October 8th, 2007
  The Shigs In Pit scored a huge victory on Saturday at the American Royal World Series of BBQ as the Shigs team finished in an impressive 7th place overall in the Invitational.  We competed against 104 of the worlds best teams. To be invited to compete you had to have won a grand championship the prior year.  Needless to say the competition was impressive, many of which have been featured on the food network and on the versus network.  We took honors and were called to the stage with our 14th place brisket and our 9th place pork.  It was a huge thrill to just get a call to the stage much less finishing in 7th place overall.  We competed in our normal four meat categories which were, Chicken, Ribs, Pork, & Brisket.  We had a very consistent cook and that allowed us to finish in 7th place. There were several media personnel covering the event including, local and national newspapers and television. 
 
The following day we competed in the Open Championship in which over 500 teams competed.  The Shigs team finished 139th overall.  This event was so large that most judges were not certified, so it's a little more of a crap shoot. It was Saturday's event though that was the highlight of the weekend and we were more than thrilled with our top ten finish.  We would also like to congratulate our many friends that also took honors at the Royal.
 
The American Royal is a huge event with thousands of people in attendance. There were concerts, rodeos, huge fireworks displays each night, corporate parties, a bbq trade expo, and much more. We had several local Kansas City US FOODS employees stop by our booth.  We met a regional training manager, several reps who were in attendance and a driver who was competing.  They were excited to see the US Foods Banner being displayed.  This was a party like we have never seen.		 American Royal Awards
June 9th, 2007    
  Okay, that wasn't much fun.  I'm not sure we'd ever go back to the King City BBQ Showdown if it wasn't for Troy.  Couldn't ask for a nicer feller.  The Shigs took home nothing but an a_ _ whooping.  Although, we were the second best Indiana team, beat out by The Pig-Pak.  Congratulations to them for beating us.  Extra congrats to Alex and Kate for taking home the gold, Rick from Rick's Pit Stop for reserve and Randy and Marla for 4th place.  Ford from Great Lakes BBQ & Feed Co. was nice enough to donate a bunch of Bahama Mamas to our Friday and Saturday night get-togethers and the Pak for hosting everyone.  A special Happy Birthday to Kathy Brazier.
June 2nd, 2007    
  Shigs In Pit wins the Fairbanks, Indiana Q for the Kids Cookoff. This was our first Grand Championship of 2007. We competed against 26 other teams from the midwest.  Patty and Brian we great hosts as were the KCBS reps.

Chicken - 11th place
Ribs - 7th place
Pork Butts - 4th place
Brisket - 1st place
Overall - Grand Champions!!!!

We have won Grand championships in Illinois, Kentucky and now Indiana.  Congratulations to UlcerAcres and Ribs and Bibs for a good showing.  On Friday night we cooked up 16lbs. of 26-30 ct. US Foods Tiger Shrimp as we attended a potluck dinner for all the cook teams and organizers.  Of course it was accompanied by a keg of Mad Anthony's Summer Daze Wheat Beer. Both were huge hits with the crowd.  US Foods Ribs and Pork Butts were obviously well recieved by the judges.  A big thanks to Tom Barclay, Kim Eggert and all the staff at US Foods for their genorous sponsorship. It is greatly appreciated!!
May 5th, 2007    
  Rocket City BBQ in Huntsville, AL.  Ohhhh my let me tell ya....The Shigs walked away with a 10th place Chicken award.  Although rain threatened to douse the spirits, it turned out to be a beautiful event put on by Blindog and Becky.  There was a great cooks dinner and celebration on Friday night featuring the biggest damn margaritas you've ever seeeeeeeen. 
April 14th, 2007    
  Shigs go to the woodshed in Jefferson City, MO at the Capital City Cookoff.  After being rained, sleeted and snowed on, Shigs In Pit emerged with a 4th place in Pork which was just enough to pay for the gas to Jefferson City.  That was easily the muddiest contest we have ever competed in but our host, Bruce Ring, was very accommodating and really put on a nice comp despite the weather.
October 25th, 2006    
  Ribs and Bibs takes home 3rd place chicken at the prestigious Jack Daniels World Championship Invitational Barbecue.  Ol' Dave Stamper ended the season with a big ol' bang by taking home a 3rd place jug and a 16th place overall finish.  When Dave was asked how he felt about his win, he said, "It was a tough road getting here, but it just goes to show you what a team can do when it listens to me."  Congratulations also go out to Scottie from cancersuckschicago.com for his Grand Championship, Darren, Sheri and Haley from Smokin Clones BBQ, Randy  and Marla from Ulcer Acres and both Dizzy Pig teams

Thanks to Garry from P.R. for the photo of the team.
October 20th, 2006    
  Just like an overcooked brisket, the Shigs have crumbled.  Chop 'em up and turn 'em in.  Even though they suffered the loss of a sump pump and an Alberta Clipper, The Shigs In Pit team received one call-up for 2nd place chicken and one for 5th place pork.  Ribs and Brisket both took the #8 position, getting the team an overall 3rd place out of the 24 competing teams at the Ohio Smoked Meat & BBQ Festival.  The Big Name in Smoke continues to nip at the Shigs' feet by finishing 4th overall.  Congratulations go out to them, Blazen BBQ and Extreme Roasters and a big hello to Jim and Tina from Rolling Smoke Barbeque.
 
