Mandalay Bay, Heatin' Up the Bay, BBQ, BBQbyDan, www.BBQDan.com www.BBQbyDan.com Dan Cannon

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Heatin' Up The Bay BBQ Cook-Off
Mandalay Bay Hotel
Las Vegas Nevada, October, 2004


Simple Green's large demo truck that Todd Eves rolled in and used for his cooking trailer. Todd's cooking, team is sponsored by Simple Green.	Del's deuce-and-a-half BBQ rig that he is now using to feed the Marine troops with (OBBQFOT)	Myself, Dan Cannon, cooking at my location next to my commissary trailer. I tried a new little rotisserie this time versus hauling my Ole Hickory out. Got to say, an Ole Hickory can't be beat for ease!	A view from the corner of the Mandalay Bay where the BBQ Cook-off was not too far from. We would have been in the lot to the lower left of this picture and a block south.

Del & Smokin' John Burke. John cooked and Del worked together on this event.	Burbank Bad Boys Cooking Team & Bentley assisting	Ken Hunting, Gourmet Grills, from Arizona. Ken and Charla were located adjacent to me and we had a great time.	Cook-Off team tents set-up by the Mandalay Bay. Okay, this is the picture I took last year but it looked very similar this year. I did not take the row this year as I did not think it looked as nice.

I wish I had taken more pictures of everybody and everything, but somehow let it get past me, oh well....

