The finals for the Verizon VoiceWing Buffalo wing contest will be held at Back Bay Kings in Boston. The menu is quite sophisticated for a restaurant located in a bowling alley.

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IFOCE.com has a full list of the expected competitors in the Knoxville Krystal qualifier Sunday. The ranked members of that roster are Don “Moses” Lerman, Patrick Bertoletti and Kevin Carr. Cookie Jarvis does not appear on the list, so he will not make the finals since Knoxville is the final qualifier. Patrick Bertoletti would probably be favored, but he might be handicapped by competing in the Verizon Voicewing Buffalo wing finals the day before.

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Krystal Square Off Qualifier, Greater Jacksonville Fair, Nov 6 (from IFOCE.com)
1. “Crazy Legs” Conti, 31 burgers
2. Hall Hunt, 30 burgers
3. Brian Miller, 24 burgers

Conti is not the first Bostonian to win a big event in Jacksonville in 2005; the Patriots won the Super Bowl in February.

Not only does Hunt miss the top spot and automatic qualification by just one burger, his total puts his 3 contest average at 26.67, third place in the wild card category, and less than a burger behind Loren Yarbrough’s average of 27.33. The top two wild card qualifiers make the finals and Joey Chestnut has the first wild card slot. No eater can compete in more than three qualifiers.

Jacksonville.com has a profile of Hall Hunt (registration required)

With one qualifier remaining in Knoxville Sunday, the winners of the first round contests are:

Notable eaters who have yet to qualify include Cookie Jarvis and Patrick Bertoletti. Don “Moses” Lerman and Kevin Carr have also announced intentions to compete in Knoxville.

Recorded non-winning finishes of 20 or more burgers are: (list might be incomplete)

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In this blog entry, collegiate bodybuilder Britt Miller describes her meals on a trip to Las Vegas, which included 24 ounce prime ribs with all the trimmings and frequent trips to the buffets.

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Cincinnati Weekly has an interview with Columbus resident Kevin Carr, the 40th ranked IFOCE member. Carr will compete in the Knoxville Krystal qualifier.

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To honor National Sandwich Day, Potbelly Sandwich Works held a series of eating contests Thursday in nine Big 10 college towns, including Northwestern, Illinois, Purdue and Wisconsin. The winner of the Wisconsin contest is a protege of “Crazy Legs” Conti.

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Philly.com has an article describing the complaint Arnie “Chowhound” Chapman lodged with the Federal Communications Commission. Chapman claims that his being prevented from competing in the 2005 Wing Bowl after successfully completing his qualifying stunt violates the FCC statute that on-air contests must have fair and consistent rules. A video clip of the Chowhound’s stunt in which he ate 28 clementines is available.

In other Wing Bowl news, the Philadelphia City Paper claims that the 2005 Wing Bowl was probably fixed so that Bill “El Wingador” Simmons could beat Sonya Thomas.

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The University of Florida student newspaper, The Alligator, has a profile of UF graduate student Hall Hunt.

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Sonya Thomas fan bc has a photo gallery and forum thread of last Saturday’s buffalo wing contest in Bethesda, MD.

“Beautiful” Brian Seiken also has a photo gallery from that contest.

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From IFOCE.com and “Beautiful” Brian Seiken

Smirnoff Twisted V Wild Grape World Grape Eating Championship, Grand Central Terminal, NYC

1. Ed “Cookie” Jarvis, 8.95 lb
2. Eric “Badlands” Booker 8.9 lb
3. Tim “Eater X” Janus 7.8 lb
4. “Humble” Bob Shoudt, 6.75 lb.
5. Don “Moses” Lerman 5.75 lb.
6. “Crazy Legs” 5.15 lb.
7. Pat Philbin 4.25 lb.
8. “Beautiful” Brian Seiken, 4 lb.
9. Bobby Bacala (Sopranos) ? lb.

Updated 11/02 9:10 am with complete results – thanks Brian Seiken

Sonya Thomas does not appear despite the $2000 first prize and the apparent ease in travelling to the contest (just hop on Acela and she’s at the contest site)

Updated 11/03 1:01 am “Beautiful” Brian Seiken has uploaded a photo gallery – Thanks Yo Mama

From speedeat.com: “Gentleman” Joe Menchetti attended the contest and challenged Jarvis to a cannoli eating contest to be judged by Brian Seiken. Jarvis declined the challenge.

Corrected 11/03 9:35 pm: Menchetti did not attend the contest and the cannoli challege was issued five weeks ago.

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November is appearing to shape up as an exciting month in competitive eating. The action will begin the first day of the month with the Smirnoff Twisted V Wild Grape World Grape Eating Championship at Grand Central Station in New York City. Most of the top eaters from the northeast are expected to attend including Badlands Booker, Cookie Jarvis and Tim Janus. No word on whether Sonya Thomas will compete, but the $2,000 first prize would apparently make it worth her while to appear.

On November 12, the finals for the Verizon Voicewing Buffalo wing contest will be held in Boston in which the top five finishers from the three regionals will appear. Sonya Thomas and Joey Chestnut will face off for the first time since their series of four epic contests held over August and Labor Day weekend. While Sonya bested Joey Chestnut’s mark from the qualifying round by more than a pound, comparing results from the qualifiers is difficult since each sportsbar hosting the contests apparently used their own recipe for Buffalo wings.

One week later, the Krystal Square Off finals will be held in Chattanooga in which Kobayashi will defend his title from 2004 and face Sonya Thomas, Joey Chestnut and other top eaters. It is conceivable that the Tsunami could be vanquished if he does not bring his A game as a result of Joey Chestnut’s meteoric rise and Sonya Thomas’ steady improvement. If Joey Chestnut beats Sonya in this contest and the Verizon wings final, he can make a legitamite claim to being the top American eater.

In addition to the scheduled contests, the finals for the GoldenPalace.com grilled cheese contests are expected to be held at an currently undetermined date and place.

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The East Valley (AZ) tribune has a profile of Mike Jones, who competed in the Phoenix grilled cheese qualifier and the Chandler baked bean contest.

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