The Krystal Square Off blog has a preview of today’s qualifier in Memphis. Listed ranked entrants include Rich LeFevre, Crazy Legs Conti, Juris Shibayama, Erik Denmark and Chris Abatsas, Damon Serignet. Juris Shibayama’s competing in a second qualifier will give him the tiebreaker over Badlands Booker regardless of how much he eats.

Sonya Thomas will get in unless the top four breaks 55. Booker will have to hope that the runner-up does not exceed his total of 51.

Erik Denmark has blog entries about last weekend’s jalapeno contest and Krystal qualifier in Memphis. He has the following account of the Krystal overtime in Memphis:

In the 10 burger overtime eat-off, Rich Shea announced clearly to keep the eating clean – Juliet did not, she continued to stuff multiple burgers in and around her mouth getting about half of them in and half of them on the table and ground. She raised her hands in the air when her 10 burgers were out of the boxes, the crowd booed and the judges told her to eat the mess she had made. She continued to sweep up the sloppy burgers from the table and with every sweep of burger mess in to her mouth she raised her hands again looking for victory and the crowd booed louder. This continued for about the next 60 seconds, the crowd was now hoping that either Badlands or Juris would get through their 10 burgers before Juliet was done cleaning her mess.

But it didn’t happen, Juliet finally ate enough of what she had spilled to get the decision. Not a popular decision at all.

Erik Denmark also says that Kobayashi’s bye slot in the Krystal finals will be filled by an amateur pulled from the crowd and not a fourth wild card entrant.

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A loukoumades eating contest will be held on September 21 at the Holy Cross Greek Cultural Festival in Brooklyn. According to the contest flyer, more than $1,000 in prizes will be awarded.

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(from anonymous comment) The fifth Garlicky Greens eating contest will be sanctioned by IFOCE. The competition will take place at b.good in Cambridge, Massachusetts on September 27. Registration opens September 18 at noon eastern and the first prize is a year of meals and a belt. A posting on craigslist about the contest is available. Pete Davekos and 2007 winner Michael “Betsy’s Boy” Cobb are expected. Will 2006 winner Gretchen Salyer (pictured on right) make her sanctioned contest debut?

A contest preview has also been added for Saturday’s burrito eating contest in Maine. The expected entrants include Pat Bertoletti, Tim Janus, Sonya Thomas, Tim Brown, Badlands Booker and Pete Davekos.

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MLB.com has announced that the Houston Astros baseball game tomorrow has been postponed due to hurricane Ike with the makeup date undetermined, so the kolache contest cannot be held in conjunction with that event.

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The Shreveport Times has an article about the grits eating contest to be held at Harrah’s Louisiana Downs in Bossier City, LA. Joey Chestnut, Pat Bertoletti and Tim Janus are listed as expected entrants. The article does not mention the possibility of the contest being cancelled due to hurricane Ike.

The Nashville Krystal qualifier entrants have been posted on the Krystal Square Off blog:

Juliet Lee
Eric Booker
Erik Denmark
Juris Shibayama
Nathan Biller
Pete Davekos
Bill Myers
Dave Goldstein
Andrew Wong
Steve Larson

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Ken Hoffman of the Houston Chronicle has a preview of Friday’s kolache eating contest. The expected entrants are Joey Chestnut, Pat Bertoletti, Hall Hunt, Crazy Legs Conti, Erik Denmark and Sean “The Cablinasian” Pendergast.

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According to a database entry and email, Famous Famigila will sponsor an IFOCE pizza eating contest that will take place in New York City on October 12.

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SportsBubbler.com has a list of the expected entrants at the Buffalo Wing Festival wing eating contest: Sonya Thomas, Juliet Lee, Badlands Booker, Buffalo Jim Reeves, Russ Keeler, Dave “US Male” Goldstein, Brian Subich, Wild Bill Myers, Beautiful Brian Seiken

Sonya is the only listed entrant in the Buffalo Buffet Bowl contest on Sunday (presumably most, if not all of the wing contest competitors will also enter that event.)

Juliet Lee is still listed on the Myrtle Beach pork barbecue sandwich eating contest roster despite also being in the buffalo wing list

Joey Chestnut, Bob Shoudt and Tim Brown are expected at the spaghetti chili eating contest in Cincinnati.