Overall Rankings	Total	Chicken	Ribs
1. Jerry King - Midland, Texas 2. Britts Barbecue 3. It Ain't Prime 4. Asleep At The Grill 5. Susie's BBQ 6. The Arizona Kid 7. Go Ducks 8. Otis and the Bird 9. Denver Cajun BBQ Krewe 10. Coyote Road Kill/BBQbyDan 11. Kick Back Cove BBQ 12. Brews, Blues and BBQ 13. Four Men and a Pig 14. Change Smoker 15. Raven's Frye 16. Throw Down Cookers Again 17. JB's Fat Boy 18. Rib Doctor 19. Father son and Holy Smoke 20. Kinders BBQ Team 21. Q's Nevada 22. Texas Rib Rangers 23. Burbank's Bad Boys BBQ 24. Smokin' in the Dark 25. Santa Ynez BBQ 26. Justin Sane BBQ Company 27. Austinspice .com 28. Big O's BBQ, 2 hot 4 You 29. Out of this World BBQ 30. Dueling Bubbas 31. Doc's Pit 32. Smokin' Guns 33. Q 34. Aggieny & Extexasy BBQ Tm 35. Powerhouse BBQ 36. Light Blue Smoke 37. We B Qn 38. Oink County Cookers 39. Hombre 40. Simple Green BBQ Team 41. Stuphen's Texas Thunder 42. Gourmet Grills 43. QN4U 44. Killer Bees BBQ 45. The Pit Stop 46. Acton Bar-B-Que Company 47. The BBQ Pit 48. Five Alarm BBQ & Catering 49. Got Q? 50. Throw Down Cookers 51. Fusion BBQ 52. Smoke-A-Licious 53. Ceecee's Bar-B-Q 54. Wahoo & KJ's BBQ Pit 55. 7 Schwaben 56. Cole Peppers Hot Pit 57. Carzy Herb's Texas BBQ 58. Margarittaville Smokers 59. Uncle Sam's Misguided Child	615.9996 614.2858 613.1426 609.1420 604.5712 602.2860 598.8574 598.8570 598.8566 598.2860 595.9990 595.4286 594.2854 592.5716 590.8568 590.2854 588.5712 585.7134 584.5710 582.8578 582.2856 582.2854 578.8572 578.8572 578.2856 578.2850 577.1422 577.1418 575.9996 575.4284 574.8568 573.1424 573.1424 572.5704 572.0000 571.9994 571.4274 570.2858 567.9998 566.8574 562.2852 559.4284 558.8574 558.8568 557.7142 555.4282 547.4282 539.9992 537.1422 536.0000 534.2860 533.7136 533.1430 521.1426 512.5706 504.5712 489.7146 409.7140 383.9994	Kinders BBQ Team Go Ducks Denver Cajun BBQ Krewe Smokin' in the Dark Raven's Frye Father Son & Holy Smoke The Arizona Kid Coyote Road Kill/BBQbyDan Hombre Stuphen's Texas Thunder Brews, Blues & BBQ Otis & the Bird Rib Doctor QN4U Smokin' Guns Burbank's Bad Boys BBQ Austin Spice.com JB's Fat Boy Four Men & a Pig Powerhouse BBQ Kick Back cove BBQ It Ain't Prime Doc's Pit Britts Barbecue Asleep at the Grill Got Q? Gourmet Grills Santa Ynez BBQ Q's Nevada Jerry King Midland TX Texas Rib Rangers The Pit Stop Aggieny & Extexasy BBQ Tm Justin Sane BBQ Company Ceecee's Bar-B-Q Change Smoker 7 Schwaben Uncle Sam's Misguided Child Killer Bees BBQ Smoke-A-Licious Fusion BBQ Acton Bar-B-Que Company Q Oink County Cookers Margarittaville Smokers The BBQ Pit We B Qn Wahoo & KJ's BBQ Pit Simple Green BBQ Team Susie's BBQ Big O's BBQ 2 Hot 4 You Throw down Cookers Again Out of this World BBQ Five Alarm BBQ & Catering Light Blue Smoke Cole Peppers Hot Pit Dueling Bubbas Throw Down Cookers Crazy Herb's Texas BBQ	It Ain't Prime Raven's Frye Asleep at the Grill Britts Barbecue Jerry King Midland TX Throw Down Cookers Again Susie's BBQ Aggieny & Extexasy BBQ Tm The Pit Stop Change Smoker Smokin' Guns Acton Bar-B-Que Company The Arizona Kid Austinspice.com Powerhouse BBQ JB's Fat Boy Denver Cajun BBQ Krewe Big O's BBQ 2 Hot 4 You Four Men and a Pig Hombre Oink County Cookers Coyote Road Kill/BBQbyDan Gourmet Grills Doc's Pit Dueling Bubbas Santa Ynez BBQ Father Son & Holy Smoke Rib Doctor Kick Back Cove BBQ Brews, Blues & BBQ Smokin in the dark QN4U Q Q's Nevada Burbank's Bad Boys BBQ Out of this World BBQ Crazy Herb's Texas BBQ Light Blue Smoke We B Qn Texas Rib Rangers Simple Green BBQ Team Go Ducks Five Alarm BBQ & Catering Killer Bees BBQ The BBQ Pit Fusion BBQ Justin Sane BBQ Company Margarittaville Smokers Stuphen's Texas Thunder Otis & the Bird 7 Schawben Smoke-A-Licious Throw Down Cookers Got Q? Ceecee's Bar-B-Q Wahoo & KJ's BBQ Pit Cole Peppers Hot Pit Kinders BBQ Team Uncle Sam's Misguided Child
