The organizer of the Lewisville, Texas tamale contest sent the following email:

Would it be possible to ask eaters on your site to rank the following five factors in order of their importance in deciding whether or not to attend a specific event?,

Location of the event (i.e. host city)
Date/Time of the event
Type of food being consumed
Prize money being offered
How I am treated at the event

If not, I certainly understand, but as an event sponsor and host we would really like to know what steps we could look at to make our event better for the participants. Thanks for your consideration.

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Youtube clip of the eating contest at Rutgers from “The Apprentice”
blog entry by runner up in the UK breakfast eating contest
North Jersey hot dog eating contest, winner ate 11 hot dogs in 5 minutes and won $250
“Mean” Gene Okerlund of the WWE opens a fast food restaurant and oversees a burger eating contest
CBS News article about the pumpkin farm where the US-Japan pumpkin eating contest took place (Joe Menchetti is not mentioned)
Howard University anti-CE (really anti-obesity) editorial
Kansas U corn dog contest video
Parody about high school eating competitive eating clubs
Branson, MO pizza contest
Evansville, Indiana donut contest video
Billy Blanks (Tae Bo) does eating contest in Japan

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Liz has a report on her experience as Pat Bertoletti’s counter at the Square Off finals on the Krystal Lover blog

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Megamunch has a post on the date & site of the next UEPa meeting which will probably take place on December 1 at the Niner Diner in Nanty Glo, PA. The diner offers a 3 pound burger challenge which includes 5 pounds of fries along with a pancake challenge. At $5.95, the pancake challenge is the cheapest eating challenge that will be free if eaten under a time limit I am aware of.

Denny’s Beer Barrel Pub has fallen out of favor with some UEPa members due to lack of notification about the team 15 pound burger contest and confusion on whether the Wall of Fame has been updated to include the successful challenges at the last UEPa meeting at Denny’s. DennysBeerBarrelPub.com has an online wall of fame, but it has been completely empty for at least 6 months.

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Kobayashi has a post about Krystal Square Off IV, which contains some pictures with Pat Bertoletti and Rich LeFevre from a training session at a Krystal franchise last year.

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Some captures from the Krystal Square Off IV broadcast:

Contest Introduction Eaters Introduction Contest

Paul Barlow also has some contest pictures on his website

update ChuckyPurdue has a flickr gallery of over 100 pictures from the Krystal Square Off finals.

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Footage from the side of the stage
Lower quality crowd video from in front of stage
Video from press release, includes non-contest segments

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PRNewsWire.com has videos and some pictures of Saturday’s ramen noodle eating contest.

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A transcipt of the introduction of the competitors from the Krystal broadcast follows after the jump:
Read the rest of this entry »

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Krystal Square Off IV finals updated with official results

1. Joey Chestnut 103
2. Bob Shoudt 95
3. Pat Bertoletti 94
4. Tim Janus 74
5. Sonya Thomas 58
6. Rich LeFevre 53
7. Hall Hunt 52
8. Chip Simpson 49
9. Erik Denmark 45
10. Crazy Legs Conti 45
11. Juliet Lee 44
12. Tim Brown 38
13. Allen Goldstein 34

update

beautifulbrian.com has a video of the contest

The Times Free Press has an article.

A video posted by skinnyboy is available on youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XS1-2Kxkeco

The Gaston Gazette has a plea for picnic style rules

update
Blog entry by a competitor in the amateur 2 person contest.

the liveblog of the program follows after the jump
Read the rest of this entry »

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No reruns are scheduled on ESPN or ESPN2 for the Krystal Square Off finals in the next two weeks, so watch it or record it tomorrow at 2:30 pm eastern on ESPN if you are interested in seeing it.

A live bowling match precedes the Krystal finals, hopefully it will not run over.

With a 30 minute contest length, it does not appear there will be enough time for much more than introductions, the contest and a post-contest interview. From the schedule

2 p.m. – 2:40p.m. – Introduction of eaters by George Shea, Chairman of the IFOCE.
* 2:40 – 2:48 p.m. – 8 minute Krystal Square Off World Championship Final.
* 2:55 pm – Award Presentations

Liz will be counting for Pat Bertoletti, so she should appear on television.

