IFOCE.com has a graphic for the 2006 goldenpalace.net World Series of Competitive Eating with no additional information. It is not clear if the World Series will entail new contests or if it is just a term to describe all the contests sponsored by goldenpalace. There is also a graphic for Alka Seltzer, so top eaters should probably be making travel plans for Las Vegas in July for US Open II.

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Today IFOCE put out a press release announcing Dale Boone’s return in June from India where he has been producing music videos. Brian Seiken says fans should expect anything from Boone except improved ettiquette. (Given Boone’s last experience with the “Madam of Ettiquette”, it is perhaps understandable why he has an aversion to it.)

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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.

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Hall Hunt is profiled in an article in the Gainsville Sun. Hunt is already training for the 2006 Krystal Square Off even though the first qualifiers for it are a half a year away.

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The new poll question asks when (and if) Dale Boone should be allowed to enter IFOCE contests after his return from India.

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Toward the end of Brian Seiken’s most recent TV show, he asks Charles Hardy about the lack of African-American eaters on the IFOCE circuit following in his and Badlands Booker’s path. Hardy mentions that his son will try to help rectify that situation when he competes in the Molly Pitcher Nathan’s qualifier in June. Oscar Juma of Nairobi, Kenya is another eater of African descent who could possible have an impact in competitive eating. Juma won Lindsey Wilson College’s chicken wing contest by eating 35 wings in 3 minutes. Juma is a member of Lindsey Wilson College’s national champion soccer team.

Other African-American eaters to pay attention to include:
Jerman “Black Death” Pressley, who finished in the top five in last month’s Wing Bowl 14

Adedayo Adeniran, Duke University 2004 hot dog champion, 2005 runner-up (but with a better performance than in 2004). Adedayo could solve the problem could lack of successors to Booker and Hardy as well as Sonya Thomas and Carlene LeFevre at the same time.

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In one of the ads in Visa’s new advertising campaign, a diner completes a large burger in a restaurant’s eating challenge (the burger appears to be about a third to a fourth of the size of Kate Stelnick’s burger) The theme of that commercial is “Life takes Determination” and it can be viewed in the advertising section of the Visa web site.

This is the second time I am aware of that a giant burger has been used in an advertising campaign. A Hardee’s commercial last year alluded to Kate Stelnick’s feat by mentioning Denny’s Beer Barrel Pub’s 4 pound Sourdough burger. The commercial claimed that no one had every been able to finish the burger. It did not state that no one could finish that sandwich regardless of his or her appetite because it is not currently on the menu.

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Here are some articles about some of Cookie Jarvis’ notable wins in his career

• 2003 Columbus Day Pasta (with video)
• 2003 Doodle Burger Record
• January 2004 Wing Title Rally vs. Sonya Thomas (Sonya would not lose to an American eater in a non-controversial contest until the 2005 Buffalo Wing Festival a year and a half later)
• 2004 St. Patrick’s Day Corned Beef (with video)
• Interview from before 2005 San Francisco Verizon wing qualifier

Cookie Jarvis’ statistics on eatfeats.com

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Brian Seiken reports that Cookie Jarvis has retired from competitive eating and will not attempt to qualify for Nathan’s in 2006. Cookie claims that his retirement is due to being unable to focus on his business ventures while pursuing an eating career. Best of luck to Cookie in his post-gurgitator phase of life.

Updated 3/8/06 9:02 Cookie Jarvis has a statement announcing his retirement on his website. Cookie is starting an advertising agency which will take all of his available time. He will continue to maintain his website which will track his progress in losing weight. (Thanks Pat Bertoletti)

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Two competitive eating books are now going to hit the shelves in April. The release date of Jason Fagone’s book has been advanced from early June to April 25, three weeks after Eat This Book by Ryan Nerz appears in bookstores. Fagone’s book has officially been retitled Horsemen of the Esophagus: Competitive Eating and the Big Fat American Dream, despite the fact that many top competitive eaters are neither fat and/or male. Two short review blurbs of Fagone’s book have been posted on amazon.com

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The Sheboygan Press reports that the Sheboygan Common Council has unanimously voted to file (which I assume means reject) Clarence Mertz’s request for the city to hold an advisory referendum asking if the bratwurst contest should continue. Mertz can apparently resubmit his referendum request in 2007.

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Carolyn Prophet of Rockport won the women’s division of the eating contest at the Fulton Oysterfest. Her mark of 118 oysters won her $200 and was 4 behind the third place finisher in Saturday’s mens division and 16 behind the men’s winner.

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George Curry of Bantam won a pizza contest in Litchfield, CT by eating a 12 inch cheese pizza in about 2 1/2 minutes. Funds raised by the contest will go to Healing the Children, a local charity that arranges for donated medical care for children.

