• Video of the end of the Apple Ugly eating contest (the trophy was a mounted toilet seat)
• Ian Hickman beats Elizabeth Canady in overtime at Bowie burger contest
• Detailed review of MLE game by Platform Nation
• Skinnyboy eats 8/9 of Big Texan 72 ounce steak
• Gallery of 2008 Philadelphia Nathan’s qualifier
• Picture of Samantha Brown at Italian sausage contest
• MissBusyLady describes her start in competitive eating fandom
• Juris Shibayama sends a letter to the editor about last week’s column (from Crawfish comment)
• Boston hot wing eating contest Thursday
• Donut eating contest in Pittsburgh Friday
• Full results for the Singapore qualifiers on MLE.asia
• Vietnamese sub eating contest in Ho Chi Minh City

• Final Denver hot dog qualifier report
• Column criticizing Juris Shibayama for finishing “toward the back of the pack” that does not bother to find out his actual placing
• Megamunch blog entry and gallery from the UEPa meeting at Gregory’s Steakhouse
• Report on Tour de Donut in which cyclists can reduce their reported finishing times by eating donuts
• The Serious Sports News Network reports that a congressional committee will investigate allegations that PEDs were used in the Nathans’ finals
• Mini-essay contest for slots in the Bowie burrito eating contest, also lists expected ranked entrants

• Registration for the Ash Creek (CT, August 17) rib contest and the Myrtle Beach BBQ contest (August 30) opens tomorrow
• Transcript of Joey Chestnut on CNN July 4
• Furious Pete attempts to break Cookie Jarvis’ 76 ounce steak record at J & R Steakhouse (result)
• Jill Stoler’s report on the 120 ounce steak attempts
• Video of amateur contest at Delaplane Strawberry Festival
• 17 Year old eats age in hot dogs
• Video of radio interview of Joey Chestnut and the LeFevres
• Kobayashi has a blog entry about dining at Gray’s Papaya hot dog stand with Stephen Dubner

• Log of Pat Bertoletti on yesterday’s Steve Dahl show. Bertoletti will be competing against sandwich makers at the Taste of Lincoln Avenue on July 26 or 27.
• Video recorded by Gersh Kuntzman alleging cheating by Kobayashi after regulation time ended at the Nathan’s finals
• Press release about today’s UEPa meeting at Gregory’s Steakhouse
• Short article about Rich LeFevre

• Preview of the Chinook Winds rib contest. Rich LeFevre and Erik Denmark are listed as expected entrants.
• Steakbellie on the Camden qualifier
• Megamunch finalizes plans for the UEPa meeting. The 120 ounce steak is free if finished.
• Quotes and podcast of George Shea at the Nathan’s finals.
• According to CNN, Heinz’ sales are up 16.5% and profits are up 30.9% over the past two years. Nelson Peltz got Heinz to co-sponsor Nathan’s.
• 11 “Pushing Daisies” themed pie eating contests at the Orange County Fair from July 11 to August 2

The blog for the Team Emerica skateboarding team reports that several team members attempted the Big Texan 72 ounce steak challenge last night. Danger Ehren from the MTV show Jackass also tried to win a free meal.

Skinnyboy caught the webcast of their attempt last night and has some video captures. He thinks the mohawked diner looks like Pat Bertoletti, but apparently does not eat like him.

• Charlotte qualifier to take place at Concord Mills Mall parking lot
• Singer/pianist Dr. John competes in a chile pepper eating contest
• Hall of Fame Thurman Thomas to help judge hot dog contest at Watkins Glen
• Video from 2003 Nathan’s finals
• News video of Kansas qualifier captured by Skinnyboy
• Erik Denmark’s Kansas City qualifier report
• Arena Football kicker completes Big Texan 72 ounce steak
  
• Results of Denver hot dog contest qualifier
• Nanticoke PA pierogie eating contest this weekend (date unspecified)
• Steakbellie & sons run in 5K race
• Fake inspirational poster (in the style of despair.com) using a picture of a hot dog eating contest