KrystalSquareOff.com has yet to list all the non-amateurs competing in the Jacksonville qualifier on Labor Day. The most recent blog entry has a video interview Hall Hunt did this morning. The Krystal twitter page is taking predictions for the contest.

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A press release lists four expected entrants at tomorrow’s Best in the West Nugget World Rib Eating Championship in Sparks, Nevada: Joey Chestnut, Pat Bertoletti, Rich LeFevre and Erik Denmark.

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You can follow the events of the opening festivities for Krystal Square Off V on the KSO twitter page at http://twitter.com/ksquareoff The “Running of the Grill” is almost concluded and the press conference is about to begin.

The Times Free Press has an article and WDEF has a blog entry about today and tomorrow’s events. Registration for amateurs tomorrow starts at 2pm.

Viewing tomorrow’s qualifier requires admission to the Southern Brewers Festival which costs $15.

update TimesFreePress.com has a preview of the qualifier focusing on the favorite, Bob “Stoudt” [sic]

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(from hungrysisters) The website for the Sun Fun Festival has a list of entrants in the Pork Barbecue Sandwich Eating Contest. Half of the current IFOCE top 10 is expected: Joey Chestnut, Pat Bertoletti, Bob Shoudt, Hall Hunt and Juliet Lee.

Cory Hayashi has emailed the list of competitors for the gyoza eating contest that will take place on August 23 at the Nisei Week Japanese Festival in Los Angeles: Pat Bertoletti (#2), Rich LeFevre (#7), Erik Denmark (#12), Tim Brown (#13), Kevin Ross (#29), El Toro (#41), and Shawn Kirby (#48). Actresss Miki Mia (The 40 Year Old Virgin) and the 2007 Nisei Week Queen and Court will also compete.

Mike Nafziger has emailed that Bob Shoudt will probably attend the Chattanooga qualifier and he might do an exhibition.

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(from Crawfish comment) A chili spaghetti eating contest will take place at Kings Island amusement park in Cincinnati on Labor Day, September 1. Registration will open on Friday August 15 at 1 pm eastern. Joey Chestnut is an expected entrant.

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(From comment) IFOCE.com has been updated with information about the return of the Harrah’s Louisiana Downs World Grits Eating Championship to Bossier City, Louisiana on September 13. Like last year, the purse will be $10,000. Registration will open on Wednesday, August 13 at 1pm eastern.

After having no contest with a purse larger than $5,000 in the first half of 2008, five IFOCE contests in the the third quarter will award total prizes of at least $10,000 (Nathan’s, Krystal, OK BBQ, kolaches and grits)

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• Krystal qualifier registration opens at noon eastern (limit 3 qualifiers per person)
• Floria Lee an expected entrant at the Goya National Black Bean Eating Championship
• Video of interview with organizer of Saturday’s Baton Rouge, LA rib eating contest (purse $400). The ribeatingcontest.com URL mentioned in the interview does not work
• Arizona State women’s basketball team members compete in Battle of the Bone qualifier
• Blog entry about 3.5 lb Homewrecker hot dog challenge in West Virginia
• Signup info for the Taste of Hamburg-er eating contest on megamunch. Prize money will be based on the number of “professionals” competing.
• Malaysian article (in English) about the Singapore showdown

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• 2008 IFOCE La Costena Chicago jalapeno eating contest September 14, registration opens Thursday (from Crawfish comment)
• Washington, DC pizza eating contest Friday
• UEPa involvement in Taste of Hamburg eating contest
• Jill Stoler on her appearance on the History Channel last night – future showings of Evolve: Guts
• Video of Gal Sone in Spain

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(From crawfish comment) The Houston Kolache Factory World Kolache Eating Championship has been added to the IFOCE calendar for Friday, September 12 (same as the NYC cannoli contest) and its purse will be $10,000. Registration opens today at 1 pm eastern.

The Costa Vida World Burrito Eating Championship has also been added to the calendar and it will take place September 20 in South Portland, Maine. Registration opens August 6 at noon eastern.

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Registration for the Nathan’s hot dog contest that will be held at the Saratoga horse racing track on August 18 is now open on IFOCE.com, which states that the contest will not be a qualifier for the 2009 finals, but the winner will receive a year’s supply of hot dogs.

