here comes da judge, here comes da judge

Leaving the K.C. grounds...love my clouds.

This is the 2 West Priests blessing the bar for the Knights of Columbus Hall's bar with beer...Don't you just love the Czech's?

this is the town hero..Scott Posednek...who helped the Chicago White Soxs win the world series one year.

Marvin closes to the camera, Bohunk(what ever his name is and his brother Milan from the Czech Republic. I asked where the wives were and Marvin said "Oh the women stayed back in the Czech Republic...sigh*

Let me tell you there is a reason why there is always a shortage for judges for these cook offs, most people know better. I thought there is no way they can mess up BBQ....wrong again old lady..I have to admit with the exception of 2 of the chickens that were so tough you could wield them as weapons the chickens were pretty good...I gave 2 10's..and a few 9's...The 2 that were so tough were also crappy...no smoke flavor, and one was pink inside...and your not allowed to say anything...but there was plenty of eye rolling and gaking sounds...After we judged them we could say something...like 'oh man number c4 sucked.'....well, that's what I said anyhow..The ribs were ok...none were really great but one was so bad..the cinnamon ones..oh my Goddess, I know that was the reason I spent 3 hours sitting on the toilet when I came home..Who the fuck puts cinnamon in BBQ sauce?...Really...We all had something to say about them when the judging was over..Oh I have to tell you about the other judges at my table..Marvin, Arnold, and 2 guys from the Czech Republic that didn't speak any English. I only know 2 words in Czech...pevo(beer) and pupek(bellybutton)...So the 2 brothers from the Czech Republic Milan and Buhunk(or something like that) were here for 3 weeks and they were very excited about being judges in the BBQ cook off...right up until they got the ribs with the cinnamon...I don't know how to speak Czech but I'm pretty sure they said it tasted like shit. The one brother Milan would take his Czech/English dictionary and ask me the question and then give me the answer..as in "How do you like America?" "I like America very much, it is very beautiful and want to come back again."....pretty funny..By the time we got to the brisket all I wanted to do was down a glass of pepto and take a nap.I didn't even stay to see who won..I was afraid I'd find out who put the cinnamon in the ribs and beat them to death with one of the ribs..So I went around taking pictures of the K.C. hall...but the pictures had too much light and you can't see much..The other judge was Arnold who I know from the Tiger Shop where Charlie plays the accordion and they both drink a ton of beer and then go home and take a nap. But sitting at the table with those 2 who are both in their mid 70's and both grew up in West and have known each other all of their lives was so interesting. Marvin told about going to school when he was a kid..before WWII...and they didn't have a bus at first so they had to walk 2 1/2 miles to school and back and if the roads were muddy from rain they had to walk in the fields. Then they got a bus, but it didn't have any breaks or reverse..So the driver would pull up, down shift until it was slow enough and then the kids would run along side of the bus and jump into the back door which was broke and always stayed open. Same for when they had to get off, he'd downshift and they would jump off ....Then he would pull into a circular driver way and go back the other way ..no reverse..They told stories about how when they got out of school they went directly to the fields to work and the little ones (toddlers) were kept in a cage...a big cage with a top on it ...not to be mean to the kids but to keep them safe..So they wouldn't wander off into the road, or the crick, or get 'et by the critters, which could be rabid. Can you image that happening today?..ha..I really enjoyed listening to their stories..I drank water (they had pickle slices and carrot sticks to cleanse the pallet between bites, but the rest of them drank pevo. So Marvin is an usher at St. Mary's and they have a Saturday Mass for the people that want to go to confession on Saturday night. Plus there was a funeral for some old guy named L.A. who was in his 90's and croaked..So Marvin went right from the judging to St. Mary's. It was tempting to go to Mass, just to see how Marvin who had about 6 pevo's managed to navigate up and down the aisle. So that's my BBQ judging adventure..and let me tell you folks, it'll be a warm day in Hel before I volunteer for judging a cook off again..seriously ...I had tried to talk Babs into going with me...she laughed her ass off when I told her about it...I'll do a short post on the winners Thursday after I get the West Paper and find out who won. See if I can ferret out the buttroy with the cinnamon..