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.

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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).

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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

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The producer of the promotional contest that took place in Westbury, NY yesterday between Eric “Badlands” Booker and “Hungry” Charles Hardy has a blog entry and gallery of the event. Kobayashi does not appear in the pictures.

update (from Sean Gordon) Kobayashi’s most recent blog entry says he was too fatigued to appear at the Long Island event.

update #2 The news video clip is now available

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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:

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.

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Kobayashi’s latest blog entry is about qualification for Nathan’s (automatically translated):

Thus the final closeup, I can play in qualifying and has been limited.

Today is the last chance tournament will be held in Long Island.

I like playing as soon as physically.

Chances are slim.

Eric is likely to play, I want my best! ！ !

The “Eric is likely to play” statement means that he will probably appear at Eric “Badlands” Booker and “Hungry” Charles Hardy’s promo contest this afternoon.

Sponichi has an article

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• 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
  

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Beautiful Brian’s Bits & Pieces mentions that Eric “Badlands” Booker and “Hungry” Charles Hardy will compete in a promotional contest early next week. The blog for the contest producer has more information about the event:

Monday, June 30th at 3pm

Nathans Famous
1530 Old Country Rd
Westbury, NY 11590
(516) 832-8900‎

This location is east of Meadowbrook Parkway. It is a big Nathans/Burritoville/Arthur Treachers/Famous Rays (down the block from the main Nathans Headquarters). Come down to watch if you want to be a part of the show.

The segment will be shown on TV10/55 News at Eleven’s sports report at 11pm on June 30th or July 1st.

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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! ！ !

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! ！ !

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

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• 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

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• 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.

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Mattituck, NY strawberry shortcake results via ifoce.com & mosesnews

1st Pat Bertoleti 14.5 lbs
2nd Tim Janus 12lbs.
3rd Crazy Legs Conti 9.5 lbs
4th Eric Booker 9.25 lbs

update BeautifulBrian.com has a contest report with near complete results

update #2 A video of Beautiful Brian and Badlands Booker performing “Bonebreaker” is available on youtube

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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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Gersh Kuntzman’s article about the reduction of Nathan’s contests by 2 minutes has been updated with an image of the document that established the original contest duration at 10 minutes according to George Shea.

The New York Times (via the Google archive) reports that the 1978 Memorial Day contest in which Kevin Sinclair, then 10 years old, tied for first was 6.5 minutes long:

[May 30, 1978] … swimming pools for the season. .fit Nathan’s Famous in Concy Island. 4-foot 9-inch 75-pound Kevin Sinc lair, of Brooklyn, 10 years old, tied an IS-. … for first place in the hot-dog-eat ing contest, a field of 28 contestants to get down 10 hot dogs, with buns, in six-and-one-half minutes. …
From Many of Holidayless New Yorkers Made Yesterday… – New York Times ($$)

update The New York Times City Room has a blog entry about the contest length

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(from anon comment) Gersh Kuntzman has an article for the Brooklyn Papers about the shortening of Nathan’s qualifiers by 2 minutes which states that the July 4 finals will be 10 minutes as well. An anonymous eater repeats Rhonda Evans’ conjecture that the purpose of the reduction was to minimize the chances of a reversal. The article closes with a mention of the 3.5 minute contests in the 1970s.

Gothamist and Eater.com have posts about the article

update June 11 Serious eats has a blog entry about the shortening with quotes from Ryan Nerz

The Sheas say that a 1986 article from the New York Times was responsible for the truncation.

The note said the change for the upcoming July 4 contest comes after the discovery of a trove of “numerous old items and ephemera” near the Nathan’s stand at the historic corner of Surf and Stillwell avenues in Coney Island.

“It was in the form of random notes and contest-related scribblings that were apparently unearthed at Nathan’s,” said George Shea, chairman of Major League Eating.

“We put together a team of experts to determine its validity and then, through the use of what I believe scholars call ‘a Google search,’ we discovered a New York Times article from 1986 that referred to the contest as taking 10 minutes.”

Major League Eating President Richard Shea said the Times article was particularly compelling evidence that the contest’s traditional length was actually 10 minutes, not the 12 minutes that have been the standard for at least two decades.

