Page 29 - JAN2020 BBQNEWS Digital Issue

in BBQ than he earned as a teacher.
His success is not
limited to BBQ as he
also wins at SCA
steak contests. He
said the most impor-
tant lesson he
learned was to "Keep
things simple." Com-
petition BBQ is com-
plicated enough and
he didn't need to
make it worse. Virtually all
competition BBQ teams have
a product or some other form
of income to support their
competition activities. Rub is
no different as he also has a
line of BBQ sauces that can be
found in local grocery stores
and at all the contests where
he competes. He has just in-
troduced a mustard-based
sauce that will be named Bold
Yeller, a name his daughter
helped create. He has an ex-
cellent rub which sells very
well also. Rub hosts several
cooking schools and I had the privilege of attending one of his two-day classes. He has taught over 350 people in six states and three countries. I thought I knew a lot about BBQ until I took his class and realized how much I did not know.
Rub was born in Lake Wales, Florida, and has lived in the state all his life. He attended the University of Florida. When forming his team he wanted to use the UF mascot, the Gator but felt that might offend some future customers in upcoming endeavors. The football stadium at Florida is called "The Swamp" and Rub felt this was neutral enough to be used in his team name. Thus the team name "The Swamp Boys" Initially he tried to work with team members but early on determined that he could do better in com- petition cooking by himself. He still is a one-man team today.
He likes kids and many folks tell him he thinks like a kid. He started teaching his kids how to grow food in a garden outside their school. As the plants matured, he then taught them how to cook their crops over an open fire and live charcoal. He then fed their creations to others at school. Some of his kids attached to this concept and followed through after leaving school. While competing around the local area, he has met up with and assisted kids in various ways. Many of the events have a "Kids Q" event where younger kids can compete before the adult competition. Rub is usually there to advise and guide a kid in their competition. It is not unusual to see Rub bringing a kid on the stage when he accepts his award, allowing the kid to share in the joy of winning. A young boy in Odessa adopted Rub and always visits him during that event. The boy drew a picture of The Swamp Boys trailer and presented it to Rub the following year. Rub also works with disad- vantaged kids in Venice and always includes them in his activities during their BBQ and Bluegrass Festival.
I did a little research on the things that Rub has accom- plished in his BBQ career. He has com- peted in over 400 contests to date. He is not limited to just Florida as he has competed at the Jack Daniels World Cham- pionship BBQ in Tennessee, the American Royal in
for two terms in addition to serving
the Board of Directors. Kingsford hired him as a spokesman at the Daytona 400, and he has appeared on the Steve Harvey Morning Show. He competed on season four of the BBQ Pitmasters TV real- ity show on Destination America with appearances in two differ- ent episodes.
More recently, Rub has taken up the mastery of flying unmanned drones. As a pilot, I can appreciate what he has accomplished in developing this talent. He has even sold the videos generated from his drone on a few occasions. Rub is a true American, and one ex- pression he shares of this is a custom made grill with the stars and stripes, as seen in the photo. KCBS did a two-page spread on The Swamp Boys in their May 2018 edition of The Bull Sheet.
Kansas City, and numerous other major contests around the country. I see him at Geor- gia contests as well as others outside Florida. During his impressive career, he has amassed 64 Grand Champi- onships and 50 Reserve Championships. In 2018 he was inducted into the Florida BBQ Association Hall of Fame, a true honor. His team has been recognized three times as the Florida BBQ Associa- tion Team of the Year. He served as the FBA President three years as an officer on
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