Phoenix Battle of the Bone details
A website about the “Battle of the Bone” wing eating contest sponsored by a Phoenix sports radio station has been set up at http://battleofthebone2008.com/ There will be 23 weekly qualifiers starting on March 19 held at Native New Yorker restaurant locations. The finals will take place on August 27 and the first prize will be a 2 year lease of a Honda Element. The 23 qualifiers are probably the most any contest has ever had.
Joey, Pat, Chip, Dr. Big Time at Houston Matzoh Balls
The Houston Chronicle has a preview of Sunday’s World Championship Matzoh Ball Eating Contest. The contest will probably have the best field since the Krystal Square Off finals despite a relatively modest purse of $1,500. Joey Chestnut and Pat Bertoletti are expected along with Chip Simpson, Juris “Dr. Big Time” Shibayama and Dave “SykoBozo” Cagle. Nathan Biller has also said he will compete.
Top 4 seeds announced for Collegiate Nationals
AICE News lists the top four seeds for the Collegiate Nationals:
1. Christian “Muscox” McCarthy University of Kentucky
2. “Furious” Pete Czerwinski McMasters University Hamilton Ontario Canada
3. Carey “Powerhouse” Poehlmann Montgomery Community College, Blue Bell PA
4. Brian “Eaten” Keaton” University of Maryland
update Pete Czerwinski has a poll on bodybuilding.com whether he should be called “Furious” Pete, “Iron” Pete (given to him by Arnie Chapman) or something else.
CSTV / AICE Collegiate Eating Championship announced
AICE News announces that the finals of the Collegiate Eating Championship will take place at the Wave House in San Diego on April 19. Three collegiate eaters with impressive eating resumes will receive byes, others can enter the finals by competing in a qualifier on April 18. “Furious” Pete of bodybuilding.com will probably be one of the three eaters to receive a bye. Entrants must be currently enrolled in at least three college credits. Foods have yet to be determined, but will be items popular with college students. Jack in the Box is the primary sponsor, so the contest might feature food from that chain.
The contest will be held as part of the Collegiate Nationals sponsored by CSTV. The Collegiate Nationals will consist of four multi-sport events for college students to be held this spring. The other San Diego events will be beach volleyball, flowboarding and a battle of the bands.
CSTV has been acquired by CBS and will be rebranded as the CBS College Sports Network in March during the NCAA basketball tournament. It was not announced if the eating contest will be televised on CSTV. I believe this is AICE’s first deal with a television network.
CSTV has its headquarters in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, like IFOCE / Shea Communications.
Upcoming lucrative independent contests
Battle to the Bone, Phoenix, first prize will be a Honda Element, date TBA
Wing Eating Contest at Sheffield Ohio Quaker Steak & Lube March 17, first prize $500, qualifiers Feb 27 and March 5
Andy’s Cheeseburger eating contest in eastern North Carolina, first prize $1000 qualifiers in March, finals in April, dates TBA
Stuffed Hurricane Pizza eating contest for 2 people in Dekalb County, IL, win $400 if eaten in under 24 minutes, offer only available on Tuesday, calling ahead required
Conti to MC western PA pierogi contest
Observer-Reporter announces that Crazy Legs Conti will emcee and judge a pierogi eating contest in Washington County, Pennsylvania at the Men’s Culinary Classic on March 8. The contest will be 6 minutes long and it is not stated if the competition will be IFOCE sanctioned.
Laredo Jalapeno expected entrants
On her News & Notes page, Sonya Thomas announces that she will compete in Saturday’s Jalapeno eating contets in Laredo, TX.
It appears that Pat Bertoletti and Erik Denmark will also compete in that event based on a comment in Pat’s myspace blog.
Joey Chestnut will probably not attend, since he has been saying that his next contest is the Houston matzo ball contest.
This will be the first matchup of between members of the IFOCE top 10 since the Krystal Square Off.