(From BaseballThinkFactory) Susan Polgar, the first woman to obtain the rating of chess grandmaster in regular competition, recently dined at the Big Texan and wrote about that restaurant’s signature meal. According to the blog entry, Joey Chestnut was not the first Nathan’s champion to attempt the challenge:

Former Cincinnati Reds Pitcher Frank Pastore did it in a record time of 9 ½ minutes, and held that record for 21 years until Joey Chestnut took the title on March 24, 2008 with a time of 8 minutes and 52 seconds. Another famous person who tried this was Takeru Kobayashi, the six-time hot dog-eating world champion.

It is not clear from the blog entry if Ms. Polgar attempted the 72 ounce steak. She is currently the chess coach at Texas Tech so it was not that long a trip for her. (Picture is from chessphotography)

The Simi Valley Acorn reports that Michael Watts ate a 6 pound steak at Dakota’s Steakhouse in Simi Valley, California three days after his 25th birthday. By finishing the steak in under an hour, he received $220 from his family, $50 more than the cost of the steak.

CBS3 has a video about Watt’s feast.

Local news video broadcast March 24 on KAMR about Joey Chestnut breaking the Big Texan’s 72 ounce steak record has been posted to youtube.

Andrew “Skinnyboy” Lane has a blog entry and gallery about his attempt at the Big Texan.

Andrew “Skinnyboy” Lane announces in his blog that he will attempt the Big Texan’s 72 ounce steak at approximately 4:30 pm eastern, which can be viewed on the restaurant’s webcam.

update Skinnyboy reports that he had about 7 ounces of steak remaining along with the potato when an hour elapsed.

• Deadspin on the Collegiate Nationals
  
• Mike Golic receives a bib from a fan for his upcoming contest
• “Eating Levi” gets into the Newport Beach Film Festival
• NPR podcast on all you can eat sections at ballparks
• Milk Bone eating contest for humans
• Parody of a hot dog eating contest documentary

Registration for Nathan’s qualifiers opens at noon eastern today

Added 11:15 pm

• Article about “Furious” Pete Czerwinski in which he attempts to break his personal record for a 72 ounce steak
• “Black Day” eating contest for South Korean lovelorn
• Leader board for journalists in the Oakland A’s all you can eat section (PG rated pictures) via Deadspin

(From anonymous comment) A youtube video of Joey Chestnut setting the Big Texan 72 ounce steak record is available. The video appears to be taken from the Big Texan webcam and lacks audio.

update The 72 ounce steak videos from Joey Chestnut and “Furious” Pete are embedded after the jump
Read the rest of this entry »

Frank Pastore, former Cincinnati Reds pitcher and current radio talk show host, reports in his blog that Joey Chestnut broke his record for the Big Texan’s 72 ounce steak and side items. Chestnut’s mark was 8 minutes and 52 seconds, breaking Pastore’s 21 year old record of 9 and a half minutes.

update A podcast of Frank Pastore’s appearance on the Hugh Hewitt show is available. Pastore’s segment starts around the 18:50 mark.

Bodybuilder Isabelle Turell has a picture and brief account of her eating a 48 ounce steak on her blog. She was rewarded with a free meal, a T shirt and a picture on the unnamed restaurant’s wall for finishing the steak in under 20 minutes.

update Isabelle has additional comments on her finishing the steak in a bodybuilding forum thread. She has been banned by the restaurant (which is probably Sam’s Steakhouse in Terre Haute, Indiana) from attempting the challenge again.

