Phat Jacks BBQ

 

Team History and Fun Facts about the "Phat Jacks" Name

The Phat Jacks BBQ team was started in 2006 by two Olathe, Kansas neighbors and a son-in-law. Tony Mateer and his son-in-law, Matt Burt, joined up with Tony's neighbor, Philip Allen, to start a competitive BBQ Team, and they quickly enjoyed success.

Of course, one of the first orders of business was to pick a team name. Many beers and some cigars (Tony always has good cigars!) were consumed over hours and days, kicking around all the traditional silly names that are plays on the BBQ theme. Finally, the name "Fat Jacks" came up...not sure from where because the only Jack around was one of Philip's boys, and he certainly didn't fit the "Fat" part! (Although he is a BBQ rib fanatic!)

They researched the name on the Internet, but the name was already taken, so they decided to make it "Phat" instead of "Fat", thinking that "Phat" stood for "Pretty Hot And Tasty!" Bingo! They had a name!

And things were only beginning to get creative. They pondered, "won't people ask us "which one of you is Jack?" So the "Where's Jack?" subtitle was born, and became a fun concept when the team members would, in jest, shout out from time to time to one another, "Hey! Where's Jack?"

Philip was the web guy and had a little creative talent, so he, along with the help of one of his daughters, designed the Phat Jack's logo, with the catchy question mark theme. T-shirts were made, banners printed up, and the team was ready to go!

Their first year they competed in two events, starting with the Shawnee Grillers contest and finishing the year at the prestigous American Royal BBQ. Tony purchased a 24 foot toy hauler trailer, that he and Matt converted into a first rate rolling BBQ kitchen, complete with running hot and cold water, gas heater and air conditioning. The team did NOT rough it in that beautiful trailer! Tony even had the Phat Jack's logo applied to the sides of the trailer.

They started off 2007 quickly, entering the North Kansas City BBQ contest in the spring, and that started a string of contests where they would place in the top ten, sometimes near the very top, in every single event.

In Beatle-esque form, the team began to fall apart later that year, and Tony, the team leader stepped away from competition. The remaining members, Philip and Matt, did a couple more competitions together, ending with the American Royal Invitational in 2008.

If you have any questions or are interested in more history, just click here.