The Old Drum

A mix of hickory and cherry smolders in my smoker; wisps of a blueish smoke rising gently from the exhaust holes. The aroma overwhelms my nose as I step from the garage.

Yes, the sweet smell of true slow-cooked BBQ is hard to beat.

My home-built smoker started life as a plain old 55 gallon steel drum. I picked it up from one of our suppliers at work and, with a little work and some plans from the Internet, turned it into a UDS, an Ugly Drum Smoker. And ugly it is...

The outside is rusty and dented; the inside well seasoned from many hours of smoking.

To the casual observer, it's just an old drum.

But to me, it's a masterpiece.

I don't know who came up with the original UDS plans, but it really is a marvel of BBQ. A crude, homemade basket holds the smoldering coals a couple of inches off the bottom of the drum. A grate sits on supports near the top. The only other parts of the smoker are three intake holes near the base that I open or close by sliding magnets over part of the holes to control the temperature and several exhaust vents in the top from which the sweet smelling smoke wafts.

The design is ingenious. The temperature typically stays within a couple of degrees for hours with little adjustment once I get it set up.

Two hundred and forty five degrees.

Pretty much locked in.

We'll be feasting on savory pulled pork sandwiches in another eight hours, or so.

Slow cooked in an old drum.

Mom's Lies

One of Mom's favorite phrases was, "You can't be too rich or too thin."

As I grew into adulthood (or at least the age where I was supposed to be an adult), I learned that this was a lie. Through the years I have seen the horrible effects, particularly in young women, who didn't understand that you certainly can be too thin. Bulimia and Anorexia have claimed the dignity and lives of far too many people who viewed their skeletal frames as fat.

I've also learned that you can be too rich. Perhaps this could not be more obvious than in the irrational behavior exhibited by many of today's professional athletes. 

Athletes who make it to the professional level in any major sport are a unique breed. They are enormously talented and often have egos that match, or even surpass, their talent levels. They have largely been coddled by coaches, supporters and fans for years. There is often a wealthy booster willing to step in and help sweep legal troubles under the rugs or hush the detractors. 

The result is often a narcissistic spoiled brat with an attitude that they are somehow above the law and other people. This has been made painfully obvious lately by the seemingly constant parade of National Football League players who have made more news for their off field crimes than their on field accomplishments.

Maybe we shouldn't be surprised that giving large sums of cash to previously a coddled athlete; often from a poor background, results in a young man who doesn't understand how to live in a normal society. Furthermore, how often do we hear of athletes who have made many millions of dollars ending up bankrupt and destitute after blowing or being cheated out of their money?

Perhaps the rest of the sporting world should take a lesson from the greatest sport on Earth - Hockey. 

While the NHL has certainly had its fair share of problem children; they have a system to help young players adapt to the sudden status and money that comes with being a professional athlete. Young players often live with an established veteran's family for the first couple of years of their professional career. They are expected to help around the house, deal with the veteran's kids and overall live like a member of the family. 

The veteran often helps the young player manage their money and learn to live with a budget. Perhaps even more importantly, the veteran helps the young player adapt to being a professional hockey player.

Imagine the rush a young man feels when he he sees fans wearing their sweaters with HIS NAME on the back...

Or the excitement from being pursued by "adoring" young ladies who want to be seen with the newest star...

Or the swarm of new "friends" who see the young man as a funding source for their plans and exploits...

Or the temptation to spend massive amounts of money on an exotic sports car - merely because he can.

In these cases, it is the veteran's (and his family's) job to bring them back to Earth; to remind them that they aren't the mighty force that they begin to believe they are, to remind them that giving their time and resources to causes within the community goes along with the notoriety of being a highly paid athlete. 

Is it an inconvenience for the veteran's family? 

Of course it is! It's hard enough for a professional athlete's family to deal with the stresses of day to day life as a public personality and the travel and the hassles of trying to be a "normal" family without having to deal with the additional monitoring and occasional discipline of a young man learning to find his way in the world of professional hockey.

But it appears to work at least most of the time.

Maybe these kids in other sports need the same sort of mentoring so they don't continue on the path that leads to the headlines no fan ever wants to see. 

Maybe they need to understand that having sudden wealth thrust upon them doesn't make them superior. 

Maybe these guys just need to understand that, without proper discipline, you absolutely can be too rich.