(Thanks Hall Hunt) The new issue of Sports Illustrated on Campus has a (generally positive) article about collegiate competitive eaters with short profiles of Joey Chestnut, Patrick Bertoletti and Hall Hunt. The print version is only available on college campuses, but an online (flash plug-in required) edition can be viewed at:

http://mag1.olivesoftware.com/activemagazine/welcome/SI/OnCampus.htm

The article can be found on page 28. (It takes a while to scroll through the magazine.)

Some interesting facts:

• Patrick Bertoletti is a culinary arts major
• Hall Hunt has ran a 3:34 marathon

2005 could be described as the the year of the rookie undergraduate eater due to the emergence of Chestnut and Bertoletti along with Kate Stelnick’s feat.

Update Oct 1 12:19 am A screen capture of the article has been uploaded.

The Seattle Times has a preview of Saturday’s Verizon VoiceWing chicken wing qualifier focusing on expected entrants Joey Chestnut and Eric “Badlands” Booker. The training methods of both competitiors are described. The article incorrectly states that Booker holds the Buffalo Wing Festival contest record (which was set by Sonya Thomas in 2004). It is surprising that Joey Chestnut would make the trip north when he has a qualifying contest in his hometown in two weeks. “Humble” Bob Shoudt states on his website that he and Patrick Bertoletti are also planning to compete. The top five competitors in the three qualifiers (also in SF and DC) will make the finals in Boston.

I emailed the address found at dennysbeerbarrelpub.com about the result of the attempt by Lori Weiss at the 11 pound Ye Olde 96er burger witnessed by baxojayz and received the following response:

Hello from the Pub I’m happy to report that Lori Weis completed the
Ye Ole 96er in 2 hours 54 minutes to tie Kate Stelnick for the
record…Thanks for asking Denny

It is hard to believe that the two people to finish the 96er in under three hours have a combined weight of about 200 pounds. Since Lori Weiss weighs only about 90 pounds she is probably the champion in percentage of bodyweight consumed except for possibly Kobayashi. Maybe Lori tying Kate will inspire Kate to return to Denny’s to regain sole possession of the record.

The most recent contest for which the goldenpalace.com grilled cheese page has results is the August 27 event held at the Nebraska State Fair. It is surprising the internet casino would spend over $40,000 in prize money (14 qualifiers *$1,750 + $20K bonus) and more in contest administration and promotion and not bother to provide up to date information on the event they are funding.

Before Kate Stelnick finished Denny’s Beer Barrel Pub’s 11 pound Ye Olde 96er burger in January, Lori Weiss came closest to completing the behemoth burger in the three hour time limit when she finished all except the bottom half of its bun despite a body weight of less than 100 pounds. Lori Weiss also finished Denny’s burger with 3 pounds of meat (about 5 pounds total) in a record 36 minutes. Blogger Baxojayz was present at Denny’s July 4th weekend when Ms. Weiss made another attempt at the leviathan. He said that she almost finished all the burger in two hours but does not provide her finishing time (or explicity state he saw her complete it).

If Lori Weiss did finish the burger, it is surprising that no media attention was paid to it at all since Kate Stelnick received a substantial amount of national publicity after her accomplishment. It is possible that she requested Denny’s to not inform the media about her feat, but she cannot be that extremely publicity shy since her record breaking attempt at the 3 pound burger was filmed for the Food Network in 2002.

It is interesting that the petite Pennsylvanian has apparently not competed in any contests or challenges outside of Denny’s since she seems to have world class eating ability in longer duration events and has the potential to give Sonya Thomas, if not Kobayashi a challenge. If AICE could get Ms. Weiss enrolled as a member, then that organization’s case that it is equivalent to IFOCE in restaurant’s eating challenges would be bolstered tremendously.

I wonder if Ms. Weiss will attempt Denny’s 15 pound Belly Buster burger. The article about her eating the 3 pound burger mentions that she ran four miles before attempting it (she might be able to singlehandedly finish the 50 pound “Mount Olympus” burger after completing a marathon.)

Updated 9/28 1:57 am Baxojayz says he was not there to see Lori complete the burger but she was almost finished at the two hour mark. He also said that she would not have set a record if she finished soon after because the record is below two hours. I was not aware that anyone had completed the 96er since Kate Stelnick finished it in 2:54 in January

Corrected Albuquerque grilled cheese results from Skinnyboy. Sorry for any inconvenience resulting from my assumption that Donovan Busta was the likely winner based on the headline saying the winner was from Colorado.