Miami Herald columnist endorses Ryan Nerz’s call for a jalapeno eating contest between Obama and Clinton to determine the Democratic nomination
Maori wins New Zealand pizza contest
Frederick Kaufman (A Short History of the American Stomach) podcast on Seattle Public Radio
Munch Madness 2008, Connecticut team “bar bite” contest w/ 4 qualifiers, first prize is 4 Opening Day NE Patriot tickets (from Jill Stoler’s blog)
Emmanuel wins Chicago Wing Fest (see picture above)
PaulieSaurus Pizza prize now over $350
Cereal Mega Bowl challenge equal to 1 box of cereal in now closed Asheville, NC cereal restaurant
Kyoto tofu contest, won by Hiroko Kurita
Podcast of “Furious” Pete’s appearance on Frank Pastore’s radio show in which they discuss their 72 ounce steak marks (from AICE news)
Denver meetup group Feb 29 Slyder contest to award $100 gift certificate

Beautiful Brian has a commentary on Chestnut vs. MLE and a CD update
Hall Hunt does eating contest at Rays Fan Festival and eats 13 hot dogs in undisclosed time (Kobayashi attended last year’s Rays Fan Festival)
Picture of Kobayashi before 2007 Nathan’s finals, used on wikipedia page
Frank Pastore mentions the breaking of the 72 oz steak record on his blog (from supersizedmeals comment)
Picture of 37 inch pizza from Big Lou’s Pizza in San Antonio
Dude a Palooza has male oriented events including eating contests
Liz K buys a house (gallery)

In researching eating challenges, I discovered the database of diners who finished the 48 ounce steak at Don Shula’s Steakhouse. The website claims that over 32000 people have finished the 48 ounce steak. If all those diners are in the database, it would be much larger than eatfeats. (Eatfeats has about 3000 eaters and 6000 contest results)

The website reports that Taft Parker has consumed the 48 ounce steak over 175 times.

The Kestrel Inn offers a 200+ ounce steak on it’s menu, which is reportedly the world’s largest commercially available steak. The BBC has an article about a 2005 contest in which diners attempted to complete that steak. Sara Manifold of Wigan was declared the winner in that contest after eating 100 ounces of steak over five hours. The article also says that the landlady of the restaurant claims her son in law ate 120 ounces of the steak.

In a forum thread on bodybuilding.com, DedicatedForLif/FuriousPete123 announces he ate a 72 ounce steak in under 7 minutes, breaking Frank Pastore’s record of 9.5 minutes. He submitted a video of his meal to youtube.

I am unaware of any other claims on the 72 ounce record. Cookie Jarvis ate a 76 ounce steak in with a side of creamed spinach in 7.5 minutes

In another bodybuilding.com thread, a banana eating contest is taking place. DedicatedForLif/FuriousPete is the currently tied for the lead in that contest with 16 bananas. Eatfeats commenter Alex from Panama is the other co-leader. There is a female entry in the contest, Simpy, who ate 5 bananas The contest ends at midnight Sunday if anyone wants to submit his or her video.

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.

(From mosesnews.com)AOL has a slideshow of the world’s largest steaks which range in weight from 64 to 205 ounces.

Peter Czerwinski (DedicatedForLif/FuriousPete123), winner of the most recent video based eating contest on bodybuilding.com, has uploaded some videos of his eating challenges to his youtube page (page 2). He has eaten a 72 ounce steak in 12 minutes and a 106 ounce steak in a half an hour. Most recently, he attempted to consume 25 cups of rice (he managed to finish 18).

In another international steak eating challenge video, a blonde woman consumes a large steak of unlisted size in Argentina.

And in another bodybuilding / competitive eating video, Juris “Dr. Big Time” Shibayama has uploaded a video of him bench pressing 500 pounds.

update In more Dr. Big Time news, he says that his Wing Bowl stunt suggestion has been accepted and he will attempt it on January 8. The person he talked to at WIP did not mention any geographic restrictions for Wing Bowl 16 stunt attempters, so non-Philly residents who want to compete might consider submitting a stunt request. I have not been able to find any online Wing Bowl 16 rules.

The scene from “The Great Outdoors” in which John Candy attempts a 96 ounce steak is available on youtube at http://youtube.com/watch?v=qGhBsFZWUks.

An 7 minute excerpt from “The Simpsons” where Homer competes in a steak eating contest with a truck driver at the Slaughterhouse restaurant can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0MX9re7YXY