Sheboygan bratfest teleblog
I will be teleblogging the broadcast of the Sheboygan Bratfest. It looks like the Hall of Fame induction ceremony will run long.
4:08 – the Reggie White induction is still going on, the whole broadcast will be shown on ESPN2 at 7
5:12 – the telecast has been completely pre-empted. I will try to watch the rerun on ESPN2 at 7.
7:03 – The broadcast opens with a history of the bratwurst festival. The weather report reads “You never sausage a nice day”
7:05 – Footage of Kobayashi working out is shown. Rich Shea predicts 2 eaters will break 50 brats. Sonya is interviewed and said her not being a favorite means less pressure for her.
7:09 – The announced attendance is 5,000. The ways to qualify are listed, which do not say the top 5 ranked get an automatic invitation. Footage of Tim Janus and Crazy Legs Conti at the qualifier is shown.
7:13 – The world’s largest grill is shown and the preparation method is explained.
7:19 – More bratfest history. A sausage making machine is shown. The first festival was held in 1953.
7:21 – Bratwurst techniques are explained. Chip Simpson is dispayed even though he did not qualify to my recollection.
7:24 – Profile of Joey Chestnut. He drinks a lot of water and has a “capacity run” at least once a week.
7:30 – The top 5 money winners are listed. Kobayashi’s earnings are listed at $100,000 even though I think he has not done any Japanese contest.
7:31 – El Toro, Conti, Bertoletti and Janus are briefly interviewed.
7:34 – Introductions, Thomas Denure (Georgetown, WI) , P J Kim (Princeton undergrad), Damon Serignet, Tim Brown (Chicago), Jim Hamrick, Frank Wach, El Toro Jiminez, Erik Denmark, Crazy Legs Conti (wearing a cheese necklace), Rich “the Locust” LeFevre, Tim Janus (carrying handlebars, claimed that Jennifer Annison gave him a gift basket because Vince Vaughn is an eating fan), Bob Shoudt, Pat Bertoletti (“You Talking to Meat” sign), Joey Chestnut, Takeru Kobayashi, Sonya Thomas (wearing the same orange shorts from Nathan’s).
7:45 – the contest starts – no running total (or even a clock) is displayed 🙁
7:47 – the running total is shown – Sonya is 5th , Kobayashi has a 1 – 2 lead over Joey
7:48 – quarter in Koby, Joey, Pat, Bob & Sonya is top 5
7:49 – 6 minutes left, Kobayashi’s lead is now 5/6 brats
7:50 – more helmetcam from P. J. Kim
7:51 – Kobayashi is at 36 at the halfway point
7:52 – Koby 41, Joey 34 with 4 minutes left
7:53 – Rich Shea claims Sonya has a mental block
7:54 – P.J. Kim is interviewed down 42 to 7
7:54 – 25% left Koby 47, Joey 38 Janus has passed Sonya for 5th
7:55 – Sonya is back in 5th, Koby’s lead reaches double digits
7:56 – Final results Koby 58, Joey 45 (who must “learn to love himself” to win Krystal), Pat 38
7:59 – a big check is passed to Kobayashi – he says he could eat more
8:00 – Joey is interviewed – he says he didn’t prepare for this contest like Nathan’s and says he will win Krystal.
Loading ...
Lola said
August 5, 2006 @ 4:15 pm
This sucks. Reggi White sucks. He’s not even important.
Lola said
August 5, 2006 @ 8:05 pm
HAHA. I WATCHED IT. KOBY IS HOTTER THAN EVER!
Lola said
August 5, 2006 @ 8:06 pm
And yes. Sonya Thomas is having a mental block. She hasn’t been doing her best lately. I think she should step it up and train more.
Mr Negativity said
August 5, 2006 @ 10:35 pm
Without a doubt Sonya is finished. The slaying of the male days are over. She should set her sights on opening her burger king restaurant
Becky Dixon said
August 6, 2006 @ 12:36 am
Negativity how dare you make remarks like that about Sonya. You are no better than some of the morons that frequent and comment on this site every day. Do you realize with a comment like that you might have brought her to tears or hurt her feelings. How dare you . How dare you!
Luther said
August 6, 2006 @ 1:03 am
Sonya wood probly do okay in an all girl league.
Luther said
August 6, 2006 @ 9:57 am
Negativitys assholish comments and Beckys comments helped open my eyes to undrstnd how hurtful some of my comments in the past may have been. I must now honestly say that I have much much respect for Sonya Thomas. I guess I just was not accepting that she beats men competors. I never thought that was suppose to happen in sports. I guess Sonya proved me wrong. She might have had a tough day with the brats, but even Sonya is human and has a right to have a bad day once in awhile.
