The Jewish Herald Voice has a report on Sunday’s matzoh ball eating contest held at Kenny’s & Ziggy’s New York Delicatessen in Houston. Hopefully the event did not produce a loss for the Marvin Zindler Fund for Pancreatic Cancer Research; only four non-professionals (who contributed at least $250) competed. The contest had a representative from a CPA firm counting each competitor’s total.

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InsideBayArea.com reports that Pat Bertoletti will attempt to block Joey Chestnut’s quest to “four-peat” the deep fried asparagus eating contest held at the Stockton Asparagus Festival. This will be their third meeting this year. Joey currently has a 4 contest winning streak against Pat, who had a 4 contest streak prior to Joey’s streak.

Pat Bertoletti has a jalapeno contest and Escoffier Dinner report in his myspace blog. A gallery of that contest is also available (from a Pat Bertoletti comment)

A full list of Chestnut vs. Bertoletti matchups since the start of 2007 is available after the jump:
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Kenny & Ziggy’s New York Delicatessen, Houston, TX, 8 minutes

1. Joey Chestnut – 78
2. Patrick Bertoletti – 76
3. Juris “Dr. Big Time” Shibayama – 40
4. Nathan Biller – 30
? Rubik – 14
? Elizabeth – 9

Juris Shibayama reports that the balls were about racquet ball sized in a small amount of broth and were cooked, but cold. He also says that Joey donated $500 (1/2 of his cash prize) to the MD Anderson Cancer Center and he donated $250. Patrick Bertoletti also donated an unknown amount.

update
Galleries: llamarama, smugmug (has a lot of pictures of Elizabeth)
Contest video

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(From Rhonda Evans) Joey Chestnut was interviewed by Ben & Matt on KNIX Country of Phoenix on February 13 to talk about the upcoming MLE video game. Joey is unable to provide any details about that project except for the fact that the IFOCE contract signs away video game rights. He does not disclose how much he was paid, if any, for the use of his electronic likeness but does say that he is looking for a good competitive eating agent.

Joey also says that he expects to break Badlands Booker’s matzo ball record in Houston and calls Kobayashi a “little liar” for claiming he had an injury in the 2007 Nathan’s finals.

Streaming audio of interview, Direct link to MP3 file of interview (9 MB, 9 minutes)

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In 2004, Iguana’s Taqueria in San Jose held a contest in which $500 was awarded to the fastest finisher of a 5.25 pound “Burritozilla” burrito. Joey Chestnut would win that contest with a time of 4 minutes and 26 seconds, which would launch his competitive eating career. A yelp thread about the restaurant reports that Joey continues to train on Burritozillas. A picture of the burrito with a ruler shows it is about a foot and a half long.

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The Vallejo Times Herald reports that Joey Chestnut has not started practicing for his next contest:

“I’ve never had a matzoh ball,” Joey said Friday. “There’s not much of a Jewish community in Vallejo. I’m looking for a place in San Jose that sells ’em.”

Joey has sold the Toyota Tundra he won at the Wing Bowl and is undecided if he will keep the motorcycle he won for winning the first half.

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update The full “Ham & Egg” program is available on Spike TV’s MLE page

Ham contest results

1 Joey Chestnut 7.14 lbs. in 8 minutes
2 Pat Bertoletti 6.34
3 Tim Janus 4.1
4 Tim Brown 3.34
5 Rich LeFevre 3.24
6 Hall Hunt 3.00
7 Juliet Lee 2.98
8 Juris Shibayama 1.7

The ham standings are announced as the new rankings, which would put Juris Shibayama at #8 and ahead of Bob Shoudt, Sonya Thomas, Chip Simpson and Kobayashi.

Hard boiled eggs contest
1 Erik Denmark 61 eggs in 8 minutes
2 Chris Abatsas 59.5
3 Micah “Wing Kong” Collins 49
4 Allen Goldstein 48
5 Arturo Rios 43
6 Steakbellie 40

Erik Denmark’s result is announced as a new world record despite being less than Sonya’s amount (65) and in a longer time (6:40 vs 8:00)

Screen captures of the rankings and the teleblog follows after the jump:
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Wing Bowl 16 results

1 241 wings Joey Chestnut
2 227 Pat Bertoletti
3 205 El Wingador
4 143 US Male
5 139 Gentleman Jerry

Brad Sciullo was #2 after the first round, but disqualified in the second for “snotting a wing”

