Please place all comments about Day 1 of the Saint Patrick’s Day Chowdown in this thread. I will refrain from posting results from the Chowdown on the main page of the blog until 8 pm eastern Saturday, so you can avoid seeing any results there if you do not want to know who won when you watch it on televison. I have turned off listing the start of a recent comment in the sidebar so no results will be listed there.

Update There is now a comment about the first round results from an anonymous poster, so do not read the comments if you do not want to know how that turned out. Kobayashi did not appear due to his mother’s illness.

update #2 wtoctv.com has an article about the contest. Neither results nor Kobayashi’s absence are mentioned. The picture above shows that Kobayashi was not near the middle of the table. The article does say that 8 eaters were present, so an alternate might have competed.

update #3 (From The Hangman) A gallery with some pictures of the contest can be viewed at http://pixels.savannahnow.com/pages/gallery.php?gallery=310735 The pictures do not give away who advanced to the next round. Badlands Booker was apparently the fill in for Kobayashi. Conti served as a commentator. It would interesting to know what was on the bottom of the sign that read “Sonya Will U …”

Update #4 savannahnow.com has an article which does list second round advancers.

Update #5 (From The Hangman) A video Conti and Eater X on a local news show performing a donut eating exhibition can be seen at http://www.wtoc.com/Global/category.asp?C=95545 (Click on “Eat Like a Pro”, Internet Explorer only)

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In his most recent blog entry, Kobayashi talks about withdrawing from the Saint Patrick’s Day Chowdown. I do not understand the automatically translated Japanese well enough to discern if he has decided to not compete or just considered cancelling and will proceed:

You made speak some days ago, concerning conference participation, it came simply.
It is urgent, but because it made to cancel the participation, you report.

…

This time, this kind of, to encourage me even in urgent cancellation, wipe insecurity, the attorney corresponding quickly, Robert and the UFFO authorized personnel, everyone thank you truly.

update The involvement of an attorney brings to mind the following song by the late Warren Zevon (presumably the only guns are on Kobayashi’s arms)

I was gambling in Havana
I took a little risk
Send lawyers, guns and money
Dad, get me out of this

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Fredricksburg.com reports that Sonya Thomas ate 22.5 hot dogs in 6 minutes at a contest at the University of Mary Washington yesterday, easily beating the runner-up, freshman Rugby player Daniel Kauffman, who ate 12 HDB. Sonya had hoped to eat more than 22.5:

Despite handily defeating the students, Thomas said she performed poorly because her jaw got tired.

When she practiced for the event a month ago, she said she ate at least 25 hot dogs in six minutes.

Even after yesterday’s marathon of sorts, she munched on a bun. “I’m tasting,” she said, while before she was just swallowing.

“You are my idol,” one student told her.

update Some pictures have been added

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MercuryNews.com has an interview with Joey Chestnut conducted at Iguanas Taqueria, where Joey began his competitive eating career. Joey says that the first place prize for the St. Pat’s Day Chowdown will be $15,000 and the corned beef contest will be 10 minutes. Joey also says he received that amount after declining the car he won for winning Wing Bowl 15.

Chestnut developed his throat and stomach muscles. They’re fast and powerful. He’s perfected his eating rhythm. He practices mind over matter, whether the matter is boiled, broiled, barbecued or deep fried.

And he’s been on the big stage before. Chestnut says he chewed through 25 contests last year and won about $60,000. When he won a chicken-wing contest in February, they offered him a car. “No thanks,” he said. “I just ate.”

Kidding. He took $15,000 cash instead.

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Hello, is this President Clinton? Good! I figured if anyone knew where to get some Tang it would be you.

Homer Simpson

(From Reuters) If Homer (and Marge) Simpson had competed an eating contest for couples in Guangzhou, China, he could have had all the tang (yuan) he wanted. Tang yuan are sticky rice dumplings. The winning couple ate 204 dumplings in 5 minutes, which weighed either 2.5 kg or 4 kg.