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The Sheboygan Press has an editorial supporting Clarence Mertz’s efforts to put a referendum about the bratwurst eating contest on the ballot. The column stops short of agreeing with Mertz that the contest should be banned. A referendum in 1966 did result in the termination of the bratwurst festival due to excessive drunkenness.

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MSNBC has an article about the Volvo Ocean Race which is held every four years. The Phillips Crabcake eating contest will be held while the ships are stopped in Baltimore in late April.

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The sixth episode of Brian Seiken’s television show is now available. Commissioner Charles Hardy is Brian’s first in studio guest. Hardy describes how he became involved in competitive eating and his role in the 9/11 recovery efforts. Hardy also offers his opinion on if he would have disqualified Kobayashi in the 2001 Nathan’s contest. The most dramatic section of the show occurs when Dale Boone calls into the show from India and Hardy confronts Boone about his inflammatory statements and actions.

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The town of Fulton Texas is holding an oyster festival and eating contest this weekend. Joel Pruitt won the men’s contest (registration or bugmenot.com required) and a prize of $200 by eating 134 oysters in five minutes. The event was obviously not an IFOCE affair because a four year old participated in it and there were separate contests for men and women. The women’s division will be held today.

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The Tour de Gorge reruns will continue into March. If you want to see Sonya Thomas in high definition, you can view her wins in the 2004 taco and meatball contests.

• Tour De Gorge: Title Rally
  INHD, Tue Mar 07 08:00pm EST
• Tour De Gorge: 2004 World Taco Eating Championship
  INHD, Wed Mar 08 08:00pm EST
• Tour De Gorge: 2004 World Meatball Eating Championship
  INHD, Wed Mar 15 08:00pm EST

The Tour de Gorge has a page on the INHD website at http://inhd.com/item.jsp?item=29&mp=cb2

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The Doodle Burger online Hall of Fame has now been updated with Tim “Eater X” Janus’ result of 33 burgers in 2.5 hours. The page has set Eater X’s home page as badlandsbooker.com

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Dan Reed of the San Jose Mercury News has an article about San Jose State student Joey Chestnut. Reed takes Joey to the Wendy’s on Monterey Highway in San Jose (where an extortionist claimed she found a fingertip in her chili) and he tries to consume eight containers of chili in 2 minutes. Chestnut will be competing in the Stockton Asparagus Festival, the site of his first victory last year.

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Mike Nichols of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has a column in favor of the Sheboygan bratwurst contest. He would consider banning the contest if it used Chicago style hot dogs. George Shea and Chowhound Chapman are both quoted and they have diverging opinions on the frequency of vomiting in contests. Nichols says that Oleg Zhornitskiy’s mayonaisse eating record is much more disgusting than the bratwurst contest.

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The new poll question asks how the three contest winners of 2006: Sonya Thomas, Joey Chestnut and Pat Bertoletti should be ranked. (I think those three have won all non-qualifier IFOCE contests since Cookie Jarvis won the Smirnoff grape contest at the start of November) I want to set up user rankings with more than 3 eaters, but doing so will require a more complicated poll system which does not use radio buttons.

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After a foray into professional basketball, Ed “Cookie” Jarvis’ next challenge will occur in the world of high fashion. Cookie’s home page says he will hit the runway for the Sunrise Fund’s Little Miracles fashion show on March 9.

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Powerlifter Marty Gallagher has an article about his theory on how the more slender competitive eaters consume massive amounts of food and avoid gaining weight. He says that eating 6 meals spread throughout the day will produce less weight gain than one massive meal containing the same amount of calories. Sonya Thomas eating one giant meal seems to disprove Gallagher’s theory.

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The next post in the series about rankings lists impressive performances by unranked eaters since July. The best currently unranked eater is definitely Chip “The Phenom” Simpson who has three top 4 finishes in non-qualifiers and should definitely be ranked in the top 15 in the next rankings. Other notable eaters, listed alphabetically include:

Leland Collins – winner of ABQ GC (did not participate in finals)
Ryan Delano – lost OKC GC to Conti by 1/2 sandwich
Erik “The Red” Denmark – respectable performances in Big Daddy Burger & chili cheese fries
Jason “The Erbivore” Erb – top NW eater in Seattle Voicewing
Ken “Mongo” Federighi – respectable performances in chili cheese fries & meatballs
Shaun Kessler – 3 #3 finishes in Krystal qualifiers
Andrew “Skinnyboy” Lane – #3 in ABQ GC – #6 in Raleigh with better result
Mike Nafziger – #2 to Janus’ record performance, top local in Iowa smoked pork
Justin Mih – #2 & #3, lost only to LeFevre & Donahue
Bryan Miller – #2 & #3 finish in Krystal qualifiers
David Ray – #2 in Miss. Krystal
Joe “Donkey Kong” Zakerski – #3 in Nashville Krystal qualifier

If IFOCE had a female rookie of the year award for 2005, the best choice for that would probably be Alicia Garcia, who ate 10 sandwiches at the Nebraska State Fair

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