(From Megamunch email) The New York Times has an article about Gilded Age railroad tycoon “Diamond” Jim Brady’s reported gastronomical feats. A typical dinner for Brady was supposedly “Three dozen oysters (the largest Lynnhavens were saved for him), a dozen crabs, six or seven lobsters, terrapin soup,” and a steak, with a dessert of “a tray full of pastries… and two pounds of bonbons.”

The reporter has difficulty believing that Brady ate like that on an everyday basis and believes that the meals he ate at various times in his life have been fused into a giant daily superfeast. He talks to Dr. Nicholas Belitsos, a Baltimore gastroenterologist who is somewhat less skeptical and claims that a stomach capacity six times greater than average, which Brady reportedly possessed, is a possibility.

The article briefly mentions Brady’s girlfriend, actress Lillian Russell, but does not report that she was about as legendary a trencherperson as Brady was. Oscar Tschirky, creator of the Waldorf salad, served the couple on several occasions and recollected that Russell was the bigger eater of the pair. She reportedly once won a diamond ring from her boyfriend by defeating him in an eating contest after removing her corset.

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No new episode of Man V. Food will be televised tonight, but all six episodes will be rerun beginning at 5 pm eastern:

Columbus TRAV Wed 12/31 5:00 PM
Memphis TRAV Wed 12/31 5:30 PM
Chicago TRAV Wed 12/31 6:00 PM
Austin TRAV Wed 12/31 6:30 PM
Pittsburgh TRAV Wed 12/31 7:00 PM
Amarillo TRAV Wed 12/31 7:30 PM

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• Consumption has a rap video directed to Badlands Booker
• Wikipedia page about Man v. Food, has a short Adam Richman biography and episode details
• The Princeton Oyster Bowl has a new website at http://oysterbowlnj.com/
• Mike Fitzgerald attempts the 12 pound pizza challenge at Polito’s
• IFOCE review of Santa’s Slay by Tim “Gravy” Brown
• Georgia Tech beats LSU in a beef eating contest held at a Brazilian steakhouse before the Chick Fil A Bowl.
• Dale Boone is in India according to his myspace status

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The following list contains the combined cash winnings of competitive eaters in 2008 based on information in the eatfeats database. Please inform me of any inaccuracies.

All prize winners with earnings of $100 or more follows after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry »

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• Joey Chestnut wants to drop below 200 lbs. before resuming eating contests
• Hungry Sisters look back on their 2008 competitive eating goals
• Music City Bowl rib eating contest between members of the Vanderbilt and Boston College football teams
• Denny’s Beer Barrel Pub’s 6 pound burger serves 17
• Videos from the Minnesota Chicagoland Nathan’s qualifier
• IGreggor attempts the Muddy River Smokehouse Challenge and dedicates it to Furious Pete’s charity challenge
• Hot dog eating challenge at Philadelphia Eagles game
• Furious Pete wants a big facebook group to promote his charity stunt
• Cartoon about eating as a sport from Will Millender

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The website for the Heart Attack Grill has a page announcing that customers weighing 350 pounds or more will receive free food (drinks are not included). Sharing and taking out food are not allowed and diners will have to be weighed by the restaurant’s staff to be eligible for the offer.

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The new poll asks what you think is the top competitive eating rivalry in 2008. Rivals had to compete against each other at least once in 2008 to be listed in the poll choices.

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IFOCE.com and WLOCE report that Carson “Collard Green” Hughes of Newport News, Virginia passed away on December 26 at the age of 49. DailyPress has Hughes’ obituary and information about his funeral services. “Collard Green” competed in the 2003 Nathan’s finals and was the subject of a long profile in the New York Times that year.

update The Erwin Record has a longer article about Hughes (from Rhonda Evans)

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“Furious” Pete Czerwinski has set up a website which accepts about his upcoming attempt to eat 12 Extra Value Meals on the McDonald’s website at http://furiouspete.synthasite.com/

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The episode of My Life in Food about three competitive eaters preparations for the 2008 Nathan’s is now on the schedule. The 30 minute program will be televised at 6:30 pm eastern on January 10.

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Youtube has a news video about a vareniki dumpling eating contest held in Kyiv, Ukraine. A photo gallery of the competition is also available. Anatoliy Klepach won the contest by eating 90 dumplings in 7 minutes and was presented with a trophy in the form of a giant dumpling. The contest was held outside in the snow.

The caption contains the following information about a possible upcoming contest:

The real fan of Ukrainian cuisine is Alexander Gutmakher, organizer of the event. The first time he held this championship was in New York with the support of the Mayor. Next year he is planning to hold the Championship with Ukrainian and American teams.

The New York contest mentioned might be the 2002 pelmeni eating contest. The New York Times reports that Alexander Gutmakher has promoted events in New York City.

Korrespondent.net reports that Klepach’s next opponent will be Oleg Zhornitskiy, who has not competed in an IFOCE contest since the US Open of Competitive Eating in 2005

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The New York Daily News has a report on Kobayashi’s attempt to break Sonya Thomas’ IFOCE fruitcake record at Gabriella’s Restaurant. Kobayashi fell 6 ounces short of the mark set by the “Black Widow” in a 2003 contest (and Badlands Booker’s amount in that competition as well). Kobayashi said the density of the fruitcake, which he had never eaten before, made it difficult to consume quickly.

MSNBC has a picture. Cookie Jarvis also attended the event.