Pork	Brisket	Dessert	Anything But
1. Change Smoker 2. Otis & the Bird 3. It Ain't Prime 4. Dueling Bubbas 5. Kinders BBQ Team 6. Oink County cookers 7. Raven's Frye 8. Coyote Road Kill/BBQbyDan 9. Light blue Smoke 10. Santa Ynez BBQ 11. Britts Barbecue 12. The Arizona Kid 13. Texas Rib Rangers 14. Kick Back Cove BBQ 15. Smokin in the Dark 16. Q 17. Jerry King Midland TX 18. Go Ducks 19. Fusion BBQ 20. Out of this World BBQ 21. We B Qn 22. Suzie's BBQ 23. Justin Sane BBQ Co. 24. Asleep at the Grill 25. Ceecee's Bar-B-Q 26. Austinspice.com 27. Q's Nevada 28. Brews, Blue's and BBQ 29. Margarittaville Smokers 30. Stuphen's Texas Thunder 31. Burbank's Bad Boys BBQ 32. QN4U 33. Throw Down Cookers Again 34. Aggieny & Extexasy BBQ Tm 35. Cole Peppers Hot Pit 36. The Pit Stop 37. Powerhouse BBQ 38. The bBQ Pit 39. Big O's BBQ 2 Hot 4 You 40. Got Q? 41. Crazy Herb's Texas BBQ 42. Hombre 43. Denver Cajun BBQ Krewe 44. Killer Bees BBQ 45. Father Son & Holly Smoke 46. Acton Bar-B-Que Co. 47. Four Men and A Pig 48. Simple Green BBQ Team 49. Throw Down Cookers 50. Wahoo & KJ's BBQ Pit 51. Gourmet Grills 52. Uncle Sam's Misguided Child 53. Rib Doctor 54. Five Alarm BBQ & Catering 55. JB's Fat Boy 56. Doc's Pit 57. Smokin' Guns 58. 7 Schwaben 59. Smoke-A-0Licious	Susie's BBQ Jerry King Midland TX Simple Green BBQ Team Four Men & A Pig Justin Sane BBQ Company JB's Fat boy Otis & the Bird Throw Down Cookers Again Big O's BBQ 2 Hot 4 You Rib Doctor Brews, Blues and BBQ Out of This World BBQ Doc's Pit Q's Nevada Texas Rib Rangers Britts Barbecue Throw Down Cookers Smoke-A-Licious Kick Back Cove BBQ Go Ducks Asleep at the Grill Denver Cajun BBQ Krewe We B Qn Light Blue Smoke Killer Bees BBQ Kinders BBQ Team Dueling Bubbas Q Father Son & Holy Smoke Burbank's Bad Boys BBQ Coyote Road Kill/BBQbyDan The Arizona Kid Five Alarm BBQ & Catering Smokin' Guns It Ain't Prime The BBQ Pit Change Smoker Santa Ynez BBQ Gourmet Grills Stuphen's Texas Thunder Oink County Cookers Crazy Herb's Texas BBQ Aggieny & Extexasy BBQ Tm Powerhouse BBQ Wahoo & KJ's BBQ Pit Austinspice.com Acton Bar-B-Que Company Got Q? Hombre Smokin in the Dark Ceecee's Bar-B-Q 7 Schwaben QN4U The Pit Stop Fusion BBQ Cole Peppers Hot Pit Raven's Frye Uncle Sam's Misguided Child Margarittaville Smokers	Five Alarm BBQ & Catering Kick Back Cove BBQ Q Change Smoker Big O's BBQ 2 Hot 4 You Texas Rib Rangers QN4U Father son & Holy Smoke Burbank's Bad Boys BBQ Asleep at the Grill The BBQ Pit Aggieny & Extexasy BBQ Tm Brews, Blues and BBQ Kiler Bees BBQ Powerhouse BBQ Dueling Bubbas The Pit Stop Throw down Cookers Hombre Justin Sane BBQ Company 7 Schwaben Rib Doctor Uncle Sam's Misguided Child Throw Down Cookers Again Raven's Frye JB's Fat Boy Gourmet Grills Smokin in the Dark Austinspice.com Margarittaville Smokers Light blue Smoke Cole Peppers Hot Pit Fusion BBQ Crazy Herb's Texas BBQ	QN4U Q Smokin' in the Dark Justin Sane BBQ Company Throw Down Cookers Again Kick Back cove BBQ JB's Fat Boy Aggieny & Extexasy BBQ Tm Austinspice.com Dueling Bubbas Father Son & Holy Smoke Killer Bees BBQ Brews, Blues and BBQ Rib Doctor The Pit Stop Four Men and a Pig 7 Schwaben Gourmet Grills Five Alarm BBQ & Catering Big O's BBQ 2 Hot 4 You Smoke-A-Licious Throw Down Cookers Coyote Road Kill/BBQbyDan Change smokers Margarittaville Smokers Asleep at the Grill Smokin' Guns Burbank's Bad Boys BBQ Texas Rib Rangers Hombre Stephen's Texas Thunder Simple Green BBQ Team Powerhouse BBQ Uncle Sam's Misguided Child Denver Cajun BBQ Krewe Cole Peppers Hot Pit The BBQ Pit Crazy Herb's Texas BBQ Light Blue Smoke Jerry King Midland TX Wahoo & KJ's BBQ Pit Raven's Frye

