The Nathan's Famous in Hawthorne, CA closed earlier this year so there will be a new site for the southern California qualifier.

March 6, 2012 at 1:37 pm by ojrifkin · More posts about:Los Angeles | Permalink * Comments (19)

19 Comments »

  1. Ray said

    March 6, 2012 @ 1:45 pm

    What happened to LA Pico Blvrd?

  2. Dave Wagner said (Registered July 6, 2011)

    March 6, 2012 @ 2:11 pm

    Well, it won’t be Escondido again… that one closed as well.

  3. The Omen said

    March 6, 2012 @ 2:14 pm

    Ahhh, The best day of my CE career!

    I sure hope there is at least 3 qualifiers on the west coast. Nor Cal is Stonie country and Denmark owns AZ, doesnt leave much to choose from if I want to stay somewhat local.

  4. Hubba Hubba said

    March 6, 2012 @ 3:17 pm

    This page closing will be a great day for all!

  5. anonymous said

    March 6, 2012 @ 3:57 pm

    Everything is closing . There is no prosperity any more. Think negative its the only way to go

  6. Nathans Hot Dog Eater said

    March 6, 2012 @ 4:31 pm

    Nathans WAKE UP!

    Kobi is good for business. You can’t deny he is a interesting public figure.

    Kobi = Sales! Promote Kobi, throw some cash at him and watch your sales>>>> Don’t let MLE hold back your product by manipulating contest. Do you want to get the biggest bang for your buck? Well your not with out Kobi now are you?

    Your current Nathans champ doesn’t exactly make anyone want to have one does he? Hmmm?

  7. Wake up? said

    March 6, 2012 @ 4:48 pm

    Nathan’s wake up? They had the largest viewership ever last year on ESPN. How much money do you think Nathan’s would of had to pay for an hour long commercial at Noon on July 4th. Kobi’s an interesting public figure alright, so was Bernie Madoff when he got arrested. Throw some cash at Kobi? Why, so the next day he can go out and eat Hebrew National hotdogs because they paid him more. Kobi’s proven to be untrustworthy in his behavior (getting arrested, sad rooftop event) unwillingness to sign a commitment and loyalty contract to Nathan’s. The current Nathan’s champs, Joey Chestnut and Sonya Thomas, get as much, if not more national and international attention and media coverage. And, Joey Chestnut and Sonya Thomas have proven their loyalty to their organizaton and sponsors. Kobi has not, that’s why he’s stuck with the Wing Bowl of the highlight of his current independent career. An, event that both Sonya and Joey have left behind them. Now Kobi’s stuck with eating against chumps, so I’m sure he’d like to eat against MLE eaters again. But, Kobi chose not to. Why should Nathan’s or MLE help Kobi regain his former glory after the way Kobi treated them?

  8. Nathans Hot Dog Eater said

    March 6, 2012 @ 5:22 pm

    4:48pm
    Are you really saying the current champ is more of a draw than Kobi? Really? In what world do you live, planet of MLE? lol
    Everything Kobi does gets play in the media… everything. And unlike you, you may or may not realize the public/press loves Kobi becuase he is special and unique.
    It will happen. Nathans is in business to make money.

  9. Anonymous said

    March 6, 2012 @ 5:51 pm

    It would benefit ESPN’s viewership AND Nathan’s to actually show the Women’s contest, instead of 40 minutes of color commentary mostly about the male eaters. The reason viewership was UP was due to the controversy surrounding the women’s contest (money). Any coverage is good coverage…