NBC San Diego has video from the event. 14 pounds of fruitcake were on hand.

update NBCNewYork has two videos. Cookie Jarvis and Badlands Booker ate alongside Kobayashi at the end of his attempt to get him past the threshold. Kobayashi did not resort to dunking the fruitcake even when the record appeared in doubt.

Sonya Thomas has a comment about Kobayshi’s record attempt on her news page.

Update #2 Kobayashi’s attempt was mentioned on ESPN Sportscenter. Here is a clip (20 seconds .9 MB)

kobayashiespn2008dec27.mp4

NY1 News also has a video clip

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• Toronto Star article about “Furious” Pete Czerwinski
• Hot dog eating contest at the New Year’s Eve Sausage Drop in Elmore, Ohio – $350 purse
• Sonya Thomas wishes Takeru Kobayashi good luck in his attempt today to break her fruitcake record
• Short clip of Mike “The Hammer” Fitzgerald at the Hardee’s Thickburger contest
• Footage from Badlands Booker at a Ben’s Deli matzo ball contest
• updatedJoel Podelsky wins Red Bank, NJ latke eating contest (Thanks for the plug)

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Beautiful Brian has uploaded a holiday message video to youtube in which he announces and plays samples from Tim “Gravy” Brown’s new CD titled Santa’s Slay Beautiful Brian compares Tim “Gravy” Brown to Elvis Costello. Songs include “Go Tell it on the Mountain”, “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christman”, “Deck the Halls”, “O Little Town of Bethlehem”, “Take My Breath Away” and “My Heart Will Go On”.

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Merry Christmas. Fans considering attending Kobayashi’s fruitcake record attempt in New York City tomorrow should be aware that the site of that event appears to have changed. The New York Daily News reports that Kobayashi will appear at Gabriela’s Restaurant on Columbus and 93rd.

The New York Times blog reported on Monday that the record attempt would take place in the plaza of Madison Square Garden.

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Jon Basso of the Heart Attack Grill has emailed the following information

I’d like to let you know that the Travel Channel has a new series called “Extreme”. This SATURDAY THE 27th they are shooting there only restaurant segment called Extreme Restaurants. They’ve chosen just three restaurant in the world and we’re lucky enough to be one of them. They’d asked me if any competitive eaters will be present and I’ve told them that I’ll try to put the word out to get some folks to come in on Saturday.

I wonder if this is the same program that recorded at Denny’s Beer Barrel earlier this month.

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A link to Adam Richman’s appearance on Good Morning America yesterday is below.

Adam Richman on GMA Dec 23, 2008 (6 MB)

Links about tonight’s episode: commerical, clip about the appropriate stance for eating an Italian beef sandwich, slideshow (which must have been taken in early October or before note the sign)

The website for tonight’s challenge restaurant, Lucky’s Sandwich Company, is under contruction – yelp page

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(from Gothamist) Commenters to the message board on ConeyIsland.com have noted that “Stores for Lease” signs have been placed above several businesses. One of the locations is the Nathan’s Famous on the boardwalk, which is not open year-round. This is not the site of the main Nathan’s Famous at Surf & Stillwell where the hot dog eating contest is held, so the competition should not be threatened by this action.

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The Food Network’s website has a broadcast date of Februrary 9, 2009 for the episode of “Will Work for Food” where host Adam Gertler competes in the Famous Famiglia pizza eating contest after receiving advice from Crazy Legs Conti, Pat Bertoletti, and Tim “Eater X” Janus. Gertler came in last place, but he was only four slices behind Crazy Legs Conti.

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“Furious” Pete Czerwinski has announced that he will attempt to eat all 12 McDonald’s Value Meals in 30 minutes in early February to raise money for the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada and the Toronto Sick Kids Hospital.

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Joey Chestnut is a choice in the ESPN poll for the five members of the 2008 All SportsNation team.

Jeff Olson is one of DelawareOnline’s 8 most intriguing people of 2008 (which appears to be restricted to Delaware residents). Jeff’s proposed Wing Bowl qualification stunt of eating 3 pounds of cottage cheese in 3 minutes was rejected, so he will try to qualify at a Wing Off.

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• Video of Furious Pete’s ice cream challenge
• Ian Hickman & friend complete the 28 inch pizza challenge at the Family Pizzeria in Stafford, VA
• Another NoVA challenge – the Texas Roadhouse in Chantilly, VA offers a 64 ounce steak that is free if eaten in under one hour (requires one week notice)
• 28 inch pizza contest for charity at Polito’s pizza in Wisconsin for teams of three from the Army, Navy and Marines
• 8 lb. + pound pizza challenge for two person teams in Las Vegas
• One pound burger at new Chattanooga restaurant to be named for Obama
• Steakbellie is no longer unemployed
• http://missgluttonsbliss.blogspot.com/ appears to have been pulled down

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A greatest hits CD containing high points from the first four “Hungry & Focused” albums along with three new songs from the upcoming album “Extended Play” will be released on New Years day. A promo clip is available on youtube. The album can be purchased on Booker’s myspace page and the store at majorleagueeating.com

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A list of eaters who have qualified for the upcoming Wing Bowl follows:

The winner of the first Wing Off has been posted. “Chicken Cesar” ate 4.5 Pilgrim sandwiches to qualify.

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The New York Times local news blog has a post about Friday’s fruitcake record attempt by Takeru Kobayashi. The event will take place at 11 am at the plaza of Madison Square Garden located at 34th Street and Seventh Avenue.

update The Gothamist blog entry says the event will take place at Gabriella’s Restaurant on Columbus and 93rd.

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