Feb 4 update
Jill Stoler has a blog entry about attending the pre contest tailgate, but she was unable to miss work to attend the Wing Bowl
about.com has an article & gallery

Feb 2 update
AP article says the next contest for Chestnut is the asparagus contest
Dan Gross column
nj.com article about “El Wingador”
courierpostonline article and gallery
PhillySportsLine gallery
Julio “El Zorro” Davila
Article about 6th place finisher Michael Sarian
article about “Dr. Digestion”
Wing Bowl videos on insidetheiggles.com

update Wing Bowl coverage
Philly.com has videos and galleries
cbs3.com article and slideshow
6abc.com article and video
nbc10.com article and slideshow
MyFoxPhilly.com article with 6 videosand slideshow
CourierPostOnline.com article
Philly.com liveblog
Philebrity liveblog
PhillyMag blog entry
Sports Illustrated article
Angelo Cataldi galleries

The Wing Bowl radio blog is available after the jump
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In today’s Wing Bowl column by Dan Gross, Joey Chestnut announces that Wing Bowl 16 will be his final Wing Bowl and that he is not sure about other major upcoming eating contests:

The San Jose State civil engineering major says his rigorous competitive eating schedule interferes with his studies. He also blames the sport and constantly being away from home for the recent breakup with his girlfriend of two years.

Chestnut isn’t sure whether he will defend his Mustard Yellow Belt July 4 at Coney Island, N.Y., in Nathan’s Famous International Hot Dog contest. Last year he defeated Japan’s Takeru Kobayashi, bringing the title back to the United States.

The column also reports that the son of MLB reliever Tug McGraw is working on constructing Brad Sciullo’s float.

Big Brian Subich emailed the WIP odds for Wing Bowl 16:

10. Boring John 30-1
9. The Wolfman 25-1
8. Steakbellie 25-1
7. Humble Bob Shoudt 20-1
6. The Bulldog 20-1
5. US Male Dave Goldstein 12-1
4. Pat Bertoletti 10-1
3. BIG BRIAN 5-1
2. El Wingador 3-1
1. Joey Chestnut 2-1

update Philly.com has the odds for all eaters. Pat Bertoletti and Brian Subich are the #3 favorites at 10-1 odds.

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In today’s Wing Bowl column by Dan Gross, Joey Chestnut says he came to Philadelphia on Friday to practice on wings from the new supplier and visit strip clubs with competitive eating friends. There is also a section about “Gentleman” Jerry Coughlan.

The vomiting by “Sloth” mentioned in the column can be seen in a video recorded by MegaMunch.

DelawareOnline.com has an interview with Jeff “The Natural” Olson

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Dan Gross’ new Wing Bowl column on philly.com has quotes from George Shea who says:

Bill “El Wingador” Simmons “is the purest wing eater I’ve ever seen. He has complete comfort with the wing, but El Wingador competing against [Joey] Chestnut is like Don Rickles playing golf against Tiger Woods.”

Shea makes the following defense of “El Wingador”: “Wingador has something none of the other IFOCE eaters have. Passion.” and then apparently contradicts himself in the following sentence: “He has a passion for this event like most other eaters, but I don’t think he can beat Joey.”

The claim appears that Joey Chestnut “competes in IFOCE events around the world”, but I believe there are 8 active IFOCE/AICE eaters who have competed outside North America, with Sonya Thomas being the only IFOCE member in that group.

The column describes the relationship between the Wing Bowl and the IFOCE: “The IFOCE grants a provisional sanction to the Wing Bowl, but does not oversee the event and is not involved with its judging.”

Dave “U. S. Male” Goldstein, who will turn 40 the weekend of the Wing Bowl, also appears in the column and will be competing for more than prizes:

Goldstein is taking pledges for Rangerforacure.info, a charity set up by Army ranger Chris Young, who battled thyroid cancer and now raises money to fight childhood cancer. Interested parties may contact Goldstein at USMaleWingBowl@aol.com

PhillyBurbs.com has a report on Michael Sarian’s victory in Saturday’s hoagie eating qualifier which claims that the field for this year’s Wing Bowl is 28, including 10 professional eaters and 18 nonprofessionals.

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The current top 10 in ESPN’s All-SportsNation Team of 2007

64.7% Randy Couture
30.2% Floyd Mayweather Jr.
17.7% Tom Brady
12.9% Alex Rodriguez
12.7% Brett Favre
11.2% Tiger Woods
8.6% LeBron James
7.9% Randy Moss
5.3% Joey Chestnut
5.3% Kobe Bryant

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(from mosesnews.com) Joey Chestnut’s victory over Takeru Kobayashi is listed as one of the best 10 sports stories of 2007 in a column by Jeff Gordon (not the NASCAR driver) on msn.foxsports.com. Other entries in the list include Brett Farve’s resurgence, the Colorado Rockies end of season run and Appalachian State’s upset over Michigan.