I dont know if Sonya will resd this post but if she does I want her to know that I believe in her and will always follow and root for her. She is remarkable. I believe her best is yet to come.
SuperPaul said
August 6, 2006 @ 10:02 am
My highlight was El Toro…the man is a maniac. As far as Sonya, I’d like to hold all the records she does, and be called “finished”…..If you weren’t being sarcastic, then Mr. Negativity should be “finished”!! One more thing, how about Rich…no matter how many new young guns show up, Rich is always in there, he deserves some kind of lifetime acheivement award…..or at least Tim should give him the invisible bicycle!!
Philly Guy said
August 6, 2006 @ 1:39 pm
Sonya is doing the same numbers people are just getting better. By all the logic of the haters if you’re not Koby you should quit because you’re not invincible against the current competition. If Sonya is having a bit of a tough time, this is what will make her a real champion. She just needs to hang in and give it her all.
badlands booker said
August 6, 2006 @ 5:00 pm
Sonya is still a force to be reconed with. Everyone will see when she does her next event. Keep your head up Sonya, you’re still the best.
Sports fan said
August 6, 2006 @ 5:20 pm
Lola if that is your real name? You know nothing about Reggie White and what he brought to the game of football. Your little world is competitive eating and because the football hall of fame proceedings ruined your afternoon because the brat telecast got bumped back, you bitch like a 5yr old because you didnt get your way. This man was a major talent and played for superbowl teams , named to the pro bowl countless times amongst other notable feats . He did not even get to live half his life dying at age 43 and you have the nerve to say he is not important.Did you see how upset his wife and kids were? He had his faults but he was a legend which is more than i can say for you and anyone else that leaves these assinine illiterate and unfeeling remarks. You are a disguting dispicable piece of crap!
Mega Munch said
August 7, 2006 @ 8:30 am
What was up with that hideous screaming thing El Toro did during his bio/interview segment? Is that the sound a bull makes?
Liz said
August 7, 2006 @ 10:05 am
This whole competition was really entertaining. I thought the final results were pretty surprising, especially that Sonya had such a bad day. And the totals brought in by the top five all beat the standing record! Really amazing. Plus, who is El Toro! I hope our paths cross at some point. Bonus points to Pat for his De Niro, which was inspired.
The Wise one said
August 7, 2006 @ 10:57 am
IFOCE needs a replacement for Dale Boone. Toro might be the one they are grooming for that. At least Toro is of sane mind most of the time and he can carry a conversation. Boone forget about it.
Locust said
August 7, 2006 @ 8:22 pm
I’m getting mighty tired of people claiming that Sonya is finished and that she had a bad day. The plain truth of the matter is that Bob Shoudt, Pat Bertoletti, Chip Simpson and Tim Janus have all become such super speed eaters in the past year (look at last year’s totals in the same event (Tim 22, Bob 20 1/2, Pat 17 1/2). Sonya blew them all away (as well as me and my 30) and edged out Joey who was just starting to make his remarkable progress at that time. Well, it doesn’t take an Einstein to figure out that commitment to a hard training regimen does indeed work wonders for obtaining far better numbers. These guys have all left me in the dust because they are able to process food at a much quicker rate than I can and a little more efficiently than Sonya can as well in certain disciplines. The Black Widow has lost nothing at all and is a tremendous eater who puts up great numbers without going through the pain that the others are enduring (no pain no gain!). If the contests were longer we would both do a lot better because we usually don’t reach 60% of our capacities in an 8 or 10 minute contest. Basically, you are going to get out of it what you put into it and if you take two people of equal ability; one who trains hard and one who doesn’t, you are going to see dramatically different results. That is not to say that these phenoms don’t deserve to reap the rewards of their hard work because they do. All I’m saying is let’s have some longer contests where other skills besides pure speed come into play. Sonya would show these doubters that she has lost nothing and would show some of the superior qualities that have earned my utmost admiration (and I might have some better results as well).
Philly Guy said
August 7, 2006 @ 9:58 pm
The Locust is right. I was there at Wing Bowl banging on the glass for ya. The last thing the IFOCE needs is this outlandish characters if it wants to be considered a true sport and not some joke. The little gimmics are ok, but going all crazy hurts out image.
Rhonda Evans said
August 8, 2006 @ 11:28 am
Rich I totally agree with everything you said. Sonya is certainly not going down. In both the brats and dogs she has simply leveled off and others like Pat, Tim, and Joey are becoming speedier with practice. And they prove that hard work pays off. Sonya doesn’t normally practice, especially with foods that she doesn’t like to eat. Her talent is purely natural. But if she ever does commit time to practice there’s no tellling what she would do.