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AICE news reports that the Clinton Station Diner intends to create a burger larger than 123 pounds to break the world record and that a team of 25 eaters is being assembled to attempt to consume it.

DennysBeerBarrelPub.com reports that Team Hawg won a 15 pound burger eating contest that was held on October 20 involving four teams of 10 people. The time and amount eaten was not listed.

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From IFOCE.com

Naruto Clash of the Ninja Ramen Noodle Eating Championship, Rockefeller Center, NYC, 10 minutes

1. Tim “Eater X” Janus, 10.5 lb.
2. Micah “Wing Kong” Collins, 7.2 lb.
3. Arturo Rios, 6.64 lb.
4. Allen “Shredder” Goldstein 6.46
5. Crazy Legs Conti 6.16
6. Eric “Steakbellie” Livingston 5.74
7. Pete Davekos 4.95
Justin Mih: DQ, reportedly led through much of contest

PR Newswire will have videos

update, added full results from Steakbellie

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Krystal Lover has a picture from today’s press conference at the Krystal Square Off finals site which Joey Chestnut & Pat Bertoletti both attended.

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Epicurious has a preview of tomorrow’s ramen noodle contest which states that 9 eaters will compete in that event. Joey Chestnut is the only entrant listed who was not in the original press release, leaving 3 other unnamed eaters. A picture of Kevin Carr at the 2004 noodle contest appears in the preview.

updateNYMag.com also has a preview:

This masticating Felix and Oscar have been competing against each other frequently, with the younger, leaner, but less eloquent Janus trumping Conti every time. (The elder statesmen of the New York competitive-eating scene, such preening behemoths as Ed “Cookie” Jarvis, Eric “Badlands” Booker, and “Hungry Charles” Hardy, are now retired from the game.) World champion Joey Chestnut, the man who returned the Nathan’s Mustard Yellow Belt to America, will likely win the contest, but he doesn’t count. He’s from California.

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The Michigan Daily reports that University of Michigan running back Mike Hart, considered a top 5 candidate for the Heisman trophy, competed in in a wing-eating contest at Buffalo Wild Wings to raise money for the UM Stars charity.

In the interests of balance, here’s a gallery from the “Chicks Eat Chicks” women’s only wing eating contest held at Ohio State University

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Super Paul Bonebreaker Barlow has his posted his predictions for the Krystal finals on his myspace blog. His top 5:

1. Joey Chestnut
2. Pat Bertoletti
3T. Bob Shoudt & Tim Janus
5. Sonya Thomas

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SBTW.com reports that Sonya will be able able to attend the Krystal finals Sunday:

I didn’t want to mention this again until I was absolutely certain, but I have been able to come up with a work around regarding my full time job, so that I will be able to compete at the Krystal Finals in Chattanooga, TN this Sunday, 28 Oct 07, which will be televised live on ESPN at 2:30 PM EST. As such, I am thoroughly excited, except for the fact that the World Champ, Takeru Kobayashi, will be unable to defend his title, due to the equivalent of arthritis in his jaw. (I hope he recovers in the next few months, because that’s no fun.)

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From breitbart.com

The city of Hanamaki in Iwate Prefecture will host the region’s famous “wanko-soba” noodle-eating competition in two U.S. cities, according to city officials.

In the competition, participants will eat as many bite-size portions of buckwheat noodles in a lacquered bowl as possible in a limited time. A champion from a February competition held in the city finished 225 bowls of noodles in five minutes.

The competition is also popular in the Iwate capital of Morioka.

The city will host the events in the Arkansas city of Hot Springs, a sister city of Hanamaki, on Wednesday, and in New York on Saturday, where the association of Iwate expatriates marked the 10th anniversary.

I have not been able to find any details online about the Arkansas or New York contests.

Hatsuyo Sugawara, the top woman in the recent “Gluttonous King” contest, won the February contest

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TimesFreePress.com reports on a change in the field of Sunday’s Krystal finals:

Three-time champion Takeru Kobayashi will not compete in this year’s Krystal Square Off IV World Hamburger Eating Championship due to persistent jaw pain.

