Poor Ann Curry. Her tearful goodbye on this morning's "Today" show was heartfelt and incredibly sad. Saddest part: “For all of you who saw me as a groundbreaker, I’m sorry I couldn’t carry the ball over the finish line, but man I did try!"

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Ed Mitchell, esteemed pitmaster at Raleigh's The Pit restaurant, appeared in a rib showdown this morning on NBC's "Today" show. Mitchell went up against Kenny Callaghan, a pitmaster at the New York City restaurant Blue Smoke, and BBQ cookbook author Chris Lilly.

Each ribmaster demonstrated their recipe and cooking technique (Lilly uses cherries and blackberries in his sauce, for goodness sake) and then Matt Lauer, Meredith Viera, and Ann Curry judged the results. (Check out all of the recipes).

Surprise, surprise, the "Today" show homers picked NYC's Callaghan, who prepared Texas style beef ribs. As the judges convened, Lauer can be heard telling Viera and Curry, "I"m going with number 2," Callaghan's beef ribs. Curry also points to number two and says, "I'm here," and Viera responds, "Okay, you win then."

Apparently, Meredith Viera preferred a different rib, and we like to think it was Ed's. 

You can watch the segment below.