Valentine’s Day Link Buffet
Coney Island slideshow (from Liz K)
Help a Hungry Sister win a scholarship by voting for her picture of Pat Bertoletti
Pat Bertoletti eats watermelon on the Mancow radio show
Delaware charity gnocchi contest report
Some upcoming independent contests
February 16, Corned Beef Musubi eating contest, San Diego
February 23, Pickled egg eating contest, Boise, ID
March 15, pancake eating contest, Harley Davidson of Anaheim-Fullerton
March 25/26, Denver/Boulder oyster eating contest
Denver eating contest meetup group calendar
With 4 events on its calendar, the Denver eating contest meetup group has as many scheduled events as the IFOCE upcoming contest list. Contests will generally be held on Friday night:
Fri Feb 15, 7:00 PM Chili Dawg Challenge
Fri Feb 29, 7:00 PM Slyder Slugfest
Fri Mar 7, 7:00 PM Otis Spunkmeyer Cookie Chow
Mon Mar 17, 7:00 PM St Patty’s Corned Beef & Cabbage Carnage
Collegiate eating championships April 19 in San Diego?
Furious Pete / Dedicatedforlif of youtube eating challenges fame announces in a forum thread on bodybuilding.com that he is being sponsored for the North American Collegiate Eating Championship in San Diego, California. That contest will take place on April 19. He says he was contacted by IFOCE last month, so this might be an IFOCE contest.
Sweet corn registration opens at noon today
The Palm Beach sweet corn eating contest now appears on the IFOCE schedule for April 27 and registration for that contest will open at noon today.
Houston matzoh ball contest information
The Matzo ball contest at Kenny and Ziggy’s New York Delicatessen in Houston is now listed on the IFOCE schedule for March 2. The contest purse is $1500 and registration opens February 6. Unlike the contest listing on my-table.com, the IFOCE contest page does not mention a minimum $250 donation for entrance into the contest.
Pat Bertoletti rates Windy City wings
(Via Chicagoist) Pat Bertoletti reviewed wings from nine Chicago restaurants for Time Out Chicago. Bertoletti’s top choice:
Twisted Spoke
(501 N Ogden Ave, 312-666-1500)
THE PLACE Don’t settle for Hooters’ softcore family-friendly porn. Get the real thing at the Spoke’s Saturday-night “Smut and Eggs†showing.
THE VERDICT “These are smoky like roasted chicken. This is the best sauce I’ve tasted, really rich, nice salt and sweet balance. Maybe there’s some chipotle in there. The skin is really crispy. I’d rather lick my fingers clean than use a Wet-Nap.â€
In other Chicago wing news, tickets are now on sale for the WingFest that will take place on February 24 A wing eating contest will be held during that event. In previous years, the contest had separate divisions for men and women.
Oyster Bowl co-favorite has economics Ph. D.
The Oyster Bowl blog lists Barbara Devaney as one of the co-favorites in today’s contest. Devaney took the 2006 contest into overtime after eating a record-tying 83 oysters in 2 minutes. She received a Ph. D. in economics from the University of Michigan and is currently a senior vice president at Mathematica Policy Research, where her specialties are family formation, children’s nutrition and public health programs. A team from Mathematica will be competing in today’s contest.
Sweet corn contest apparently renewed
It appears that an IFOCE sanctioned corn contest will take place on April 27 at the 2008 Sweet Corn Fiesta based on the fiesta webpage:
Feel like you could eat a barrel of sweet corn if given the opportunity? Enter the Adult International Corn Eating Contest and compete against the 2007 Corn King.
IFOCE Pig skin eating contest Thursday
(From “Pig Skin”) A pig skin eating contest will be held at Hawaiian Tropic Zone in Times Square on Thursday at noon to promote the “Ham & Eggs” contest that will be televised on Spike TV during the Super Bowl halftime show. The total purse is $5000. Registration for 8 slots will open tonight at approximately 10pm.
update a press release is available. Tim “Eater X” Janus will compete, former NFL punter Sean Landeta will serve as guest judge and the contest will be six minutes long.