“Takeru Kobayashi has informed us that he needs additional time for his jaw to repair and that his hiatus is indefinite but not permanent,” George Shea, chairman of Major League Eating, said in a prepared statement. “The well being of our competitors is paramount and we wish him speedy recovery.”

If Kobayashi’s slot is filled with the 5th highest wild card, Jim Reeves will receive it.

updated More links

IFOCE.com roster, Kobayashi is not present but Sonya Thomas is.
WMCTV.com article
TimesFreePress.com article from Sunday, does not mention Kobayashi’s absence
Schedule of Events on KrystalSquareOff.com
Letter about Krystal finals and hunger relief organizations
blog entry about Bo Hicks, top Alabaman in Tuscaloosa qualifier
Another Times Free Press article from Sunday gives finals location – Ross’s Landing and the Chattanooga Green at the intersection of Chestnut Street and Riverfront Parkway

update #2
Times Free Press has an article containing short interview podcasts with Joey Chestnut and Pat Bertoletti

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NintendoWorldReport.com has a preview of the Major League Eating ramen noodle contest which lists some of the expected competitors:

The contest will feature not merely an all-star cast of competitive eaters, but a virtual cornucopia of interesting characters to boot. The focus will be on 4th-ranked Tim “Eater X” Janus of New York City, the face-painting tiramisu champ who recently ate 20 pounds of grits in ten minutes. Nipping at Janus’ heels will be his roommate and training partner, Crazy Legs Conti, a man who once ate his way out of an 96-cubic foot box of popcorn, earning the nickname, “the Evel Knievel of the Alimentary Canal.” Arturo “Grande” Rios, the 13th-ranked pigs’ feet-eating champ from New Jersey , will be fending off best friend duo Eric “Steakbellie” Livingston and Micah “Wing Kong” Collins, as well as 18th-ranked Justin Mih, a Harvard graduate student and chopstick specialist.

update The IFOCE.com page about the contest consists of paragraphs 1, 3 and 4 of the press release, with the second paragraph listing the competitors edited out.

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From megamunch

Whoopie Pie Eating Contest, Lancaster County, PA, 3 minutes
1. Ian Hickman, 60 whoopie pies, almost doubles 36 from last year
2. Sean Gordon, 46
3T Dave Shoffner, 30
3T James Hoke, 30

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TuscaloosaNews.com has an article about today’s Krystal qualifier, which did not start at its expected time:

That craziness almost derailed the final Krystal Square Off qualifier Saturday. Scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m. on the Quad, the event was delayed nearly half an hour as event planners waited for the arrival of world champion eater Joey Chestnut, who was stuck in game-day traffic.

The article also reports that Joey ate 83 burgers and not the 87 on KrystalSquareOff.com and IFOCE.com

If the contest started without Joey, Jim Reeves would have the wild card slot taken by Tim Brown.

TuscaloosaNews.com also has footage of the 2 minute prequalifiers (from Paul Barlow)

RollTide.com also has some videos (from Paul Barlow)

footage of entire contest
Tim Brown post-contest interview

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The field for today’s Krystal qualifier at the University of Alabama has been posted. Ranked eaters in that list are:
Joey Chestnut
Tim Brown
Juris Shibayama
Loren Yarbrough
Marco Marquez
Super Paul Barlow

The page describes the wild card scenarios:

Shibayama’s one Krystal advantage gives him the tie-breaker should he and Brown tie for a Wildcard Spot. To earn a Wildcard, Shibayama must finish with 41 or more Krystals, or he must eat 40 Krystals and Brown finish with 40 or less. To claim a Wildcard, Brown must finish with 41 or more Krystals, or 40 Krystals and finish ahead of Shibayama.

Full results from the Jackson, MS qualifier have yet to be posted.

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The October 27 taquito contest that was originally in the Arizona State Fair list of attractions has been deleted. It does not appear in the list of contests either.

The contest is still present in the Yahoo cache

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