Ryoko Aoki would like to contact a female American competitive eater who is interested in the following opportunity (from an email):

I am working on a TV show for Japan and looking for american female eaters to appear in the show with Gal Sone. We prefer someone who is in 20’s and not belong to IFOCE.

Please send responses to Ryoko Aoki – ryoko@officekei.net

OfficeKei offers the following description on its website.

Office Kei is one of the premiere television production, coordination, and research companies in the world. Since 1991, we have been providing outstanding television production and support services to major U.S. and Japanese broadcast companies.

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Brian Seiken has written an article about his thwarted quest for a higher level pass at the Nathan’s finals Wedneseday.

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From today’s Sheboygan Press:

Richard Shea, president of the International Federation of Competitive Eating, said he was surprised when Johnsonville told the group — about six months ago — that the event would not continue. It has been part of the Sheboygan Jaycees-sponsored event each of the last two years.

“We were surprised and we were saddened,” Shea said. “We would have loved to have been there.”

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The Worcester Telegram has an article about fantasy competitive eating which mentions Liz K’s league:

So whether or not this is a real sport, whether or not its participants are athletes is moot, there’s still enjoyment to be had from watching these accomplishments and at least some group out there is doing it, even if with the less than memorable Web site address of http://www.urbanhonking.com/truefan/archives/2007/01/fantasy_eating.html.

The setup is simple, with points awarded for competing in events, setting records and personal bests, while points are deducted for the dreaded “reversal of fortune” and finishing outside the top 10 in events.

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Richard Sandomir, the television sports columnist for the New York Times, wrote about competitive eating on television. Cable network deals and ratings are discussed at the end of the column:

ESPN started carrying the Nathan’s event in 2004, and it drew 926,000 viewers. In 2005, it dipped to 860,000, but it leaped to 1.46 million last year, a level it probably reached on Wednesday.

“We’ve done other competitive eating contests,” said David Berson, an ESPN executive vice president. “But we focus on the hot dog. It’s the marquee event.”

But with ESPN’s deal now expired, Spike wants to take gluttony (not entirely a male pursuit, as the M.L.E. star Sonya Thomas shows) to its male-focused network as a companion to its Ultimate Fighting Championship franchise. Spike has shown one Major League Eating event (the St. Patrick’s Day corned beef and cabbage, jalapeños and green doughnuts show from Savannah, Ga., attracted 739,000 viewers) and is scheduled to carry three more.

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(from Paul Barlow) Video of Tim Janus on the Today Show this morning to promote Sunday’s “Science of Speed Eating” documentary on the National Geographic channel is available. Tim did a one minute donut eating exhibition during his appearance.

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Will Leitch, the blogger for Deadspin, has posted a long report from the Nathan’s finals. Leitch accepted a press pass for the first time. There is also a gallery, which includes a picture of Don Lerman with a mystery friend.

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The splash page for ifoce.com announces that Joey Chestnut will compete in the P’Zone contest to be held in New York City on July 10. I am not sure if this means that Joey & Kobayashi will compete in that event or if Kobayashi has withdrawn.

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Michael David Smith of AOL Fanhouse interviewed Richard Shea this morning:

International Federation of Competitive Eating rules are clear about reversals: Vomiting equals disqualification. Kobayashi’s official total should have been zero.

But it wasn’t. It was 63. Why? I put that question to Major League Eating President Richard Shea in a telephone interview this morning, and he told me this:

“The judges’ ruling was that the reversal occurred after the buzzer. They also didn’t characterize it as a full reversal because it didn’t hit the table.”

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The excising of Kobayashi’s reversal from Nathan’s reruns noticed by MegaMunch was also commented on by the hosts of ESPN radio’s morning show according to Michael David Smith on AOL FanHouse

“There was an edict last night to stop showing the regurgitation,” said Gottlieb, filling in for Mike Greenberg on Mike and Mike in the Morning.

Co-host Mike Golic asked, “We can’t show that?” and Gottlieb replied, “We can’t show the puke.”

