Upcoming New York City eating contests
(All New York City eating challenges and contests in database)
Link Buffet: July 20, 2008
- Nathan’s finals gallery
- Lamb’s rib eating contest in California
- Dani’s Pizza qualifier galleries and results (from MissGluttonsBliss)
- Coney Island taco eating contest video
- Octopus ball eating contest in Japan
Link Buffet: July 16, 2008
- NY Time City Room blog has a picture of Pat Bertoletti, Sonya Thomas and Bob Shoudt superimposed with faces from the Spook-A-Rama ride
- Epicurious’ list of food-based video games
- Topeka jalapeno contest report
- Nathan’s gallery by MissCharo
- George Hadary wins Dallas La Contena jalapeno eating contest
- Yelp reviews of Nathan’s finals
Freakonomics co-author reports from the Nathan’s finals
Stephen J. Dubner, co-author of Freakonomics, attended the Nathan’s finals and has a short blog entry about that event with a picture of post-contest hot dog debris.
Kobayashi says he dined with an unnamed author who is probably Dubner before the Nathan’s finals and has a blog entry about meeting him .
Dubner says that competitive eating might be a topic of SuperFreakonomics. Will the IFOCE have Ryan Nerz write another book to counter that project?
Queens dumpling registration open
Registration for the 5th Chef One Dumpling Eating Contest is now open (registration form). The competition will take place at the Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival in Flushing Meadows, Queens on August 3. The event will have men’s and women’s divisions and both divisions will award $1800 in prize money. Joe Menchetti and Floria Lee are expected to return to defend their titles.
Val Bromann Nathan’s blog entry and gallery
Valerie Bromann, who previously photographed the Krystal Square Off finals, attended last week’s Nathan’s finals and posted a blog entry and gallery with over 100 pictures.
Link Buffet: July 9, 2008
- Erik Denmark has a report from Coney Island
- Ian Hickman interview for delawareonline.com
- MissBusyLady believes Joey Chestnut should have won Nathan’s in regulation time
- HungrySisters on the Nathan’s finals
- List of Delaware eating challenges
- Mindy Kaling predicts she will eat “thousands of beets” at The Office Games
- NY Daily News reports on Peggy O’Neill’s July burger contest and reports the winner as “Pete Zerwinski”
- Greenwood, SC hot dog contest Saturday, $100 first prize
- Top 16 things overheard at the Nathan’s finals
- Will Millender added to non-IFOCE rankings
- Darren Rovell says he will drink 6 bottles of ketchup in 10 minutes if the Steelers leave Pittsburgh
Link Buffet: July 8, 2008
- Kevin Ross article on pe.com
- Pete Davekos article in the Boston Herald
- Podcast of the Lefevres’ appearance on Nevada Public Radio
- column about Brooklyn Stinky Cheese contest
- Wall Street Fighter’s blog entry about attending the Nathan’s finals
- Mindy Kaling to compete in the Office Games beet eating contest
- Rich Shea clips from Awful Announcing
- Qualifier schedule on nathansfamous.com still lists June 24 Tokyo qualifier
- Michelle Lesch to go for 11th oyster eating contest at the Knysna Oyster Festival in South Africa
Kobayashi blogs bilingually on the 2008 Nathan’s finals
Kobayashi has written two blog entries containing English about the recent Nathan’s finals. One thanks fans for their support, the other contains Kobayashi’s thoughts on the overtime format (not automatically translated):
In this case, I think the correct approach is to look at the situation as this: we decided the winner through a different event (rather than that we decided the winner in an extension of the 10-minute battle).
So for me, deciding the champion in a five hot dog challenge is no different to deciding the champion by playing “rock, scissors, paperâ€.
Kobayashi also has a blog entry comparing winning qualifier totals with the amounts eaten in the finals.
Columnist Ken Hoffman judges Nathan’s finals
Ken Hoffman of the Houston Chronicle has a column about serving as a judge at the Nathan’s finals, where he was assigned to keep track of Juris Shibayama’s total. Hoffman did not focus 100% on counting the amount of hot dogs eaten by “Dr. Big Time”:
Even though I was counting Shibayama’s hot dogs, I was videotaping Chestnut and Kobayashi’s furious assault on processed meat and enriched white bread. I looked like a total tourist with my badge and camera dangling from my neck.
