The barbecue cook-off is a tradition for some. "It's a lot of preparation, getting the firewood together, getting the pits down here, getting it all set up," cook David Pavlock said. For others, this is a first. "It's a lot of work that goes into this thing, a lot of cooking," cook Brian Craft said. United by fire and meat, barbeque lovers engage in a little friendly competition at the Star of Texas Fair and Rodeo BBQ Cook-off. "We enjoy it, we have a good time. We have a whole bunch of good people out here. We come, have a good time and cook a lot of food for the people," cook Phillip Christianson said. Smoke at the rodeo usually leads straight to good barbecue. All the mouth watering food has many rodeo visitors singing praises and coming back for seconds. "That's awesome, that's what makes it all fun," Christianson said. "We enjoy it and wouldn't have it any other way," Pavlock said. That's better than this? All the food is free. "All the teams are required to give away a certain amount of meat. Anybody that comes out, just ask any team if they have anything ready. Put a few dollars in the donation jar. All that goes to the benefit the youth of Texas," Hap Feuerbacher, Rodeo Cook-off Chair, said. Last year, the cook-off raised more than $150,000 for scholarships. More is expected this year. Novice and experienced chefs, they're all glad to help. Of course, it's really gratifying when you win first place or second place for "chicken or brisket because that tells you everybody else liked it also," Pavlock said. The competition continues through Sunday.

Native Houstonians Mark and Charlene Bowman can't remember missing the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. So when they realized Sunday was the final day, they had to go. The 2005 show offered mixed results. Overall, general attendance dropped an estimated 7.5 percent from last year, which organizers blamed on six days of rainy or cool weather. Yet two of this year's performers Hilary Duff and Alicia Keys drew record crowds, with Duff setting a new paid attendance record at 72,843 and Keys close behind with 72,062. Those numbers helped bolster paid rodeo attendance to 1,127,239, up 1,153 tickets over last year. Shafer said the strong lineup of performers meshed with Reliant Stadium's revamped sound system to draw bigger crowds.