Japan reacts to Joey Chestnut’s 50

May 21, 2006 at 10:58 pm by ojrifkin · More posts about:Joey Chestnut, Las Vegas, Nathan's Hot Dog Contest

In this oogui forum, Japanese competitive eating fans react to the news that Joey Chestnut ate 50 hot dogs in the Las Vegas qualifier.

Much & Fast has a blog entry about Chestnut’s performance

Comments (20)

20 Comments »

  1. Bubba said

    May 22, 2006 @ 10:05 am

    I’ll sum up their reaction

    Japan= Ohh Crap!!!!!!!!

  2. LuckyLuciano said (Registered May 20, 2006)

    May 22, 2006 @ 7:50 pm

    Well said Bubba. They are beginning to watch the fall of a dynasty. Kobe has been reigning champion for long enough, and it is Chestnut’s turn to wear the belt.

  3. SuperPaul said (Registered January 26, 2006)

    May 22, 2006 @ 8:55 pm

    I believe I read on the Japanese Underground Internet site that scientists are working on resurrecting their greatest eater ever, Godzilla, just in case Kobayashi cannot conquer America.

  4. Rhonda said

    May 23, 2006 @ 10:10 am

    Hi Bubba,

    I want to be as optimistic as the next person about an American winning the belt back. But do you really think it can be done with 50 Hot Dogs? I think Joey will have to eat 55 to 60 to do it. But if Joey can eat 50, maybe he can just as well eat 55 +.

    Here’s an idea: Since only Joey has a chance to beat Koby in Hot Dogs. Make it like a match race (remember Ruffian and Foolish Pleasure in the early 70s?), to occur after a separate contest for all the other eaters. That way there would be TWO very competitive eating events.

    And we could even get The Gal over here to try to knock off Sonya. Even if The Gal blew it (don’t take that literally), many people have commented how sexy she is and would certainly watch her compete. So we could have three events! What do you think?

  5. Erik the Red said (Registered January 9, 2006)

    May 23, 2006 @ 12:32 pm

    Rhonda, you obviously don’t understand competitive eaters if you think we would agree to an undercard match for Koby and Joey. The battle will definitely involve more than two people this year. And Sonya will destroy the Gal if she even tries to come.

  6. Rich LeFevre said

    May 23, 2006 @ 12:44 pm

    My money would be on Sonya over “the gal” as well. Sonya is a great competitor and is a proven entity. “The gal” has had several meaningless exhibitions with Shirota and others with most being longer contests. I doubt the gal could match Sonya’s intensity and determination. That being said, I must admit I would love to see her in the mix on July 4 instead of another Japanese #2 eater. I also believe that Koby will step up his training after hearing of Joey’s incredible feat and approach 60.

  7. WyattEarp said

    May 23, 2006 @ 1:05 pm

    Rhonda, you have to be out of your mind to even think that Chestnut is going to try to compete with only 50 HDBs. We’re talking about someone who qualified with 50 HDBs almost two months prior to the competion. Last year he added more than 10 to his qualification total. This year he has obviously shown the same determination…and patriotism.

  8. Rhonda said

    May 23, 2006 @ 1:55 pm

    Erik,

    No one has any chance of beating Koby — except Joey. Why bore people with a table full of eaters that no one will be looking at? Why have the television muddled with 20 eaters when the only two that people are focusing on are the two in the middle, Koby and Joey.

    Even Sonya, as great as she is will likely not eat even 40 dogs. She’s tried 3 times in a row and people are bored at seeing her lose. Maybe if Nathan’s featured oysters or eggs it might be a different story for Sonya. But there is no Mustard Yellow Egg or Oyster Belt awarded on July 4th.

    Let those lesser eaters of varying, but equitable talent, who do make it to Coney have a share of the attention by putting together several undercards, depending on how many dogs they qualify with. That would also make it easier on the judges, by not having to keep track of so many eaters at once.

    People want to see competitive eating Erik — NOT one-sided mastication. They DO NOT want to see blowouts. (Just look at the statistics/ratings on the most watched or highest rated super bowls, for example.)

    I’ve been following competitive eating since the mid-1990s. I don’t eat, but I would like to enjoy watching the sport again. I think it’s time to think outside the box, so to speak. Time to try new things — teams, leagues, undercards, etc. Use the imagination.

    If the sport is still around 10 years from now, it will change. It will have to. The sport needs to grow in acceptance. I’m just looking at ways to help it do that.

