IFOCE.com has posted a report on Eric “Steakbellie” Livingston’s and Micah “Wing Kong” Collins records attempts on WMMR this morning. The results:

Steakbellie - 3 pounds of haggis in 8 minutes, no official previous record
Wing Kong - 84 ounces of baked beans in 58 seconds, breaks Dale Boone’s record

Steakbellie and Wing Kong have blog entries about their attempts to break eating records on WMMR Wednesday morning at 8. Wing Kong will attempt to break Dale Boone’s record for 84 ounces of baked beans and Steakbellie will attempt to set a haggis eating record. No IFOCE record for haggis exists and Steakbellie could find no recorded totals of more than one pound. In an article about the threat posed to haggis production by global warming the BBC reports that the winner of the World Haggis Eating Championship ate 1 pound in 2 minutes and five seconds.

PittsburghLive has an article about Brad Sciullo which calls him the world record holder in cannoli eating even though Tim Janus and Cookie Jarvis have eaten more cannolis. Brad says he has consumed a gallon of milk in 26 seconds, almost halving Joey Chestnut’s qualification stunt for Wing Bowl 14.

Brad Sciullo will compete in the Famous Famiglia pizza contest a week from today, which might upset some IFOCE members who did not get a slot in that competition and have abided by the IFOCE contractual restrictions.

The Star Telegram has an interview with corny dog runner-up Brent Ricord.

A list of the San Genarro cannoli contest winners and their totals follows after the jump:
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The Morning Call has an article about Wild Bill Myers. There are some outtakes from the column in the reporter’s blog.

Times Publications has an article about three competitors who signed up for the Tempe Nathan’s qualifier: runner-up David Cohn, third place finisher Gus Beisel and Lindsay Veylupek, who did not compete due to an upset stomach. Cohn defeated World’s Strongest Man” power lifting champion Bill Kazmaier in a burger eating contest in Las Vegas.

Surrey Now has an article about the hot dog eating contest held in Vancouver on Monday and its winner, Ken “The Demolisher” Wong.

The Newton (Georgia) Citizen has a profile of Ben Griffith, who finished in fourth place in June’s Atlanta Nathan’s qualifier and in the 2006 Waffle House contest at Stone Mountain.

Articles about Nathan’s finalists

• Pat Philbin - NJ.com
• Hall Hunt - Orlando Sentinel
• Nate Biller - MySanAntonio.com
• Pete Davekos - Boston Herald
• Takeru Kobayashi - NY Daily News

• The Wall Street Journal’s health blog on competitive eating
• Will Millender and Sal Carbone expected at Peggy O’Neil’s hamburger eating contest
• IFOCE BBQ sandwich eating contest near Tulsa July 26 - registration opens Monday (from Crawfish)
• The Sporting News blog thinks Nathan’s hype is down in 2008

The Dallas Observer continues its series about entrants in the Plano, TX Nathan’s qualifier with an interview with “Nasty” Nathan Biller, who is getting a master’s degree in sports business at New York University.

update The Fort Worth Star Telegram has a short preview. Walter Duke is one of the expected entrants

• Article about some local competitors in the Tempe qualifier: David Cohn, Adam Muñoz & Lindsay Veylupek
• Hall Hunt’s predictions for today’s qualifiers
• Article about the McKirdy brothers, which says their next contest will be the Chinook Winds rib contest on July 11
• The Brooklyn pizza contest is tomorrow
• Picture of Karen “Seedsucker” Clark on the Washington Post web site
• Pictures from “Furious” Pete’s Italian Challenge
• English article about Gal Sone’s movie debut

Patrick Vandam, runner-up in the most recent Nathan’s qualifier, answers some questions on TwinCities.com. Vandam is planning to compete in Saturday’s Nathan’s qualifier in Chicago.

The Houston Chronicle has an article about David “SykoBOZO” Cagle’s preparation for the May 17 gyro eating contest. Pat Bertoletti, Tim Janus, Bob Shoudt and Erik Denmark are listed as other expected entrants. The contest is negotiating with Joey Chestnut to have him compete.

