Update...

So many are thinking where the hell have you been? I realized real quick that being a blogger was not the easiest thing in the world to do. I was finding myself just blogging about bad judging... I didn't want that to be what I only wrote about, so I just quit doing it. I have a whole bunch of draft blogs that are all ready to release from the summer, but don't know if I will ever do that...


My intent of this blog is to update folks on what is going on with me after the Jack. My team was fortunate enough to qualify for the Jack Daniel's World Barbeque Invitational Championship last weekend in Lynchburg, TN. As many of you can figure out, it is probably my favorite contest that is going out there. I just love Lynchburg and the whole setting for the BBQ contest.

We were heading down last Wednesday with my girls and my sister. We had stopped off just South of Indy to unload my tanks and to fill up with propane and gas. I was feeling a little light headed and took a moment to catch my breath. Went inside to pay my bill and it hit me. This is where it gets cloudy for me. I am not sure if I had a seizure or if I had a seizure after blacking out and hitting my head. I had quite a knot on my head, so I am not really sure. All I know is I came too, with 2 paramedics checking me out. My sister and my girls were with me and the fear that was on my girls faces will be etched in my memory for the rest of my life. They have been through a lot with loosing their mommy at an early age and I know what they were thinking. I tried to assure them the best I could that I was alright and everything would be OK. So I was off in the ambulance to the Emergency and they followed behind in my RV.

Once at the Emergency Room they did all the tests that they could do on me, including a CT scan. Everything was coming back as being OK. After about a 5 hour delay, they released me and we were on our way to Lynchburg. I did not want to miss it and I was feeling good enough to go down and cook. I had friends coming in from all over the country and I did not want to disappoint. Not that they wouldn't of understood, but it was probably not wanting to disappoint myself either... Did I feel OK? No not really. The best way to describe how I felt was half drunk... All the time... Which probably wouldn't surprise half of you, but I wasn't drinking anything! Just because of the effects that it was doing to me. I stuck it out and got all of our categories turned in! Got a few calls with some help from ALL of my team. Thanks to you all!

Now the fun part. Part of having a seizure is you automatically lose your driving privileges... Yep, I can't drive!!! As a single dad with 2 little girls, that is a major problem for me! I have come back home and have had a CT, EEG and MRI. Nothing is alarming, but I have also not received a report from my neurologist. How are we going to survive? I have no clue. Fortunately, I can walk to my train to get downtown for my job. We have a local store about 2 blocks from our house for food. I'll be hitting up all of my friends and family to drive me around I guess. We have dealt with so much in the past, this is just a bump in road of life. I will admit it scares the hell out of me, but I guess if they found that I didn't have a brain or something like that, they would of told me. So for that, I am happy.

For now, I really do feel pretty good. I still have, for a lack of a better term, vertigo attacks. This vertigo is nothing to joke at. It will bring you to your knees. I am a big strong guy and it cripples me. Fortunately, I usually only have them when I am laying in bed. But they do freak me out. That is about the only side effect that I am feeling. Oh and being really really tired. For those that know me, I usually get about 5 hours of sleep a night. Lately, I have been getting 8-9 hours a night!!!

What will the future hold? I don't know. Obviously, if I can't drive I can't compete, which is probably my biggest concern. Not for the competition part, but for the part that I can't get out there for my cause. That is why I BBQ. Winning trophies, ribbons and awards is real nice. Giving away $25k grants for cancer research and to assist those that are fighting cancer is my real drive. Many know that I do this so my kids will have a better understanding of who and what their mommy stood for. She was not a quitter and neither will I quit. The cards that were dealt my wife were a lot worse than what I have had to deal with. So while I can complain and whine, I won't. I have my health and while it might of failed me on that drive to Lyncburg, I still have my health... Which I am fortunate for.

So all I ask is that you hug your loved one's. Give your kids a hug and tell them how much you love them. You never know when that might be taken from you. Trust me when I say that I never want to see that fear on my girls little faces ever again. So what ever I need to do to get healthy, I will do what it takes.

Hopefully we will see you out on the BBQ trail. I have already had to cancel one of my favorite contests out in Arizona with the AZ Barbeque crew. I am hoping that it will be temporary and you will see cancersuckschicago.com out on the circuit in 2010...

Thanks to all for the well wishes. The support that I receive is amazing.

See you all down the road!

Cancer Sucks!!!!

Scottie

ps I am attaching a picture that Karen Walker took from the Jack. This was for the first BBQ call of the contest, which was for 10th place sauce! Yes, I used a Blues Hog Sauce!!! What was I doing? No clue, but I think I was excited that I was getting a bottle of Jack!!! ;-)

My Birthday

So yesterday was my birthday. To me, it's just another day. I know my girls get excited and I play along with them. But deep down, it hurts. I know it's another year that my Corliss never got to see.

I miss you Corliss.

Cancer Sucks!

Scottie

Taylorville, Illinois

Got into this contest after the cooks meeting, as I had to work. So I was scrambling a little to start off. Got all my meat prepped and everything set up and by 7:30, I was ready to start relaxing... Was next to Jim and Tina Ferguson, who are from Ohio and run the Kettering BBQ contest. Which I highly recommend!!! Thanks go out to Jim for helping me set-up the couple of things that I needed to set up.

