EATORF.com has opened. They also have a cafepress merchandise page like the UEPa. The home page gives their mission statement:

E.A.T.O.R.F. is here to introduce and celebrate competitive eating on a consistent basis to the good people of NEPA. As one of the fastest growing sports in America, competitive eating offers the average character with a supernatural eating capacity and speed with which he or she eats a chance to shine and show off his or her skills in a way the typical family dinner frowns upon. If you’re one of the gifted then we have a special place for you where you’ll be honored, cheered for, and appreciated. And, if you’re one of the best, you’ll be rewarded with some cash and prizes, too!

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Wing Tut’s State of the Union Address has resulted in IFOCE rescinding his Nathan’s qualifier slots.

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Wing Tut has posted his address on the state of competitive eating which focuses on the difference between the two organizations.

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NetFlix and Spike TV have been added to the sponsors list on ifoce.com, so there will probably be a contest sponsored by NetFlix in the not too distant future. The presence of SpikeTv probably implies that the series of Spike TV MLE contests will continue despite the current lack of a working MLE page on spiketv.com

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(From AICE News) ADLAW reports that the Federal Communciations Commission has fined CBS, the owner of 610 WIP of Philadelphia, $4,000 for banning Arnie “Chowhound” Chapman from competing in Wing Bowl 13 for being a member of AICE when no explicit rule prohibiting eaters from that organization existed:

The station said it disqualified him from competing in Wing Bowl 13 because he belonged to a competitive eating association, the Association of Independent Competitive Eaters (AICE). CBS stated that AICE is a rival of the group historically associated with the Wing Bowl, the Independent Federation of Competitive Eating (IFOCE).

CBS argued that Mr. Chapman should have known that he could not compete in the contest because members of IFOCE-rival associations previously had been disqualified from participating in the Wing Bowl 12 for the same reason. CBS also pointed to contest rules that allowed the station to disqualify contestants for subjective criteria, and a rule requiring contestants be station listeners. Mr. Chapman did not reside within the station’s broadcast area, so he could not be a listener, CBS argued.

The FCC noted that according to its rules, broadcasters are required to “fully and accurately disclose the material terms” of a contest. Further, such contests must be conducted “substantially as announced or advertised.”

The FCC concluded that CBS willfully violated these rules and fined the station $4,000.

update More information can be found in the document detailing Chapman’s complaint at fcc.gov CBS claimed that Joe Menchetti’s disqualification from Wing Bowl 12 should have made Chapman aware that non-IFOCE members were not welcome:

[Chapman’s] participation was incompatible with the IFOCE’s participation. Chapman had at least constructive or presumptive knowledge of this from the facts surrounding Gentleman Joe’s disqualification from Wing Bowl 12 and from the realities of the competitive eating world . . . In Wing Bowl 12, WIP established that with IFOCE eaters included as Wing Bowl competitors, professional eaters allied with national organizations that are active IFOCE rivals would not be welcome as competitors.

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(From megamunch) A cafepress store selling merchandise with the United Eaters of Pennsylvania logo has opened at http://www.cafepress.com/uepa

In other Pennsylvania eating organization news, one of the founders of EATORF has challenged UEPa in the comments and eatorf.com has been reserved but has yet to officially open.

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AICE news reports the following information about an entrant in the Delaplane Strawberry Contest:

Brad “The Lunatic” Sciullo who is recognized as the current World Record Holder for drinking a gallon of milk (32 seconds!) and has also had some impressive outings in a major Waffle and Hamburger Eating Contest has informed AICE that he plans mass destruction on the record books this spring and summer. This wacky (but respected) chef states that he will be the next Strawberry Eating Champion and plans to explode on the scene in 2007.

Joey Chestnut drank a gallon of milk in 41 seconds for his 2006 Wing Bowl qualifying stunt.

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Erik “The Red” Denmark has returned to blogging after the tragic death of his mother with his thoughts on the state of Major League Eating at the conclusion of the first quarter of 2007.

