Fox Business has an article about the economics of competitive eating with quotes from George Shea, Arnie “Chowhound” Chapman and Crazy Legs Conti.

The article reports that the IFOCE has five full time employees. Shea claims that the 2007 Nathan’s hot dog contest produced $100 million worth of media for the restaurant chain. Joey received %0.01 corrected percent of that amount ($10,000) as his first place prize, which might be why has yet to commit to the defense of his title.

The article lists Chapman as the winner of the 1991 Nathan’s contest:

Chapman, a 46-year-old better known in the eating world as “Chowhound,” holds the record for downing the most pickles. He ate 2.94 pounds of sweet hard sour pickles in 3 minutes and 45 seconds.

“Sometimes I don’t know what I am thinking, it’s such an unforgiving food, ” Chapman said. Chapman won the Nathan’s contest in 1991 by eating 11.5 dogs in six minutes, which today seems like a meager amount.

Pig Skin results from IFOCE.com:

1. Tim Janus, 14.3 oz in 6 minutes, $2500
2. Russ Keeler 12.7
3. Crazy Legs Conti 11.8
4. Pete Davekos 11.6
5. David “Brickhouse” Braunstein 8.2
6. “Nasty” Nate Biller 8.0
7. Brian Seiken 7.6
8. Pete “Philly Guy” Miernicki 6.0

updated with results from beautifulbrian’s contest report Brian was originally announced as the 3rd place finisher and will have a contest video up later today.

update #2 The Times of Malta? has a Reuters news video

update #3 VH1’s Best Week Ever blog has a contest report with some pictures. (VH1 and Spike TV are both owned by Viacom) (Thanks Caroline Pierce)

The Wing Bowl weigh in is tonight, here are the details from 610WIP.com:

The kick off to Wing Bowl 16 starts at Chickie`s and Pete`s South Philly!!
Don’t Miss the Official Wing Bowl Weigh-In LIVE on Thursday January 31st, From 5p-7p at Chickie’s and Pete’s 1526 Packer Ave, South Philadelphia. Come witness all of the pre Wing Bowl festivities with the introduction of this year`s eaters and get your first look at some of the sexy Wingettes!
For more info about the 2008 Wing Bowl Weigh-In, Call 215-218-0500 or go to www.chickiesandpetes.com

Some more Wing Bowl coverage:
PhillyMag interviews Eric “Steakbellie” Livingston
Erik Denmark blog entry about his Wing Bowl qualification
“Damaging” Doug Canavin profile
Julio “El Zorro” Davila profile
2001 Wing Bowl recollection
Police order to not open parking lots until 4am

A new show on the Travel Channel called “Food Paradise” has started production by recording trips to the Big Texan Steak Ranch in Amarillo, Texas and the 17th Street Bar & Grill in O’Fallon, Illinois. I am not sure if this is the same show that is currently seeking a host.

In other television news, AICE news reports that a film crew from the History Channel will be present at the burger contest at the Clinton Station Diner on Saturday.

The New York Times has an article about the sudden closing of the Yankee Doodle Coffee Shop in New Haven, Connecticut after 58 years of operation. Several groups have formed to attempt to resurrect the restaurant. Ryan Nerz wrote an article about Tim “Eater X” Janus breaking the record in the restaurant’s famous burger challenge.

Other articles
Yale Daily News
New Haven Independent
WTNH article and video
Yale Alumni Magazine article

Philadelphia sports blog The700Level.com has no recent Wing Bowl coverage, but there is some competitive eating content in the form of the picture of a helmeted Badlands Booker illustrating a blog entry about the burger Eagle Brian Westbrook devised for Chili’s Restaurants. Westbrook’s burger has extra-thick applewood-smoked bacon, slices of smoked Cheddar, Swiss, and Provolone, sauteed onions and jalapeno-ranch dressing.

Forbes.com has a series about champions. Sonya Thomas is featured in the section about champions of more obscure disciplines:

“I can eat a lot, but I know when I’m getting full in competition,” Thomas says, “and that’s when it becomes a mental challenge. It’s about focus. When the food is stuck in your chest, you can’t eat a lot and you might be sick. You need the will to win and the mental strength to concentrate on your esophagus, swallowing and pushing the food into the bottom of your stomach.”

Standing in the wings as history unfolds, eating boss Richard Shea has a unique vantage point.

