EatFeats » Nathan’s Hot Dog Contest

New Poll: Nathan’s 2011 wall of fame-

ojrifkin — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 18:22:48 +0000

The new poll asks how you think the Wall of Fame mural at the original Nathan’s will be altered to reflect that Takeru Kobayashi’s departure from the IFOCE.

Mortimer Matz: Nathan’s hot dog contest 1916 start a fabrication

ojrifkin — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 11:47:20 +0000

The New York Times has an interview with Mortimer Matz, who was Max Rosey’s partner in promoting the Nathan’s Famous hot dog eating contest in the 1970’s. Matz says that there is no basis for the claimed origin of the contest during World War I:

We said this was an annual tradition since 1916. In Coney Island pitchman style, we made it up.

After being contacted by the New York Times, a Nathan’s spokesman said the company had no evidence of pre-1970s competitions. (A Nathan’s contest held in 1967 in honor of the 100 year anniversary of the creation of the hot dog was reported by the UPI. Walter Paul reportedly won the contest by eating 127 hot dogs in an hour).

Matz also says that Nathan’s turned down the opportunity to be the sponsor for the New York City Marathon in 1976.

update Aug 20 Gothamist has a blog entry about Matz’ admission. Matz is featured in a 1979 New York Magazine article about press agents. The article does not bring up Matz’ work for Nathan’s, but the restaurant is mentioned in Godfather author Mario Puzo’s cover story about Coney Island.

Derek Jeter at Nathan’s in “The Other Guys”-

ojrifkin — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 11:30:52 +0000

The Will Ferrell & Mark Wahlberg movie The Other Guys opening today has a scene at the Coney Island Nathan’s where New York Yankee Derek Jeter plays a panhandler.

Nathan’s 2010 finals highlight video-

ojrifkin — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 17:48:18 +0000

The MLE youtube page has a new highlight video from the 2010 Nathan’s finals with original footage. The video does not mention Kobayashi’s absence from the competition or his post-contest arrest.

Val Bromann at 2010 Nathan’s & afterparty-

ojrifkin — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 00:43:20 +0000

Val Bromann has posted blog entries and galleries about the 2010 Nathan’s Finals and its afterparty.

Colbert Report on 2010 Nathan’s-

ojrifkin — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 04:58:24 +0000

The Colbert Report did a segment on the 2010 Nathan’s finals.

Nathan’s 2010 TV ratings-

ojrifkin — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 00:53:21 +0000

USA Today reports that 1.2% United States households watched the 2010 Nathan’s finals (corresponding to 1.677 million viewers) This is an audience increase of about 400,000 from last year, and about the same number of viewers as in 2007.

More 2010 Nathan’s Finals links

ojrifkin — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 14:10:09 +0000

Galleries: Deadspin | Gothamist | TimeOutNY | FireTheCannon
Deadspin blog entry titled “The 4th Of July Hot Dog Eating Contest Was Just A Big Old Mess Of Sweat And Vomit”
NY Time City Room blog entry
Yahoo MMA blog entry comparing Kobayashi to Fedor Emelianenko
Hungry Sisters blog entry and gallery
Val Bromann blog entries: Day 1
ESPN behind the scenes video, has interviews with Badlands Booker & Gravy Brown
Driven By Boredom blog entry & gallery about the afterparty for the eaters
Slate.com has a column by William Saletan

Kristopher Adams competes in Nathan’s-

ojrifkin — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 18:35:18 +0000

The Military Times blog has an entry about Army Spc. Kristopher Adams competing in the Nathan’s finals. update The New York Observer has a column by Adams’ judge.