No "I" in Team, but a lot of Characters

Surrounded by their towers of trophies, the Booths, from Southaven, Mississippi, compete as one of the few husband-and-wife teams. 

Make no bones, Memphis in May (MIM) is serious business in the barbecue world. But part of the business is pleasure, and all you have to do is stroll a few steps on barbecue mile, reading the team names, to know they don't take themselves too seriously. Notorious P.I.G. Getting Piggy With It. Pork Me Tender. Serial Grillers. Swine-O-Mite. The Good, the Bad & the Swine.

The teams are as varied as their names, grills, and secret sauces. On one end of the spectrum, you have Piped for Pork, with pit boss Billy Power at the helm. You can't make this guy up. Shouting above speakers blaring Jimmy Buffett tunes, Billy says that in his former life he was a professional wrestler. He wears his sunglasses at night and hides an infectious laugh behind a ZZ Top-size beard. As he manhandles a shoulder, he cracks, "A flat butt doesn't look good." He flips it, suplex style, and asks, "You know how you can tell it's ready? It jiggles like Jell-O." Billy embodies the barbecue universe: belly laughs, great food, and a little rousing.

Then there's Linda and Wayne Booth, the Red Hot Smokers. "I rub my grill every now and then like there's a genie in there," Wayne says, patting his red grill. He snags his wife around the waist, and they both grin genuine Cleaver-esque smiles. As a two-person team, they face the disadvantage of early fatigue, considering many split the 24-hour grill watch among 8 or even 10 people. However, the walls of shiny trophies flanking the Booths' quiet tent prove they have absolutely no trouble holding their own in this competition.

From a visitors' standpoint, the team booths remain technically off-limits. Any MIM veteran will tell you, though, that you'll be hard-pressed to find a pit boss unwilling to show off his smoker. "First-timers don't realize that if you're inquisitive and polite, most teams are more than happy to talk to you about what they're doing," says Diane Hampton, executive vice president of MIM. Wear out your welcome, however, and big Billy may just have to show you the door.

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