Upcoming West Michigan eating contests
| 2012 Jun 16 | Ice Cream Eating Contest | Walker Festival | Walker, MI |
| 1 pound burger | The Bomb | Old Burdick's Restaurant | Kalamazoo, MI | also includes a pound of fries |
| 3 lb. burger | Dave's Ultimate Burger | Stop In Family Restaurant | Niles, MI | burger topped with shaved ham, bacon and 10 slices of cheese |
| 12 chili dogs | Gregordog super hot-dog eating challenge | Gregordog | Holland, MI | seeking donations to avoid closing |
OurSportsCentral reports that Adam Richman will attempt the Fifth Third Burger Challenge at the July 15 West Michigan Whitecaps game.
OurSportsCentral has an article about the Fifth Third burger challenge offered by the West Michigan Whitecaps. 915 burgers have been sold, 174 people have attempted the burger challenge and 99 challenge attempts have been successful. The current record is 17 minutes.
MLive reports that 107 Fifth Third burgers were ordered during the West Michigan Whitecaps opening night. 17 out of 32 competitors managed to finish the burger. Steve Landis was the fastest finisher.
A clip from ESPN2's First Take about the Fifth Third burger can be viewed on ESPN.com
PETA allies request warning for Fifth Third Burger
WZZM13 reports that the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine has requested that the Fifth Third burger not be sold to anyone under 18 and have the following warning label:
WARNING – Eating meat is associated with increased risk of heart disease, cancer, and death
The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine advocates a vegan diet along with a ban on animal testing and has received $1.3 million dollars from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals according to a 2004 Guardian article which states that 95% of PCRM members do not have a medical degree.
MLive reports that the burger will appear on ESPN’s First Take on April 7.
The T shirt awarded to finishers can be purchased on the West Michigan Whitecaps website.
Fifth Third burger videos
CNBC has a video clip of Darren Rovell assembling and sampling the Fifth Third burger, which was mailed from Michigan packed in dry ice. The ESPN Sportscenter clip about the sandwich is available on youtube.
update WZZM13 has a video of its traffic reporter attempting to eat the burger during its morning news show.
5/3 lb. burger makes W Michigan Whitecaps menu
(Via twitter > Consumerist > bensbiz ) A 5/3 pound burger has been added to the menu of the Western Michigan Whitecaps for the upcoming baseball season after being tested at a February food fair. The burger is topped with salsa, sour cream, chili and Fritos in addition to more conventional condiments and will cost $20. A T-shirt will reportedly be awarded to someone who completes it without help.
Darren Rovell of CNBC, a former reporter for the ESPN Nathan’s broadcast, named the sandwich his minor league concession item of the year. A listing of approximate nutrional information in his blog entry claims that the burger contains almost 5000 calories and 299 grams of fat.
The burger is not the largest sandwich available at a stadium; Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin offers a 2.5 pound “Curly’s O-Line burger”
update MLive.com has a video of the burger’s construction and the Yahoo baseball blog has a picture of the T shirt awarded to finishers.
update #2 The ESPN Sportscenter segment about the burger is available on youtube.
5/3 lb. burger a candidate for W. Michigan ballpark fare
(from BlessYouBoys) The blog for mlive has an entry about the food fair the West Michigan Whitecaps held to test possible new foods for the upcoming season. One of the items was a 5 / 3 pound burger with Spam, sausage gravy, fried eggs and a pickle. The burger’s weight was chosen to promote the holder of the Whitecaps’ stadium naming rights: Fifth Third Bank.
Free Lynda Kuerth article available
Some free newspapers have been added to the Google News archives. One article describes Lynda Kuerth’s (spelled Linda Querth) victory in the 1977 Olivet College banana split eating contest. Ms. Kuerth’s mark of 13 banana splits doubled her closest competitor’s total, but was two less than the amount she ate in 1976. She did not starve herself before the contest but instead ate 6 slices of meat loaf for dinner before having the banana splits for dessert.
Lynda Kuerth’s victory came to the notice of contest organizers at Jim’s Steaks in Philadelphia which resulted in her travelling east to compete there and becoming the record holder at that restaurant for the remainder of the 20th century.
