And if you were at it again Saturday
night and found yourself in the same predicament Sunday morning, the
winner was announced on GMA. The Dino finished in first place,
putting Syracuse in the national spotlight for something other than
college basketball and clothing in Adam Sandler movies.
A few weeks ago, GMA encouraged
viewers to e-mail them suggestions for the most savory barbecue. As
they also have strong fan bases in New York City and Rochester, the
Dino received hundreds of votes and, along with Cousin’s Bar-BQ in Fort
Worth, Texas, Archibald’s Barbeque in Northport, Ala., and Woody’s
Smoke Shack in Des Moines, Iowa, qualified into GMA’s “Final Four.”
After the final selections had been made, GMA
sent co-anchor Ron Claiborne on a road trip to each of the contenders
to film segments for the broadcast to allow the viewing public to get
an up-close and personal taste. On Wednesday, May 21, he made his way
to Syracuse for an open-pit stop at the Dinosaur. But this wasn’t his
first time digging barbecue bones.
Ron Claiborne: Good Morning America
co-anchor had the envious job of noshing at the country’s four best
barbecue joints this past week, claiming he ate about 50 ribs in three
days. MATT MUMAU PHOTO
“I know Dinosaur because I live not too
far from the one in New York City,” said Claiborne from the Dino’s
outdoor terrace dubbed “The Boneyard.” “I used to eat there
obsessively, but I’ve kind of tapered off recently.”
Still, even with his past addiction to
the Dino—the last stop on his tour—Claiborne said he had to remain
impartial and could not reveal which one he thought tasted the best.
“I’ve been to all of them within the last 48 hours,” he continued. “And
right now, I don’t know who I’d vote for, it’s still up in the air.
When they’re side-by-side and you can taste one after another, it might
be easier to distinguish. I thought they were all great, and it’ll
literally come down to laying them all on the table and tasting them
one after another.”
During the GMA broadcast on Saturday,
fellow anchors Bill Weir and Kate Snow, a vegetarian who Claiborne said
“only got to smell it,” joined him to chow down and pick which dish
they thought was at the top of the heap. But the blonde Snow apparently
thawed out her acting chops for the segment, as she appeared to put a
sample of meat from each place up to her lips—although she might have
been just licking the sauce off the bone. The world can only wonder.
After the show went off the air, an online poll opened on GMA’s
Web site for viewers to vote on their fave; the Dino was announced the
winner the next day. Claiborne noted while at the Dino that, “My vote
is not worth a thousand viewer votes or anything like that so I imagine
the ‘get out the vote’ is going to be a big part of what tips it one
way or the other and it’ll largely come down to online voting.”
To give an example of the online voting
demographic in the United States, a poll was recently conducted on
espn.com asking “Who do you think will win the National Basketball
Association Western Conference Finals?” currently featuring the Los
Angeles Lakers against former Syracuse University star Carmelo
Anthony’s Denver Nuggets. The results are broken down by state and out
of 35,377 total votes cast, New York had 1,803 voters, while Texas led
the way with 1,995. Iowa and Alabama were either a little less
enthusiastic to vote, or the Internet hasn’t quite evolved in those
parts, as those two states saw polling numbers of 205 and 313,
respectively. (And in case you’re wondering, 63 percent of the ESPN
Nation thinks Kobe Bryant’s Lakers will upend Melo’s Nuggets in the
series.)
So to see the Dino come away the winner
was really not a shock based on the logistics of the exit poll numbers.
And even though he received the spoils as the victor, Dino owner John
Stage was just glad to be a part of the whole thing. “It came out of
nowhere and we’re pretty excited about it and honored to be recognized
for what we do,” he said. “This has caused a good fight in the barbecue
community, ’cause you know, the Southerners like to fight about their
barbecue... but it’s harmless rivalry.”
—Tom Kahley