1. Leland Collins - 16
2. Levi Oliver- 13.5
3. Andrew Lane - 12

The Memphis Commercial Appeal has an article about Sunday’s Krystal Square Off qualifier at the Mid South Fair. The majority of the article is about a Baylor medical student who competed after evacuating to Memphis to avoid Rita. Tennessean Sam Vise finished in first place with 33 burgers. Thomas Petrowski was 3rd with 22 burgers. (2nd place was not listed)

abqjournal.com for September 25 has a headline (under New Mexico & the West) mentioning that a Coloradan (Donovan Busta in all probability) won Saturday’s goldenpalace.com grilled cheese qualifier at the New Mexico State Fair with 16 sandwiches. Reading the article requires a paid subscription. Levi Oliver was also expected to compete.

Here is a listing of the winners of the GoldenPalace.com grilled cheese qualifiers, sorted by number of sandwiches along with the upcoming contests. The winning totals are significant because $20,000 will be distributed to the higher finishers. Notable eaters who have yet to qualify include Joey Chestnut, Cookie Jarvis and Eric “Badlands” Booker.

Congratulations to Sonya Thomas whose website experienced its second anniversary Monday. sonyatheblackwidow.com was launched on September 19, 2003, just about three months after Sonya’s first competition at the Nathan’s qualifier at the Molly Pitcher travel plaza in New Jersey.

Kate Stelnick’s student newspaper has an article in which she describes the aftermath of eating Denny’s Beer Barrel Pub 11 pound burger in January. This is the first article about Kate that I have been able to find since February. Like all the previous articles, no details are offered about what made Kate so certain she could finish the burger (are 5/7/9? pound meals commonplace for her?). She feels that society has made too big a deal about her accomplishment (the same could also be said for driving several hundred times around a racetrack, slapping a ball over a fence, or nearly everything else considered a big-time sport.) While her feat is certainly not on the level of curing cancer, it did offer a glimpse into what humans are capable of achieving (and also deflated some male chauvinists’ egos in the process).

(From ahamburgertoday.com comments:) Pictures of the 50 pound “Mount Olympus” burger are available at the website of radion station NJ 101.5 FM.

It is surprising that no local news articles about the “Mount Olympus” are available. Denny’s Beer Barrel Pub 15 pound burger received a substantial degree of national media attention. I guess the media is “megaburgered” out.

Never eat more than you can lift — Miss Piggy

QuickTime clips from the “Cheap Seats” episode covering Nathan’s Hot Dog Contest are available at http://www.cheapseats.tv/episodes.html (Click on Kobayashi in the upper right corner) The contest from 2004 is used.

The Salt Lake City Tribune has an article about the grilled cheese contest Sunday with some information about winner Ron Koch. None of the other competitors are named (2nd place finished with 11.5 sandwiches)

The AICE website’s news page mentions that the Clinton Station Diner in western New Jersey has developed the world’s largest hamburger, the Mount Olympus, weighing 50 pounds total. No local news articles are avaiable and the sandwich is not currently mentioned on the restaurant’s website. The only details about the burger that I have been able to find come from a Mini Cooper forum page:

25 lbs. of beef
5 tomatoes
4 onions
5 cups of pickles
17 lbs. of bread

5 people are allowed 3 hours to eat it.

It appears that the diner will not have to give out many free 50 pound burgers. The challenge requires each team member to eat 10 pounds, so the average member of a succesful team needs to have the gastronomic capacity of Kate Stelnick. Kobayashi, Sonya Thomas, Joey Chestnut, Rich LeFevre and Kate Stelnick could probably finish it, but some members of that group require more significant remuneration than a free meal.

September 17 GoldenPalace.com grilled cheese qualifier, Oklahoma State Fair, Oklahoma City

From newsok.com: (video available and registration required)

1. Crazy Legs Conti, NYC, 17.5 sandwiches
2. Ryan Delano, Oklahoma City,17 sandwiches
3. Levi Oliver, Austin, TX 14 sandwiches

September 18 Krystal Square Off, Gwinnett County Fair, North Atlanta, GA

From ajc.com:

1. Tim “Eater X” Janus, NYC, 39 Krystals
2. Loren “Bubba” Yarbrough, 27 Krystals
3. Shaun Kessler, 26 Krystals

September 18 GoldenPalace.com grilled cheese qualifier, Salt Lake City, UT
(updated 9/19 10:51 pm) (from ifoce.com and bigbrian.org) Ron Koch wins with 18.5 sandwiches. (No other finishers are listed) “Big” Brian Subich misses the contest due to a missed connecting flight in Phoenix.