While the contest was going on, my cell phone rang. It was my buddy Sean Pendergast. “I’m watching on TV — which judge are you?”
The column reports that the Major League Eating Wii game will be released next week, which would give it a Bastille Day release date and set up the possibility of a crepe eating contest to promote its launch.
George Shea describes how the overtime format was decided on:
“In most matches, we use a one-minute overtime to decide ties,” Shea said. “However, the speed with which Kobayashi and Chestnut eat would have made it very difficult to judge who had eaten more. I felt it would be more decisive to have a five-hot-dog eat-off.”
Juliet Lee to appear in Food Network documentary
Juliet Lee has updated her WriteNow page with news from her trip to the Nathan’s finals where she received the 2008 IFOCE Rookie of the Year award. She also announced that she finished recording a documentary being produced by the Food Network.
The pictures above are from valjean615’s flickr gallery from the Nathan’s finals, which includes pictures of all competitors entrances (Arturo Rios also removed his shirt like Juris Shibayama) along with the Rookie of the Year ceremony. Patrick Vandam and Juris Shibayama were apparently the other finalists for that award.
Other July 4, 2008 contests
- Furious Pete wins Coney Island burgers by eating 9.75 burgers in 6 minutes. He will attempt Clinton Station Diner’s Zeus burger today.
- Rock Hill, SC hot dog contest
- Pensacoloa, FL hot dog contest
- Round Rock, TX jalapeno eating contest
- St. George, UT hot dog contest
- St. Petersburg, FL hot dog contest
Joey repeats as Nathan’s champion in overtime
Results from the Nathan’s finals
1. Joey Chestnut 59, won 5 hot dog eat off
2. Takeru Kobayashi 59
3. Tim Janus 42
4. Pat Bertoletti 38
5. Sonya Thomas 34
Online news archives contradict Rich Shea’s claim that the contest was the first to be tied at the end of regulation time: 1990, 1980, 1978 (Memorial Day weekend)
Comments on this post are now closed. Please use the second place poll thread to comment on the Nathan’s finals.
update #4
Gothamist blog entry and gallery
Sports Illustrated article and gallery
Joey Chestnut’s mother prepares for her son’s return
Jill Stoler blog entry about Coney Island contest
July 5 update #3
Yardbarker report from Coney Island. Juliet Lee was named rookie of the year.
Newsday article and gallery
New York Post report
San Jose Mercury article
Calorie Lab blog entry
ABC News article
Wackbag thread with Pat Philbin pictures
Times and Democrat column
Southtown Star article about Pat Bertoletti
BBC news video
Kobayashi’s blog entry about the contest
Praise for Rich LeFevre
Anti-CE thread in Serious Eats from Raphael Brion
update #2 IFOCE.com has full results (from Crawfish)
AP article
Gersh Kuntzman column
ESPN.com video
flickr gallery by dietrich (from TechCrunch)
update NECN.com has the contest video in its entirety
The teleblog follows after the jump.
Read the rest of this entry »
Link Buffet #3: July 3, 2008
- Tampa Bay Online article about Nathan’s finals
- Joey Chestnut interview for Tampa Bay Online
Q: Do you and Kobayashi actually hate each other?
A: We might like each other in 15 years when we’re done. A lot of us are close friends. - Hall Hunt article in First Coast News
- AFP article about Nathan’s finals. Kobayashi says he will eat at least 60 HDB
- Japan Today article about Nathan’s finals
- Little Italy pasta contest July 5
- Updated odds on gambling911.com
- re-release of 2007 Jason Fagone article about C E injuries (from Wing Kong & Megamunch)
- Youtube video of QVC qualifier
- More comments on the WSJ Health blog
amNY weigh in article and gallery
amNY has an article and gallery from this afternoon’s weigh in. The finals have been officially shortened to 10 minutes. The listed weights in the article:
Joey Chestnut, 210 lb.
Takeru Kobayashi, 128 lb.
Juliet Lee 110 lb.
Gersh Kuntzman has a new column disparaging Kobayashi’s chances at reclaiming the belt.
