Bodybuilding supplement company Controlled Labs is sponsoring another video based contest. The objective is to drink as much milk as possible in 3 minutes. The last day for drinking videos to be submitted is January 16. No one has come close to matching Joey Chestnut’s result of a gallon of milk in about 40 seconds which he accomplished for his Wing Bowl 14 stunt. The prize is a year’s supply of the appetite enhancer Black Hole.

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Brian Seiken has put beautifulbrian.com on hiatus, apparently in response to an exchange with Mark Lyle. Hopefully Brian will resume writing in the near future, but if he decides to move on, let’s thank him for all the work he has put into his site over the years.

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ThinkYouCanCompete.com reports that Mark “The Human Vacuum” Lyle has submitted a video of himself performing their 10 soft taco challenge in 4:23, almost halving The Masked Muncher’s time of 8:05.

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The covers of the Japanese translations of Horsemen of the Esophagus and Eat This Book are similar, but not as alike as the US versions:

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In a recent blog entry, Don “Moses” Lerman asks what hairstyle & facial hair he should adopt in 2007. The new poll asks which choice you prefer.

Don “Moses” Lerman has uploaded a lot of pictures from his previous contests and media appearances in his blog & mailbag.

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from an email from Bruce “The Hangman” Pobanz:

Koby is CHOKING.

What a difference a day makes. With 398 Thousand votes already cast, Koby went from FIRST to FOURTH place and is falling fast.

Which FIVE athletes make up your 2006 All-SportsNation Team?

52.3% Apolo Anton Ohno: Speed skater won a gold and two bronze medals at the 2006 Turin Winter Olympics.

44.0% Tiger Woods: Despite the loss of his father, finished 18 under par at the PGA Championship continuing his dominance of the field.

43.9% LaDanian Tomlinson: Explosive back is having the greatest offensive season ever by almost any standard.

43.9% Takeru Kobayashi: World hot dog eating champion (53 3/4) now holds the record for hamburgers (97). What will he scarf down next?

43.0% Reggie Bush: Heisman trophy winner has shown flashes of brilliance in the NFL, scoring four touchdowns against the 49ers.

Go to http://proxy.espn.go.com/chat/sportsnation/ballot?event_id=2646 to vote before Koby suffers a reversal and is DQ’ed to 6TH place.

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A video of four Japanese children assembling a giant cheeseburger can be seen at http://youtube.com/watch?v=c4uonZMXVu4 The burger patty is so large it must be cooked in quarters. It is claimed that the burger weighs 100 kg (220 lb) and has a diameter of 80 cm (32 inches)

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In his bits & pieces, Brian Seiken announces plans to make a Rocky parody. The lead role will be named “Rocky Bologna.” Don “Moses” Lerman is expected to play the role of Paulie, Rocky’s brother in law.

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(From Joe Menchetti) The missing person in the January 14 episode of “Without a Trace” (CBS 10 pm eastern ) is a competitive eater who disappears after a chili contest.

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KGO TV has an article and video on the science of competitive eating in which a gastroenterologist offers his opinion on why competitive eaters can eat as much as they do. Bob Shoudt is interviewed and segments from the Philadelphia Nathan’s qualifier in which Sonya Thomas and Pat Philbin competed against Humble Bob is displayed. The upcoming National Geographic documentary is not mentioned.

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youtube has a clip of the goldenpalace.net key lime pie contest won by Pat Bertoletti held in panama city beach, FL last March at http://youtube.com/watch?v=LW9S0z_jF6Q

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nj.com has an article about competitive eating which includes recipes for items eaten in contests such as fry bread and kolaches.

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The maker of the “Food Fighter” diet pill uses a picture of Kobayashi in their webpage for online sales. I am not sure if Kobayashi has given his permission to use his image in their advertising.

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Videos of Ian “the Invader” Hickman eating all the items on the McDonald’s dollar menu in under four minutes are available on youtube: Part 1, Part 2

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In a recent blog entry, Kobayashi denies rumors that he signed a contract with the Tokyo Broadcasting System and apparently says he will pass on all Japanese contests for the forseeable future.

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The new poll asks who you think was the top AICE eater in the previous year. AICE has a list of its most memorable moments in 2006 to help you remember who won what contest.

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R Suzuki has a summary of a program in which Natsuko “Gal” Sone and Takuya Yamamoto went to Japanese buffets. The total a la carte price of the food they ate was kept track of and the buffet cost was subtracted from that amount. Gal Sone saved 81520 Yen ($689) and Yamamoto saved ($788) The weight gain was also computed. Gal Sone gained 7 kg (15.4 lb) and Yamamoto gained 9.2 kg (20.2 lb) The calorielab blog also mentions the program

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wcbstv.com has an article and video about “Humble” Bob Shoudt breaking the cheesesteak record at Jim’s Steaks in Philadelphia. Humble Bob ate 13 sandwiches in about an hour to break the record of 12 set by Alex Friedman set in 2001 in a Wing Bowl qualifying stunt. Freidman broke Lynda Kuerth’s 1977 mark of 11 cheesesteaks, which remains the women’s record.

