thetimes-tribune.com has an article about the founders of EATORF, who are sponsoring a single cheesesteak eating contest in Throop, PA (greater Scranton) on Monday:

The group is the brainchild of three friends, Justin Leff, of Olyphant, Eric Mina, of Taylor, and Chris Glenn, of Dalton, who were discussing different concepts for a business venture and came up with a competitive eating league that could hold events in bars and other venues.

“Bars and entertainment are synonymous with each other,” Mr. Leff said, citing other entertainment genres like karaoke and trivia nights. And, he added, many taverns have a certain food that they are known for — buffalo wings, for instance, or nachos. “We could come in and promote that item.”

Here is what he and his partners envision: an evening filled with colorful contestants who dream up clever nicknames for themselves and who might partake in a bit of trash talk. Mr. Leff and Mr. Mina will co-host the competition, interviewing the participants before and after, and providing commentary throughout. Mr. Glenn will serve as referee.

“We want to make it as much of a show as possible,” Mr. Leff said.

EATORF contests will focus on speed rather than quantity. For Monday’s cheesesteak event, participation will be limited to the first 20 people who register. There will be 10 heats, in which pairs of people square off against each other. The two fastest qualifiers will then compete in a championship round.

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The April calendar for the South Florida Fairgrounds in West Palm Beach says the IFOCE corn eating contest will return on April 29.

In Yesteryear Village. The 7th Annual Sweet Corn Fiesta features plenty of fun for the family: Food and live music, International Federation of Competitive Eaters Competition (as seen on ESPN), the Amateur Sweet Corn Eating Contest, the old fashion bathing suit contest, and a corn shuckin’ contest. All rides, games and activities are FREE.

updateIFOCE.com has listed the Broadway at the Beach contest that will take place in Myrtle Beach, SC on April 21.

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Registration for the deep fried asparagus eating contest at the Asparagus Festival in Stockton, CA, now appearing on the IFOCE schedule for April 28, is now open.

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There will be 4 Easter Egg eating contests for adults at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore over the next two weekends on March 31st, April 1, April 7 and April 8. The Maryland Zoo website provides the details on those events:

The annual Mary Sue Egg Eating Contest. See how many Mary Sue Eggs you can eat in two minutes. First place winners receive a $250 Mary Sue Candy Basket. 10 contestants per contest. First come first serve. Sign up at the Main Stage in Flocker’s Field (near Polar Bear Watch and the Carousel).

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A blog about the Moonpie Madness contest to be held at Virginia Commonwealth Univerisity has been set up at http://moonpiemadnessdave.blogspot.com/. The blogger describes the event:

MoonPie Madness stands to be the largest MoonPie eating contest to ever be held. Ever. At VCU at least. But for the record, we haven’t heard of any other eating contests to have over 64 people competiting on the same day, and we’re estimating to have at least 84 “gurgataters” so I’d say we’re safe in making that claim. 84 gurgataters! MoonPies!?! How’s this all going down? Well, here’s the deal:

There’s 2 competitions going on the sacred day of April 1st. An exhibition (a classic eating contest where everyone has 5 minutes to out eat each other, and try to break the unofficial record of 15 in 5 minutes), and as I like to call it, The Grand Tourney” (a March Madness themed eating contest where 64 students will go through 6 – 2 minute rounds and work their way through the bracket.)

I think some Japanese contests have had more than 84 entrants, but I am not aware of any US contests with that large a field. The contest is restricted to VCU students only.

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FloridaPanthers.com has a page about the Nathan’s qualifier to be held tomorrow:

The event begins at 6 p.m. with the Kids Neat Eating Contest, which will be immediately followed by the Adult Competitive Eating Contest at 6:30 p.m. Face-off for the Panthers-Devils game is set for 7:30 p.m.

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There will be a lot of independent contests this weekend. See the sidebar for more details. There will be two vegan contests in New England. The Houston hot dog contest awards $10 per hot dog to the winner. Last year’s winner ate 9 hot dogs in 10 minutes.

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pressconnects.com has some information about the pancake eating contest to be held at the Central New York Maple Festival in Marathon, NY on Saturday:

The 11th annual Pancake Eating Contest, billed as a “‘Fun’ Raiser with Sweet Profits,” will start at 9 a.m. sharp Saturday in the Marathon High School auditorium. A field of 10 — one woman and nine men — is competing for the title; non-profit organizations solicited pledges per pancake for their “eater.”

The record holder, Joe LaRue of Florida, is coming back to defend his title and perhaps best his record of 30 pancakes. Joe stands 6 feet 8 inches and really knows how to put those pancakes down. This year, he will be eating pancakes for the Peck Memorial Library in Marathon, which is seeking funds for a major renovation and restoration projects.

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estockton.com has a preview of next month’s Asparagus Festival in Stockton, CA

The now-established and nationally-acclaimed Deep-Fried Asparagus Eating Competition will return for its fourth straight year, produced by the International Federation of Competitive Eaters and sponsored by Washington Mutual. IFOCE champs will compete against others for the asparagus title at 12 noon Saturday at the main stage at Weber Point. This year’s contest promises to be especially competitive with two-time winner Joey Chestnut returning to defend his title.

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In his most recent blog entry, Kobayashi talks about withdrawing from the Saint Patrick’s Day Chowdown. I do not understand the automatically translated Japanese well enough to discern if he has decided to not compete or just considered cancelling and will proceed:

You made speak some days ago, concerning conference participation, it came simply.
It is urgent, but because it made to cancel the participation, you report.

