From a Bubba Yarbrough email:

I just received an advanced copy from National Geographic with the air dates and time. It will air July 8 at 9pm et/pt. It features Me (Bubba) tim and Sonya. Tim is run through some very exhaustic digestive testing and Sonya and I go through some training and other stuff Overall it looks great.

update TVWeek has a preview (from Rhonda Evans)

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From IFOCE.com:

On July 28, the nation’s top Major League Eaters will converge on the small hamlet of Brownsville, Oregon to recreate one of the most iconic moments in both film and competitive eating history.

STAND BY ME was filmed in Brownsville and was released in 1986. For the first time, the IFOCE will sanction a hands-free pie eating contest as a tribute to the movie that helped bring competitive eating into the spotlight.

Registration for this contest will open at 12:00pm on Friday, June 15.

I think this is the first handsless contest IFOCE has sanctioned. The only contests listed in July on the IFOCE calendar are in Oregon.

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On his news page, Kobayashi announces the opening of his online store. 8 T shirt designs are available for purchase. The cost of the shirts is $22 and purchases are made via paypal. A T shirt from a Japanese source is also available.

The website says that a diet pill will go on sale soon. Kobayashi not only uses the supplement three times a day, he personally developed its formulation:

Kobayashi has invested countless hours experimenting, modifying and improving his weight maintenance pill, K. He takes the pill three times a day, after each meal. K, an all herbal pill, is soon to be ready to be shared with the public. We are in the final testing stages now.

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Time.com has an article about the planned redevelopment of Coney Island. There has been another proposed redevelopment that did not materialize:

The locals are particularly concerned, since some of Sitt’s actions– he demolished go-karts and batting cages this winter, long before he could start building anything to replace them–evoke one of the darker chapters in Coney Island redevelopment. In 1966, Fred Trump (Donald’s father) tore down the Steeplechase amusement park to try to prod the city into letting him build high-rise housing. When the city didn’t, Trump let the lot lie vacant–until the city bought him out.

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In his bits & pieces, Brian Seiken announces that he will make the recent Don Moses Lerman episode free on Fathers Day weekend.

The next pay episode will feature Rich LeFevre and El Toro

On Fathers Day, Brian will return to competition for the first time in 2007 at the strawberry shortcake contest.

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ABCNews.com has an article about Kobayashi’s possible absence from the Nathan’s finals. George Shea disputes the Mainichi Daily News report, but does not explicitly state Kobayashi will be in Coney Island July 4.

“I saw that, too,” Shea said of the Japanese report. “I said, ‘What’s going on here?’ We have purchased the guy a ticket. We’ve been in discussions with him. All I can tell you is it’s full speed ahead here.”

update ABC confuses the name of Kobayashi’s manager, Kumi Ozeki, with the name of the publication the quotes appeared in, the Shukan Gendai.

Wikipedia describes the content of Shukan Gendai:

Shukan Gendai -“weekly today” (週刊現代, “weekly today”?)- is a weekly magazine published since 1959 by Kodansha. Published simultaneously with Weekly Post (another weekly magazine published by Shogakukan), it includes articles about political scandals, sports and celebrities; nude photos; movie information; book reviews; and other articles of interest to middle-aged salarymen.

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(From yama3) McDonald’s of Japan has set up a website devoted to its large burgers at megamac.jp The website has an announcement that the Mega Teriyaki burger will be introduced in July along with a commerical for the new sandwich.

In a recent blog entry, Tomoko Miyake offers a review of the MegaMac and mango milkshake (automatically translated):

It was Mega [te] [ri] which does not betray my expectation!

Also mango shake was the best matching and, the happy 2 time ☆☆

MacDonald me happy making, thank you for very much, (^O^)/

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Chow.com has a column on whether it is advisable to praise a non-overweight woman’s large appetite:

Some women say they like it when people remark on their hearty appetites. Maralee Burgard, a UC Berkeley student blessed with a fast metabolism, eats such large portions that her friends know to schedule extra time when they share a meal with her. “I feel a sense of pride and empowerment that I’m a woman and can eat more than many men,” she says.

But, unfortunately, most women are anxious about their weight, regardless of their body size. Drawing attention to how much your female companion is eating could trigger feelings of insecurity: “Am I eating too much? Is my friend trying to tell me I’m fat?” You never know how confident a woman is in her relationship with food, so you should never comment on how much (or how little, for that matter) she is consuming.

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The new poll asks you when you think Kobayashi will next compete in a contest in the western hemisphere.

update Deadspin has a post about Kobayashi’s possible non-attendence

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Liz has posted to truefan an interview with Hall Hunt after he qualified for the Nathan’s finals by winning the Concord Mills qualifier. Hall explains why he did not underestimate Juliet Lee:

Woman, man…if you can eat, you can eat. I felt very comfortable eating up there. This maybe a bit of a tangent, but it reminded me of a time in college when I was dating this one girl who was a big eater herself. She and I after getting a good workout at the gym would rent a good movie, buy a couple large containers of food from the local wholesale grocery store and see who could eat more. I must admit that one time she beat me. That was the only time I ever lost to anyone in an eating contest before I joined the MLE and it was to a woman. Ever since then I have never underestimated females.

Paul Barlow has contributed two pictures from the contest. One picture shows Hall Hunt shoving a hot dog at the end to provide the winning margin.