“People have lost faith in superstar athletes,” Shea says. “They’re celebrities now. When people cheer Sonya Thomas, they do so because she is not Tom Brady. She is not A-Rod. She isn’t even Stephon Marbury. She is a regular gal like themselves–a gal who can eat 46 dozen oysters–and that resonates.”

In today’s Wing Bowl column by Dan Gross, Joey Chestnut announces that Wing Bowl 16 will be his final Wing Bowl and that he is not sure about other major upcoming eating contests:

The San Jose State civil engineering major says his rigorous competitive eating schedule interferes with his studies. He also blames the sport and constantly being away from home for the recent breakup with his girlfriend of two years.

Chestnut isn’t sure whether he will defend his Mustard Yellow Belt July 4 at Coney Island, N.Y., in Nathan’s Famous International Hot Dog contest. Last year he defeated Japan’s Takeru Kobayashi, bringing the title back to the United States.

The column also reports that the son of MLB reliever Tug McGraw is working on constructing Brad Sciullo’s float.

Big Brian Subich emailed the WIP odds for Wing Bowl 16:

10. Boring John 30-1
9. The Wolfman 25-1
8. Steakbellie 25-1
7. Humble Bob Shoudt 20-1
6. The Bulldog 20-1
5. US Male Dave Goldstein 12-1
4. Pat Bertoletti 10-1
3. BIG BRIAN 5-1
2. El Wingador 3-1
1. Joey Chestnut 2-1

update Philly.com has the odds for all eaters. Pat Bertoletti and Brian Subich are the #3 favorites at 10-1 odds.

Kenji Aoki, maintainer of one of the more popular Japanese competitive eating websites, has started a blog at http://ameblo.jp/oogui-diary/ One of his recent entries reports on a contest held for winners of Food Battle Stadium contests won by “Essen”.

Krystal Square Off finalists offer advice on how to eat as much as possible in as short a period of time as possible in USAToday.com
The Hollywood Reporter on Super Bowl halftime viewing options
Giant sushi roll eating contest for teams of Japanese female college students
Blog entry & gallery by recent Quick Chek sub winner
Picture of Sonya Thomas & fan at Washington Capitals game
NY Daily News on Brooklyn vegan wing eating contest
Andrew “Skinnyboy” Lane attempts 7 pound breakfast burrito challenge (Female burrito finishers receive free food for life)
Don “Moses” Lerman is upset about not being named a jalapeno judge
Krystal Super Bowl photo contest

Galleries from the “Eat the Meat” wing eating contest sponsored by WPLR in Connecticut are available. Two separate contests were held: one for in studio qualifiers, the other for top finishers in restaurant qualifiers and both had first prizes of $1000. “Wild Rice” won the first contest and “The Big Cat” was the victor in the other contest.

Miss Elizabeth “First Lady of Wings” gained entrance into the finals by winning an in studio contest. She has galleries of her contests. She finished sixth out of ten in her finals contest.

Steve DePino has some pictures and a slideshow from the finals.

(From Ted Wilson) Full results from the Pittsburgh Wing Championship Series are now available. According to these results, Wing Tut came in 8th place.

Some video clips from Sunday’s “Ham & Eggs” program can be viewed at Spike.com. The titles and descriptions of the clips follows:

Pat Bertoletti - Pat Bertoletti is determined to maintain his dominance of MLE.
Kobayashi’s Defeat - The eaters of MLE discuss Kobayashi’s defeat at the Turkey Bowl
Turkey Bowl Upsets - Check out a recap of the upsets from the MLE Turkey Bowl
Cinderella Stories - Juris Shibayama and Gravy Brown share their MLE Cinderella Stories.

philadelphia.about.com has a list of all the competitors in Friday’s Wing Bowl. “Randall” Patrick Bertoletti and Erik “Ted Bundy Serial Wing Killer” Denmark devised new nicknames for the contest.

It appears that an IFOCE sanctioned corn contest will take place on April 27 at the 2008 Sweet Corn Fiesta based on the fiesta webpage:

Feel like you could eat a barrel of sweet corn if given the opportunity? Enter the Adult International Corn Eating Contest and compete against the 2007 Corn King.

