The Boston Herald reports that Sonya Thomas will attempt to set a record for eating meatballs at the Phantom Gourmet Food Festival in Boston on Saturday. (The article claims that Sonya's hot dog record is over 50). update The meatball record attempt will be on September 24 and Sonya Thomas will be at the grand opening of the new Nathan's Famous in Airdrie, Alberta, Canada (Calgary area) tomorrow. (via comment)

September 16, 2011 at 7:16 am by ojrifkin · More posts about:Boston, Calgary, Sonya Thomas | Permalink * Comments (29)

29 Comments »

  1. Rhonda Evans said (Registered March 6, 2008)

    September 16, 2011 @ 7:51 am

    Members of the media consistently make mistakes. If they got her hot dog number wrong, perhaps they even got the wrong eater or the wrong date.

    It wouldn’t surprise me.

  2. Stallion Italian said (Registered August 27, 2010)

    September 16, 2011 @ 8:40 am

    That is so true Rhonda. Close followers of competitive eating can get our knickers scrunched over these mistakes, but for the general public or consumers of newspaper articles and media, it (almost) doesn’t matter. They are not writing textbooks or legislation and are under pressure to get things done quickly. With the democratization of the media, blogs, YouTube, etc., there are upsides and downsides. Accountability is slim. Sonya gets name recognition emphasized, more fans for her and for competitive eating. I guess that is the best we can hope for.

  3. Rhonda Evans said (Registered March 6, 2008)

    September 16, 2011 @ 9:52 am

    Thanks for the comment SI. It’s a shame when members of the media are under so much of a time crunch that they don’t get their stories straight. It can’t do much for their credibility.

    I sometimes market education and other upcoming events where I work part time, and if I posted wrong dates, times, venues, etc, I’d be out of a job in a few days … and I’d deserve to be.

  4. baked beans said

    September 16, 2011 @ 10:00 am

    I would like to know why Pat or some other big name eater hasnt tried to break Lerman baked bean record. I would assume that the Sheas are holding back because they dont want Lerman to have a nervous breakdown or bombard them with emails claiming acts of disrespect. Pat would crush that 6lb record in 90 seconds or less

  5. Rhonda Evans said (Registered March 6, 2008)

    September 16, 2011 @ 10:20 am

    Pat would definitely do it in less than 90 seconds, but so would about a dozen other eaters.

    Anyway, I think it’s good to let some records remain. It’s important that people feel good about themselves, and many people in CE or actual sports have very fragile egos.

    Change the time, differentiate the food, etc, and you can still let people establish a record w/o taking away someone else’s who has but one or two.

    Of course, that’s only one person’s idea, and is probably why I’m sitting here doing what I do, and Rich and George, the experts, do what they do.

  6. Stallion Italian said (Registered August 27, 2010)

    September 16, 2011 @ 10:25 am

    “baked beans said”, you need some retraining in thinking. You want to be the poster poster for disrespect, you’ve got it. Let’s add in some conspiracy and trouble making. Focus on your own beans. What would be the point? None whatsoever. We all know Pat is an incredible eater. He has the most records of anyone (I think) including Jarvis who once held that title and perhaps even more than Joey. Pat’s records continue to grow. But they kind of all blend, there are so many. As with cannolis, the previous record-holder’s resume shortens. Pat, for all of his records, doesn’t seem to have the will or skill to win Nathans. If Joey retires and Pat and X stay in the game, perhaps they will succeed in being number 1. But these hotdogs have to take a toll on your body. Kobayashi might have won and taken back the crown but that ship has sailed. No more Kobayashi for Nathans by his choice. Who would find it interesting to see one person hold all records anyway. I like the independents alongside MLE. It keeps things interesting for everyone, more choices, more contests. Why go backwards?

  7. Walter Lippman said

    September 16, 2011 @ 10:34 am

    Looks like the Herald really mucked up this one. Sonya’s in Canada — look out Pete. I got this off some obscure website:

    “You heard it here first! Got a tip off.. there is going to be 5 cent (yup.. just one nickel!!) hotdogs at Airdrie’s newest Nathan’s on Sept 17, 2011 to celebrate the grand opening of Alberta’s newest Nathan’s. You can also go watch, get pics taken adn autographs from Sonya “The Black Widow” Thomas, winner of the Nathan’s Famous Women’s Hot Dog Eating Championship Belt this past July 4 in Coney Island, NY by devouring 40 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes. Hot dogs will be 5 cents each from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. (limit 2 hot dogs per customer). Face-painting, free hats and balloons will be available for children and families. WHEN: Saturday, September 17, 2011 WHERE: Nathan’s Famous 3001-130 Sierra Springs Drive Airdrie, Alberta TIME: Sonya Thomas availability 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. So go, bring the family, meet a champion hot dog eater, down a couple hotdogs (maybe not 40 lol!)”

  8. Rhonda Evans said (Registered March 6, 2008)

    September 16, 2011 @ 10:39 am

    Agreed SI!