    Regarding The Gal and Sonya, I’m taking nothing away from Sonya. Her records speak for themselves. And I agree with you about her being much better than The Gal. But The Gal seems to get lots of press. Press creates perception. Perception IS reality, at least in people’s minds, until an event changes their minds. Perhaps a one-on-one event between them would at least answer people’s questions about them.

    Again, just thinking outside the box.

  9. Rhonda said

    May 23, 2006 @ 2:28 pm

    Wyatt,while I acknowledge that Joey will likely improve on his total, from the qualifier, he has a limit. Koby is a 5-time proven talent and does what it takes to win. As much as I WANT to see this belt on an American man’s waist, I just hope that this young kid doesn’t underestimate Koby or overestimate or expect too much of himself.

  10. Kevin Carr said (Registered April 21, 2006)

    May 23, 2006 @ 2:48 pm

    Kobayashi is a great eater – at least to this day the greatest eater alive – but he’s been floating between 47 and 53 for the past several years. I won’t say that this is his limit, ’cause he hasn’t had the need to increase his numbers significantly until this year, but he has yet to prove that he could do 60.

    And look at his Krystals numbers. Koby’s numbers dropped by 2 this year, and that’s when he was really pushed by Joey.

    This year’s Coney finals will be a nail-biter all the way. I would love to see Joey win, but Koby is obviously still a huge obstacle. But no matter what happens, I predict there will be but a dog or two to separate the two when the final whistle blows.

  11. Bubba said

    May 23, 2006 @ 3:20 pm

    Rich and Erik I completely agree with you. I’ve said all along Sonya would completely crush “The Gal”. The Gal does exhibitions and they are normally longer. Further more I think anyone in the top 10 of the IFOCE would give The Gal a good whooping anyday. Everyone can believe that Joey will be training even more and will add a large number to his total as will Sonya etc. The belt will come home this year!!!! Either in the hands of Joey or Sonya but my bet is Joey will win by 2 HDB’s over Koby.

  12. Rufus said

    May 23, 2006 @ 3:29 pm

    The Japanese may well send a powrful one-2 punch this year in Kobe and That Gal. She would be one hell of a back-up to make sure our countrie doesn’t get it.

  13. Kevin Carr said (Registered April 21, 2006)

    May 23, 2006 @ 6:22 pm

    The Gal, while appealing to look at, doesn’t stand a chance against Joey or Sonya. She’d make great camera time, but she wouldn’t even come close to winning at Nathan’s.

  14. LuckyLuciano said (Registered May 20, 2006)

    May 23, 2006 @ 6:40 pm

    Rhonda, it is not a question whether or not Joey will improve his numbers…..it is a certainty. Joey manages to improve his numbers while working and going to college. Koby does nothing but eat, and has lingered around the same numbers for 5 years. Koby’s numbers have stayed around the same, if not decreased. Yes, of course Joey has a limit, are you saying that Koby does not? You make it sound as if Koby could eat the whole ocean of it’s fish, if he only stepped his training up. Joey has not shown us that he has reached his limit yet, Kobayashi has. While he is a 5 time proven talent, Koby has only competed against Joey in 1 Nathan’s contest, while Joey was in his rookie year of eating. Joey would never underestimate an eater such as Koby, he hasn’t underestimated any eater he’s gone up against, whether they are a big name or not. But you can bet that on the fourth of July, Joey Chestnut will shock the world.

  15. SuperPaul said (Registered January 26, 2006)

    May 23, 2006 @ 9:32 pm

    Rhonda, what do you mean ” bore people with all the other eaters”??
    Just like the NCAA bb tournament, the Kentucky Derby, the Daytona 500, the Indy 500, all the subplots and different characters only add “spice” to the final table.
    The Nathan’s finals are where I first learned about the Lefevre’s, Eater X, my own replusive Atlanta denizen Boone – who I realized I had met years ago, and it was my first look at Joey, Sonya, and the first I had ever heard of Kobayashi.
    Yes, the capacity of Kobayshi was amazing, but the fun that everyone else adds to the finals is what really makes it a great event. Tim’s “eater cam” was cool, and someday I hope to make it, and be miked up for a “noise cam”.
    Remember, it’s not who wins or slaughters, it’s how everyone plays the game!! Also, just like Joey has improved, who’s to say someone like Tim or Pat or Who Knows?? won’t emerge like Kobayshi – a “match race” eliminates that possibility.
    Bored is never a word I’ve heard to describe anyone’s reaction to a competitive eating event. Repulsed, amazed, stunned, nauseated, dis-belief, maybe, but never bored.
    The more the merrier – and the better the show!!

