On Episode 148 of the Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast, we talk it over with Dave Mara and Jaime Paredes who form Meat Candy Q, one of the elite competition BBQ teams on the west coast. In fact, Meat Candy Q has been one of the world’s best so far in the 2021-22 KCBS season with a grand championship and No. 2 ranking in the Team of the Year points race. From El Cajon, California, Mara and Paredes run down the their team’s history and how Meat Candy Q came to be.

We also talk about the rising activity of high school BBQ with Chuck Simpson. He’s the head coach of the Osceola High School BBQ team, which won the high school portion of the World Food Championships last fall in Dallas. High school BBQ clubs - where students literally eat their homework - are popping up all over with a big contest coming up next month in Osceola. Chuck, also is a competition cook with his Hicks from the Sticks team, tells us about how anyone interested can start a team at their high school.

Meanwhile, co-hosts Lyndal and Steve discuss the Super Bowl - both game and food plans - and make their final-score picks between the Bengals and Rams.

A big thanks to our great sponsor/marketing partners who make Season 4 of the show possible: Blues Hog BBQ Sauce, Royal Oak Charcoal, The Butcher Shoppe, Iowa BBQ Store, Fergolicious BBQ, Affordable Financial Services, Arkassippi Smoke Live and The Arkassippi Combo, Pro Technology Solutions, Vietti Marketing, In the Garden of Eden and Marty “Sign Man” Prather and Domino’s.

We still have room for a couple of more sponsors. Contact me at [email protected] for more info. Have a great BBQ Week and thanks for listening! #SmokeEmIfYouGotEm