"Heatin' Up the Bay" BBQ Cook-Off
The Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, 29-30-October-2004

A self-reflective article by Dan Cannon

Departure, Travel, and Weather
The weather looked very ominous just prior to the event. I was very conscious of the wind and rain as coming from Los Angeles the weather would follow my course exactly, from the southwest to the northeast for 250 miles. I hate to travel across the desert between Los Angeles and Las Vegas with thunderstorm weather as that area is particularly susceptible to flash floods and high-profile vehicle wind warnings. Semi's and travel trailers can, and are, blown over.

The night prior to my departure date, Tuesday, it was pouring. My partner, Rick Streiff, and I were loading up our commissary trailer with the cooking equipment and supplies. That is always a lot of fun in hard rain! Anyway, my thoughts were that I would not leave until weather permitted. I just was not going to drive across the desert in dangerous conditions. It rained all night and finally stopped early Wednesday morning. I was going to caravan with Todd and Tana Eves, Simple Green Cooking Team, and meet up in Barstow. Todd and I talked and decided that there was a good break in the weather due for a few hours and we should try finish packing and make a break for it at noon. Needless to say we did that and all went perfect. No rain or wind the entire trip. However, there was plenty of rain following us and plenty of rain that had just moved out of Vegas.

Todd, Tana, and I finally arrived at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center parking lot later in the day than planned (19:00) and ended up parking outside the event perimeter till morning when Arlie Bragg could let us in and assign us our spots. By 20:00 the wind and rain that had been following us from Los Angeles caught up with us and things got pretty wet. But, hey, that is fine. We were now in our RV's, running generators, having pizza, watching DVD's, and having the beverage of our choice.

Venue Setup and Facilities
Arlie opened the gates and assigned spots about 08:30 Thursday morning. What a perfect venue (as it was last year). I had the same spot. We had electricity, water, plenty of space, and GREAT sunny weather. There was a line of probably 10 folks waiting to get in and set up. From that point on they kept coming in non-stop all day. It took me about 3-4 hours to get setup and relax and visit all the BBQ teams arriving.

Contest Organization
The contest was as usual very well coordinated and organized. All the tents (teams & judges) was set up and ready to go. The cooks meeting was held at 16:00 on Friday afternoon. The KCBS representatives, Carolyn Wells, Ron Harwell, and Tony Stone, along with Arlie Bragg, a VP from the Mandalay Bay, and Smart & Final folks (including Chef Jamie) were all there to welcome us, give us our venue specific orientation, and layout the contest guidelines and rules. If you have ever been to a KCBS contest you know the drill. This went perfectly with no flaws or problems. We even got goody bags with Simple Green product and a nice event hat.

Cooking and Turn-ins
The Anything-Goes category was due Friday at 19:00, Dessert was due at 19:30. That is nice those entries are not due on the meat turn-in day. Kind of distributes the workload / rushing mode around a bit and makes for less overall stress. However, after all the contests I have done the stress part is almost non-existent. The meat categories were at their normal time, Chicken= 12:00, Ribs= 12:30, Pork= 13:00, Brisket= 13:30.

The weather for the rest of the weekend and for that matter the entire event was great. Sunny, 70-75, no winds.

Awards and Wrapping up to Leave
One thing that can be said about Arlie's contests, there is no dilly-dallying around. When was the last awards contest you went to and the winners were being called within 30 seconds of the announced time. And for that matter the 6th-10th place honorable mentions were called up all at once to expedite the process. 5th through 1st were called up individually. 3rd through 1st received Cutting-Board type trophies, 3rd-10th received checks ($).

Anyway, our team, Coyote Road Kill / BBQbyDan managed 10th place overall and an 8th in Chicken and and 8th in Pork. So close yet no cigar or should I say $12,000!

Congratulations to Jerry King of Midland Texas for taking Grand Champion. Could not be a nicer person on the BBQ circuit or spokesman for BBQ. Jerry always, and VERY consistently, does GREAT and wins often. Enjoy your $12,000
reward Jerry. Nice talking and visiting with you.

WOW, what other BBQ contest pays so well? Speaking of that I was always of the mindset that money would draw the teams. Well, this was GOOD money ($40,000 total payout), yet there were only 59 teams!!! Go figure.

Post Contest & Departure
About 20 rigs were left in the parking lot after the mad rush out and awards. About 3-4 teams hung out and celebrated the great successes of the weekend. I, Brent and Kim (QN4U, 1st in Anything But with Beef Ribs), Pete and Pam (The Pit Stop, 9th in Ribs) hung around till late, trying to stay warm, and socializing.

We had a nice event that helped out departure, that is the time change. So, we getting up at 07:00 to pack meant I was really up by 06:00. Rick and I packed up in an hour or so and I was on the road by 08:30 heading towards Los Angeles. If you are not aware traffic from Vegas to L.A. on a Sunday can be baddddd! Well, probably due to the time change and the early departure there was no traffic at all. I got home by 13:00, kissed the doggies and wife, had a couple of cheeseburgers and some fry's, and immediately went in to take a long and well deserved nap.

What a GREAT EVENT, GREAT VENUE, GREAT BBQ SOCIALIZATION, and GREAT TIME had by all attendees. Hope they will have it next year and hope to see everybody again next year.

It was nice to get to visit with old friends, meet new folks, talk and chat to all the teams, and take a moment to catch up with what everybody is doing with themselves lately.

Thanks Arlie for such a great BBQ event and time.

Dan Cannon
Team Coyote Road Kill / BBQbyDan
www.BBQDan.com
www.BBQbyDan.com
Dan@BBQDan.com

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