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(From GarysBasement.com) If I told you that Japanese television showed a clip of a man playing a synthesis of Pac Man and Breakout, you probably would not be that interested. However, if I told you he played it without a computer, you might be more intrigued. The video can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dD-RGpEQ6Ms

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For the post with id #2000 (there have actually been less than that amout due to deletions), I wanted to do something more significant than a typical post:

I have set up a forum at http://eatfeats.com/forum/ to enable people in the competitive eating community to comment on topics of their own choosing. You must have registered and logged in to post in the forum; anonymous posting is not allowed. If you have registered to comment on the blog, then that password will enable you to post on the forum. The forum should be considered beta, so I would not make a 5000 word post to the forum without saving it beforehand.

The software used is the Vanilla forum http://getvanilla.com/ software. The default view for this forum is a list of all threads sorted by most recent comment regardless of category, so you do not have to hunt through categories to find new material. I want to set up the blog so the most recent forum posts are listed under the most recent comments in the sidebar.

If there is not much demand for the forum, I am not sure it will be continued, but I thought I would see if there is a demand for a competitive eating forum.

update There appears to be problems with the permissions in posting. I will try to get those fixed by the end of the day.

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Rhonda Evans’ 4 comments between 11:43 am and 1:05 pm (on a day when Sonya Thomas is scheduled to be doing an exhibition at 12:30 pm at Mary Washington College) should disprove rumours that Rhonda Evans is an alias for Sonya.) Rhonda has been commenting from the same address she always posts from, and not from somewhere in northern Virginia. In addition, that address is different from Rona Conti’s location.

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WPLR.com reports that “Gentleman” Joe “Eatmeiser” Menchetti won a qualifier for the Eat the Meat Wing Competition by eating 85 wings in 10 minutes. The final for that event will be held on March 17 in New Haven, CT. AICE news reports that GJoe will compete in the Meatball contest to be held in Midlothian, Illinois the same day, making for a very hectic travel schedule if he attempts both events.

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Happy Birthday to the world’s greatest competitive eater. Kobayashi has an entry in his blog about turning 29.

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Cool Hand Luke will be shown on AMC Friday night at 8 pm eastern. Paul Newman’s hard-boiled egg eating challenge in that film is probably the most famous competitive eating scene in cinema history. The movie will be rerun on March 28.

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(From ducminh) A trailer for 5 Dollar Baby, a parody of Million Dollar Baby in which the sport has been changed to competitive eating (and the gender of the competitor switched to male) can be viewed at http://www.demken.com/5dollarbaby/

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(From the Hangman) riverstreetsavannah.com has information about the Saint Patrick’s Day Chowdown, which will begin on St. Patrick’s Eve:

Spike TV will be on River Street filming eight of the world’s best eaters as Verizon Wireless presents St. Patrick’s Celebration on the River! The Competitions will take place Friday afternoon at 4 and Saturday afternoon between 2 and 2:30. The competition will air on Spike TV at 7pm on St. Pat’s night.

ConnectSavannah.com also has an article about the contest.

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R Suzuki reports that Natusko “Gal” Sone appeared on a cooking contest show.

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Nikki Morillo has emailed that Joey Chestnut will appear on the NBC game show Identity on Friday night at 9 pm.

update Nikki says that Joey will appear on a later episode in a comment below.

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Steakbellie has posted the fourth installment of his Wing Bowl 15 epic.

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Darren Rovell, formerly of ESPN and now with CNBC reports:

This week, the IFOCE is changing is name to Major League Eating. “This is another step towards making our sport more mainstream,” said Rich Shea, who along with his brother George, popularized the sport of eating contests in this country. MLE is launching a new Web site this Friday and will have its first live event under their new name, this Saturday at 7 p.m. on Spike TV. The eating circuit offered $500,000 in prizes in 2006 and the MLE will continue to offer contests in various new disciplines, including peanut butter and jelly eating this summer.

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Don “Moses” Lerman’s most recent blog entry has a picture of himself at the unveiling of the Nathan’s Wall of Fame. That monument, which lists Don Wolfman as the 1986 winner with 12 hot dogs, needs correction according to this New York Times article:

In a weekend of indulgence, 27-year-old Mark Heller of Manhattan -depending on one’s perspective -might rightfully lay claim to the prize for the most indulgent act.

Mr. Heller, a television commercial producer and director, was crowned the Nathan’s Famous 1986 hot dog-eating champion after consuming 15 1/2 all-beef hot dogs, 6 1/2 inches long – and buns, some with mustard – in 10 minutes.