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From NHRegister.com:

With “Indiana Jones” coming downtown, it’s going to be party time!

A free movie! Aerial acrobats! A matzo ball-eating contest! Poison darts!

Well, the poison darts will be only on the big screen set up on the Green, where “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” the movie that made Indiana Jones an instant hero, will be shown.

The celebration, which will be held on the Green and along Temple Street between Chapel and George, will kick off at 5 p.m. June 26, two nights before the fourth “Indy” movie starts filming downtown.

The contest will take place at Katz’s II on Temple (no other details are provided)

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JerseyShoreNow.com has a good calendar of eating contests to be held in summer 2007 in New Jersey. Arturo Rios, Jr. is quoted.

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FoxNews.com has an article and gallery (more pictures) about the wedding cake eating contest held to promote the new season of WE TV’s “Bridezillas”. Stephanie Florio, of Sayville, N.Y., was declared the winner. Her $25,000 prize puts her in second place in the 2007 money listing.

update wifr.com has a news video clip

update #2 NY Daily News reports that Ms. Florio was credited with 9 of the mini-cakes in 2 minutes

Metro.co.uk has an article with a video

Reuters also has a video

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There are two good galleries of last month’s Trip Rewards eating contest by clearrants and redmond ridgeback

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The winners page for EATORF has been updated to record Carey “Powerhouse” Poehlmann’s victory in Saturday’s Chili Wimpee contest in Lake Ariel, making him the first victor of an EATORF contest besides Killer K Hill. In an email, Poehlmann praises the contest organizers:

I drove over to Lake Ariel to participate in EATORF’s Chili Whimpee contest, and was very surprised how organized these guys are, how much fun I had participating, and how enjoyable the crowd found it. They are a great group of guys, and think that they deserve some attention for the dedication that they show to the sport of competitive eating.

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RecordChina has a picture and article from a corn eating contest held in Wuhan, China last Saturday. A 60 year old grandmother came in second place in that event.

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Jeff Chapman (fiset35) has a blog entry about competing in the Charlotte Nathan’s qualifier with a link to a flickr gallery from that event.

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The Mainichi Daily News has an English article about Joey Chestnut breaking Takeru Kobayashi’s record. The article contains a translation of the quote from Kobayashi’s manager found in the Weekly Today article about Joey Chestnut’s record.

He’s due to go for his seventh Nathan’s crown next month, but his manager Kumi Ozeki suggests that Kobayashi’s title defense might be in danger.

“Kobayashi’s mother died in March and he’s currently taking a sabbatical. He’s not even in training,” the hot dog eating champion’s manager tells Shukan Gendai. “I haven’t heard a word from him about whether he’s going to take part in the July contest and there’s no way that I know to get in touch with him.”

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(Thanks William Myers) Here are the leading averages for eaters who have entered two or more Nathan’s qualifiers. Tim Brown is the first wildcard contender to finish his quota of three qualifiers.

33 Rich LeFevre (33, 33) (at least 8 needed to beat Tim Brown)
24.67 Tim Brown (24, 25, 25)
23 Brian Subich (27, 19) (at least 28 needed to beat Tim Brown)
22 Marco “Mongo” Marquez (21, 23) (at least 30 needed to beat Tim Brown)
21.5 Russ Keeler (23, 20) (at least 31 needed to beat Tim Brown)

A listing of all non-winning 2007 results above 15 HDB follows after the jump
Read the rest of this entry »

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In his chat today, Bill “The Sports Guy” Simmons of ESPN.com was asked a question about Joey Chestnut:

Eric (New York City): Bill, did you read about that guy who broke the Japanese guy’s record for hot dog eating. Will you be tuning in to ESPN2 to watch USA vs. Japan in hot dog eating?

Bill Simmons: Heard about this! We really need to get behind this guy… it’s like the ’80 Olympic Hockey team all over again.

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BeautifulBrian.com has an article with more details about the disputed results from Saturday’s Nathan’s qualifier near Charlotte, NC.

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Erik Denmark’s blog has a link to a podcast of a radio interview he did after his victory in the Shea Stadium qualifier

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CarView.co.jp reports that Natsuko “Gal” Sone attended an event in which a Guinness world record was set, but the occasion was not an eating contest. She was present at the unveiling of the world’s largest ground advertisement. The sign advertised the Smart Loop GPS system. The length of the letters was 1 kilometer, making it visible by satellites.

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Tom Sorenson of Charlotte.com competed in yesterday’s Nathan’s qualifier at Concord Mills and wrote a column about his experience. Paul Barlow (who is now up to 3 nicknames) is quoted. The controversy about Juliet Lee’s total is not mentioned.

Hall Hoover Hunt presses an ice pack to his forehead. Juliet Lee stretches. Kevin Carburetor Carr cleans his hands with Purell sanitizer. Super Paul Bonebreaker Bigmouth Barlow puts on surgical gloves.

I just stand there. The hot dog folks have an extra seat and invite me to fill it. The release I sign, which states that I understand the risks of competitive eating, asks about my eating experience. Answer: All my life.

update IndependentTribune.com also has an article with more details about the contest

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Essen, the first female winner of a Food Battle Stadiums contest, has started a website and blog. She takes her name from the German verb “to eat”

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