Houston Chronicle previews tamale contest

May 4, 2006 at 9:14 am by ojrifkin · More posts about:Contest Previews, Houston

The Houston Chronicle has a preview of Saturday’s tamale eating contest written by a local competitive eating judge. The article also contains an interview with “Horsemen of the Esophagus” author Jason Fagone in which Fagone claims that eating contests have been banned in Japan (???) after the competitive eating related deaths.

Comments (8)

8 Comments »

  1. Bubba said (Registered January 8, 2006)

    May 4, 2006 @ 1:51 pm

    Fagone says a couple of times that competitive eating and eaters are disgusting. I wouldn’t ever think of buying that Bozo’s book.

  2. Nancy Drew said

    May 4, 2006 @ 2:05 pm

    It seems strange to me (considering Fagone received a six digit sum to write his book about competitive eating) that he would bite the hand that has fed him and write such a negatively charged review on a sport and an orginization, the IFOCE, that he knows little about. These eaters do not show up meerly for the attention (which is a simple and natural human desire that we all possess; we all want to be good at something, and be recognized for it) but they show up for the comraderie, the feast, and to win. The IFOCE is home to many eaters from many walks of life, who enjoy one another’s comraderie and support each person’s personal creative endeavors in life as well. Fagone’s review of the tamale contest, with which he is not even affiliated, is an oversimplified explanation of the eaters’ motivation that portrays complex and interesting individuals as overeating slobs. This is simply not the case and it is insulting to the lovely people who participate in the eating contests. If Fagone would wipe the slop from his mouth, he might be able to actually hear and report on the reasons why the eaters show up. There is something intangible about eating with others. It is not only the competition that brings the eaters to the table, but the experiences that they share surrounding the event, before and after. In most cultures we celebrate life with a feast with our family and friends. Fagone fails to recognize this element of competitive eating. Thus, he fails to recognize the greater and intangible joys of living and the complexities of the eaters’ motivation to eat.

  3. The Prophet said (Registered April 18, 2006)

    May 4, 2006 @ 2:35 pm

    I found the book to be upsetting at times, but overall well written and entertaining. Because Jason expressed an objective opinion about the world of competitive eating and some of its eaters it’s hard to like him, but I don’t think it makes him a bozo. He did his research and spoke kindly of quite a few eaters. Not everyone is going to think what we do is great. I’m sure we’ve all run into people that we had to convince of the greatness of what we’re doing and he’s just harder to convince than most. Fagone’s book is worth it’s cost for reasons including the fact that it’s worthwhile to know every aspect of how the world percieves something that means so much to us.

  4. L-Con said

    May 4, 2006 @ 5:01 pm

    This guy is a joke Sumatriptan is for migrans and Zelnorm is just a laxative. Reglan seems like it might have a slight effect but its just over glorified tums. The amount we eat in a short time wouldn’t have a real effect.

  5. Bubba said (Registered January 8, 2006)

    May 4, 2006 @ 6:08 pm

    He makes my point for me anyone who lists performance enhanceing drugs does not care about the sport or the health of the eaters. All he wants is headlines and dirt. He wants to see grunge not the beauty of atheletes in the arena. I’ll be the first to admit when I get to the table that I’m there to crush whoever is there but after the contest it’s all about the contacts and cavorting with freinds made on the circuit. All this jerk wants to focus on is worst part of it. I despise anyone who wants to portray this sport as a freak show and if you do you have made my list. Even coondog who is legendary for acting like a loon deserves respect for his ability Dennis Rodman was revered for his ability on the court but reviled for his antics off of the court. Lets focus on the good.

  6. Mega Munch said

    May 5, 2006 @ 8:36 am

    I think the fourth performance enhancing drug might be tetrahydrocannibinol.

    The bigger story here is the supposed ban (!!!) of CE in Japan. Is that true? Did people die from their roles in CE events? Crazy Legs would know…he just spent four days in Japan with Koby. For the sake of the sport and our rivalry with Japan, we need to get to the bottom of this. Worse yet, could a U.S. ban be next?

  7. Kevin Carr said (Registered April 21, 2006)

    May 5, 2006 @ 9:13 am

    I think as long as we keep our head screwed on straight and no one chokes to death (or has a heart attack at the table), we should be safe in the U.S.

    The last I heard about Japanese CE is that it has been scaled back, not banned. I think this has happened in the past as well. If it had been banned, we wouldn’t have had news of The Gal, or the subsequent eating contests with underage participants in the recent news.

  8. The Dictionary said

    May 5, 2006 @ 10:25 am

    I don’t think “ban” is the proper term to be throwing around here. I don’t think eating contests were ever actually banned over in Japan. I think the networks felt pressure from outside sources or pressured themselves into canceling competitive eating programming.

    And I don’t think you have to worry about a competitive eating ban in the United States. Despite the efforts of many people over several decades, no one has succeeded in banning boxing, which has actually been proven to be dangerous.

    So cut it out with the careless use of a powerful word! You guys are just fanning the flames of paranoia.

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