Mark Heller was inspired by Birgit Felden’s victory in the 1984 contest.

After victory, Mr. Heller searched for bicarbonate of soda and said that the festive atmosphere of Liberty Weekend and seeing a ”German girl who had never eaten a hot dog” win the contest two years ago had prompted him to participate.

15.5 hot dogs would be the best known Nathan’s result from the 1980s. It would be interesting to learn what year the contest changed from 10 to 12 minutes.

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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.”

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From myspace.com/badlandsbooker:

Mar 24 2007 9:00P Julian Maile’s Spray Paint Stars Concert At Sine New York, New York
Mar 26 2007 8:00P The Bro’In Out Show at The UCB Theatre New York, New York

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(Thanks Pat Bruss) A video of Pat Bruss competing in the semifinals of a 18 ounce burrito eating relay contest called the Boloco Burrito Brawl with his two brothers, Mike and Brett, can be viewed at:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5766977925415360194

The Brusses are on the far side of the screen and Pat’s 24 second time for the last burrito enables the brothers to overcome a half a burrito deficit. The brothers would win in the finals and claim a $500 prize.

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The new poll asks if you think if Sonya Thomas will retire without having ever lost to another female competitive eater.

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Shadow Fire Promotions reports that former WWF star “Big Cat” Ernie Ladd died of cancer at the age of 68. Before becoming a professional wrestler, Ladd was a defensive lineman with the San Diego Chargers, Houston Oilers and Kansas City Chiefs. During his football career, Ladd was 6’9″ and 315 pounds, with a 52-inch chest, 39-inch waist, 20-inch biceps, 19-inch neck, 20-inch calves, and size 18D shoes. Ladd also had achievements in areas besides wrestling and football:

In an interesting piece of trivia picked up from the Museum of the Gulf Coast’s website (http://www.museumofthegulfcoast.org/Content/Personalities/Sports_Legends/Ernie_Ladd)
in Port Arthur, TX (Ladd being a Texas native), it was stated that Ladd’s appetite equalled his size and at a charity pancake eating contest in 1965, he ate 124 pancakes topped with 6 containers of syrup. How that stacks up against modern “professional competitive eaters” isn’t known. Ladd lost the aforementioned contest, but he was competing alone against two-man teams, which is pretty impressive in and of itself. Ladd claimed he started late and was “only four pancakes behind at the end.”

Ladd is not the only pro wrestler with an impressive eating feat in the 1960’s. The Big Texan’s 72 ounce steak page reports that “Klondike” Bill Soloweyko ate two 72 ounce steaks in an hour in that decade.

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(Thanks Bill Myers) Registration for the 2007 Nathan’s qualifiers is available at http://nathansfamous.com/nathans/contest/register.php Entrants are limited to three qualifiers.

The sites and dates for the qualifiers have been finalized:

March 24 — Florida Panthers, Sunrise, FL
May 3 — New York, New York Casino, Las Vegas, NV
May 19 — Nathan’s, E. Hartford, CT
May 26 — Independence Center, Philadelphia, PA
June 2 — Arizona Mills Mall, Tempe, AZ
June 3 — NY Mets — Shea Stadium
June 9 — Charlotte, NC
June 16 — Mall of America, Bloomington, MN
June 22 — Molly Pitcher Travel Plaza, Cranbury, NJ
June 23 — Zoo Atlanta , Atlanta, GA
June 23 — Century Theaters, San Francisco, CA
June 27 — Civil Service, South Street Seaport, NY
June 28 — QVC, West Chester, PA

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I am not sure if the St. Patrick’s Day Chowdown will consist of three contests in which the top half will advance or seven two person contests. If it is the latter, and brackets are based on current IFOCE rankings, the following matchups will take place:

Round 1: 1) Kobayashi vs 8 ) Rich LeFevre, 2) Joey Chestnut vs. 7) Tim Janus, 3) Pat Bertoletti vs. 6) Chip Simpson, 4) Sonya Thomas vs. 5) Bob Shoudt

Round 2: Kobayashi/LeFevre winner vs Thomas/ Shoudt winner, Chestnut/Janus winner vs. Bertoletti/Simpson winner

Final: Kobayashi/LeFevre/Thomas/ Shoudt winner vs. Chestnut/Janus/Bertoletti/Simpson winner

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