Also, Sonya, like Rich, seems to have much room left after short contests. As far as I’m concerned, only Rich, Joey (as of late), and Kobayashi himself have as much stomach capacity. There really needs to be more contests of 12 – 30 minutes, so we can get a clearer, more complete picture of real talent that includes strategy. The way it is, with a few exceptions, and especially since women have to compete with men, if you are blessed with a BIG mouth or esophagus, and can swallow large gobs of food quickly, you have a pronounced advantage in contests of only a few minutes.
In reality, I am shocked that Rich and Sonya (Tim too) do as well as they do, because their mouths are little. In short speed-eating stints, they’re punished for what nature has given them from the outset, and by the time they are able to hit a stride and excel the contest is over.
But that does not mean Sonya is not a great speedeater. Her specialty foods are simply not the ones that get most of the attention — Lobster, Eggs, Baked Beans (that don’t burn your mouth), and Oysters. I guarantee that she can eat at least 46 dozen Oysters today in 10 minutes, just like she did over a year ago. With the exception of Koby, show me one person on this earth who can do that!
Like Badlands said, just watch what Sonya does in her next event, regardless of where it takes place or what food it involves. Going down? I think not. She ALWAYS bounces back. And she’s my hero, so leave her alone.
THE TRUTH HURTS said
August 8, 2006 @ 12:10 pm
Why is it that when the top eaters like Sonya & Chestnut get bashed on this site certain people even ones with alias names are quick to come to their defense . When other not so elite eaters such as Lerman Seiken or even an elite eater like Jarvis gets bashed not one i mean not one has come to their defense. Its either a personal issue or their poor ranking in the IFOCE is not worth defending when they get trampled on in the comment section . We must commend Rich Lefevre for coming to Sonya’s defense and not using an alias like some of the cowards that come to certain IFOCE eaters defense.
Shevegas Insider said
August 8, 2006 @ 3:20 pm
I love all of this crazy talk on this site. Either a lot of people just totally make things up or I am way out of the loop. So I am going to do a shotgun approach to many of these topics. Here goes.
1) You are insane to think that Sonya is getting bad. She is going to beat most of the people that beat her in brats the majority of the time.
2) How does anyone know how much people train? Sonya is natural – come on. Because she loses it is only because she doesn’t train and those that beat her do? I know for a fact one of the eaters did almost nothing in the month between hotdogs and brats. I guess his past training must have carried him thru.
3) How on Earth does anyone know the size of someone’s esophagus?
4) How does anyone know what traits make a good eater? Does the belt of fat hold up? Does a shorter person have a shorter esophagus so the food gets there quicker? Is a man’s body better or worse when it comes to speedeating? Does a taller person have a handicap because their mouth is farther away from the table. Should a shorter person be penalized do to the fact that they are closer to the food and can see it better?
5) How do you know the size of someones mouth? Does a taller person have a bigger mouth? Is it fair to have had your tonsils removed? How about your adinoids? Should there be a handicap for those that have had throat surgery?
6) Rich kicks ass. He can eat with the best of them.
7) This site needs more aliases. Or at least people with the birth name of The Truth Hurts.
In conclusion you all all nuts. You have sucked me into your vortex of stupid comments. Look, it is starting already. Excuses are coming to the tip of my tongue. I am envisioning ways to find an excuse for when my favorite eater does not win. Yeah thats it. My eater only does well in contests against people with middle names that have an odd amount of letters and start with a vowel with no more then two repeating letters. If only they would televise those contests…
Philly Guy said
August 8, 2006 @ 4:25 pm
This is the only place online that when you use a screen name, you get bashed. The internet isn’t meant to be posting your name and such so enough of this alias business.
Might be we all said
August 8, 2006 @ 6:15 pm
know Jarvis is a bigboy and can defend himself pretty damn good. Trickle indeed with $200,000 to “Co” sponsor?. Add a few more smaller advertising “co”sponsors and then there is plenty of funds to feed our pockets, as well as expenses, Management, general overhead. There still must be alot left over.
Locust said
August 8, 2006 @ 7:46 pm
I will defend ANYONE who is getting unjustly bashed. There is nothing phony about anything I say and I always try to be truthful. I don’t bash other eaters because we all go through a lot to compete at this level and it is hard enough without offering up any criticisms. I have gotten in the doghouse with the Sheas in the past because I refuse to play politics and compromise my beliefs to fit theirs. My advice to Don is to ignore the criticisms and do his talking at the table instead of trying to fight back in print. As for Brian, I have come to his defense in the past and still say he does a great job with his site and doesn’t get the appreciation from us eaters that he deserves for doing a thankless job.
beautifulbrian said
August 9, 2006 @ 1:33 am
Why thank you Locust Lefevre