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The new poll asks where you think the best non-IFOCE American eater, whoever you think that is, would rank in a poll listing all American eaters regardless of organization.

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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 new poll asks what you think is the average breakdown between the amount of food winding up in a competitor’s stomach vs. the amount of debris falling on the floor or table in a typical IFOCE contest.

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Brian Seiken has posted his response to the feedback he has received from his “State of the Union” video at http://hometown.aol.com/beautifulbrian43/page10.html

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Brian Seiken’s “State of the Union” address has been uploaded and can be viewed at http://hometown.aol.com/beautifulbrian43/speech.html

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beautifulbrian.com announces that Brian Seiken will make a statement about his issues with IFOCE/MLE on Thursday, March 22.

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Brian Seiken has emailed me that he is producing a “State of IFOCE/MLE Address” video for beautifulbrian.com to express his frustrations with that organization. He believes that the video might result in the termination of his involvement with IFOCE/MLE and possibly the end of his website altogether.

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Darren Rovell, formerly of ESPN and now with CNBC reports:

This week, the IFOCE is changing is name to Major League Eating. “This is another step towards making our sport more mainstream,” said Rich Shea, who along with his brother George, popularized the sport of eating contests in this country. MLE is launching a new Web site this Friday and will have its first live event under their new name, this Saturday at 7 p.m. on Spike TV. The eating circuit offered $500,000 in prizes in 2006 and the MLE will continue to offer contests in various new disciplines, including peanut butter and jelly eating this summer.

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IFOCE has updated its points standings The Queen Mary chili cheese fries contests is a 50 point event and no points were awarded for Wing Bowl 15.

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(Thanks Liz) Liz has written a post for urbanhonking/truefan about eating challenges and the IFOCE ban on those smorgasborgs. Liz relays the following offer from Heart Attack Grill owner “Dr.” John Basso:

Basso is offering the $10,000 dollars for the person who can beat Joey’s time, he says, because he knows he’ll see $11,000 in business as a result. His dream right now is to have Kobayashi, the world’s #1 ranked eater, come in and claim that money. He says after Joey did the stunt, he had someone teach him the correct Japanese phrasing in the hopes that the Kobayashi would hear the challenge he broadcast over the television. “And if someone can beat Kobayashi’s time, I’ll give them $12,000,” he said. Though for now, that challenge will have to be put on the shelf.

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The new poll lists several changes in the way contests could be judged and asks which one you would most like to see implemented.

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Liz has updated the fantasy eating scorecard up through the Wing Bowl and uploaded the results to http://groups.google.com/group/fantasyeating

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NorthJersey.com has an article about Pat “from Moonachie” Philbin which focuses on his suspension and reinstatement.

“We felt that the video that he did for ‘Opie & Anthony’ was somewhat outrageous,” Shea said. “But I think that, given the overwhelming support that he has among fans, there was a sense that we reacted too quickly and too strongly.

“There was a rush to judgment,” Shea said. “And we reversed it.”

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Here are some of the top eaters that are not members of any the fantasy competitive eating teams linked to their record

Eric Broe
Shaun Kesler
Nathan Kunce
Brian Miller
Mike Nafziger

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Liz has set up rules for fantasy competitive eating and teams have been listed at http://www.urbanhonking.com/truefan/archives/2007/01/fantasy_eating.html

A google group devoted to the competition has been set up at http://groups.google.com/group/fantasyeating

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The new poll asks who you believe will lead the 2007 IFOCE points standings. Kobayashi will have to increase the amount of contests he does considerably if he is to amass enough points to win.

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With the penalty in the Saturday’s pretzel contest, Sonya Thomas has received three deductions in the past six months which have cost her finishing positions & prize money.

Sept. Buffalo Wing Festival. Debris drops Sonya from being in 2nd place alone to a 2nd place tie with Bob Shoudt
Dec. Atlantic City meatball contest – Dropped from first place to 2nd place
Jan. Miami Pretzels – Dropped from second place tie w Tim Janus to 3rd place

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