Isn't it a pity?

I'm honored. I've never had one of my blog entries picked up by New York Magazine before. My recent post about the demise of Long Island's Grill Kings barbeque contest was run on Grub Street last night. If you don't know Grub Street is New York Magazine's food and restaurant blog. You should be reading it. Thanks, Josh!

But this leads me to today's story about the power of the blog. From what I'm hearing in the barbeque world, the ONLY reason that Grill Kings is not happening in 2007 is that the organizers are pissed about all the negative feedback they received from blogs like this and the various barbecue forums on the Internet.

That's a shame, because Grill Kings had some real potential. But if its organizers are so thin skinned that they can't accept valid criticism from the cooks, we're probably better off that the event has been canceled.

It's gotten so bad that on one BBQ forum, the site administrator has come down hard on his members with a decree that no one is allowed to voice their opinion about the event. Crazy.

That's a real problem for me. Talking with other BBQ cooks, it seems that the problems with Grill Kings were self inflicted. Sure, every event has problems. But most of the problems that affect the other tri-state area contests are usually outside the organizer's control. The BBQ forums allowed the cooks the chance to voice valid criticism about what happened and allowed the Grill Kings to learn what needed to be fixed.

Isn't it better to hear about the cook's concerns and be given the opportunity to fix them before the cooks vote with their feet?

So, instead of fixing the problems, the Grill Kings took their ball and went home. But as they exit the stage, instead of owning up to the situation, they have decided to blame the messengers.

What a pity.