RegisterGuard.com has an article about Cameron “the consumption kid” McKirdy, who made his competitive eating debut by finishing 8th at the “Stand by Me” pie eating contest last summer. McKirdy expects to compete next at the Stockton Asparagus Festival and reports he has lost 25 pounds since starting his competitive eating career.

update The Register Guard’s blog has an entry about McKirdy with some pictures.

A page on IFOCE.com announces the retirement of Brad Sciullo.

Brad emailed that he had retired several weeks ago, but it was unclear if he wanted that publicized, so it was not announced on eatfeats.

update The reason for retirement Brad provided in his email was not health related.

Paul Barlow emails that he has set up a NCAA tournament bracket challenge league:

Please publish this invitation for all Eaters and Fans to join in my NCAA Basketball picking league on Fox Sports.com’s bracket challenge. The league is called Eat More Basketballs, the password is ifoce (lower case)….even though the password is my eating league, all eaters in any organization is more than welcome - I just wanna have fun!! I didn’t have everyone’s email, so this will hopefully suffice as an invitation to all.

Whoever wants to enter better move fast….the NCAA tournament starts Thursday!!

(From Andrea Fasano) PressPass.tv has a video recorded at the Pig Skin Eating Championship focusing on Pete “Pretty Boy” Davekos at http://presspass.tv/videos/?vid=7009

Juris Shibayama answers 10 questions on IFOCE.com
U of Penn student newspaper report about the Wing Bowl
Cornell Sun report from Wing Bowl 16
philadelphia.about.com Wing Bowl 16 gallery, has pictures of Juris Shibayama, Erik Denmark, Wing Kong, Humble Bob, Wing Tut, US Male, Joey Chestnut, Pat Bertoletti and others
Gallery of Hamtrack, MI paczki eating contest
Takuya Yamamoto thinks the root beer he drank in the USA is Coke with a “drug-ish kind of taste”
Bodybuilder Isabelle Turell eats a 1 pound burger and then a half pound ostrich burger

The Tennessean has a preview of the “Ham & Eggs” contest that will be televised on Spike TV during the halftime of the Super Bowl focusing on Juris “Dr. Bigtime” Shibayama

update The Daily Herald also has an article about Shibayama’s performance in the ham contest which mentions his new #8 ranking.

IFOCE.com has been updated with 10 questions answered by “Super” Paul “Bone Breaker” Barlow:

MLE: Tropicmon.com also shows a host of celebrities – such luminaries as Michael Jordan, Bill Clinton, and Emmanuel Lewis – hunting down SuperPaul for a photo. Does this ever get irritating? What stalker celebrity have you had to turn down for a photo op, and why? What was your favorite celeb run-in?

SPB: Many, many, times I have had to turn down beautiful supermodels who wanted more than just a picture, but then I woke up.

My favorite celebrity run-in was Jenny McCarthy, the Playboy centerfold turned actress turned autism advocate. I wanted more than a picture, but she turned me down. I actually made her laugh with me, not at me. It made me feel all funny inside, and I ruined my Depends. Another favorite was meeting Vendela Kirsebom, a Sports Illustrated swimsuit model. She told me she would never forget me, and the next two times I met her, she remembered me…after I reminded her of who I was.

The image above is the receipt from Ron Koch’s lunch yesterday at the International House of Pancakes where he got the All You Can Eat special for $3.99 and ate 50 pancakes in 45 minutes. The receipt reports he received 13 additional servings. Koch hopes to return to IFOCE competition in the near future. Thumbnails from the pictures of the lunch are below.

An email sent by Russ Keeler thanking several IFOCE members for helping with his daughter’s report follows after the jump.