October 7th, 2006    
  Ribs And Bibs takes the stage for pork.  Ol' Dave Stamper and Mike Zinkan received a call-up for their 19th out of 463 pork entry at the American Royal, placing them in the top 4% of entrants.  That's what we call damn good.  On hand to provide moral support and manual labor were Todd and Stefan of Shigs fame.  The Ribs & Baggage team from Shady Acres might have been able to perform more successfully had Zinkan not been so busy trying to make converts instead of barbeque.  Darren and Sherry Warth of Smokin Clones took home the American Royal Invitational Reserve Grand Championship along with a host of others too numerous to mention.  Congratulations go out to them.  Even those old chicken cookers Ulcer Acres managed to get some great call-ups including a 3rd place in pork in the Invitational.
 
September 29th, 2006    
  They've done it again, those lucky Shigs in Pit!  Second Grand Championship in a row.  This time it was at the Owensboro, Kentucky, Grillin & Chillin BBQ Cookoff.  They took home a first in brisket, second in chicken, third in pork ribs and ninth in pork butt.  That's a top ten in all four categories!  Other friends of theirs that took home the gold were, Smokin' T's (it was nice of Troy to be there this time), The Big Name in Smoke, Moonswiners, Hickory Flats, Ulcer Acers, Bar-B-Quau and the newest group, Blind Dog Outlaw BBQ Gang who took home the Reserve Grand Championship.  Blind Dog and Becky also organize the Rocket City BBQ Whistlestop Festival.  This venue was well prepared and well outfitted.  Diamon Lake Resort played host to the festival. Philip and Kathy Brazier rep'd the contest along with Terry and Mary Joe Stinnett, who were on the cooking committee, Roy Henry coordinated the whole affair and was on hand to award prizes, along with the Owensboro Mayor, Tom Watson.
 
September 9th, 2006    
  Champeens!  The Shigs have finally broken through and won a Grand Champion award at the Southern Illinois Bluegrass & BBQ Festival.  They captured first in chicken and pork and fifth in brisket.  This guarantees them a spot at the American Royal in 2007 and a one in six chance of going to The Jack.  On hand to help celebrate were Ol' Dave Stamper (Ribs & Bibs) , Marla and Randy Twyford (Ulcer Acres), Mike Wozniak (Bar-B-Quau), Tony from Smokin' T's, the Reserve Grand Champion Dr. Chuckie and our new friends from Dr. Porkenstein,.Alex and Kate.
August 19th, 2006    
  Madison, Indiana - Ribberfest.  Shigs In Pit take home 11th place in a field of 54 competitors.  Madison has consistently been the team's largest event, playing host to some of the region's toughest competitors.  Pork was awarded a 3rd place, followed by 6th place chicken and 11th place brisket (thanks Pig Pak).  Jeff Neels really showed his mettle by winning a 2nd place award in the Anything Butt category with his King Crab Imperial in mini-sourdough bread bowls.  The desert category continues to vex him, missing 3rd place by only 3/10 of a point.  The Missouri favorite, gooey butter cake, still remains in the desert arsenal however, sure to reappear elsewhere.
 		  
June 10th, 2006    
  Shigs on the move.  Mt. Vernon, IL, King City Barbeque Showdown.  After much tweaking and experimentation Shigs In Pit have managed to get "unstuck" and capture 13th place overall, with chicken roasting in at a hearty 2nd place.  One word for Mt. Vernon, aka King City, HOT!  That heat was quickly followed by a tremendous thunderstorm that destroyed both of the teams EZ-UPs (as well as a host of other teams') and sent them running for the nearest hotel.   
May 23rd, 2006    
  Families to converge on Mt. Vernon, IL.  Bill and Sandra Grantham (Todd's parents) will make the drive to Mt. Vernon and be joined by Alyssa Clair Shroeder (Todd's friend), Lori Finnegan (Jeff M. Neels' friend) and Robin Kelley (Stefan's life partner) along with the regular Shigs In Pit team.  If the Shigs fail to make Grand Champion this time, it won't be because they were doing dishes.
 		  
May 20th, 2006    
  Shigs In Pit drops to 19th place in Carmel, Indiana's 2nd annual Bodacious Blues-B-Q.  Brisket continues it's march towards greatness, taking 3rd place and bringing home a nice cutting board and just enough money to keep us interested.
 		  
October 8th, 2005    
  Shigs In Pit takes 18th place at Arthur, IL at Central Illinois Bragging Rights BBQ.  We got our first "call up" for our 10th place brisket.  We're making progress.
 		  
August 20th, 2005    
  Shigs In Pit takes 18th place at their first competition in Madison, Indiana's Ribberfest.  We'd like to thank everyone that took us under their wing and showed us the ropes.  There were a lot of people responsible for our success in Madison, not the least of which was Dale Kelley from Seasonal Distributors, Ford and Carol from Great Lakes BBQ & Feed, Ol' Dave Stamper from Ribs and Bibs and Randy & Marla Twyford from Ulcer Acers.