(From “Pig Skin”) A pig skin eating contest will be held at Hawaiian Tropic Zone in Times Square on Thursday at noon to promote the “Ham & Eggs” contest that will be televised on Spike TV during the Super Bowl halftime show. The total purse is $5000. Registration for 8 slots will open tonight at approximately 10pm.

update a press release is available. Tim “Eater X” Janus will compete, former NFL punter Sean Landeta will serve as guest judge and the contest will be six minutes long.

Youtube has a video of a burger eating contest overseen by the stars from “Harold & Kumar go to White Castle” which aired on MTV2 in 2004.

Angelo Cataldi has a preview of Wing Bowl 16 in his blog and reports that the news of his creation’s demise are greatly exaggerated:

And now it’s time for a confession. I wish this were the last Wing Bowl. I wish we could end in it one final frenzy of barbeque sauce and frilly thongs on Feb. 1 at the Wachovia Center. I wish we could announce that Wing Bowl 16 was not just the best installment in the continuing series, but the final one.

Don’t fret. That’s not going to happen. I’m pretty sure if the management at WIP had to make a choice between all of the talent on our show or this happy monster we have created, we’d be all out on the street tomorrow. In fact, Wing Bowl will be here long after all of us are gone.

The following advice to spectators is offered at the end of the blog entry:

* The parking lots around the Wachovia Center will open at 4 a.m. If you’re looking to tailgate before that, you will have to find a spot in one of the many private lots on the outskirts of the sports complex.
* The doors will open at 5 a.m.
* You must have a ticket to enter the parking lots at the Wachovia Center.
* All patrons are subject to a search.
* Bottles, cans and outside food are not permitted inside the Wachovia Center.
* Regular cameras will be allowed, but not video cameras.

BeautifulBrian.com’s Wing Bowl preview episode features Dave “U. S. Male” Goldstein.

We are now a week away from the air date of the final installment of the Las Vegas Chowdown trilogy and there appears to be no mention of the program on Spike TV’s Major League Eating page or home page.

The air date & time are not on the home page of ifoce.com either. Viewers need to click on the link labeled “It’s official” to obtain the details, and the air date in the final paragraph of that page is listed as “January 3″.

The Deseret News has a review of Fredrick Kaufman’s “A Short History of the American Stomach”, which will be released a week from Monday according to amazon.com

In 1800, supporters of Thomas Jefferson presented the new president with a 900-pound “Mammoth Cheese” allegedly “produced from the milk of one thousand Republican cows.” Early in the 19th century, magazine articles written by Washington Irving spoke of the advantages of putting nuts in liver puddings and chicken jellies.

Kaufman introduces “the brain in the gut” theory which, he writes, helps to explain 900-pound cheeses, 600-pound supergrills, 240-foot ovens and other indications of “American food mania.” Food mania would also be a good way to describe the eating contests of our modern era, including chicken wings in Philadelphia, jalapenos in Laredo, crawfish in Baton Rouge, oysters in New Orleans, conch fritters in Key West and chili in Reno.

A high definition video of the french fry eating contest between Elizabeth “Rubber Gut” Canady and Hatsuyo Sugawara has been uploaded to stage6. The video begins with Ms. Canady showing how thin the skin on her stomach is. She is then examined in a device which apparently shows her stomach is larger than normal. The french fry contest is interrupted for footage of “Rubber Gut” at a diner. Her tab is apparently $539.26.

Video captures from the clip are below:

News 14 article and video
NBC17 article and flickr gallery
Let’s Jog blog entry

Neither article mentions the winner. Results will be posted on the event website.

update The top 10 have now been posted. Philip Curley was the winner with a time of 31:20

The poll should now be accepting votes without hanging up. Thanks to the Hangman for the bug report.

Derek “Wing Tut” Payne competed in the finals of last night’s Wing Championship Series and wrote a blog entry about it. Five of the top 6 finishers are listed below.

1. Pete “Broken Wing” Maurizio - 110 wings.
2. Bob “Lord of the Wings” Kuhns - 108 wings.
3. Ted “Captain Butthead” Wilson - 89 wings.
4. ?
5. “Meat”
6. Derek “Wing Tut” Payne

Mark Lyle was the only competitor from outside the Pittsburgh area. He was unable to make it out of the first round.

Domenico “the Sicilian” Alesi has restarted blogging at http://domenico-thesicilian.blogspot.com/ His first post is about what fruits and vegetables would be good in an eating contest.