The Big Lead sport blog has a preview of the Nathan’s finals
Sarah DiGregorio, who wrote the Village Voice article about Conti & Janus, will appear on the Ron Kuby show on Air America this evening at 5:45
update
Gothamist has a blog entry about the weigh in
Link Buffet: July 3, 2008
Articles about Nathan’s finalists
- Pat Philbin – NJ.com
- Hall Hunt – Orlando Sentinel
- Nate Biller – MySanAntonio.com
- Pete Davekos – Boston Herald
- Takeru Kobayashi – NY Daily News
- The Wall Street Journal’s health blog on competitive eating
- Will Millender and Sal Carbone expected at Peggy O’Neil’s hamburger eating contest
- IFOCE BBQ sandwich eating contest near Tulsa July 26 – registration opens Monday (from Crawfish)
- The Sporting News blog thinks Nathan’s hype is down in 2008
Badlands Booker performance tonight at Rehab
Badlands Booker has emailed the following information about his performance tonight
July, 2 2008
Hungry & Focused 4 Fork Knife & Mic Concert Live @ Rehab
25 Ave B, Lower East Side (Formerly Club Midway), New York, New York
Cost : $5. More Info: www.clubmidway.comDon’t even think about Sleeping on July 4th Week Because Badlands will be burning the midnight oil performing songs off the critically acclaimed CE Themed-Hip hop Album Hungry & Focused 4_Fork knife & Mic. I will also be performing hits from the previous H&F albums in anticipation of the upcoming 92nd. Annual Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest. so come by Club Rehab The Day B4 the big show, Wednesday night at 11:33 PM. to experience Hungry & Focused Live Midnight Show. Don’t miss it and we’ll See u There!
Kuntzman: Joey a “disgusting spectacle” without G. Shea
Gersh Kuntzman has a new column in the Brooklyn Paper about the Nathan’s finals. The first half is about Kobayashi receiving a sponsor’s exemption. The second half is an encomium to George Shea which closes with the following statement:
So, sure, Joey Chestnut may down 60 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes on Friday, but without Shea, he’d just be a disgusting spectacle.
ABCNews also has a new interview with Kobayashi.
Nathan’s weigh-in tomorrow?
Does anyone know if the traditional July 3 weigh in for Nathan’s finalists will take place tomorrow? I have not been able to find any coverage online about that event. The IFOCE.com websites have yet to be updated with any information about the upcoming Nathan’s finals (or Kevin Ross’ qualifier victory).
Conti & Janus in The Village Voice
The new issue of The Village Voice has a long article about Crazy Legs Conti and Tim “Eater X” Janus. The roommates will also be profiled in an upcoming issue of Italian Vogue
updated removed sentence about 33 gram bun
Nathan’s winners 1967-1989 from news archives
A listing of Nathan’s winners obtained from online news archives follows.
Some notes about the contests:
- 1986 title match, Hiroaki Tominaga was the first reported Japanese competitor in a Nathan’s contest. At 6 feet, 6 inches and 264 pounds, he is considerably larger than Nobuyuki “the Giant” Shirota. While in New York City, he competed in the Empire State Building staircase race and finished last.
- 1984 Birgit Felden is the only reported female winner of a July 4 contest. She is now a business professor unless there are multiple Birgit Feldens from Cologne.
- 1981 It was not clear from the contest report if the duration was 5 minutes or the winner stopped eating after that time and had a large enough margin to win.
- 1978 Co-champion Kevin Sinclair was 10 years old
- 1974 Atlantic City – this is the first reported contest outside Coney Island. The runner-up, Carmen Cordero, might be the winner of the first two Wing Bowls.
- 1972 Labor Day – After her victory, Melody Andorfer said “I’m determined not to let those male chauvinist pigs dominate us any longer.” She would model swimsuits in articles about Coney Island in 1973 and 1974.
- 1967 – this contest was held to commemorate the centennial of the hot dog. It is difficult to believe that Walter Paul ate 127 hot dogs in an hour, but that is what is in the news archive.