  16. The Sicilian said (Registered February 23, 2006)

    May 23, 2006 @ 9:53 pm

    PLEASE, enough of this “Gal” chick, my 27 lb cocker spaniel “Coco” can eat more than her in a ten minute contest. Her contests are long, and boring. She stops and gets all emotional, too. Whatever….

    As for Coney Island, you guys are forgetting my boy, Pat Bertoletti from Chi-town. What, you guys don’t think he can hit 40-50 ?? I think the Sonya and Pat Bertoletti battle for the other spot next to Koby at the Nathans table is the only exciting thing left to await before Nathans. And of course, The Locust, will be cool to see how he will qualify. But good luck to the rest of you guys. Badlands, Chip, Humble Bob, Bubba, Jim Reeves, Erik “the Red”, and all others expected at that the table that will do well.

    What about a wild card. What happens if a qualifier is 1st place 34 and second 33? The sunrise was won by 21 and half or so, plus overtime. And if other contests end with dueces, and another contest has a second place with 30+. Then what? i.e. The Locusts result.

  17. Bubba said

    May 23, 2006 @ 10:05 pm

    Sicillan,

    Please nobody is underestimating Pat “BIG COCK”. I have the feeling he is going to be in the top 5 minimum. That’s exactly what I love about this nobody knows who is going to win. These people are competitors and even a nice guy like Humble Bob would chew off his own arm to get a seat at the finals table. The competition is much more than winning or a belt the winner if he is American will usher in a new era and everybody wants to be that person to do it. If your Japanese you reaffirm your strangle hold on an American obsession atleast for one more year and you don’t want to be the guy to lose it.

  18. The Tubesock Destroyer said

    May 24, 2006 @ 2:21 am

    Joey’s build is much more tree-trunk like than Koby’s. He’s got a bigger mouth, throat, and torso. His teeth even look bigger. If he can go just a bit faster than Takeru’s pace, I think he’ll win. He’s just got more potential space. Koby has said that he can in fact be beaten by whoever is willing to train hard enough.

    Rhonda, as for your undercard event argument, I think that’s what the qualifiers are for. When this sport hits, it’ll be all about which major eaters are going where and what kind of upsets happen during the whole thing…

  19. adnohR said

    May 24, 2006 @ 7:24 am

    The Gal is going to have a very hard time beating Shirota to even qualify for Coney. No one knows why he did not enter last year’s qualifier, but if he is in this year, then she doesn’t stand much of a chance.

    I find it strange that people would back her with no short duration eating credentials. She has won some contests against small, no name fields. All footage that has been shown shows her eating very slowly. This is not how it is done in the States. The only person she has gone up against is Shirota who has sounding crushed her.

    At the same time an American, Joey, has eaten an unheard of 50 HDB. He is quickly dismissed by many as a fluke. People take that attitude that well that is just going to make Takeru train harder and eat 60 or 65. I don’t follow either thought. Are you assuming that Joey didn’t train for his qualifier? Or he did and that he won’t train for Coney? Or that because he hit 50, that is his capacity? Where are you getting this from. Even if you do not know him and just follow his stats, you can see that he is still earlier in his eating career. He is continuing to improve. Yes at some point he will slow his rate of improvement. Where that is, only Joey and God knows. On Takeru, I don’t follow the thinking. So he has been doing this for 5 years (Nathan’s). Because he beat everyone by so much, are you assuming that he did this on talent and no training? Are you assuming that his Japanese sponsors don’t pay him a big bonus for breaking the Nathan’s record (as has been widely reported)? So when the record was a little over 25 and he did 50, he wasn’t really trying? Now that someone did 50 he is going to try a little and do 60 or 70? Why not 100?

    I don’t know who is going to win. I know that it will be exciting. Not just Joey vs. Takeru. But I will be cheering on and watching all of the eaters.

    It is just a shame that Joey doesn’t get the respect he deserves. The Gal couldn’t hold his mustard, yet she gets all of the attention because she is a painted up lady. To that I say, Joey paint your face and wear a dress. You will be the superstar that you already are. Joey you are my hero. Well after Stu.

  20. Rhonda said

    May 24, 2006 @ 1:03 pm

    I think the other winners will be Sonya, Rich, Booker, Pat (Bertoletti), Chip (very underrated: watch out!), and Bob Shoudt. Pat Philbin will likely get a Wild card if he doesn’t win a qualifier. As for the other spots, it’s uncertain in my view.

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