…

This time, this kind of, to encourage me even in urgent cancellation, wipe insecurity, the attorney corresponding quickly, Robert and the UFFO authorized personnel, everyone thank you truly.

update The involvement of an attorney brings to mind the following song by the late Warren Zevon (presumably the only guns are on Kobayashi’s arms)

I was gambling in Havana
I took a little risk
Send lawyers, guns and money
Dad, get me out of this

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(From the Hangman) riverstreetsavannah.com has information about the Saint Patrick’s Day Chowdown, which will begin on St. Patrick’s Eve:

Spike TV will be on River Street filming eight of the world’s best eaters as Verizon Wireless presents St. Patrick’s Celebration on the River! The Competitions will take place Friday afternoon at 4 and Saturday afternoon between 2 and 2:30. The competition will air on Spike TV at 7pm on St. Pat’s night.

ConnectSavannah.com also has an article about the contest.

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I am not sure if the St. Patrick’s Day Chowdown will consist of three contests in which the top half will advance or seven two person contests. If it is the latter, and brackets are based on current IFOCE rankings, the following matchups will take place:

Round 1: 1) Kobayashi vs 8 ) Rich LeFevre, 2) Joey Chestnut vs. 7) Tim Janus, 3) Pat Bertoletti vs. 6) Chip Simpson, 4) Sonya Thomas vs. 5) Bob Shoudt

Round 2: Kobayashi/LeFevre winner vs Thomas/ Shoudt winner, Chestnut/Janus winner vs. Bertoletti/Simpson winner

Final: Kobayashi/LeFevre/Thomas/ Shoudt winner vs. Chestnut/Janus/Bertoletti/Simpson winner

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Sheboygan-Press.com has an article about the 2007 Brat Days Festival with a picture of a fan wearing Eater X makeup. The schedule has not been finalized, but two events from 2006 that will be continued are listed:

A couple of guarantees, however, are the brat-eating contest and the traditional parade, sponsored by Piggly Wiggly and Fresh Brands.

The main musical guests will be Soul Asylum, Dokken and Trick Pony.

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PRNewswire has a press release about the Saint Patrick’s Day contest to be televised on Spike TV. The field will consist solely of the eaters in the top 8 of the IFOCE rankings: Takeru Kobayashi, Joey “Jaws” Chestnut, Sonya “The Black Widow” Thomas, “Humble” Bob Shoudt, Patrick Bertoletti, Timothy “Eater X” Janus, Richard LeFevre and Chip Simpson.

The first round food will be corned beef & cabbage, the second round will have jalapenos and green doughnuts will be used in the final round. Beef tongue will not be in the tournament, contrary to early reports.

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The 2007 Nathan’s qualifier schedule has been released. The first qualifier is March 24 at the Florida Panthers arena. The sites are basically the same as 2006, but Norfolk, VA has been replaced with Charlotte, NC

March 24, Sunrise, FL
May 3, Las Vegas, NV
May 19, Hartford, CT
May 26, Philadelphia, PA
June 2, Tempe, AZ
June 3, Shea Stadium, Queens, NY
June 9, Charlotte, NC
June 16, Mall of America, MN
June 22, Molly Pitcher Rest Area, NJ Turnpike
June 23, Zoo Atlanta
June 23, California (Location tbd)
June 27, NYC Civil Service Contest
June 28, QVC L.C.Q. Main Line Philly

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QueenMary.com has a list of entrants for today’s chili cheese fries contest. All eaters ranked #2-#8 are expected. The full list is available after the jump. The contest is expected to take place between 1 and 2 pm (4 and 5 pm eastern)

There has been little press coverage for this contest. This brief article about Jed Donahue was the only preview I could find.

Read the rest of this entry »

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chron.com reports that the 2007 IFOCE tamale eating contest has been scheduled for May 5 at the Berryhill Baja Grill in Houston.

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cantonrep.com has a brief preview of the AICE chili contest to be held February 17. One of the eaters expected to attend is “Pete Broken.”

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Austin360.com has a preview of the french fry eating contest to be held at Bikini’s Bar and Grill. Sonya Thomas is listed as a possible competitor.

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The IFOCE Bikini String Fry preview lists the following expected entrants: Joey Chestnut, Tim Janus, Chip Simpson, Seaver Miller, David Braunstein, Crazy Legs Conti & Larry McNeil

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sunsentinel.com has a brief preview of Saturday’s pretzel eating contest. The pretzels will be unsalted.

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The Mercury has a preview of tomorrow night’s Wing Off qualifier that will be held at the Trappe Tavern in Trappe, PA.

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The second Queen Mary World Chili Cheese Fries Eating Championship will be held in Long Beach on February 17. The purse is $10,000. Last year’s chili cheese fries contest was the last time Sonya Thomas defeated Joey Chestnut in an event she won. There contest will be held in conjunction with the Scottish Festival and an amateur haggis contest will be held.

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Insite Austin has a preview of the french fry contest to be held at Bikini’s Bar and Grill on January 27. The article is not available in HTML form, but can be viewed in the pdf for the current issue or in this screen capture. 6 of the top 10 IFOCE members, including Joey Chestnut, Tim “Eater X” Janus, “Humble” Bob Shoudt and Chip Simpson, are expected according to the article. Bikini clad waitresses will be present at the contest.

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(Thanks Jed Donahue) Eaters whose new year’s resolution is to exercise more might want to consider entering the Krispy Kreme Challenge in Raleigh, NC, on January 27 as it is the first contest I am aware of to include eating & cardiovascular activity. The contest will involve running from the NC State Bell Tower to a Krispy Kreme about 2 miles away, eating a dozen Krispy Kremes at that location, then running back to the bell tower. Regurgitation is frowned upon, but will apparently not result in disqualification. The race will be timed like a typical road race and proceeds will benefit the North Carolina Children’s Hospital.

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