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(From competitiveeatingnews) Cleveland.com reports that a fire on November 8 destroyed a building owned by Chris Abatsas which housed his adult entertainment club, Monroe’s Cabaret, and a dry cleaners. No injuries were reported but a witness believed someone was trapped in the fire. Two other fires have destroyed buildings in Cleveland this month, one started several hours after Abatsas’ building burned and one the week before. Abatsas did not have insurance. The cause of the conflagration is unknown, but police will investigate it as if it was arson.

A 1999 article in the Cleveland Scene reports efforts by the police to shut down Monroe’s Cabaret due to alleged drug transactions and safety inspection violations.

Fox TV article & video

WKYC video

fire gallery

Cleveland.com blog entry

Many people have wondered why Seaver Miller has not appeared in any IFOCE events since the pretzel contest on the Tyra Banks show after making a strong run at the IFOCE rookie of the year in 2006. Paul Barlow has solved this mystery and sent the following email reprinted below with Seaver’s permission. It is too bad that Seaver will not be able to compete in another eating contest, but fortunately the condition which has led to his retirement appears to be under control.

I have been in contact with Seaver Miller a few times over the last several months, and with his blessing, can now reveal what happened to our favorite foraging fireman.

Initially, I thought maybe he was going to be on a reality show, and was secluded somewhere outside the U.S.A. Visions of him “stealing my spot” on Survivor filled my head, and after I’ve sent in 13 videos, I thought maybe the producers called IFOCE headquarters looking for a young, handsome substitute great eater, instead of being stuck with an old, handsome, mediocre eater to put on their show. Was this to be yet another TV appearance denied???

Turns out, I was once again, extremely wrong….a pattern that repeats throughout my life (just ask my wife). Seaver told me, around April, that he had a mysterious-possibly deadly aliment that would keep him out of action indefinetly. He didn’t want to tell me what it was, fearing the worst. I still wasn’t quite sure if this was true, and that he said this just to avoid my jealous reality contestant wanna-be wrath. It was true, and Seaver has gone through a lot this year.

It turns out that he went to the doctor, and they found pollups(sp?) on his lymph nodes - which, at the time, caused him to be worried about cancer, among other terrors. The scond time we talked, he was still figuring out what was going on, and I was worried, he sounded like a man who was really playing survivor - for his life, not for TV. He swore me to secrecy, and I kept my word, only “hinting” to Hall Hunt - who I know has a direct connection upstairs - so Hall could put Seaver in his prayers. My upstairs connections are pretty much destroyed after 38 years of being an insane bachelor, who has since been “shackled”, and forced to be a good father, and wanna-be good eater.

My next calls to Seaver resulted in answering machines, which scared me more. Either he blocked me out, or maybe he was in some hospital, or some cemetary plot, or on some island getting voted out. Finally this week, I heard from the hydrant harraser, and now the mystery has been solved with both good news, and sad news for all faithful fireman followers.

It turns out, Seaver has what is called a “lazy intestine”. This basically means the thing doesn’t process food like it should, so it keeps him messed up - stomach wise. He does not have cancer, but is on a lot of medication, so competitve eating is out of the question. He informed me this also eliminates him from any reality shows, so my spot on Survivor is still open. I am certainly glad he is as OK as possible, and hope he can at least attend some of our events - Seaver is a great guy with a nice family, and in his brief, but star-studded role, in our galaxy of gluttony, he was a welcome addition.to any contest….even though his presence meant I would finish eighth instead of seventh. Hurrah for Seaver “The Acheiver” Miller, may his life torch stay lit for a long time!

Short article about Juris Shibayama, no quotes or other new information.
Former NFL star Herschel Walker sponsors a hamburger eating contest to promote his line of food products.
Crystal Light eating contest video
Soft taco eating contest between teams of cheerleaders.
Another eating contest for cheerleaders, this one involving tater tots.

BeautifulBrian.com has a tribute to “Krazy” Kevin Lipsitz.

Kevin also makes an appearance in the Harper’s article about Dale Boone when he travels to Chattanooga to take on Boone in a 2003 Nathan’s qualifier.