GQ Magazine competitive eating article available online
update Nov 1 NotoriousBob.net has a quote that did not appear in the article
update Oct 31 Some observations and links about the article follow:
- Ronson asserts that the 1916 origin story for Nathan’s hot dog eating contest is “(almost certainly) untrue”, which Mortimer Matz, Nathan’s promoter of the 1970s and 80s confirmed in a 2010 NY Times interview. The claim that the first contest took place on July 4, 1972 is incorrect; a contest was held on Memorial Day weekend of that year and a competition took place in 1967 to honor the centennial of the hot dog.
- 2009 is listed as the year of Takeru Kobayashi’s final IFOCE sanctioned contest. He competed against Joey Chestnut in a contest in Singapore in May 2010.
- Emcee Dave Keating says that the cupcakes used in the shortened cupcake contest were lighter than those used in 2011, which explains why 7th place finishers Maria “Edible” and Michelle “Cardboard Shell” Lesco ate more in 6 minutes (48) than the previous year’s winner Tim Janus ate in 8 minutes (42). (Video of the contest).
If you need something to read due to Hurricane Sandy related disruptions, Jon Ronson’s article about competitive eating for the November 2012 issue of GQ is now available online. The article includes mini profiles of Joey Chestnut, Pat Bertoletti, Matt Stonie, Bob Shoudt and Maria “Edible” and contains reports from the Nathan’s finals, TooJay’s corned beef sandwich eating contest, and a behind the scenes look at the shortened cupcake contest held at the Isle of Capri casino in Waterloo, Iowa where Bob Shoudt offered these thoughts on cheating:
“I’ve seen everything,” he says. “People throwing hot dogs under the table. People making the biggest messes you can imagine.”
My eyes widen. “So there’s such a mess under the table it’s impossible to determine what counts as an eaten thing?” I ask.
“Oh, there’s techniques,” says Bob. “People suddenly get happy feet.” He mimes an eater dropping an item of food and then covertly stamping it into the ground. I’m appalled. Cheating makes everything pointless. And then Bob confesses that—if need be—he will be one of those cheaters. When his wife is in the crowd, they use pre-arranged signals. “If the eaters are dropping stuff like crazy, she’ll give a meaningless cheer. I’ll understand. Suddenly the food gets very slippery for me.”
He gives me a look that says: Don’t judge me until you’ve walked in my shoes. Leave the Gandhi-like behavior to the fools who don’t mind losing to the cheaters.
The November issue of GQ has a (bottom of the) cover story about competitive eating by Jon Ronson, author of The Men Who Stare at Goats focusing on Joey Chestnut, Pat Bertoletti, Bob Shoudt, Matt Stonie and Maria "Edible". The article, which has yet to be uploaded, includes a behind the scenes look at April's truncated cupcake contest along with retirement considerations for Joey Chestnut and Pat Bertoletti.
Blue Ribbon Hunter on Yahoo! Screen has a video about Maria "Edible" and her modeling career with footage from the Queens Nathan's qualifier and wing eating tips. Yahoo! also has competitive eating training advice from Maria.
The Awl has an interview with Maria "Edible" consisting of five infographics (via email). The interview announces Maria's home page at http://www.mariaedible.com/
eCollege Times has an interview with Maria "Edible".
“Madoff Meadows” (Mets) / Queens qualifier
update June 3 Brian Seiken has a video and Bob Shoudt has a video of himself throwing the first pitch at yesterday’s Mets game.
update Winners have been announced: Bob Shoudt won the men’s division with 40 and Maria “Edible” won the women’s with 20.
Badlands Booker takes the men’s wild card lead with 37.
The contest is underway according to this picture.
ESPN Front Row has a blog entry and video about the eating contest held Friday at ESPN headquarters in which Crazy Legs Conti defeated Maria "Edible" 13.5 hot dogs to 12 in the five minute competition. Conti will attempt to qualify in Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Charlotte.
