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|| SportsShooter.com: News Item: Posted 2004-07-10

No forks allowed
Seven SportsShooter.com members embark on a journey of a lifetime

By Brad Mangin, SportsShooter.com

Photo by Andrew Loehman

Darren Carroll, Chris Covatta, Robert Seale, Rich Pilling, Paul Cunningham and Brad Mangin outside of Kreuz Market in Lockhart, Texas at the end of the triple play.

A starry-eyed BBQ connoisseur from Cooperstown, New York woke up at 3am on Friday morning, July 9, 2004 with one thing on his mind: Big League brisket in the heart o' Texas.

MLB Photos photo editor and SportsShooter.com member Paul Cunningham had been dreaming about this day for two years. He was coming to Houston, Texas to cover the 2004 All-Star game with his boss, MLB Photos manager and SportsShooter.com member Rich Pilling. He was coming to Texas a day early. He was coming to eat BBQ. He was about to live a dream.

An idea that was hatched at the 2002 World Series by Pilling and Houston resident Robert Seale of the Sporting News had been in the planning stages for over a year. Their goal was simple: to sample the wares of three of the top five BBQ joints in the state of Texas. Since Pilling and Cunningham would be joined by other out-of-town sports shooters covering the mid-summer classic there would be no better time to gather the troops and make the pilgrimage West on Interstate 10 to sample the best brisket, ribs and sausage around. The first stop would be in Luling where they would dine at City Market. They would then drive 13 miles North on highway 183 to Lockhart to scarf food at Smitty's and Kreuz Market.

Check out a gallery of 20 images from the 'BBQ Roadswing':
http://www.sportsshooter.com/brad/bbqroadswing/index.html

Photo by Brad Mangin

MLB Photos honchos Rich Pilling and Paul Cunningham are happy to contribute to the ballclub as they prepare to eat BBQ at stop number two: Smitty's in Lockhart, Texas.

One by one other SportsShooter.com members were added to the traveling squad to bring the total to seven hungry photographers who would embark on this historic journey. The first Texas resident to join in the fray was Austin-based freelancer Chris Covatta. Covatta, who had always claimed that Kreuz was tops in Texas, was anxious to try the smoky, meaty goodness in Luling.

Joining Covatta from central Texas were SportsShooter.com members Darren Carroll and his trusty assistant Andrew Loehman. Carroll, who had already deflowered his new Audi A6 with a host of Starbucks cups strewn about the interior, was so excited for this day that he almost turned down an assignment from Sports Illustrated to take part in the event.

The last photographer to join the group and round it out at seven was San Francisco-based freelancer Brad Mangin. Mangin was so jacked up for this day that he caught a 12:40am redeye out of San Francisco on Friday morning that got him into Houston at 6:20am. He barely had time to regroup and hit the road in Seale's Volkswagen at 10am to start the odyssey.

Cunningham was joined by his six cohorts at City Market around 12:30pm to start the three-part feast. What followed was a three-hour dining experience that would be tough to top by anyone in the group as long as they lived. They consumed brisket, ribs, sausage, ham, pork chops, bread (Carroll and Loehman) and jalapenos. The rules were simple: try and pace yourself and no forks allowed- only plastic knives.

By the end of the trip they all sat at the table at Kreuz unable to finish their food. Seale had some brisket and pork chop left. Mangin had an entire spare rib left swimming on a large piece of butcher paper.

As the day drew to an end everyone had to go their separate ways. Covatta had to return to his family. Carroll and Loehman had to drive to San Antonio to complete the SI assignment that ended up

Photo by Brad Mangin

The food at Luling City Market in Luling, Texas is to die for. Ribs, brisket and sausage.

NOT interfering with the BBQ. The rest of the crew piled back into Seale's Volkswagen for the long drive back to Houston, but not before they stopped off to treat themselves to eight-ounce bottles of old-school Dr. Pepper sweetened with Imperial pure-cane sugar.

“It hurts to breathe,” said Pilling from the back seat as he described his full stomach while Seale chauffeured the foursome through La Grange.

As the Volkswagen got closer to Houston in the rush-hour traffic Pilling started talking about the mesquite-grilled halibut he would have at a favorite Houston-area restaurant on Sunday night.

300 miles and ten hours after it all started Seale was complaining in his living room that he wished he would have brought that last spare rib home from Kreuz. It would really taste good right about now he thought.

All-star weekend is off to a great start in the Lone Star state.

Related Links:

Gallery: 'BBQ Roadswing'