In other IFOCE contest news, registration for the Los Angeles Nisei Week gyoza eating contest will open in about an hour. Sonya Thomas says she will not enter due to high travel costs (from comment)

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A cheeseburger eating contest will be held at Peggy O’Neill’s in Coney Island on August 2. Footage from the contest will appear in a TV program. The contest length has not been determined and the first prize is $200.

The Goya National Black Bean Eating Championship has also been added to the schedule for August 16. The contest will take place at the Central Islip Islandia Festival and the total purse is $1750.

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A listing of IFOCE contests in the next two months (from information on events’ websites) follows:

Only the CT ribs, BBQ sandwiches and gyoza contests appear on the official IFOCE calendar. The gyoza contest was added today and registration opens on August 4. (from Crawfish comment)

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• Myspace page for Billy “the Fridge”, winner of Saturday’s donut contest in Seattle
• Forest City, PA pierogi eating contest Saturday
• A more positive review of the MLE video game
• Long blog entry about the Singapore contest
• Bodybuilder / competitive eater Isabelle Turell wins a bodybuilding contest and gets engaged
  

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WLOCE.com announces that registration is now open for a hot dog eating contest that will take place at the Great Southeast Balloon Fest on Sunday, August 30. The calendar for the festival’s website says that the competition will occur on Saturday, August 30 and Hooters will sponsor a wing eating contest the following Sunday. The purse for the hot dog contest is $850 $875. Dale Boone and Jason Skrzypek are expected entrants.

The balloon festival will take place in Anderson, South Carolina which is near Clemson University. Crazy Legs Conti wore a Clemson pin in this year’s Nathan’s finals.

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• Blog entry with a lot of pictures from the Singapore showdown
• IGN pans MLE video game
• Elgin, Iowa corn contest August 2, $100 first prize
• Cincinnati jalapeno cheese coney contest Wednesday, registration closes at midnight
• Skinnyboy reports that Anthony Bourdain’s appearance at the Big Texan will be televised on the Travel Channel on August 4
• Medina, Ohio hot dog contest Saturday
  
• List of all Queens dumpling winners
• Syracuse offensive lineman Ryan Durand challenges Big East clambake lobster record

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The website for the Nugget Rib Cook-Off has a page about its rib eating contest which lists the date of this year’s contest as August 27. The cook-off will be held at Victorian Square in Sparks, Nevada (Reno area).

The contest is billed as the World Rib Eating Championship and will take place five days after the IFOCE holds another World Rib Eating Championship at the Ash Creek Saloon in Connecticut.

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The events calendar for the New York Racing Association reports that a Nathan’s hot dog eating contest will take place at the Saratoga Race Course on August 18. The first prize will be a year’s supply of Nathan’s hot dogs. It is not stated if the contest will be a qualifier for the 2009 finals. Registration will take place at the race course before the contest.

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• Val Bromann has a blog entry and gallery from the contest in which Pat Bertoletti, Tim Brown and Patrick Vandam competed against Jimmy John’s sandwich makers (Chicagoist report / preview)
• Dickey’s BBQ finals to be held in Dallas in January 2009. San Antonio and Lynchburg, VA qualifiers have been scheduled for September.
• Furious Pete profile (article scan) in the Toronto Sun (condolences to Pete on the recent loss of his grandparents)
• Columnist responds to Juris Shibayama’s letter
• Sonya Thomas lists her favorite bands (Thanks for the compliment Sonya)
• Don Lerman to judge upcoming cannoli eating contest (Also confirmation that Kevin Lipsitz received the Lifetime Achievement Award)
• Record set at Ballard, WA lutefisk eating contest
• Female division winner has best overall mark at Strasburg, OH Corn Festival
• West Virginia Hot Dog Festival report
• Article about Chris Kenney, 11th place finisher at Bartolini’s meatballs
• Statistics on the Dubuque Conuty Fair’s eating contests
• Preview of Sunday’s dumpling eating contests in Queens, NY
• Blog entry about Seattle doughnut eating contest / Saturday Knights concert
• Vineland, NJ pizza contest August 9, $50 gift certificate first prize
• Report about eating contest held at Nobuyuki “the Giant” Shirota’s restaurant
• Biryani eating contest for Indian familes
• Charlotte Dawson, a judge on Australia’s Next Top Model wins a celebrity meat pie eating contest

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