Lyndal Scranton and Steve Koehler spent most of their career writing about sports in the Ozarks for the Springfield News-Leader. Now in their post-writing lives they’ve taken up a new challenge; America’s newest sport, barbecue competition.
Scranton, who works with Lucas Oil Speedway doing PR and Koehler, in his final months at Ozarks Technical Community College, have been neighbors on Springfield’s northside for 20 years. They’ve always enjoyed backyard grilling, but only recently took it up at a competitive level.
“We’ve always been in the backyard barbecuing and talked about hey it would be cool to have a radio show talking about barbecue and sports and even compete in barbecue,” said Scranton.
Thus, “Tailgate Guys BBQ” was born. The pair have a weekly hour-long radio show that airs each Saturday from 11:00 to Noon on KICK 1340 AM (92.3 FM). They have expert guests on to discuss barbecue and sports, ranging from smoking expert “Big Moe” Cason to former MSU Bears basketball coach Barry Hinson, a barbecue aficionado himself.
The duo is competing in this weekend’s Rock’n Ribs BBQ Festival at the Ozark Empire Fairgrounds.
See the video for three tips on how to improve your barbecue skills this summer.