I have been unable to find an article about the contest in the Salt Lake City papers, but I have found a polygamy news section

(from beautifulbrian.com)

Cookie Jarvis wins the cannoli eating contest Friday in Little Italy, NYC sponsored by the Festival of San Genarro. This is Jarvis’ third win in less than a month. Full results:

1. 26 Ed “Cookie” Jarvis
2. 22 Tim “Eater X” Janus
3. 21 “Crazy Legs” Conti
4. 18 Big Brian Subich
5. 11-12 Tim Holden

Eric “Badlands” Booker was present but did not defend his title. There is a rumor that George Shea tried to discourage Jarvis from competing due to his weight. If this is true, it contradicts the assertion by AICE that IFOCE is unconcerned about the health of its heavier eaters.

“Cheap Seats” is a show on ESPN classic which aims to be the sports equivalent of Mystery Science Theater 3000. The program stars two comedians who watch old footage of minor sports and make comments they consider humerous. The third season of “Cheap Seats” opens Monday at 10 pm eastern and will feature Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating contest. It is not stated what year’s contest will be used, but it will be either 2004 or 2005 since those are the only two years that ESPN has broadcast the event. The show is 30 minutes so probably only the actual contest will be rerun with none of the accompanying profiles. If the “Cheap Seats” comedians are having writers block thinking of witty insults about IFOCE members, AICE would probably be happy to contribute some.

Friday September 16, Cannoli Eating Championship, Little Italy, NYC
Eric “Badlands” Booker will defend his title. Brian Subich will also compete. The Black Widow might want to avenge her defeat to Booker at the Buffalo wing contest, but no mention of this contest is on her website. I am not sure what prizes, if any, will be awarded for this contest.

(Updated 9/15 10:41 pm) NY1 has a video of a previous cannoli contest and a short article

Saturday September 17, GoldenPalace.com Grilled Cheese qualifier, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma State fair
There might be a possibility for a lower ranked eater to reach the finals at this contest because I am not sure if any top-ranked eaters will attend.

Sunday September 18, Krystal Square Off qualifier Gwinnett County Fair, (North Atlanta, GA)
The IFOCE returns to the suburbs of North Atlanta for the second time in two weeks. Tim Janus will compete. Will he have another breakthrough technique like he did at the Nebraska Grilled Cheese contest?

Sunday September 18, GoldenPalace.com Grilled Cheese qualifier, Salt Lake City, Utah State Fair
Brian Subich will compete in this contest. Carlene LeFevre would probably enter if she was not recuperating from her hospital stay.

(Updated 9/15 10:52 pm) Salt Lake City Weekly has a preview of the contest focusing on Brian Subich

(From beautifulbrian.com) In a very generous gesture, Pat Philbin has placed the trophy he won at the Philadelphia Nathan’s qualifier along with his competitor’s pass for the Coney Island contest on ebay with 100% of the proceeds going to the Red Cross for Katrina relief. The current bid is $108.51 which is a doubling of the bid from two days ago. Bidding ends September 22.

(from humblebob.com) The new IFOCE rankings have been updated. The previous rankings can be found here until Google updates its cache. Notable risers are Joey Chestnut to #3, Patrick Bertoletti to #10 and Bob Shoudt to #11. Rich LeFevre is the most significant faller who drops out of the top five at #6. Dale Boone only falls one spot despite going on a hiatus.

“Humble” Bob Shoudt’s website has been made much more visually appealing without losing any functionality. The site has been divided into subpages, one of which is a blog.

The Krystal restaurant chain’s website has a page devoted to its hamburger eating contest. The page is in flash and is very slick, but slow loading and lacking the capability to link to any of its subpages. No contest results or pictures of the 2005 contest circuit have been added. It is surprising that Krystal would spend a considerable amount of money on web design and not bother to keep that site up to date. The site has a “safety rules” link which advises against training at home and a “start training” link offering the nearest franchise location. The site also has a “trash talk” link which produces an error, which is probably a good thing as there is probably a sufficient amount of trash talking in competitive eating.

In more Krystal news, Badlands Booker won the Nashville qualifier on Sunday with 44 burgers. Patrick Bertoletti and Donkey Kong Zakerski finished 2nd and 3rd.

The Grilled Cheese Page on goldenpalace.com has been updated with writeups of all the August qualifiers. The only pictures available are from the first two contests. Some pictures of Rich LeFevre at the Taste of Colorado contest can be found at the Canon digital photography forum.

That page also has a link to a profile of Donovan Busta from the Boulder Dirt written before the Colorado qualifier.

(From beautifulbrian.com bits & pieces) Chrissy, a Sonya Thomas fan from northern Virginia, has made a photo gallery of the Midway Slots Crabcake contest. Sonya is in several of the photographs, but there are also pictures of the top IFOCE eaters who participated in the contest. There are also a lot of generally positive comments about the pictures.