Check it out:

www.lakeforestmark.com

Veni, Vedi, Vici, eh?

Like a Phoenix from the Ashes,Like Rocky Balboa before he turned that weird orange color, like Lindsey Lohan fresh out of Rehab (on second thought, her, not so much), Smoker and the Bandits returned to the states this week as Reserve Grand Champions at the Canadian National BBQ Championships with a first place in the Holiest Of Holies in all of BBQ:

Ribs.

Yes, the Canucks in Whistler had no idea what had hit them when, after not placing in the top 6 in either chicken, Brisket or Pulled Pork, the Bandits, as astonished as anyone in attendance, stumbled gallantly to the winners circle to a smattering of confused applause and proudly accepted the honors for first place ribs.


The honors were justly deserved, as anyone who has put The Smoker's meat in their mouth can surely attest.
This alone was enough to put the wind back in the Bandits' collective sails after the bloodletting at Central Market.

But then, no sooner had they received their prize, they were called back up to accept the award for Reserve Grand Champion, which means that their combined score on all of the meats combined received the second highest total overall.

In addition to bragging rights, Smoker and his Bandits took home 1k cash, and a Big Green Egg smoker/grill (retail: $1,250).

While the meat undoubtedly earned it's high ranking, much credit must go to the new honorary Bandit (and the only Canadian that can claim such exalted status), Crusty Cody.


Not just a mere figurehead, or mascot, if you will, but really the flesh and soul of the Bandit Ethos.

This long haired vagabond not only lives in a tent, but does so out in the hills amongst the bears, the mosquitoes, and the Sasquatch.

Hell, for all we know, he may be Sasquatch.

This Canadian renegade adopted us on Friday night and by Saturday morning had the hugeness of heart to take time out of his busy schedule of dealing B.C bud to the locals and chasing every skirt in Whistler to design and print up some new


shirts for the crew:


I think that each Bandit took a little bit of Cody back with them to the States, and I'm not just talking about the locks of hair that we cut off while he was sleeping, or the malodorous funk that, in fairness, is unavoidable when leaving in a tent in the Canadian Wilderness.





So, without further ado, here are Judges Scores. There were actually 33 teams, but only the top ten deserve to be reported on.
Read em and weep, Canucks!
(click to view full size)








Scroll Down for more amazing photos:

Winners, all

Bandits enjoying the view at Whistler

Big Dan (Aka: Smoker, Pimp Daddy, etc.) and his burger

Reserve Champion Headquarters

Brisket

Free Colonoscopy while you wait!

Big Dan just can't help himself when he gets to cookin his meat......

Dusty's: Where the Jager Bombs flow like......Well, like Jeager Bombs.

Big Dan Enjoys the Butt Injection

Cisco, Gunter, Kim, and the youngest member of the Repbulican Party..............

Look ma, it's a bar!

Thank you Crusty Cody

Meat

and more meat

A Boy and His Brisket

Maybe So, Canuck, but they don't like it in their mouth, the way they like the Bandits

Hello, head judge? yeah, could you tell everyone to just head home cuz we're gonna win this mother, and there aint nothin anyone can do about it. Ok, thanks.....

The Codester, helping out the only way he knows

Adam's Rib

The ribs that made the Bandits famous......

Did that Canadian just say something about my momma?
No he did-ent!

Lets Get Tie-Dyed!

The Man in Black..............

T-bone and Cody

Winners and Sinners

That's how we roll

Victory Lap

Crusty Cody cruisin for Tih ees

I get...uh... by with a little help from my friends

Big Dan tells another Canadian Joke

Winning is fun

You guys put What in your sauce?

Please?

Is it better to have smoked and lost, than to never have smoked at all?


Philosophers have been asking themselves this question since, I think, the beginning of time.

While taking 1st place in Salmon is no small feat, to finish 23rd overall (out of 30), was, to be sure, a huge let down for the Smoker and his Bandits at the Central Market Cookoff this past weekend.

The other two catagories, pork butt and ribs, proved to be a perplexing riddle for the gang that prides itself on both.

Shots Fired! came away with the top prize, and the Smoker was left scratching his head as to what tricks he's going to need to pull out of his sleeve up in Whistler in August.

Now, if you've ever tasted The Smoker's butt, (and who hasn't), it's hard to imagine a tastier one. Could the Seattle Cops that comprise Shots Fired! really have that much tastier of a butt?

Hard to believe. And the ribs! So delicate, tender, and beautiful to look at. What went wrong? Who's to blame? What were the judges thinking? Were they high?

No, because if they were, their tasted buds would have perfectly primed for the Bandit's butt (and ribs).

All an all, it was pleasant, if uneventful day, with plenty of rookie BBQers laboring over underflavored and overcooked peices of pork on the weber grills they dusted off and hauled out of their backyards.

There were hordes of onlookers elbowing each other out of the way for a scrap of pork on a toothpick or a free rib. Humanity can get no uglier than when free food is handed out.

So it's back to the drawing board for the crew. We will see you rat bastards in Whistler!