It was an uneventful evening. Had more lamb chops with Smokey Joel and Vince. We were all wise and were in bed early. We were expecting some rain overnight and into the morning. We did get to experience a nice anvil cloud. There were actually 2 of them and we were right in the middle of them both. Pretty cool and amazing.





As for the contest results, managed to get a 3rd place call in pork. Which is a nice make-up for the call that I had received the prior week in Westmont... But otherwise, I had nothing that the judges were looking for. There was nothing special in my product. You move on and get ready for the next contest. Lotta Bull won the GC, which is also the second time this year, that he has won GC and they weren't there to accept the award. As it also happened in Stagecoach. RGC went to Bruce Ring, who seems to be getting around a lot better since his back surgery...

Cancer Sucks!

Scottie

Westmont, Illinois!!! Home town contest!!!

Woo hoo, Memorial Day weekend and it's my home town contest. Have worked with the contest organizer, Jim Addington to try and have this as a premier cooks contest. Jim and his crew are tireless in trying to take care of us. If they ever side, they will always side with the cooks...

I pulled in to the park on Friday night, as this is a Saturday/Sunday contest. I was over by Dr. Porkenstein, Quau, Twyford BBQ, Smokey Joel and KRE. A whole group of us went to Uncle Bub's BBQ, which is a local restaurant. The guys all know Mark and Jay as they try and compete whenever they have free time from their busy restaurant and catering business. Well, what a feast that these guys put on for us!!! Every time I turned my head, we had another platter of appetizers or food coming out. Thanks to Uncle Bub's for the feast!!!

We started the Sunday off with a service from Reverend Twyford and a offering from Phillip Brazier who brought us a special treat from Lynchburg... All I can say is ahhhh... ;-) Thanks Phillip and Kathy for coming another year! Sure is nice to get y'all up here...

My food was all turning out how I had wanted. I was real happy with all my turn-ins. The judges thought otherwise... We managed to score 40th out of 45 teams for pork... To me, that is spit out of your mouth disgusting... Oh well. I finally got a call for my 6th place brisket, so at least I wasn't shut-out!!! We did get a nice 23rd place finish in the overall..... lol I am not changing a thing, as I know that my stuff wasn't bad. The good part is that my good friend Alex from Dr. Porkenstein managed to pull the 3-peat, by winning the Grand Championship! Way to go Alex and Kate!! They just own this contest. I am very happy for ya bud!!!

Cancer Sucks!

Scottie

Steeleville, Illinois

Another contest that I am leaving after dropping of my little one at school and then me hitting the road. It took a little over 5 hours, as I was watching my speed!!! I had my sister come with me for this one.

This contest was set-up right in downtown. It was a whole town festival. We were on some side streets and parking lots. It was actually a nice set-up with water and electricity nice and convenient. We were set-up with Smokey Joel, Dr. Porkenstein, Twyford BBQ and Quau as our neighbors. The turn-in area couldn't of been closer either.

They were predicting storms coming through later int he evening, so we all prepared for the storms to come in. While the heavy stuff just missed us, we did get some nice strong winds and rain. Which managed to break my awning on my RV....



A little rain didn't stop us from our late night lamb chop-a-thon... Have I said these go really good with Joel's Mai Thais? ;-) I must admit, while I hate rain at contests, I do enjoy sitting under shelter and listening to the rain fall.

We started the next day off with a morning good luck shot with the Reverend Twyford. Which brings me to the Friday night martini contest. Man, did Randy ever make a good one. He finished high in the contest, which was won by the Smokin Scotsmen. These 2 cocktails were unbelievably good. Can say I have never had a martini that tasted like these 2!!! I had to give it to Reverend though, as he included bacon in his...



For the results, got a 4th and 6th place call for my ribs and pork and they basically spit out my chicken. Finished in 7th place overall, so I know my stuff is right there. Not sure what's going on with the judges this year, but I'll just keep plugging along. I know my recipes work, so I will tweak them a little, but not much... Talk to me in July to see if I kept to that or not! lol

Now, let's see how long it takes me to get a new awning on my RV!!!! Not too many weekends off and no time dyuring the week, as these places close before I am even home... Arghhhh...

Cancer Sucks!

Scottie

I can't drive 55!!!

This post is my tribute to Sammy Hagar!!! ;-)




Well, I am finally back home in Illinois cooking!!! Heading down to Edwardsville, Illinois, which is located in the county which I was born and lived my first 4 years of my life... It was good to be back home...

As you can see by that sign, RV's are to drive 55 MPH... I hooked up with a bus that was going 70 MPH and I thought I had finally figured out how to drive fast in Illinois, as we have this stupid rule that RV's and trailers have to drive 55 MPH... You guessed it, I got busted! When I pulled over, I also happened to stop right in front of this sign... D'oh is all I have to say... Needless to say, I now drive 64 miles MPH in Illinois....