An image of the article is available after the jump.
Read the rest of this entry »
Rockford record attempts remembered
MLive has a blog entry (for June 26) about the attempts to break the Rockford Corner Bar’s chili dog record last year:
Wolfe has tried to get Janus (who is ranked No. 7 by the IFOCE), Chestnut and others such as Patrick Bertoletti and Hall Hunt to come back and compete again, but it hasn’t come together.
“They are under contract, so it’s not that easy,” he said.
So, if Nathan’s Famous contest only lasts 12 minutes, and the Corner Bar allows four hours to eat your chili dogs, how long did it take for Janus to eat 43 1/2 of them?
“It took him the whole four hours,” Wolfe said.
Downtown Trini’s Taco Wall of Fame
(Pictures taken by Mac Girl)
Downtown Trini’s in Sparta, Michigan has the most visually appealing restaurant Wall of Fame I have seen (It’s actually more of a pizza slice of fame than a wall) The record as of February 2006 was held by Tommy “Too Tall” Thompson at 37 tacos. (If somebody broke approximately 45 tacos, would they write on the ceiling?) Eating at least 13 tacos is required to appear on the Wall of Fame. The restaurant does not offer a free meal if a minimum number of tacos are eaten, but an all you can eat taco special is offered on Thursday night.
25th anniversary of Sharon Scholten’s chili dog mark
On March 13, 1982, Sharon Scholten (now Sharon VanDuinen), a petite 5’3″ and 110 pound 25 year old, broke the chili dog record at the Rockford Corner Bar by eating 42.5 chili dogs in four hours. That record would last for almost 24 years and only Tim Janus and Balinda Gould have been able to better that performance.
The archived article about Ms. Scholten provides some interesting background information about her feat:
Saturday looked to be a normal day until her brother-in-law Jimmy Scholten suggested that she try for the record
That was after she had eaten lunch – a Mexican pizza for two, a half order of nachos, four baskets of chips and an enchilada.
But she thought she’d give it a try. After all, she met the woman’s mark two years ago by swallowing 20 franks. And there wasn’t much else to do that night.
“We were just talking about it that afternoon,” she said, “It wasn’t something I planned. I didn’t think I could do it. But Jimmy told me he had bet $600 that I could do it so I thought I’d better try.”
It turns out Jimmy had no money riding on her meal, but his white lie was enough to get Sharon to break the record.
“I was upset,” she said. “I thought I had all this money coming. He told me I’d get 75% of the profit.”
Rockford Corner Bar website updated
The website for the Rockford Corner Bar has been retooled. The hot dog “Hall of Fame” has been updated to list Tim Janus’ record breaking performance from March, but only three names are listed on that page. Janus is listed as the professional record holder while Balinda Gould is the amateur champion. Sharon VanDuinen’s (Scholten) 23 year reign is mentioned, but the article about her has been removed.
Chili Dawg Challenge Ionia, Mich
The Ionia (upstate Michigan) Sentinel Standard has an article about Thursday’s Chili Dawg Challenge. A 15 minute chili dog eating contest will be held during that event. The entry fee is $10 and no prizes are mentioned, but proceeds will go to benefit the Big Brothers / Big Sisters.
Kalamazoo, MI team rib eating contest
from mlive.com Old Burdick’s Bar & Grill in Kalamazoo, MI has apparently copied Don “Moses” Lerman’s idea for a team rib contest. On Friday a 3 minute contest for 2 person teams will be held. Entry fees are $20 and proceeds will go to charity. The winning team will receive a catered party worth $300.
Rockford results reporting changed from opt-out to opt-in
At the request of Kevin Carr, I will not list any results from the Rockford Corner Bar unless I receive an email from an eater asking me to report his result (or he could just state his result in a comment.) I was originally going to list those results tonight unless someone emailed me today to not post his total. Thanks to Kevin Carr again for an excellent submission.