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I thought that the philly.com Wing Bowl videos page was not being updated because qualification attempts went on hiatus for the holidays, but qualifying stunts have apparently continued. Philly.com Wing Bowl notes says that “Obi Wing” recently qualified for the Wing Bowl. Obi Wing’s video cannot be found on philly.com, but it can be seen on youtube: Part 1, Part 2.

In other Wing Bowl news, “Dr. Martin Luther Wing” will try to qualify for the Wing Bowl tomorrow by eating chitlins. “Dr. Wing’s” manager is Wing Bowl 14 entrant Adam “Hungry Hungry Hebrew” Taxin says “Black history will be made this month of February.”

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The website for the AICE-affiliated Canadian Competitive Eaters Association, canadiancompetitiveeaters.com is now open. The organization’s founder is In-Ting Ho, also known as the “Hungry Genius”

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Erik “The Red” Denmark has posted a trip report and gallery from his trip to New York City last month to compete in the date nut bread sandwich contest. Erik also went to the pizzeria Tim Janus works at where he met with Kobayashi.

updatedI misread the “one should never pass up this opportunity” as the opportunity to appear in a commercial with Kobayashi and Sonya Thomas instead of the opportunity to dine with Kobayashi. The entry has been corrected.

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thinkyoucancompete.com has opened registration on its first video based contest. Entrants will record videos of themselves eating 10 soft Taco Bell tacos. Registration is January 5 and all videos must be uploaded by January 10.

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Here are some of the top stories in the world of competitive eating from 2006 ranked in no particular order. The new poll asks what you think is the most significant event.

Joey Chestnut emerged as the top American eater, becoming the first American to scare Kobayashi and break the 50 HDB barrier.

Kobayashi continued his winning streak and competed in four contests in the United States in 2006, up from three last year.

Sonya Thomas had several disappointing contests in the second half of 2006, resulting in her dropping to the #4 ranking. Sonya’s frustrations resulted in her walking off the awards presentation at the meatball contest.

Pat Bertoletti, Chip Simpson, Bob Shoudt and Tim Janus improved to the level where they could challenge for first place in most contests on a good day.

Natsuko “Gal” Sone established herself as not only the top female Japanese eater, but also as a celebrity in general with numerous television appearances.

IFOCE stalwarts Badlands Booker, Cookie Jarvis and Don “Moses” Lerman retired (Lerman claims his retirement will be temporary) Dom Cardo and Scott Soiffer retired from AICE. “Theeta” Rappai, probably the world’s top non US/Japanese eater, retired and died several months afterwards.

IFOCE lost two major sponsors: GoldenPalace.net, when Congress passed a law banning transferring funds to online casino and Alka Seltzer when company’s German bosses cancelled the US Open of Competitive Eating II.

Tom “Goose” Gilbert was probably the top eater in AICE as 2006 closed despite competing in that organization for only half a year.

Pat Philbin was expelled from the IFOCE after appearing in a video which IFOCE management considered in bad taste. Philbin’s membership was restored after Opie & Anthony listeners voiced their disapproval.

Dale Boone returned from India and was suspended for undisclosed reasons soon afterward. After the suspension was lifted, he established himself as one of the top southern eaters.

Several notable non-IFOCE & non-AICE contests were held including Moe’s Southwest Grill’s Burritos for Life, a tournament in which every franchise held a contest.

Several IFOCE rookies, notably Seaver Miller, Arturo Rios Jr., Erik Denmark and Juliet Lee, established themselves as eaters to watch in 2007.

Three IFOCE contests were televised on ESPN. MTV’s True Life documentary was another notable progam about competitive eating.

Competitive eating appears to have started to take root in China. At least five contests were held in Chinese-speaking country in which a foreigner competed.

The Heart Attack Grill received loads of publicity, more for its waitresses nurses outfits than it Quadruple Bypass Burger eating challenge.

The rise of youtube greatly facilitated viewing eating contest and other competitive eating videos. Brian Seiken produced a lot of non-contest competitive eating programming.

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Andrew “Skinnyboy” Lane has uploaded the clip from the Nascar parody “Ricky Bobby” in which the protagonist refers to Kobayashi at http://youtube.com/watch?v=uyVj0FFL-Pw Kobayashi is not mentioned by name, only as “that Asian guy who holds the world record for eating all those hot dogs in a row” Ricky also mentions two other great champions: Don Shula and Rue McClanahan.

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Kobayashi eating 58 bratwursts at the Johnsonville Bratwurst contest made the Sheboygan Press’ list of notable 2006 events. Clarence Mertz’s efforts to suppress that contest made the list of offbeat events.

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