When I arrived at the contest it was pouring down rain. Tough to get motivated to get going on a contest when that is happening! But I was fortunate to be next to Alex and Kate from Dr. Porkenstein and they got me going. The rain ended and it actually became a real nice weekend! Started a nice tradition with Joel and Vince from Smokey Joel/Cubby Bear at this contest. Joel had brought some lamb chops and he cooked them up! Man do they go good with his Mai Thai's!!!



As for the contest the judges seemed to like my food a little better got another 1st place brisket and a couple other calls and was also called for Reserve Grand Champion! The Grand Championship was called for Smokey Joel/Cubby Bear!!! Way to go Joel and Vince!!! They beat my butt by a whopping .0008!!!! We'll get him next time! ;-)

Cancer Sucks!

Scottie

Stagecoach Music Fest, Indio, California

Well it has taken me way to long to finish off this post!!! I now know that when I am waiting for pictures from my camera, I am better off not waiting... I am too lazy to dump them off my camera! But I will make the best of it and I probably have some better pictures anyway, not from my camera!!!

I flew out to Indio, California for the Stagecoach BBQ Contest. Thom Emery is the organizer for this event and he has been recruiting me to come out to Cali! I flew in to Tucson, where my friends had picked up the majority of my supplies when they came out to Rio Rancho in March. As soon as I was getting my stuff ready once I landed, I realized I brought the wrong sauce!!! What do you do? You get up at 5:00 am and go to the store to try and make some sauce!!! This was after 4 hours of sleep... The sauce wasn't bad, I thought...

I hit the road on Friday morning. I wasn't moving too fast, which was OK in my books! I managed to add to my critters that I have hit scorecard! I thought that the most unique thing that I have hit in my travels would be a armadillo in Arkansas.. Nope, on my way through the desert, I ran over a rattle snake. Just to make sure that rattlesnake wasn't going to be tied with a armadillo, I also hit a baby one on the way home to Tucson... So that was 2 snakes on this trip! I will say, that with Arizona's speed limit at 75, there was no way I was swerving or slowing down for these snakes...

It wasn't a long drive over the desert, but I was greeted in California with this gated looking welcome center... I thought I was in Mexico and had taken a wrong turn! The Agricultural Officers were laughing at me that I was stopping to take a picture... Damn tourists!!!



I can also check California off my list... That is state # 21 in my quest to cook in as many states as possible.




Did I say it was warm in the desert? When I started trying to take this picture, it was reading 99º in the desert. It took me a while to try and drive and take a picture at the same time and the temp dropped. The desert is really weird like that. With hot spots and cooler spots... But the weather was in the 80's the entire weekend.



This contest was 3 contests in one weekend. On Saturday, we had a KCBS and a IBCA contest. It was definitely a challenge to get all of my stuff turned in, as I was working solo. I was real happy with my turn-ins, but obviously not as happy as the judges... As you will read farther down in this post, the highlight of my weekend was to come!!! I did manage to finish 8th place Overall in the KCBS contest. The IBCA only keeps track of the top 10, but when I had looked at my tickets, I was all bunched in the top 20. Not good enough to get to the final table, but it was only my first time trying to cook IBCA, so I was fine with that. Rhythm N' Que did the double dip that weekend and took the GC in both the KCBS and the IBCA contests!!! Way to go Vince and Alexa! My highlight came before the awards even started. The California BBQ Association made a donation to my foundation for $725!!! I tell ya, as many times as I have done this, it really does tug at your heart strings. So I apologize for any ramblings that I may have been doing!!! ;-) Thanks also to Ben Lobenstein who took these shots and was kind enough to share them with me!



I was sound asleep on Saturday night by 10:30 from exhaustion. I was up and at it at 4:30 am, getting ready for the new day. I had some better luck in this one and scored a 1st place brisket and 7th place overall. Lotta Bull took the GC. Mike and Debbie had to leave the contest early, so they weren't even at the awards! They had Kathy and Phillip Brazier picking up their awards!

Probably one of the coolest things happened at this contest. On Saturday, Merl Whitebook had challenged the cooks to raise money for cancer research in Monica Bendict's memory. Merl even had the collection box being passed around in the judging tent. Well, when the amount of money was raised wasn't' enough, Merl decided to bring it to the crowd on Sunday at the awards ceremony. He had Maegan walk the crowd with a turn-in box and it was an amazing site looking at everyone holding up their money waiting for Maegan to come over and collect it!!! If I wasn't in such a state of shock, I probably would of remembered to take a picture of this, but I didn't remember... Merl called Jay and myself up to the stage to announce the results of the monies collected. It came to a staggering $1535!!!!

Folks, I have got to say this was one of the most touching moments that I have ever had raising money. All I have to say is, thank god, I did not have to speak. I wouldn't have been able to... To say it touched me, is putting it mildly... To say that it touched Jay, I think is putting it mildly... I will let the photos speak for themsleves...







I would be remiss if I didn't thank the drive behind this donation. My thanks go out to Merl Whitebook. You are the man Merl!!! It takes a lot to challenge people and you managed to do it the right way. It truly was an honor to be up on stage with you and Jay. You can tell the love that Monica and Jay have with the cooks in the Arizona/California region. Well, the whole Southwest for that matter!!! It truly takes my breath away.




Cancer Sucks!

Scottie