Golic said, “I’ve got an issue with that.” So do I. Vomiting is a part of competitive eating just as concussions are a part of football, and ESPN shouldn’t sugarcoat the truth.

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Kobayashi has the following quote in today’s New York Times wrap-up of Nathan’s contest.

Mr. Kobayashi bowed and was humble in defeat. But he also pointed straight at Mr. Chestnut and yelled, “I will definitely beat him next year.”

It is not clear how Kobayashi will gain entry into the 2008 finals since he no longer receives a bye as defending champion and no qualifier was held in Tokyo this year.

Other post contest links
SJ Mercury article about Joey Chestnut’s victory – Joey will attend Kobayashi’s P’Zone exhibition next week.
Joey Chestnut podcast on KCBS
Erik Denmark article from the Seattle Times
WNBC article and raw video
Video clip of Kobayashi’s reversal from theblogofhilarity (via thebiglead.com)
audience video showing what was going on during the last commercial break from cyber fyber
news video from News 12 Brooklyn
Gothamist blog entry
Observations from Megamunch about ESPN censorship – the reversal was not mentioned on SportsCenter either
Commentary from Wing Tut

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Beautifulbrian’s Corner Nathans Coney Island wrap up
NY Times article – longer version of NY Times article below
NY1 article and video
amNY article
AP column on MSNBC
Deadspin blog entry
FoxSports blog entry
AOL Sports blog entry #1
AOL Sports blog entry #2
Wackbag.com gallery thread Badlands Booker appears to have lost a considerable amount of weight. There is also a picture of Don Lerman receiving his award
Wackbag.com forum thread
NY Daily News preview – Curtis Sliwa accuses current eaters of cheating
Santa Fe Reporter – pre-contest interview with Pat Bertoletti

Joe Delaney, the name on Pat Bertoletti’s headband, was the name of pats grandpa who passed away a few weeks corrected July 5

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ConnectionsNewspapers.com has an article about Ian Hickman with quotes from Carey Poehlmann.

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Mike Downey of the Chicago Tribune offers a negative review of Nathan’s hot dog eating contest in his latest column

I wish Kobayashi, Chestnut or one of these guys would explode like that gastronome from Monty Python’s “The Meaning of Life” who eats one morsel too many.

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A video starting with five minutes remaining in the Nathan’s finals and continuing until the end of the broadcast can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_V-2NKUlzns Kobayashi appears to have a minor reversal with about 40 seconds left.

Yahoo has local news video clips from WCBS (from the Hangman)

The Hangman also has some video captures on his website.

(From Billy of supersizedmeals) news.com.au has a picture of Kobayashi’s reversal. Someone has said that Kobayashi should not have been DQed because he caught all the food before it hit the floor or table, but the picture makes clear that some material escaped.

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(From Dave Shoffner) Nathan’s finals reruns (all times eastern)

7/4 11pm ESPN2
7/5 2:30am ESPN2
7/5 7pm ESPN2
7/6 8pm ESPN
7/8 1am ESPN2
7/8 5pm ESPN
7/12 2pm ESPN

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Nathan’s Finals results

1. Joey Chestnut 66 HDB (listed at 63 when contest ended), $10000
2. Takeru Kobayashi 63 HDB (appeared to have a reversal near contest end), $5000
3. Pat Bertoletti 49 HDB, $2500
4. Tim “Eater X” Janus 43.5 HDB, $1500
5. Sonya “The Black Widow” Thomas: 39 HDB (new female record, breaks 37 HDB plateau), $1000
6. Bob Shoudt 35 HDB
6. Chip Simpson 35 HDB
8. Rich LeFevre 31 HDB
9. Hall Hunt: 29 HDB
10. Juliet Lee 26 HDB (finals record for rookie female)
11. Dale Boone 25 HDB
12. Pat Philbin 24 HDB
13. Crazy Legs Conti 23.5 HDB
14. Erik “the Red” Denmark 23 HDB
15. Tim Brown 22.5 HDB
16. Arturo Rios, Jr. 21 HDB
16. Allen “Shredder” Goldstein 21 HDB

update Full results are available on IFOCE. The IFOCE report mentions neither Kobayashi’s possible reversal nor Joey’s “phantom” extra 3 HDB. The reported attendance is 50,000.