The following contests are mentioned in the news archives, but no winners were reported for them:
| 1979 Jul 4 | I | Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest | Coney Island | Brooklyn, NY |
| 1973 Sep 1 | I | Nathan’s Famous Corn on the Cob Eating Contest | Coney Island | Brooklyn, NY |
| 1973 Jul 4 | I | Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest | Coney Island | Brooklyn, NY |
The 1973 labor day weekend contest was changed to a corn on the cob contest due to a lack of meat. The unnamed winner ate 4 ears in less than 3 minutes.
Link Buffet: June 30, 2008
- Jill Stoler has a belated birthday tribute to Pat Bertoletti
- Poll about biggest eating baseball players: (1st Babe Ruth 2nd John Kruk 3rd Tommy LaSorda)
- Sonya has a commentary about the Nathan’s finals
- Furious Pete is seeking a dining partner for his attempt at the Zeus Burger at the Clinton Station Diner July 5.
- Kobyashi reports he is now in New York City
- Tomoko Miyake has an autograph signing session for her new book
Kobayashi on 2008 Nathan’s finals
Kobayashi has posted an entry about the upcoming Nathan’s finals on his blog. It is not 100% clear from the automatic translation, but he appears to commit to competing in the July 4 contest. (The comments seem to think he will attempt to win his seventh title) From the automatic translation:
NEISANZU 2008 world championships
Play! ï¼ !
I said you left the tournament career makeover?
Where to play sports or another kind of feeling.
So I thought at the goal and still HAKKIRI MITSUKARANAKU I have no choice.
First of all, I aimed to win it from the start,
Thank you cheer! ï¼ !
If Kobayashi does compete, he will most likely receive a bye since it does not appear a Japan Nathan’s qualifier will be held in 2008 even though the qualifier registration form listed the date of the Tokyo qualifier as June 24. Some commenters have speculated that Kobayashi will compete in the San Francisco qualifier on Saturday. The last time Kobayashi was not the defending champion for an IFOCE event which had qualifiers, the 2004 Krystal Square Off finals, he entered the Jacksonville qualifier the week before.
Kobayashi has a blog entry about dining at Nobuyuki Shirota’s restaurant and doing a noodle eating challenge there. Shirota also has a post about the meal on his blog.
update Sponichi.co.jp has an article about Kobayashi which makes it pretty clear he intends to compete
Link Buffet: June 23, 2008
- Erik Denmark to compete in the Detlef Schrempf Celebrity Golf Classic today. Kato Kaelin will also be a participant.
- Pat Bertoletti on the Nathan’s finals
- Jamie of Hungry Sisters on her 9 HDB performance at Myrtle Beach
- Jill Stoler has a report with videos of the Brooklyn Stinky Cheese eating contest. Will Millender won the contest.
- “Beautiful” Brian judges the NYC Olive Garden and finds it wanting
- Chicago Pizzafest results
- No MLE video game release this week
Link Buffet: June 21, 2008
- Dallas Observer interviews Timm Dilling and veterinarian Jim Clawson
- Next UEPa meeting scheduled for R U Hungry? at State College, PA July 12 or 13
- Captain Lou Albano vs. King Kong Bundy pie eating contest from 1985 WWE Halloween Special
- Sales video for Don Lerman’s dentures
- Pat Bertoletti videos on Yardbarker: post Wing Bowl drinking with Steakbellie, Promo for Spike TV Ham & Eggs contest
- Beautiful Brian on Scozzy Bone
- Brooklyn Stinky Cheese eating contest preview
- Egg McMuffin eating contest for Bank of America interns. Megamunch’s office probably has better eaters:
It took the “winner” FIFTY MINUTES to eat FOUR NON-EGG McMuffins. Pretty much makes you want to vom, doesn’t it? You’re in good company, because according to one of the overseers of the event, the “winner” just asked if he could go throw up. He was told that he loses if he does. Meaning that the other intern who ATE THREE McMUFFINS AND THEN GAVE UP would be declared the winner.
Tim Janus wins at Shea Stadium
Results from IFOCE.com
1. Tim Janus, 42 HDB
2. Allen Goldstein, 24.5
3. Pat Philbin 21
Here is some video from the fastest concert sellout in the history of Shea Stadium.
update The New York Daily News has a writeup by a reporter who competed in the contest.
Jill Stoler and Beautiful Brian have qualifier reports.
update #2 Beautiful Brian has a video of the qualifier
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