BBQ on the Elbow at the Calgary Stampede

Jul 7–9, 2017 · Calgary, Canada · CANADA · 📍 Stampede Parks 25th Ave

🥇

ROCKY MOUNTAIN SMOKERS

669.1540 · Master Series — Overall

🥈

BBQ TEAM NAIT

658.8344 · Master Series — Overall

🥉

HOG SHACK COOKHOUSE

653.6108 · Master Series — Overall

ROCKY MOUNTAIN SMOKERS won Grand Champion at the BBQ on the Elbow at the Calgary Stampede on July 7, 2017 in Calgary, T2 W 3J6 at Stampede Parks 25th Ave, scoring 669.1540 in a field of 23 teams. BBQ TEAM NAIT took Reserve Grand Champion with 658.8344. Category winners: Chicken — BBQ TEAM NAIT (174.2972); Pork Ribs — Elbow Grease (169.7028); Pork — SUPER BBQ BROS. CANADA (169.1656); Brisket — SMELLAQUE (176.0800).

The contest at a glance (read off the scored boards)

How the field scored

Overall totals, every team on the board — tall stacks are where the pack sat.

574.67 median 622.23 669.15 🏆

How the meats cooked

Every board on one scale — the bar runs last score to first, the dot is the median.

Chicken 174.30
Pork Ribs 169.70
Pork 169.17
Brisket 176.08

124.48 176.08

Entries

4 judged meats · 2 ancillary

Top score

669.1540

Winning margin

10.3196

GC over RC

Field average

626.08

574.67669.15

median 622.23 · last place to winner

Perfect 180s

Tightest race

Pork Ribs

4.5256 pts across the top 5

Top-10 cutoff

634.2740

574.67669.15

10th place overall

Field spread

94.4796

winner to last place

Most consistent

ROCKY MOUNTAIN SMOKERS

avg finish 4.25 across 4 meats

Double threats

teams with 2+ top-5 calls

Widest winning margin

Brisket

won by 5.2228 pts — SMELLAQUE

How hot was the win?

Top 97%

beats 3% of 4723 Master Series wins in the data

Form held

Moderate

ρ = -0.49 between pre-contest rating and finish

Field strength

1,524

avg power rating going in · stronger than 17% of contests

Top-rated in the field

SMELLAQUE

rated 1663 pre-contest

Storylines (4 found in this contest's numbers)

Everything below is read straight out of the results — the number on each card is the one that made it a story.

Won without a category win

4 of 4 meats called to the stage

ROCKY MOUNTAIN SMOKERS won the Grand Championship without winning a single meat — 4 calls from 4 boards, best of them 3rd. Consistency beat fireworks.

Chicken 4th
Pork Ribs 3rd
Pork 7th
Brisket 3rd

A first Grand Championship

25 tracked contests to get there

This was ROCKY MOUNTAIN SMOKERS's first Grand Championship in the data — it arrived at their 25th tracked contest.

A statement win

10.3196 points clear of the field

Wider than 88% of the 4,722 championships in the data

The champion won by 10.3196 points — a wider margin than 88% of championships in the data.

Photo finishes

0.0116 closest of 7 calls decided inside half a point

Pork places 9–10: Bordertown Bar-B-Que edged Longhorn Southern BBQ by 0.0116. Pork places 5–6: YOU NEED A BBQ edged HOG SHACK COOKHOUSE by 0.0460. Brisket places 6–7: YOU NEED A BBQ edged BBQ TEAM NAIT by 0.0572.

Pork 9–10 · 0.0116
Pork 5–6 · 0.0460
Brisket 6–7 · 0.0572
Brisket 3–4 · 0.0572

Score curves (score by finishing position — steep cliffs mean a spread field, flat lines a knife fight)

Category showdown (top / average / median score per meat)

Biggest rating movers (power-rating points won and lost at this contest)

Did form hold? (pre-contest rating vs overall finish — ratings called it if the dots climb to the right)

What a call cost (the score it took to finish 1st, 5th and 10th)

Category	1st	5th	10th
Chicken	174.2972	168.6056	163.4628
Pork Ribs	169.7028	165.1772	160.5372
Pork	169.1656	164	161.0972
Brisket	176.0800	167.4400	155.9656

