The four majors and grand slam of barbecue
Like golf and tennis, barbecue has the following four majors, listed in the order in whey they take place:
- World's Championship Bar-B-Que Contest in Houston (often called the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo)
- American Royal Barbeque in Kansas City
- World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest in Memphis (often called Memphis in May)
- Jack Daniel's World Championship Invitational Barbeque in Lynchburg, Tennessee
Each of these contests is a 'major league' event, by reason of their prestige, the number of years they have been held, the national interest in the results, and the number of entering teams.
World's Championship Bar-B-Que Contest in Houston
The World's Championship Bar-B-Que Contest is held in Houston on the second weekend of every February. The 2002 contest runs from February 7 to 9, 2002 in the Astrodome Parking Lot, and this will be the 29th annual contest. More than 325 competition teams will enter the contest this year, and attendance will be more than 160,000. The contest is not sanctioned by any of the major sanctioning organizations.
Many barbecue veterans call this the "Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo", although that is really a separate three-week event that begins the week after the "Bar-B-Que" contest.
World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest in Memphis
The World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest is held in Memphis
on the third weekend of every May, as part of the
month-long celebration called
"Memphis in May". The 2002 contest runs from May 16 to 18, 2002
in the Tom Lee Park on the banks of the Mississippi River, and this
will be the 25th annual contest. The contest is sanctioned by
the Memphis in May Sanctioned Contest Network.
The contest calls itself the "Superbowl of Swine, where the big pigs come to play," since of course Memphis emphasizes pork barbecue. Many barbecue veterans call this "Memphis in May" (or MiM for short), although this really refers to the entire, month-long celebration.
American Royal Barbecue in Kansas City
The American Royal Barbecue is held in Kansas City on the first
weekend of every October. The 2002 contest runs from October 3
to 5, 2002 in the
American Royal Center near the banks of the Missouri River, and this
will be the 23rd annual contest. The contest is sanctioned by
the Kansas City Barbeque Society.
The contest calls itself "The World Series of Barbecue," and it combines an invitational category, with teams which have won a major contest during the previous year, and an open category.
Jack Daniel's World Championship Invitational Barbeque
The Jack Daniel's World Championship Invitational Barbeque is held
in Lynchburg, Tennessee on the fourth weekend of every October.
The 2002
contest runs on October 25 and 26, 2002 in the Hollow, near the
central park in downtown Lynchburg near the Jack Daniel's Distillery,
and this will be the 14th annual contest. The contest is
sanctioned by the Kansas City Barbeque Society.
The contest calls itself "The Barbecue in the Hollow" (yes, the Jack spells it a couple of ways, with a c or a q, in the event title and description). Many barbecue veterans call this simply "the Jack", and it is an invitational, with 50 competition teams that have won a major contest during the previous year.
Grand Slam
The term Grand Slam originated early in the 20th Century in contract bridge and meant winning all 13 tricks in trump. (A regular slam was scoring 13 no-trump tricks.)
Someday, perhaps, the next championship to use the term will be a barbecue competition team which succeeds in winning all four barbecue majors in the same year and claims the Grand Slam of Barbecue.
Related information
- Official website of the World's Championship Bar-B-Que Contest in Houston
- Official website of the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest in Memphis
- Official website of the American Royal Barbecue in Kansas City
- Official website of the Jack Daniel's World Championship Invitational Barbeque in Lynchburg
- Official website of the Memphis in May Sanctioned Contest Network
- Official website of the Kansas City Barbeque Society
- Hickok, Ralph. "Sports History, Grand Slam Events" (November 9, 2001).