Social Cam has a video of a hot dog eating contest between Crazy Legs Conti and Maria "Edible" on the ESPN campus today.
Examiner.com has a write up of last night's episode of NY Ink in which Maria "Edible" judged a hot dog eating contest held in a tattoo parlor. update Jan 16 Maria announces that Pat Philbin has posted the clip.
Maria Edible (formerly known as Maria "The Incredible Sulk") has started a twitter at http://twitter.com/mariaedible.
update June 26 The Poughkeepsie Journal has articles on Matt Stonie and the local competitors along with a gallery (via Anthony Serino)
Matt Stonie also has a gallery
update Rich Shea has the results
update #2 Full results from the MLE facebook
1) Matt Stonie 32
2) Badlands Booker 27.25
3) Allen "Shredder" Goldstein 26.5
4) "Buffalo" Jim Reeves 22
5) Yasir Salem 20
6) Anthony Serino 17.5
7) William Myers 15.25
8) Drew Altavilla 10
1W) Maria "The Incredible Sulk" 12
Maria "The Incredible Sulk" is in attendance
Maria "The Incredible Sulk" has a blog entry and video about attemping to eat all 30 sliders in a White Castle Crave Case.
Maria "The Incredible Sulk" has posted a blog entry and gallery about the Pizzathon where she and Joel Podelsky raised $2874 for the National MS Society. The event's facebook page also has a gallery.
myCentralJersey.com has an article about Joel "the Cannon" Podelsky competing in Wing Bowl 19. Joel and Maria's Pizzathon raised $2874 for the National MS Society.
Joel "The Cannon" Podelsky announces that he ate 15 slices of pizza and Maria "The Incredible Sulk" ate 17 during yesterday's Pizzathon event to benefit the National MS Society.
NewBrunswickNightOut has a short article about Maria "The Incredible Sulk" becoming the first person to finish the pizza & wings challenge at Zupko's and participating in the Pizzathon event to benefit the MS society.
NorthJersey.com has an article about next month's Pizzathon charity event in which Maria "The Incredible Sulk" and Joel Podelsky will raise money for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.
Maria "The Incredible Sulk" reports that she is the first person to finish the Captain's Challenge at Zupko's Tavern in Dunellen, NJ which consists of a large pizza and 60 wings.
Maria "The Incredible Sulk" announces that she and Joel Podelsky are accepting sponsorships for their attempt at the 32 inch pizza at Johnny G's in Toms River, NJ on January 9. Donations will benefit the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. A facebook page has been set up about the event at http://www.facebook.com/Pizzathon2011
Maria "The Incredible Sulk" has a blog entry about finishing two XXL pizzas (the house record is 3) at Pete & Elda's in Neptune City, NJ.
Maria "The Incredible Sulk" reports that she set the record for the Land Lubber's BBQ challenge at Port Royal Grille in Islip, NY, the site of Adam Richman's seafood challenge in the Long Island episode of Man vs. Food.
Maria "The Incredible Sulk" has a blog entry about setting the house record of 21 hot dogs at Big Daddy's Hot Dogs in Pompton Lakes, NJ. She also has a report on eating 8.5 hot dogs at a Spike's Junkyard Dogs in Boston to win a T-shirt. (Greg "The Great Moomsi" Maloomian and an unnamed woman have set house records of 17 at Boston Spike's).
La Bonbonniere cupcake contest blog entry & video
Maria “The Incredible Sulk” has posted a blog entry about being the top amateur at the cupcake eating contest held at La Bonbonniere Bake Shoppe in Edison, NJ on Saturday. Overall winner Joel Podelsky has uploaded a video of the contest.
Maria recently started a blog documenting her eating challenges and contests at http://stuffyourprettyface.wordpress.com/. Her first entry is about becoming the first woman to complete the Tsunami Burrito at the Surf Taco in Point Pleasant Beach, NJ.
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