Official results on kcbs.us ↗

Master Series

Overall

23 entries · top 669.1540 · median 622.2288

#	Team	Score
1	ROCKY MOUNTAIN SMOKERS	669.1540
2	BBQ TEAM NAIT	658.8344
3	HOG SHACK COOKHOUSE	653.6108
4	SMELLAQUE	649.2228
5	Smoky Butt BBQ	640.9828
6	ARROWHEAD NORTH BBQ	640.4116
7	Bordertown Bar-B-Que	638.1832
8	SUPER BBQ BROS. CANADA	637.0168
9	PRAIRIE SMOKE & SPICE BBQ	634.6740
10	BEAR B QUE	634.2740
11	FIREWEED BARBECUE	626.7884
12	The Black Bull - BBQ	622.2288
13	Northlands Pitmasters	620.5264
14	YOU NEED A BBQ	618.2628
15	Smoking Crocus	618.2400
16	Longhorn Southern BBQ	618.2284
17	SMOKIN' SOWBELLIES	616.9252
18	BARREL Q	611.9316
19	Elbow Grease	611.3944
20	Smokin' Hot Butts	606.1936
21	SMOKEEATERS BBQ CANADA	605.0856
22	SMOKAPALOOZA	593.0512
23	COWTOWN SMOKE AND GRILLERS	574.6744

Chicken

23 entries · top 174.2972 · median 161.6684

#	Team	Score
1	BBQ TEAM NAIT	174.2972
2	BEAR B QUE	170.2856
3	SMELLAQUE	169.7600
4	ROCKY MOUNTAIN SMOKERS	169.1428
5	BARREL Q	168.6056
6	Northlands Pitmasters	167.4400
7	Smoking Crocus	166.8688
8	Elbow Grease	165.1084
9	SMOKEEATERS BBQ CANADA	164.5484
10	Longhorn Southern BBQ	163.4628
11	FIREWEED BARBECUE	163.4172
12	SUPER BBQ BROS. CANADA	161.6684
13	PRAIRIE SMOKE & SPICE BBQ	161.1316
14	SMOKIN' SOWBELLIES	159.9544
15	ARROWHEAD NORTH BBQ	157.6800
16	Smoky Butt BBQ	156.5260
17	HOG SHACK COOKHOUSE	155.9540
18	The Black Bull - BBQ	155.4288
19	COWTOWN SMOKE AND GRILLERS	153.1316
20	Bordertown Bar-B-Que	152.5372
21	SMOKAPALOOZA	151.4056
22	Smokin' Hot Butts	149.7140
23	YOU NEED A BBQ	134.2400

Pork Ribs

23 entries · top 169.7028 · median 159.4516

#	Team	Score
1	Elbow Grease	169.7028
2	Smoky Butt BBQ	168.5600
3	ROCKY MOUNTAIN SMOKERS	167.9884
4	HOG SHACK COOKHOUSE	166.2628
5	Longhorn Southern BBQ	165.1772
6	SUPER BBQ BROS. CANADA	163.3828
7	ARROWHEAD NORTH BBQ	162.8460
8	Smoking Crocus	161.7256
9	SMOKEEATERS BBQ CANADA	160.6516
10	FIREWEED BARBECUE	160.5372
11	YOU NEED A BBQ	160
12	BBQ TEAM NAIT	159.4516
13	PRAIRIE SMOKE & SPICE BBQ	159.3712
14	SMELLAQUE	157.1428
15	The Black Bull - BBQ	156.5372
16	SMOKIN' SOWBELLIES	155.3712
17	BEAR B QUE	154.2744
18	Bordertown Bar-B-Que	153.6800
19	SMOKAPALOOZA	151.4172
20	Smokin' Hot Butts	150.2856
21	Northlands Pitmasters	146.2288
22	BARREL Q	143.9544
23	COWTOWN SMOKE AND GRILLERS	141.0972

Pork

23 entries · top 169.1656 · median 157.1428

#	Team	Score
1	SUPER BBQ BROS. CANADA	169.1656
2	ARROWHEAD NORTH BBQ	168.5256
3	Smoky Butt BBQ	166.2512
4	BBQ TEAM NAIT	165.1200
5	YOU NEED A BBQ	164
6	HOG SHACK COOKHOUSE	163.9540
7	ROCKY MOUNTAIN SMOKERS	162.8572
8	The Black Bull - BBQ	161.6684
9	Bordertown Bar-B-Que	161.1088
10	Longhorn Southern BBQ	161.0972
11	PRAIRIE SMOKE & SPICE BBQ	157.6684
12	BARREL Q	157.1428
13	COWTOWN SMOKE AND GRILLERS	155.9656
14	BEAR B QUE	155.4284
15	SMOKIN' SOWBELLIES	152.4912
16	Northlands Pitmasters	150.8344
17	FIREWEED BARBECUE	150.2856
18	SMOKEEATERS BBQ CANADA	148.5600
19	SMELLAQUE	146.2400
20	Elbow Grease	144.6172
21	Smoking Crocus	138.8228
22	Smokin' Hot Butts	137.0856
23	SMOKAPALOOZA	134.2628

