theonlinewire.com reports that BetUS.com has posted odds for next month’s Nathan’s finals. (I have not been able to find the odds on the actual BetUS site)

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Festivus Gastronomicus attended the Nathan’s hot dog eating contest won by Justin Mih at the Hot Dog Safari in Boston last Sunday and wrote a blog entry about it.

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The Journal News of Westchester County, NY has an article about competitive eating with quotes from Richard Shea and Tim Janus.

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Cookie Jarvis’ home page says that he is just taking a few months hiatus from eating contests. The headline is the same from about a month ago, so it is possible that Cookie’s webmaster uploaded an out of date version.

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Here are various links I have come across in the past month or so:

Erik Denmark radio interviews: June 2, June 5
Kevin Carr’s interview with Pat Bertoletti (about 50 minutes)

Interview with David “Brickhouse” Braunstein & Matt Streett before Baltimore crabcake contest
Las Vegas Sun preview of Nathan’s qualifier (has only Ron Koch quotes I am aware of)
2005 US Open of Competitive Eating writeups: Round 1 Round 2 Round 3-5
Rocky Mountain News column
Another Natsuko “Gal” Sone fan blog

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(Thanks Liz) Pat Bertoletti turns 21 today and will be fully able to enjoy Las Vegas when he competes in the grilled cheese contest this weekend.

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Andrew “Skinnyboy” Lane has posted a travelog of his trip to Tempe for the Nathan’s qualifier on his blog.

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Yahoo! sports reports that former major league umpire and Wing Bowl commissioner Eric Gregg has died at age 55 of a stroke he suffered yesterday.

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The Daily Item of Lynn reports that Justin Mih (who is not named but listed as the 39th ranked IFOCE member) won the Nathan’s hot dog contest at the Hot Dog Safari in Boston Sunday with 15.5 hot dogs. Lynn native Peter Davekos placed second with 13 hot dogs. A Coney Island berth is not awared to the winner of the Hot Dog Safari contest.

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Eric “Badlands” Booker will perform at Mo Pitkin’s in the East Village on June 7 at 7:30 (tickets are $5) Booker has also placed some of his songs on his myspace page.

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Steakbellie has uploaded a gallery of the Philadelphia Nathan’s qualifier at http://www.flickr.com/photos/steakbellie/sets/72157594155903732/

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Philly.com reports that Eric Gregg, chief Wing Bowl judge and former Major League umpire, experienced a stroke Sunday morning. While the competitive eating community may not have always agreed with Gregg’s Wing Bowl decisions, we can all offer our prayers and support to the Gregg family.

ESPN.com article

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(Thanks Brian Seiken) Johnstown high school football coach Brian Subich’s performance in the Nathan’s qualifier in Philadelphia Memorial Day weekend is the subject of three blog entries in pennlive.com’s Southwest PA Sports Blog.

Video from the Philadelphia qualifier can be viewed at http://cbs3.com/video/?id=26720@kyw.dayport.com

Updated June 5 12:54 pm with direct link – thanks Pat from Moonachie

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A brief article about “Horsemen of the Esophagus” (more a description than a review) appears in the “Airplane Reading” box of the book review page of this weekend’s edition of The Wall Street Journal. (Article is not available online without subscription)

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Liz has posted interviews with Rich LeFevre from before the Tempe qualifier and Erik “the Red” Denmark from after the contest.

Updated 11:48 pm Erik Denmark has a blog entry about the contest

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The East Valley Tribune has a writeup of yesterday’s Nathan’s qualifier at Arizona Mills Mall in Tempe. Top local Russell Blackwell is quoted.

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A post on the the new forum at supersizedmeals.com hints that Denny’s Beer Barrel Pub will announce a new giant burger some time next week.

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Andrew Lane has a blog entry about the Tempe Nathan’s qualifier he competed in today. He claims that the top four finishers of that event are:

1. Rich LeFevre 28 hot dogs & buns
2. Erik “the Red” Denmark 19 HDB
3. Andrew “Skinnyboy” Lane 14 HDB (officially credited with 9 HDB)
4. Russell “The Black Hole” Blackwell (from Arizona) 13 HDB

updated 10:33 pm – removed “judging error” from Andrew Lane’s result
updated June 4 10:00 am – fixed Russell Blackwell’s name

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The following data about Joey Chestnut comprise a row in the factoids matrix in the current issue of Sports Illustrated (page 37):

Person I’d most like to meet: Bill Clinton
Nickname as a kid: Puff (the Magic Dragon)
Most scared I’ve ever been: Being chased by a pack of wild dogs at age 6
Song that reminds me of summer: Take Me Out to the Ballgame
Book I’m currently reading: Eat This Book (Ryan Nerz)
Superhero I’m most like: Wolverine

(Perhaps Joey’s scary experience has resulted in a hatred of “dogs” which he displays at Nathan’s contests)

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The new poll asks how many American competitors will make the Nathan’s finals for the first time in 2006. All eaters who have already qualified have competed in previous finals. Notable eaters who have yet to compete in Coney Island July 4 include Pat Bertoletti, Bob Shoudt, Chip Simpson and Brian Subich.

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Congratulations to Levi Oliver for finishing the Capital of Texas Triathlon on Memorial Day (400m swim, 10K bike, 5K run) in steamy conditions. The Austin Statesman has an article on how he did it.

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Ryan Nerz will emcee a Nathan’s hot dog contest at the Hot Dog Safari in Boston on Sunday. The winner of that event will not receive entry into the Coney Island finals, but New Englanders can use the contest to practice for the 2007 finals. Tickets are $10 in advance, $15 at the gate and include all the hot dogs, sausages and ice cream you can eat.

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The Arizona Republic has a preview of tomorrow’s Nathan’s qualifier at the Arizona Mills Mall in Tempe.

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The Carolina Hurricanes / Whalers defeat of the Buffalo Sabres in the NHL Eastern Conference Finals might presage victory for Whalers fan Tim “Eater X” Janus in the Buffalo Wing Festival Labor Day weekend. It is difficult to determine what might be foreshadowed by a Carolina victory over the Edmonton Oilers in the Stanley Cup finals unless a vegetable oil drinking contest is scheduled.

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Tomoko Miyake (三宅智子), the fourth place finisher in April’s “gluttonous queen” contest has launched a personal website at miyaketomoko.com , making her the first Japanese female competitive eater with a home page. The website lists Tomoko’s birth year as 1958 (the last two digits should probably be reversed)

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