The Rockford Corner Bar has an online Hall of Fame, but no there are no links to it from the restaurant’s home page. All results are from 2003 and 2004 so it is apparently not being updated. No ranked IFOCE or AICE members are present in the online Hall of Fame. The highest amount is 20 chili dogs, reached by Kurt, Brian Johns, Nate McManus and Erin VanDeffelen
Kevin Carr reports from the Rockford Corner Bar
Thanks very much Kevin Carr. Kevin made a trip north to Michigan yesterday to attempt the Chili Dog Challenge at the Rockford Corner Bar and try to learn the identies of the eaters who have recently attempted the record.
Kevin learned of four other IFOCE members other than Tim Janus who have recently attempted the challenge. All four eaters reached the 20 chili dog mark (at which point the meal is free) with two breaking the 30 dog level, but at least one eater vomited. I have omitted the identies of those eaters from Kevin’s report. I will list their identities tomorrow at 10 pm eastern unless they email ojrifkin@yahoo.com and request that his (they are all male) result not be posted.
In his report, Kevin mentioned that he is on standby for a Nathan’s qualifier spot. Spaces must be extremely tight if a ranked eater who competed in last year’s US Open is not guaranteed a spot.
Kevin emailed me this report:
REPORT FROM THE ROCKFORD CORNER BAR
After hearing the news of Tim “Eater X” Janus’s recent victory at the Rockford Corner Bar, I was naturally curious about the challenge. It was only a 5 hour drive from my home, so I thought I’d run up there and take the challenge myself. I’m on stand-by for a Nathan’s qualifier, and I’ve never eaten hot dogs in a contest, so I wanted to test my mettle so to speak.
Also, there have been conflicting reports in the press and the eating community about what’s been going on up there. Call it the writer in me, but I wanted to go to the source to get the full story.
Competitive eaters invade the Rockford Corner Bar
(Thanks Bob Shoudt) The Rockford Squire has an article about recent attempts to break the Rockford Corner Bar’s chili dog record. The majority of the article is devoted to the endeavors of three AICE members on March 9 ; Tim Janus’ earlier record breaking attempt is mentioned only in passing. The Rockford Corner Bar website has yet to be updated with Janus’ new record.
Updated March 18, 12:30 am – an article about Tim Janus can be found further down the page. Eater X also did a malt challenge and another pizza challenge earlier this month.
Speedeat reports that Tim Janus breaks Corner Bar chili dog record
speedeat.com reports that Tim Janus broke the Rockford (Michigan) Corner Bar chili dog record by consuming 43.5 chili dogs in 4 hours. If correct, this is the first time in almost a quarter century that a male eater has been the chili dog champion (Sharon Scholten ate 42.5 hot dogs in 1982 and Baldina Gould consumed 43 last December). The $500 bounty for breaking that record is no longer offered.
More Balinda Gould articles
Two new articles in the Rockford Squire and the Advance about Balinda Gould’s feat of eating 43 chili dogs in 4 hours, which beat the 23 year old record set by Sharon Scholten/VanDuinen, are now available.
Balinda Gould breaks Sharon Scholten’s hot dog challenge record.
(from competitiveeaters.com/news.htm) Balinda Gould, a 41 year old single mother who works part-time in at deli counter, broke Sharon Scholten’s 23 year old record of 42.5 chili dogs in 4 hours by a half a hot dog at the Rockford Corner Bar in Rockford, Michigan. Ms. Gould had apparently not eaten competitively before except for two attempts at the record in November in which she consumed 20 and 28 hot dogs.
Sharon Scholten appears at Rockford Corner Bar contest
Sharon Scholten, who ate 42.5 chili dogs in four hours at the Rockford Corner Bar in Rockford, Michigan in 1982 despite weighing only 110 pounds and eating a large Mexican lunch earlier, appeared at that establishment’s annual chili dog competition on July 23, but did not compete. No pictures or quotes of Ms. Scholten are present in the article. Over 5,000 eaters have attempted to break her record. The mark of 42.5 hot dogs is believed to be the most hot dogs consumed by a female in a single session, but Sonya Thomas appears on track to surpass that total in a future Nathan’s contest. If Sharon Scholten is considering a return to eating competitions, she can take inspiration in the fact that Carlene LeFevre is more than a decade older than she is.
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