  9. Rhonda Evans said (Registered March 6, 2008)

    September 16, 2011 @ 12:22 pm

    Thanks Walt. At least that story seems accurate. She surely can’t be in two places simultaneously.

    I would love to see sonya and Pete eat together, not to see who comes out on top, but because they are both great ambassadors for CE, and I bet there would be a tremendous amount of respect between the two.

  10. Stallion Italian said (Registered August 27, 2010)

    September 16, 2011 @ 1:20 pm

    TGIF and a light workday, one should never say never but I cannot imagine Sonya and Pete ever being able to eat together. As much as many would like to see independents and organizations eat against each other, the reality is that every eater has to choose their affiliation. Plus, since I have the time, perhaps I also have an answer.
    http://foodfest.phantomgourmet.com/seeParties.aspx…….Wow, just cannot keep up with OJ………it is already corrected.

  11. Stallion Italian said (Registered August 27, 2010)

    September 16, 2011 @ 1:22 pm

    Oops…….link is incorrect. http://foodfest.phantomgourmet.com/seeParties.aspx
    If that works if shows that multiple sources are necessary for information and checking. OJ’s link is to twitter.

  12. Rhonda Evans said (Registered March 6, 2008)

    September 16, 2011 @ 2:06 pm

    It must be light only for me and you Stallion, unless everyone else is off and runing around.

    If it weren’t for us today eatfeats would be called beat feet (out the door)!

  13. Larellmarie said (Registered May 9, 2010)

    September 16, 2011 @ 3:24 pm

    I’m just enjoying “listening” to ya’ll talkn bout stuff 🙂

  14. NRead said

    September 16, 2011 @ 6:52 pm

    It wasn’t a light day in my neighborhood 😉

  15. NReda said

    September 16, 2011 @ 6:53 pm

    I must have been at the job too long… Enouraging everyone to Read! That would fit in better with the whole teacher thing. Change my name to Naader Read.

  16. anonymous said

    September 16, 2011 @ 8:02 pm

    PrettyBoy will be rep’in his hometown of Boston next week as he either teams up with or goes against the Black Widow! Good times ahead…

  17. anonymous said

    September 16, 2011 @ 8:43 pm

    Canada ? Maybe she can take on the great furious pete

  18. Roger Clemens said

    September 17, 2011 @ 5:55 am

    good luck to all in breaking Lerman’s bean record,I’ll be rooting you all on.

  19. Anonymous said

    September 17, 2011 @ 8:18 am

    She’s a ver, very good female eater, but she fizzles out against above average males. Even U. S. Male topped her so that says loads.

  20. Anonymous said

    September 17, 2011 @ 10:27 am

    Dale Boone owns her.

  21. Stallion Italian said (Registered August 27, 2010)

    September 17, 2011 @ 11:17 am

    Filtering through the trash bucket along with some good comments, Sonya is the bomb. She and Larell are fine ambassadors of the sport. Dale Boone, not so much. And please, why not just leave Don Lerman alone along with past history. Make new records, make new stories. Most of us are tired of the same old petty jealousies and misinformation posted, most of which we cannot understand anyway. Why not take it up with each other in private.

  22. Anonymous said

    September 17, 2011 @ 11:40 am

    No sh**! I agree with Stal. It.!.

  23. Anonymous said

    September 17, 2011 @ 11:44 am

    Dale? Hardly …!

  24. Anonymous said

    September 17, 2011 @ 11:58 am

    Only when Dale cheats. Oh, yeah, Dale cheats ALL THE TIME!!!

  25. anonymous said

    September 17, 2011 @ 12:58 pm

    I find it somewhat fake when Sonya Thomas reports on her site how badlands can beat her at any time. That’s a bunch of humble baloney. She’s just happy that she successfuly defended her title giving kudos at the heat of the moment. Badlands is a great eater but Sonya let’s be real he cannot beat you anytime he pleases

  26. Anonymous said

    September 17, 2011 @ 2:07 pm

    I’d say Sonya shows class by doing that. Badlands does has a Buffalo Wing Title Over Her. She has respect for the legendary guy.

  27. anonymous said

    September 17, 2011 @ 2:38 pm

    I’d say if she lost to Badlands she wouldnt say he can beat me anytime he wants. Its called heat of the moment happiness so keep the power of positive thinking crap to yourself

  28. Ngo Winn said

    September 21, 2011 @ 10:58 am

    Here’s where this site can sometimes get a bad rap. Sonya gets anony criticism about being nice and giving credit to an eater she has a special relationship with for years, Booker. I can imagine if she said something critical about Badlands, the same anony person would chime in with their words of wisdom and accuse her of being mean and cocky to a legendary eater. Some people crave negativity.

  29. Rhonda Evans said (Registered March 6, 2008)

    September 21, 2011 @ 12:07 pm

    I totally agree Ngo. … Also, Sonya knows that Badlands is still one heck of an eater. He does, in fact, have a Buffalo wing title!

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