That link first appeared on eatfeats in March 2007

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QSR Magazine reports that Nathan’s Famous will donate 100,000 hot dogs on July 4 to the Food Bank For New York City. The 2006 donation was 10,000 hot dogs.

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• Beautiful Brian has expected entrants for next weekend’s contests in New York
• Cameron McKirdy has videos of the Las Vegas qualifier, including his reversal
• Don Lerman is selling his dentures for $1,000
• Article about Big Goomba pizza challenge attempt in South Carolina
• Jill Stoler and Will Millender of “Fat March” to exercise together
• Hungry Sisters report on the Hog Happenin eating contests
• Japanese article about Brooklyn Pizza contest – 2ch thread

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Erica Pierson, a DJ at Love 96.1 FM, attempted Tumbleweed’s 2 pound burger challenge last October. The owner of Tumbleweed’s donated $500 to the Spinal Cord Injury Project after she successfully completed the burger.

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(From Badlands Booker) A segment from Holiday Foods: Fourth of July: Hot Dogs which culminates in a hot dog eating contest between Eric “Badlands” Booker and Famous Fat Dave can be seen on the History Channel’s website. Ryan Nerz also makes an appearance.

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• Podcast of Crazy Legs Conti promoting the Hot Dog Safari (Crazy Legs Conti’s appearance begins around the 32 minute mark)
• Spectator report from the Carnegie Deli pickle contest
• Gallery from the Philadelphia Nathan’s qualifier
• Joey Chestnut’s hometown, Vallejo, is bankrupt
• Jill Stoler apologizes to Beautiful Brian Nation
• MLE game not coming out this week according to joystiq
• Tomoko Miyake promotes Tobu Department Store’s new buffet (blog entry)

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The New York Daily News reports that 2005 and 2006 Brooklyn pizza champion Will Millender, who appeared on the weight loss reality show “Fat March”, will attempt to regain his title today from the 2007 winner Salvatore Carbone. Millender’s current weight is listed at 375 pounds.

update Results from WCBS

1. Salvatore Carbone just over 15 slices
2. Will Millender 12.25 slices

update #2 Jill Stoler attended the contest as a spectator and NY1 has an article with video Joel Podelsky was third.

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• Article about some local competitors in the Tempe qualifier: David Cohn, Adam Muñoz & Lindsay Veylupek
• Hall Hunt’s predictions for today’s qualifiers
• Article about the McKirdy brothers, which says their next contest will be the Chinook Winds rib contest on July 11
• The Brooklyn pizza contest is tomorrow
• Picture of Karen “Seedsucker” Clark on the Washington Post web site
• Pictures from “Furious” Pete’s Italian Challenge
• English article about Gal Sone’s movie debut

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• Video of El Toro screaming
• Shannon competes in the men’s division of the Vacaville onion eating contest and finishes third
• Furious Pete to attempt the “Italian Challenge” in Niagara Falls after getting stopped at the US/Canada border crossing update Pete finished the challenge in a record 30 minutes.
• Festival goal of 200,000 brats for the Madison Brat Fest
• Article about the Durham, NC Doughman quadrathlon (triathlon + eating)
• Jill Stoler interviews Ian Hickman
• Gal Sone article in the Mainichi Shimbun

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BTrauman has uploaded videos of today’s pickle eating contest at the Carnegie Deli in its entirety. The results from that event:

1. Arnie Chapman
2. Mike Hoffman
3. Richard Leavy
4. Jill Stoler

update NY1 has a brief article about the contest

update #2 Jill Stoler has a blog entry about the contest. Jill emailed the original results and a picture of the scoresheet which can be viewed after the jump:
Read the rest of this entry »

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The blog for the Village Voice has an entry about this afternoon’s watermelon eating contest at Rockefeller Center between Tim Janus and Crazy Legs Conti. Conti won the six minute contest by one bite. After the first contest completed, Conti and Janus had a virtual watermelon eating contest by playing the Major League Eating video game. The blog entry closes with an announcement that an article about Tim Janus and Crazy Legs Conti will appear in the Village Voice this summer.

IFOCE.com also has a report about the event.

update AppScout has a blog entry about the event with pictures and videos, including a recording of the performances of Beautiful Brian and Badlands Booker.

update #2 Serious Eats has a gallery and MTV has a blog entry.

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