NYTimes.com has an article mentioning the post contest jump in Joey Chestnut’s result. You would think that scraps would result in a deduction and not an increment:

After both men appeared to finish with 63 hot dogs eaten, the judges spent several minutes in a somewhat bizarre recount. To determine a winner, the judges counted the scraps left on the plates.

The liveblog of the telecast follows after the jump
Read the rest of this entry »

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Juliet Lee in the Baltimore Sun
Pat Philbin in NorthJersey.com
Hall Hunt in Jacksonville.com
Steakbellie has miniprofiles of all the finalists

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In this week’s Wednesday morning contest, Natsuko “Gal” Sone defeated Kana Kanisawa in a 3kg (6.6 lb) burger eating contest. The only result provided is that Sone won, it is not listed if either burger was finished in the 30 minute time limit.

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Will Leitch, the main writer for the sports/athlete gossip blog Deadspin, will attend the Nathan’s finals and post about the contest on Thursday.

In the comments, someone says that the Coors ad starring Kobayashi is now being televised.

While watching the Sopranos edit on A&E last nite, lo and behold–right in the middle of the show, what pops up but a Coors Light commercial starring none other than Kobayashi himself!

I view this as a good omen to his continued mastery of the Nathan’s contest–go, Tsunami, go!

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Sports Illustrated did an article about Joey Chestnut which has a gallery of the top 10 ranked eaters.

Joey Chestnut was like any other nervous 23-year-old on a first date as he drove to San Francisco with Nikki, a fellow San Jose State student he’d met at a party earlier that week. The two hit it off instantly. She was immediately attracted to how normal and down to earth he seemed. Though the choice of venue for the couple’s first date — a wing eating contest — was a little odd, she loved sports and had never witnessed people eat so much so quickly.

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(From Jason Fagone & megamunch) Jason Fagone wrote an article about the health issues facing competitive eaters for slate.com.

The apparent frivolity of competitive eating has always colored our response to its bad health outcomes. An eating injury or death has never seemed tragic or heroic, just … sad. Kobayashi’s injury ought to change that. It deserves to move competitive eating past the joke/jeremiad dichotomy and into the framework of actual sport—with all of sport’s narrative dignity, its metaphorical richness, and, most importantly, its empathy for the human bodies it churns through and spits out. The squeak of the Tsunami’s jaw grinding against its joint isn’t the sound of a freak meeting his end. It’s the sound of his sport limping, heavy-gutted and mumble-mouthed, into a new Golden Age.

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CanonCityDailyRecord.com has a profile of Andrew “Skinnyboy” Lane.

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WCBS has an article and video of today’s weigh in for the Nathan’s finals. Kobayashi says that he is still undecided on whether he will compete tomorrow.

amNY also has an article about the weigh in which says that 17 eaters will compete, so Kobayashi will be the eater from outside the United States present.

update
NY1 has an article and video of the weigh in
Gothamist has a blog entry containing a picture of Kobayashi opening his mouth rather widely
The NY Times blog has an entry describing Dale Boone’s current project:

Dale Boone said he spends several months a year in India, where he is filming “House of Brahmins,” a romantic comedy about an ethnically mismatched couple. “America guy comes to India, runs into a Brahmin girl,” Mr. Boone explained. “You want both sides to laugh at the same time. It’s a very hard thing to do.”

update #2
Brian Seiken has a video of the entire weigh in
MSNBC has an AP article and Darren Rovell video
myfoxNY has an article with four videos and a slideshow
FoxSports has a column (from MegaMunch)

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PittsburghLive.com has an article about Brian Subich in which “Big” Brian shares some of his training tips. There is also a section about how hot dogs are made.

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