, Team Simple Green

Brent & Kim Walton, 10th Place in Ribs for the Invitational
Team QN4U
     

Kathleen & Kelley McIntosch, Kevin Graff, Brent & Kim Walton

Kathleen & Brent

Kim Walton and Todd Eves

Noel, Kim & Brent, Todd, and Dan Cannon take a Sunday lunch at Arthur Bryant's Barbeque before heading back home.
The "Holy Grail" of BBQ Restaurants

 
The American Royal 2005
By Dan Cannon
  

DEPARTURE / ARRIVAL
Todd Eves, team owner and captain of "Team Simple Green" was kind enough to invite myself (Dan Cannon) Noel Van Herk, Kevin Graf, and Brent & Kim Walton to stay in his RV, cook on his equipment, and be participants of Team Simple Green’s go at the American Royal Open.
   
Most of us delivered our camping and cooking requirements / luggage to Todd in advance of the trip. He then packed it for us in his 5th Wheel RV prior to departure. He left for Kansas City Monday, 4:00 am, September 26th, with his traveling partner Noel planning on a Wednesday arrival at the Kemper Arena, Kansas City, MO.
    
Brent, Kim, Kevin, and I were flying in on Thursday. We all arrived about the same time in the afternoon. Brent and Kim were cooking on Todd's pit for the Invitational Cook-Off as Team QN4U and needed to go get supplies for the immediate preparations required upon arrival. Their meat entries were due the next morning, Friday. Kevin and I arrived a bit later, by 5:00 pm and got to just relax a bit with Todd and Noel and enjoy the atmosphere of the Royal a bit. After all, Team Simple Green's entries were not due till the day-after, Saturday morning.
  
   
INVITATIONAL BBQ CONTEST (Best of the Best), 81 Teams
We assisted Brent & Kim any way we could for the Invitational but that was very little. They literally did everything themselves and did an excellent job at that. As was proven per their results:
   
Team QN4U, Invitational (the Best of the Best) , 16th OVERALL
30th Chicken
10th Ribs
40th Pork
21st Brisket
    
    
FRIDAY NIGHT (Party Night)
Well, imagine 70,000 people at one facility just going from one Cook-site to the other, in party mode. There were 467 competing teams in the Open and 81 in the Invitational. All had large to small sites. Many had a band, bar, dance floor, catered food, and bouncer. There were many corporate sponsors. So, all in all, it was probably the biggest party I have ever been to. It is not the typical type party one would see in California. I think it would be considered to "politically incorrect".
   
Anyway, Brent and Kim were feeling fantastic after their great showing, we were all in a relaxed mode, and Todd and crew were handing out Simple Green samples. Kathleen & Kelley McIntosch stopped by for an interview with Brent and Kim. After some revelry and celebration some of us decided to take a trip through both lot B (the Invitational lot) and lot A (the Open/Dark side). That definitely makes the whole trip complete. One can visit with and congratulate other participants, stop and visit old friends, and see what a REAL party is like. It was great. About 10:00 we started heading back to our site and they started the fireworks. That was a great show that went on for close to an hour. Much longer than past years. What a great evening. The team next to us had a band that imitated the Rolling Stones. They were fantastic and played at least 4 hours.
 
 
OPEN BBQ CONTEST, 467 Teams
However, with all good things comes work. This was the night that all Open teams had to get their meat prepared and cooking. We had lots of turn-ins the next morning. Brent & Kim did most of the sides, and then we all did the meats. We had the following turn-in schedule:
  
- Vegetables, 10:30 - Kim and Brent did a fantastic Corn dish
- Beans, 11:00 - Brent and Kim did beans, I slightly assisted
- Potatoes, 11:30 - Kim made up a great fried Potato Roll
- Chicken, 12:00 - Brent provided his championship input / method
- Ribs, 12:30 - Again, Brent provided his championship input / method
- Pork, 01:00 - Everybody lent a helping hand
- Brisket, 01:30 - Todd did his fantastic Brisket as usual
- Sausage, 02:00 - I did my best, but had to borrow sausage from another team (another story)
- Desert, 02:30 - Kim did a fantastic Chocolate Mousse w/ sliced Peach and Strawberry
   
Everybody helped the best they could in all areas. Noel was our product runner, worked with the fires, and did an excellent job keeping things organized and helping everybody with everything. Todd of course, who owns Brisket in California, did his fantastic job on Brisket, slicing, and turn-in and being a GREAT Team Captain. Overall we were all excited about our products and held great hopes for a good showing.
   
We all relaxed after everything was turned in. It just started to sprinkle a bit and we all got under shelter waiting for the awards. Kathleen and Kelley came by and hung out a bit and we all chit-chatted about how everything went overall. The consensus was it was a great time and event for everybody.
   
Awards started at 6:30 pm. We all went to the bleachers in the Kemper Arena and awaited the long presentation process. Much to our surprise they started handing out the awards immediately! In past years it takes an hour to get past the sauce awards and onto the meat and side categories, so this was a pleasant surprise. And, as you probably already know, Team Simple Green hit the stage for 11th in Ribs. What a GREAT moment for everybody. After all, with 467 teams entered a trip to the stage was only hoped for. As Frank Boyer succinctly put it, "If you go to the stage for anything but sweeping the floor, it is fantastic"!  Also, this year they called the top 20 versus the top 10, as in previous years. Anyway, our scores are listed below:
    
Team Simple Green in the Open scored the following:
    
137/467 - OVERALL
50/259 - SIDES OVERALL
    
86/183,  Vegetables, 10:30 - Kim and Brent did a fantastic Corn dish
114/207,  Beans, 11:00 - Brent and Kim did beans, I slightly assisted
14/156,  Potatoes, 11:30 - Kim made up a great fried Potato Roll
259/467,  Chicken, 12:00 - Brent provided his championship input / method
11/467,  Ribs, 12:30 - Brent provided his championship input / method
273/467,  Pork, 1:00 - Everybody lent a helping hand
229/467,  Brisket, 1:30 - Todd his fantastic Brisket as usual
207/225,  Sausage, 2:00 - I did my best, we borrowed sausage from another team (another story)
67/125,  Desert, 2:30 - Kim did a fantastic Chocolate Mouse w/ fruit
    
    
SUNDAY AND DEPARTURE
Todd got up early, 05:00 am, and took Kevin to the airport to fly back to L.A. It was raining HARD the whole trip to and from.
    
We all got up a few hours later and the weather was perfect. It had cleared up and we just relaxed a bit and had a nice toast and egg breakfast that Todd and Noel prepared.
    
After a bit Brent suggested that we all go to the original Arthur Bryant's BBQ restaurant for lunch. That was a great treat for me. I think of it as going to the "Holy Grail" of BBQ Restaurants. I enjoyed the food and ambiance and everything about it. Brent & Kim and I flew home Sunday afternoon. Todd and Noel hit the road hauling all the hardware back.
    
    
THANKS A BUNCH TODD & ESPECIALLY SIMPLE GREEN
For doing all the hard work, putting the team together, and letting us be a part of it!!! That is a BIG job, time consuming, and expensive towing the large 5th Wheel RV with a BBQ trailer behind from California to Kansas City and back!!! I feel guilty of not doing too much facilitation  as all I did was fly in Thursday afternoon and fly home Sunday.