Stockton Asparagus Contest April 26
(From “Mr. Asparagus”) The next IFOCE contest to be announced is the asparagus eating contest at the Asparagus Festival in Stockton, CA on April 26. Registration opens January 28.
Registration is currently open for the Laredo jalapeno contest according to IFOCE.com
IFOCE Laredo, TX jalapeno eating contest Feb 23
(From an anonymous comment) An announcement for the La Costeña Jalapeño Eating Contest in Laredo, TX appears on the IFOCE website. The contest will be held on February 23 at the Jalapeño Festival. The total purse will be $5000. Registration opens Jan 22 at noon.
If no earlier IFOCE contests are held, there will be almost 4 months between full-fledged IFOCE competitions (not counting the Wing Bowl as a 100% IFOCE event). The announcement alludes to this hiatus:
The nations greatest athletes have been resting their gullets in the off-season and are ready to make a serious mark on 2008.
Brooklyn vegan wings details
The myspace blog for Foodvibes has the details about Wednesday’s vegan wing eating contest. An article about the contest mentioned it was filled up, but the blog does not mention that entry is closed. The top prize is $50 cash and $200 in gift certificates.
No Oyster Bowl threepeat for Kristina Costa
The blog for the Princeton Oyster Bowl reports that two time defending champion Kristina Costa will not be able to defend her crown because she will be in South Africa during the contest. The website claims that the current favorites are 2005 winner Roy Cherris and Barbara Devaney, who lost to Kristina Costa in overtime in 2006. Last year’s first prize was a 42 inch plasma TV, this year’s prize has not been listed.
Denver Wing Bowl Jan 12
The Denver Wing Bowl will be held on Saturday at halftime of a Colorado Mammoth indoor lacrosse game at the Pepsi Center. A qualifier will be held on Thursday.
From “Mongo” Marquez, who has set up a meetup group for Denver area fans of competitive eating
Brooklyn vegan Buffalo wing contest Jan 16
A press release announces that Foodswings of Brooklyn, NY will hold an eating contest next week:
Foodswings will hold the first ever Vegan Buffalo Wing Eating Contest, sponsored by Frank’s Red Hot Sauce, 6pm on January 16th. Contestants, herbivore and omnivore alike, have registered to battle for prizes donated by Franks Red Hot and local businesses, including cash, T-shirts, tattoo gift cards and of course, ultimate bragging rights.
The rules are simple: 10 pre-registered contestants will have 15 minutes to devour as many fiery hot veggie wings as they can – anyone who pukes is disqualified. Contestants will have to eat the wings to the “bone” (or more literally, to the wooden stick), with only water available.
2008 Wing Championship Series information
(Via Wing Tut) January 2008 will not pass without any eating contests of significance. ESPN 1250 of Pittsburgh has released details about the 2008 Wing Championship Series. There will be six qualifiers from January 9 to 19 with the finals taking place on January 25. First prize is a trip to Barbados.
In other upcoming independent contest news, the Princeton Oyster Bowl has started a blog.
A list of the qualifier dates and sites is available after the jump
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Shirota vs. Menchetti New Year’s Eve showdown

Deresque has information about the New Year’s Eve eating contest that Nobuyuki “the Giant” Shirota and “Gentleman” Joe Menchetti will participate in. The competition will be part of a professional wrestling / competitive eating extravaganza that will be televised on TV Tokyo. (Pro wrestling is called “hustling” in Japan.) Shirota had a giant spoon at the event announcing the contest.
The transcript of this press conference announces that Gal Sone will be having an eating contest with retired mixed martial artist / pro wrestler Antonio Inoki during the event. Inoki fought Muhammad Ali to a draw in a mixed martial arts contest in 1976.
AICE vs. Japan matchups revealed
AICE news has the matchups for the five AICE vs. Japan contests.