Assuming that Kobayashi is now #1 and Joey Chestnut is now the clearcut #2, how would you rank the 3 eaters who ate 33 or more hot dogs in Nathan’s qualifiers?

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2:05 Kobayashi has broken his record every even-numbered year and failed to break it in odd-numbered years since he first set the record in 2001. (I guess this is somewhat analagous to Star Trek movies where the even numbered movies are more worth watching than the odd numbered ones)

1:42 The Whaler’s website received a mention in the broadcast in addition to appearing on Tim’s Whalers sign. It is surprising that eaterx.blogspot.com was publicized in this manner when it does not appear on the IFOCE website. The past three weeks have been good to competitors associated with the Hartford Whalers.

1:20 Gothamist also had a live blog

1:09 The production values for 2006 were higher than the 2005 contest when the running totals were only sporadically displayed. If the ChewCam must be retained, the running totals should be displayed while the ChewCam is shown.

12:58 Koby’s mark is revised to 53.75, still a record. A graphic for “Major League Eating” ? is displayed. Joey and Koby are briefly interviewed. Sonya ties her record with 37 if that is her result. I wonder what happened to Chip. He fell off a lot at the end.

12:53 Kobayashi sets the record with 54! Joey has 52 Sonya 37 Tim breaks 30 with 33, Pat is 5th (or tied for 4th)

12:52 WIll Koby break the record?

12:51 2 minutes – Kobys lead is now 2

12:50 Kobyashi moves ahead with about 3 minutes left Sonya has moved into 3rd

12:49 ESPN: Don’t switch away from the action for the chewcams!!

12:48 4 minutes left tied at 40

12:46 halfway Joey 35, Koby 33,

12:44 4 minutes Joey 28, Koby 26

12:43 At the quarter mark, Chestnut has a 2 dog lead. Thomas is #5

12:42 Chestnut has moved ahead around the 11 minute mark Sonya is not in the top 5

12:41 and we’re off

12:40 The hot dogs are displayed and it is said the hot dogs are allowed to cool off because it makes it easier to eat

12:31 All competitors starting with Erik Denmark will be introduced on television. Tim carries a Hartford Whalers sign with his website onto the stage. “Kamil” from the Czech republic is unfortunately not a Slavic tennis-babe type 😉 Chip is introduced after Sonya. I know Chip ate one more HDB in qualifying, but I feel this is a bit disrespectful taking all of Sonya’s accomplishments into account. Kobayashi weighs 170 lb and has orange hair.

12:30 A graphic of streaks incorrectly says Lance Armstrong’s streak is 6.

12:25 Some clips of Kobayashi from previous contests are aired. Kobayashi does not look as muscular as he did in 2005, but his shirt has sleeves so it is difficult to tell.

12:22 A list of hot dog eating techinques is displayed.

12:21 Pat Bertoletti is interviewed. He says it will take a miracle for him to reach 50 HDB.

12:20 Brief interviews with the “rookies” / members of “Axis of Eaters” Chip Simpson and Pat Bertoletti are aired.

12:19 A video press release on the redevelopment / yuppification of Coney Island is aired.

12:17 Kobayashi’s factoids incorrectly says he has only lost to a bear. He has lost to Nobuyuki Shirota in a long distance contest on Japanese television.

12:13 Sonya is interviewed and says she will focus on fast swallowing. She trains by drinking a lot of liquids. She says the heat does not bother her, but will affect the heavier competitors.

12:10 A profile of Joey Chestnut is aired. Joey is filmed at his construction company and at work sites

12:09 The bus arrives and Joey Chestnut is interviewed. He says he will push through the wall of pain.

12:06 Some observations:

Is the IFOCE webmaster on summer vacation? No updates at all since June 28

Will Sonya break the single session female hot dog eating record? Which I believe is 43 chili dogs (in 4 hours) by Balinda Gould at the Rockford Corner Bar in December.

Prediction for table lineup:
center Kobyashi
1 from center Sonya & Joey
2 from center Pat & Chip
3 from center Rich & Badlands

12:01 Welcome to the Nathan’s teleblog. It looks like there is a threat of rain and some spectators have umbrellas. The nutritional information of 50+ hot dogs is listed and the crowd size is announced at 15,000.

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Liz and Krista are reporting from Coney Island for an Urban Honking liveblog (its times are west coast) Competitive eating coverage has moved from urbanhonking.com/digest to urbanhonking.com/truefan as announced.

I will be liveblogging (teleblogging?) the ESPN coverage in about 15 minutes.

