Some things never change, like the perennial arguments over who has the better barbecue sauce.

But this weekend, the annual Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest will have some changes, including fewer teams in a smaller space and newly designed trophies.

Photo by Mark Weber

Last year's MIM Grand Champion Natural Born Grillers from Olive Branch are in the running for a repeat at this year's slightly downsized cook-off at Tom Lee Park.

A dramatic new design marks the Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest trophies for this year.

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"We redesigned our trophies to more reflect the world championship aspect," says Diane Hampton, MIM executive vice president who conceived the new look.

At the top of the trophy is an open 3-D globe emblazoned with the name of the contest. Inside is a rotating pig on a spit with figurative flames licking up at it from the South Pole region.

The sphere sits atop a stand with a plaque and more flames. The grand champion trophy is not meant to be stashed on a mere mantelpiece. It's 50 pounds, 5 feet tall with copper adornments and is intended to be the center of attention wherever it is.

The other trophies are a bit shorter and with steel or aluminum flames of different colors.

Hired to make the trophies was Innovative Fabricators of Watertown, S.D., a family-owned firm whose slogan is "Art Driven. Laser Guided."

Eric Beutler, who handles sales and marketing for the firm, says Innovative took Hampton's design and did some engineering tweaks. "The entire piece originated from flat sheets of steel," Beutler says.

As eye-catching as the trophies are, Beutler says there's one thing they'll probably add next year to the bulky awards: "Handles."

This year's contest is smaller in number of teams. More than 250 were at Tom Lee Park last year, but this year it's 238 due to a smaller, reconfigured park thanks to construction on the Beale Street Landing Project.

It may be a slightly smaller lineup, but the headaches in setting up are as big as ever. The steady rains in the days preceding the event have made setups difficult.

"We started in 2001 and it's by far the worst I've ever seen," said John Wheeler of the Natural Born Grillers team that won last year's Grand Championship.

Hampton said, "It's been very tough. We've brought in about 700 tons of sand to mix with some of the muck and we've used just about every grain of it."

Memphis in May has done grading and earth-moving to get things ready for the small city that sprouts for three days on the banks of the Mississippi.

"We've done everything possible to accommodate the teams and they have done everything they can to be very calm and understanding about it," Hampton said.

"Our great staff and volunteers have gone beyond anything imaginable to be accommodating," she added.

If defending grand champ Wheeler has anything to say about it, this contest will be a repeat of last year for the Natural Born Grillers.

Keeping his edge, he's opened a restaurant in Southaven and has an interest in Pig on Beale.

"We're always organized, but last year we approached it almost as a business, like work. We had a good time, but we worked at it hard, so we hope we can do something special again this year."

How competitive is he?

"We're not going down there for second place."