In another end of year accolade, George Shea has been named one of the mockingwords blog’s favorite people of 2007.

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Joey Chestnut is a choice in ESPN.com’s online poll to determine the 5 members of the 2007 All-SportsNation Team. If the poll is like last year’s, voters will be able to vote an unlimited number of times.

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The endless simmer blog is having an online poll to determine the eater of the year. The choices are Joey Chestnut, The Locavore Four, Anthony Bourdain, Padma Lakshmi, Chocolate Jesus and Al Gore.

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The San Jose Mercury blog reports that Joey Chestnut judged a hot dog eating contest at half time of the basketball game between San Jose State and Santa Clara. The blog entry is about the author getting an autograph from Joey.

I told him a friend of mine was a fan (again: not totally sure about this now), and I asked for his autograph.

I also told him I work at the Merc (at least until my editors read this) and was covering the game (full disclosure is always best).

For good measure, I asked if he is currently enrolled at SJSU.

“Yeah, but I’m only taking two classes,” he said. Then he paused and kinda half-grinned. “I do other things.”

66 dogs in 12 minutes — I’d say that qualifies as “other things.”

J.C. was really, really nice, and very polite, and he happily signed the autograph (FYI: he’s lefthanded).

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In a philly.com column, Joey Chestnut says he will exceed 200 wings at Wing Bowl 16. Joey plans to travel to Philadelphia later this month to practice on P. J. Whelihan’s wings. Whelihan’s is the new official Wing Bowl supplier, replacing the Rib Ranch.

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The University of California at Davis dedicated their halftime show to SJSU student Joey Chestnut when they played at San Jose State University in September.

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Today is Joey Chestnut’s 24th birthday. November 1983 has to be considered the strongest month for competitive eaters when you consider that Takuya Yamamoto (November 5) and Tomoko Miyake (November 21) have already turned 24 this month.

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TimesHerald.com has an interview with Joey Chestnut and his mother Alicia to promote tomorrow’s broadcast of the Turkey Bowl (on Spike TV at 11 am and 7 pm). Joey says he intends to use the leverage he has amassed:

As for his status as the Top Dog on the planet when it comes to quick consumption of considerable quantities, Chestnut realizes that some day he’ll use his status to leverage higher fees from sponsors.

“Who said I didn’t already start that?” he said laughing, adding that a few more years and who knows, perhaps “The Joey Chestnut Story” will hit the big screen.

Mother Chestnut and son have differences of opinion when it comes to the actor playing the starring role.

“Adam Sandler,” Alicia Chestnut said.

“Matt Damon,” son grinned.

In a San Jose Mercury article, Joey says that the first book he loved was the Red Pony by John Steinbeck

update Joey is the choice for sportsman of the year for one writer on sportsillustrated.com

I will not be able to teleblog the “Turkey Bowl”

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Joey Chestnut is in the sportsblog Deadspin’s tournament for determining the Sports Human of the Year (SHOTY). The tournament has 16 entries and Joey Chestnut is facing youtube commentator Kige Ramsey in his first round matchup. Kige is seeded #2 and Joey is seeded #15. Kige is currently leading 74% to 26%.

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In her debut competition, Samantha Begoun wins Chicago area hot dog eating contest by eating 9 hot dogs in 10 minutes, defeating the male runner up by half a hot dog
Asian food eating contest for New Jersey college students
Joey Chestnut article in The Chronicle of Higher Education, requires payment to read whole article
Forum thread on running message board about the McDonald’s Dollar Menu Challenge
Slideshow of hot dog eating contest at the Southern Illinois University
Kalamazoo restaurant brings back the “Bomb Burger”, one pound with one pound of fries
Austin TX pizza contest November 17

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The online Wall of Fame at HeartAttackGrill.com has been restored. There is also a new picture of record holder Joey Chestnut on the home page.

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A clip from ESPN’s Sportcenter about the results of Krystal Square Off IV can be viewed at http://broadband.espn.go.com/ivp/splash2?id=3084545

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“Joey Chestnut” is currently (3:50 pm eastern) the #8 search term on the front page of yahoo.com

A screen capture is available after the jump
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