Yesterday was the first day of load-in for BBQ Fest, when teams erect their tents and scaffolding, move cooking equipment in, and lay down carpet. It is a day I eagerly anticipate, for it is a day when I get much done for the BBQ team. Here is a recap of my activities yesterday. I hope this will be an insightful look at what being a BBQ team member is all about.
I started the morning by watching the WWE Network to conduct some research for the BBQ team. There’s a new character named Adam Rose who debuted on WWE Monday Night Raw on Cinco de Mayo. “Simply put, where Adam Rose goes, the party follows,” reads Rose’s bio on the WWE website. His outlook on life is that it’s a party 24/7 and he advises his entourage “don’t be a lemon, be a rosebud.” I wanted to watch some of his matches, and particularly his ring entrances and interviews, to get ideas on how to bring a similar party atmosphere to the team booth. One of Rose’s followers is a man in a full bunny suit. We need a bunny.
(Fast-forward to about 1:51 to see the bunny)
Meanwhile, our team vice-president Clay was picking up a U-Haul van to go get our new commercial refrigerator. He posted a photo of the van’s interior to Facebook, and in a show of team unity, I “Liked” the photo. Even if I can’t be physically present, I can still be a part of things, thanks to social media. How did we ever even have a BBQ team before Facebook?
While on Facebook, I invited the pig from the GEICO commercials to be our guest at BBQ Fest this year. “We have a special VIP area waiting just for you,” I told him. “And if the lows dip into the 50s on Thursday and Friday, you have nothing to worry about. Where you’ll be, you will be nice and warm. Very very warm.” See, this is one of the contributions I make to the team, getting celebrities to come to our booth.
At 11 I had a very important meeting with BBQ teammate John D. I hate it that I couldn’t reschedule the meeting and join Clay on the U-Haul, but this is crunch time and you have to work things out the best you can, and accept the fact that it’s not always the ideal situation. In any event, John D’s input as to the direction of the team is most valuable and I could not pass up an opportunity to hear any pearls of wisdom he had to share. We selected the bar at Bardog as our meeting room and spent an hour and a half discussing the team. Of course, since the meeting happened to take place at a bar, I had a couple of PBRs.
The John D meeting wrapped up around 12:30. “Okay, now I can head down to the park and roll up my sleeves and get to work,” I thought. Not so fast. I got on Facebook and saw that another BBQ teammate, AnnMarie, had requested a meeting at the Blind Bear. Now, the thing is, AnnMarie is a relatively new team member, this being only her second year. Not being a grizzled veteran of BBQ Fest like many of us on the team, I was very interested to hear her perspective on how things were going. Also, I’m all about supporting the Blind Bear, which of course is our team sponsor. So I just accepted the fact that I wouldn’t get down to Tom Lee Park for a couple more hours, at least.
When I got to the Bear, my teammates Clay and Jamie were there, having delivered the commercial refrigerator to our team’s spot in the park. “That’s awesome, guys,” I said, giving my teammates a pep talk. “With our core values of HARD WORK and TEAMWORK, there is truly nothing we can’t accomplish.” So much positive energy on this team. It’s wonderful.
While I was waiting on AnnMarie to arrive I did a little product research. We have arranged for a rep for a liquor called “Fireball” to be in our booth. I figured I needed to know what this product was, so that I can give a full report to the team. Fortunately, the Blind Bear carried it.
As a kid, I remember buying boxes of Atomic Fire Ball candy, which was cinnamon-flavored candy balls that were so hot I could barely keep them in my mouth. Fireball the liquor is a cinnamon whiskey with a taste reminiscent of the candy. It is served chilled, in a shot glass. It is 66 proof, lower in alcohol than most whiskeys. Fireball originated in Canada and I am told it has become wildly popular in the United States in the past two years. Taste was delicious. I would definitely order this product in the future and I think the team has made a good move by inviting the Fireball rep to our booth.
AnnMarie arrived and asked if I had heard of Seco Herrerano, the national alcoholic beverage of Panama, the honored country of Memphis in May in 2014. Indeed I had not. It is a clear, 70-proof liquor that is distilled from sugarcane. It can be consumed straight, or mixed. Many Panamanians mix it with milk or coconut milk. I realized that I should have brought my iPad to the Bear so I could take notes, but I didn’t so AnnMarie wrote it on a napkin. Maybe we can find some and serve it to the judges along with our championship shoulder. Now, see this illustrates that you have to go with the flow during BBQ Fest. If I had stuck to my plan of going straight to the park and working on building the booth, I would not have learned about Seco Herrerano. Flexibility is a necessary trait if you’re going to be on a BBQ team.
Two of AnnMarie’s friends arrived, and they invited me to come to Brewery Untapped with them. This sounded like a fantastic idea for two reasons. For one, the brewery is only about a block away from the team booth in Tom Lee Park. If I can’t be physically in the booth, I reasoned, I can feel a sense of team unity by being near the booth. The only real difference would be that I would be holding a delicious craft beer in my hand instead of a hammer. Secondly, I thought it was important that the Moody Ques have a representative at this awesome community event. With my team T-shirt on, I could serve as team ambassador to Untapped. I’ve always thought I’d make an awesome ambassador. Perhaps I will be appointed U.S. ambassador to Romania someday.
We stayed at Untapped until about sunset, and I enjoyed several Abita Strawberry beers. On the wall there was a board where you could write what you liked best about Untapped.
I left a response:
As the sun set I told AnnMarie and her friends, “I’ve really enjoyed it, but I need to get over to the park and do some work.”
“Wait,” they replied, “aren’t you supposed to be holding down the fort at the Flying Saucer?”
I was stunned. I had completely forgotten my core team responsibility. As I have explained before, it is paramount that during load-in, one member of the team stays behind at the Flying Saucer to handle anything that comes up there. Here it was after 8 PM and I hadn’t made it to the Saucer yet. I rushed up there. Good luck smiled upon me and nothing had come up there that required my presence. Still, I felt like I had let the team down. I will try to do better today.
Plans for today: I woke up raring to go at 5 in the morning, unable to sleep because I was so excited about getting down to the park and helping. But my dreams were shattered: The team won’t be ready to do load-in until early afternoon. Since I have several hours of free time, I’m going to work on a project that I’ve been bouncing around in the back of my head for a while: I’m going to write a Moody Ques load-in theme song. If I can just get the lyrics on paper, perhaps I can get a well-known singer to record it. I’m thinking maybe Kermit the Frog.
That’ll wrap it up for this post. As Tony Allen would say, time to grind.