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Here are some previews of this afternoon’s Nathan’s hot dog finals:

FoxSports
BBC
Guardian (UK) travel blog
pittsburghlive.comarticle about Chip Simpson, Brian Subich & AICE member Bob Kuhns

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from commercialappeal.com:

GoldenPalace.net World BBQ Eating Championship, Memphis TN, Tom Lee Park

1. Dale Boone, 2.93 lb in 8 minutes, $1500
2. Loren “Bubba” Yarbrough, 2.4 lb, $1000
3. Larry “the Legend” McNeil, 1.43, $500

Dale has started a myspace site

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From urbanhonking.com Erik “the Red” Denmark won the makeup qualifier for the cancelled contest in Thailand with 22.5 hot dogs. Joe LaRue came in second. Don “Moses” Lerman and “Krazy” Kevin Lipsitz competed. A flickr gallery of the contest and weigh-in has been uploaded.

NY1 has an article and video about the weigh-in, with no mention of the contest.

Updated 7/4 10:15 am – Erik has a podcast of an interview from June 30

Updated 7/4 10:57 am Results & pictures from beautifulbrian.com
1. Erik “the Red Denmark” 22.5 HDB
2. Joe LaRue 14.5 HDB
3. Don “Moses” Lerman 14 HDB
4. “Krazy” Kevin Lipsitz 13.5

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An online ad for “Horsemen of the Esophagus” makes a prediction about the Nathan’s finals.

Jason Fagone will be interviewed on WNYC at 10:40 on July 4. This interview can be listened to online.

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“Beautiful” Brian Seiken has resumed blogging at http://hometown.aol.com/beautifulbrian43/bulletin.html

Seiken has discovered a video of a woman on the Maury Povich show who is afraid of pickles. Perhaps some eaters scarred by the Carnegie Deli pickle contest share her phobia.

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The San Jose Mercury has an article about Joey Chestnut which closes with a prediction from George Shea. Shea’s picks: 1) Joey 2) Kobayashi 3) Chip Simpson 4) Sonya Thomas

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USA Today has an article about Joey Chestnut including quotes from doctors about the medical aspects of eating 50 hot dogs in 12 minutes. The USA Today website also has a new picture of Joey with the AP article about him.

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Thanks Wyatt Earp. The New York Post has an article about Joey Chestnut. Chestnut’s bratwurst result from last August is listed as a world record despite his losing that contest to Sonya Thomas. Kobayashi is listed at 170 lb. It will be interesting to see what he weighs in at tomorrow.

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The Asbury Park Press has an article about the renaissance of Coney Island. Nathan’s hot dog contest and Dick Zigun, a participant in the Great Mini Hot Dog Eat a Thon, are mentioned

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from the Hungover Gourmet: The Wall Street Journal’s article on Sonya Thomas’ training methods has been moved to the free area of wsj.com

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Thanks Wyatt Earp. A video clip of Kobayashi, Joey Chestnut and Tim “Eater X” Janus in a one minute Nathan’s hot dog eating contest on Good Morning America this morning can be viewed at http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=2142642 Joey Chestnut was declared the winner with 7.5 hot dogs in one minute, but Kobayashi’s and Tim’s totals were not announced (and apparently not counted). George Shea stated that Kobayashi would attend the Johnsonville bratwurst contest in Wisconsin.

If that video clip does not satisfy your competitive eating on Good Morning America fix, video clips of Kate Stelnick from January are available: Segment 1, Segment 2

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Thanks Andrew skinnyboy Lane. The 2006 Nathan’s finals will be rerun 6 times on ESPN and ESPN2 next week and the 2005 finals will be broadcast on July 3 and 6. A full list of time is available after the jump. Times are in the Eastern Time Zone.

Read the rest of this entry »

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The website for local cable news channel NY1 has an article previewing the Nathan’s finals. George Shea and Eric “Badlands” Booker are quoted. A video clip of the segment is available.

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Super Paul Barlow has compiled a list of the 15 best dressed eaters on his myspace blog.

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Kobayashi describes his training in a recent blog entry. He has continued bodybuilding with a passion despite receiving a severe scare from Joey Chestnut in the Krystal Square Off when his muscular mass pushed his weight over 170 lb. Kobayashi claims that his off-season weight peaked at 87 kg (191 lb.) and has since dropped to 80 kg (176 lb.) (I am not sure if that is his current weight) He says losing the weight was easy due to the calories burned by his muscles. Kobayashi claims that his maximum lifts are:

• Bench 172.5 kg (379.5 lb.)
• Deadlift 225 kg (495 lb.)
• Squat 185 kg (407 lb.)

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PinnacleSports.com have adjusted their Nathan’s finals odds and Chip Simpson is now listed at 1 to 100 to win and Sonya Thomas is almost as big an underdog. The new poll asks what you believe the smartest bet is given the current odds.

Updated 11:40 am – TheOnlineWire announces that BetonSports.com also has posted odds for Nathan’s finals . Pinnacle sports is offering larger payouts than BetOnSports’

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abcnews.com has a slideshow of some of the competitors in the Nathan’s finals. Pat Bertoletti is pictured with his Dale Boone doll.

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