  10. Wake up? said

    March 6, 2012 @ 6:09 pm

    Nathans Hot Dog Eater, I’m just talking the facts, you’re talking about is opinion. More people watched Joey (the current champ) and Sonya (first time women’s champ) than at anytime Kobi ever participated — fact. Everything Kobi does get play in the media, no more so then when he got arrested as a foreigner for trying to protest and disrupt an annual U.S. traditional eating contest for selfish reasons — fact. Oh, the press love Kobi, but no more so than they love Sonya and Joey. In fact, the public responses to Kobi’s arrest, one act I wanna be an MLE eater stunts, and his pathetic eating contests against nobodies has diminished Kobi’s image amongst reporters and the public. It doesn’t matter, MLE and Nathan’s don’t need Kobi. They’re doing better without him. They just signed a contract all the way out to 2017 with ESPN, but I guess you know more than ESPN’s team of marketing people. Why don’t you go argue with them. Kobi’s special and unique alright — a troublemaker, selfish, and with no loyalty to those people, organizations, and companies that gave him any attention on the international stage. To this day “Free Kobi” still tries pawn off that stupid spin he tried to sell to idiots like you that he didn’t have a choice in the matter of participating at Nathan’s.

  11. anonymous said

    March 6, 2012 @ 6:12 pm

    Watching Joey Chestnut makes me want sausage.

    I think Pete Davekos should be allowed to have 30 minutes of pre-Nathans ESPN time to show more Julieting methods

  12. MOTIF said (Registered September 3, 2011)

    March 6, 2012 @ 8:44 pm

    Nathan’s Hot Dog Eater, I really think you need to look at all the aspects of allowing Kobe to compete. If all of a sudden one 4th of July they brought back Kobyashi then everyone would be excited to see the Kobi vs Chestnut rivalry. But when everyone turns on the tube what will they see? Kobi + a group of people whom they have never seen before, and no chestnut. Kobi would crush the competition rediculously and it would be more boring then anything. Kobi definitly draws alot of attention and people know him, but the truth is he left the leauge after he lost his title of champion, and people move on. The leauge has the familar faces, the title as “the organization of all stomach centric sports,” and no one else can claim that.

    And anon 5:51, I agree. It would be a great addition to air the womens contest with all the media coverage it recived last year

  13. Rhonda Evans said (Registered March 6, 2008)

    March 7, 2012 @ 8:18 am

    Kobi seems to be happy where he’s at, and the same seems to be true for MLE.

    I honestly don’t think Koby believes he can top Joey in HDBs. Losing 3 years running has to have taken a toll on his confidence in topping Joey in the Nathan’s finals. Yes, Koby surely can win out over Joey in some foods, but NOT HDBs! Joey’s HDB-eating speed, as well as his capacity, is too much for Koby.

    Also, there’s too much risk for both MLE and Koby to sign a contract for a single event on July 4. On one hand, if Koby were to somehow win, that would be a blow to MLE, who would no longer have the world’s #1 eater in most people’s minds—-not good for MLE, since Koby would be able to rack up endorsements and revenue that MLE would miss out on.

    Considering the other possibility: another Chestnut victory over Koby, Koby could no longer make a legitimate claim that he’s still #1 in the world, and his clout would sink further, along with his pride, as well as endorsements.

    With that said, I think status quo will be maintained.

  14. Anonymous said

    March 7, 2012 @ 7:25 pm

    Will there be a separate women’s contest in 2012?

  15. ojrifkin said (Registered July 27, 2005)

    March 7, 2012 @ 8:05 pm

    That question was asked on the MLE facebook a month ago and no response has been provided

    http://www.facebook.com/eatfast/posts/10150593211624551

  16. Anonymous said

    March 7, 2012 @ 8:23 pm

    Thanks.

  17. anonymous said

    March 7, 2012 @ 8:29 pm

    They shouldn’t . It’s just too easy to qualify .20 minimum

  18. Anonymous said

    March 7, 2012 @ 9:25 pm

    Let the women eat with the guys or not at all. It’s a MAN’S sport!

  19. MOTIF said (Registered September 3, 2011)

    March 7, 2012 @ 10:03 pm

    Anon 8:29, years ago before the kobi era, the best were qualifing with sub-20’s. Ur statement hold no sense.
    And also, it’s a Man’s sport now, but it should become a even mix of both like all other sports.

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