Brisket

23 entries · top 176.0800 · median 152.5484

#	Team	Score
1	SMELLAQUE	176.0800
2	Bordertown Bar-B-Que	170.8572
3	ROCKY MOUNTAIN SMOKERS	169.1656
4	Smokin' Hot Butts	169.1084
5	HOG SHACK COOKHOUSE	167.4400
6	YOU NEED A BBQ	160.0228
7	BBQ TEAM NAIT	159.9656
8	PRAIRIE SMOKE & SPICE BBQ	156.5028
9	Northlands Pitmasters	156.0232
10	SMOKAPALOOZA	155.9656
11	BEAR B QUE	154.2856
12	FIREWEED BARBECUE	152.5484
13	ARROWHEAD NORTH BBQ	151.3600
14	Smoking Crocus	150.8228
15	Smoky Butt BBQ	149.6456
16	SMOKIN' SOWBELLIES	149.1084
17	The Black Bull - BBQ	148.5944
18	SUPER BBQ BROS. CANADA	142.8000
19	BARREL Q	142.2288
20	Elbow Grease	131.9660
21	SMOKEEATERS BBQ CANADA	131.3256
22	Longhorn Southern BBQ	128.4912
23	COWTOWN SMOKE AND GRILLERS	124.4800

Ancillary categories

Run by the organizers alongside the sanctioned contest. These are judged on their own terms and do not count toward the overall score, so they're kept out of the meat stats above.

Master Series — Baked Bean Challange

20 entries · top 171.4400 · median 159.1200

#	Team	Score
1	BBQ TEAM NAIT	171.4400
2	PRAIRIE SMOKE & SPICE BBQ	168
3	BARREL Q	167.4400
4	Northlands Pitmasters	167.3712
5	SMELLAQUE	166.8916
6	The Black Bull - BBQ	165.7028
7	Smoky Butt BBQ	165.1772
8	SUPER BBQ BROS. CANADA	164
9	SMOKEEATERS BBQ CANADA	160.0572
10	YOU NEED A BBQ	160.0116
11	SMOKAPALOOZA	158.2284
12	ARROWHEAD NORTH BBQ	157.7144
13	Smoking Crocus	157.2000
14	Longhorn Southern BBQ	156.5716
15	Bordertown Bar-B-Que	156.0800
16	ROCKY MOUNTAIN SMOKERS	155.4628
17	HOG SHACK COOKHOUSE	154.3428
18	Smokin' Hot Butts	153.1428
19	FIREWEED BARBECUE	150.3200
20	COWTOWN SMOKE AND GRILLERS	136.0344

Master Series — Chef'S Challange

19 entries · top 173.1544 · median 155.9428

#	Team	Score
1	BBQ TEAM NAIT	173.1544
2	SUPER BBQ BROS. CANADA	164.5484
3	Northlands Pitmasters	163.3828
4	FIREWEED BARBECUE	161.1200
5	SMOKAPALOOZA	159.3600
6	Smoky Butt BBQ	158.8572
7	HOG SHACK COOKHOUSE	158.8344
8	SMOKEEATERS BBQ CANADA	156.5716
9	The Black Bull - BBQ	155.9772
10	Longhorn Southern BBQ	155.9428
11	YOU NEED A BBQ	155.4972
12	Smokin' Hot Butts	155.4172
13	ARROWHEAD NORTH BBQ	150.2056
14	BARREL Q	149.1428
15	COWTOWN SMOKE AND GRILLERS	145.6572
16	Bordertown Bar-B-Que	145.6460
17	SMELLAQUE	145.0972
18	ROCKY MOUNTAIN SMOKERS	142.2856
19	Smoking Crocus	135.9772

BBQ on the Elbow at the Calgary Stampede

The contest at a glance (read off the scored boards)

How the field scored

How the meats cooked

Entries

Top score

Winning margin

Field average

Perfect 180s

Tightest race

Top-10 cutoff

Field spread

Most consistent

Double threats

Widest winning margin

How hot was the win?

Form held

Field strength

Top-rated in the field

Storylines (4 found in this contest's numbers)

Won without a category win

A first Grand Championship

A statement win

Photo finishes

Score curves (score by finishing position — steep cliffs mean a spread field, flat lines a knife fight)

Category showdown (top / average / median score per meat)

Score distribution

Biggest rating movers (power-rating points won and lost at this contest)

Did form hold? (pre-contest rating vs overall finish — ratings called it if the dots climb to the right)

What a call cost (the score it took to finish 1st, 5th and 10th)

Official results on kcbs.us ↗

Master Series

Overall

Chicken

Pork Ribs

Pork

Brisket

Ancillary categories

Master Series — Baked Bean Challange

Master Series — Chef'S Challange