By Amy Overbey, MABA Board Member, the Princess of Poultry, and Co-Pitmaster of Team Meat Coma

WHO IS ON THE TEAM AND WHERE ARE YOU FROM?

David Deal (Big D) from Wilmington, Delaware
John Brown (Johnny B) from Lewes, Delaware

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN COMPETING?

Our first competition was in Dover in October 2008 where we finished middle of the pack. The following year we competed in Dover again (Nor’easter/pitmaster episode) where we finished again middle of the pack but with a first place chicken, we were hopelessly hooked forever.

HOW DID YOU COME UP WITH YOUR TEAM NAME/LOGO?

We originally competed as The Delaware Blue Hogs, however since Dave owned and operated Big D’s BBQ in Marshallton Delaware we decided to change our name to help promote the business. Of course this was risky, because if we sucked at it ……well you get the idea. The current logo is used at the BBQ business, however we are currently redesigning it to better serve both the business and the team.

WHAT SMOKER(S) DO YOU COOK ON?

We have used everything from a weber kettle to Drum smokers and competed for several years with a Backwoods Competitor. We have been using a Peoria Custom Cooker stick burner since 2013 because we love the flavor that stick burners provide and we have no interest in getting any sleep at a comp…..LOL

IF YOU COULD ADD A 5TH CATEGORY, AND IT CAN BE ANYTHING, WHAT WOULD IT BE AND WHY?

There’s only two of us on the team…we think 4 is enough, but a category where other people come in at the end of the comp and clean up and pack up our stuff for a possible award would be fine with us.

WHERE IS YOUR FAVORITE PLACE TO COOK (CAN BE A FAVORITE COMP, BUT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE, CAN BE ANYWHERE)?

So, our favorite place to cook would be any place we get to feed people whether it be family or friends or events etc. It seems most BBQ people we know just love to see smiles on the faces of people and at least for us that’s a huge reason we enjoy cooking. As for favorite competition, while they are all pretty good, we really enjoy the New Holland Summerfest and look forward to it every year. This year we have been fortunate enough to be invited to “The Jack” and of course we hope that will become one of our favorites as well…lol!

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE BEVERAGE AT A COMPETITION?

Dave likes Yuengling and John is boring and drinks Water or iced tea (please don’t take his BBQ man card!)

ANY COMPETITION SUPERSTITIONS OR SOMETHING YOU CANNOT DO WITHOUT AT A COMPETITION?

No real superstitions, however we do have a music playlist that must be at every comp that most people would think is a strange mix. Everything from Bob Segar, to Weird Al to the Jerky Boys and even includes some 70’s TV theme songs…..don’t judge us!

WHAT IS YOUR GO TO FOOD AFTER A COMPETITION?

Anything not BBQ…..Chinese is good!

IF YOU WEREN’T COMPETING ALL WEEKEND, WHAT WOULD YOU BE DOING INSTEAD?

Thinking and talking about competin…as you know it’s a sickness. We are both in our 50’s and have been competing in some form or fashion since we were in our early 20’s…Bass fishing in the 80’s ,90’s and early 2000’s and now this, because Dave saw an ad in the paper about a BBQ Competition in Dover, Delaware…it’s ridiculous, but we wouldn’t want to do anything else.