August 30, 2013 at 10:39 am by
ojrifkin · More posts about:Statistics
A list of top 5 results from the past four MLE rib eating contest sorted by total / duration (leftmost column). Joey Chestnut almost tripled his rate in Wednesday’s contest (1.15 lb. / min) from his rate at the Chicago Ribfest in June (0.427 lb. / min) even though the Nevada contest is twice as long as Chicago’s competition.
1.146 |
2013 Aug 28 |
1st |
13.76 |
12 min |
Joey “Jaws” Chestnut |
John Ascuaga’s Nugget World Rib Eating Championship |
Sparks, NV |
0.975 |
2012 Jun 8 |
1st |
7.8 |
8 min |
Tim “Gravy” Brown |
Ribfest Chicago’s RIBMANIA Eating Championship |
Chicago, IL |
0.933 |
2013 Aug 28 |
2nd |
11.2 |
12 min |
Matt “Megatoad” Stonie |
John Ascuaga’s Nugget World Rib Eating Championship |
Sparks, NV |
0.699 |
2012 Jun 8 |
2nd |
5.6 |
8 min |
Pat “Deep Dish” Bertoletti |
Ribfest Chicago’s RIBMANIA Eating Championship |
Chicago, IL |
0.675 |
2012 Jun 8 |
3rd |
5.4 |
8 min |
Crazy Legs Conti |
Ribfest Chicago’s RIBMANIA Eating Championship |
Chicago, IL |
0.666 |
2012 Aug 29 |
1st |
8 |
12 min |
Joey “Jaws” Chestnut |
Nugget World Rib Eating Championship |
Sparks, NV |
0.625 |
2012 Aug 29 |
2nd |
7.5 |
12 min |
Matt “Megatoad” Stonie |
Nugget World Rib Eating Championship |
Sparks, NV |
0.591 |
2013 Aug 28 |
3rd |
7.1 |
12 min |
Miki Sudo |
John Ascuaga’s Nugget World Rib Eating Championship |
Sparks, NV |
0.512 |
2013 Aug 28 |
4th |
6.15 |
12 min |
Juan “more bite” Rodriguez |
John Ascuaga’s Nugget World Rib Eating Championship |
Sparks, NV |
0.485 |
2012 Jun 8 |
4th |
3.88 |
8 min |
Benjamin “The Wolf” Taylor |
Ribfest Chicago’s RIBMANIA Eating Championship |
Chicago, IL |
0.483 |
2012 Aug 29 |
3rd |
5.8 |
12 min |
Pat “Deep Dish” Bertoletti |
Nugget World Rib Eating Championship |
Sparks, NV |
0.483 |
2013 Jun 7 |
1st |
2.9 |
6 min |
Miki Sudo |
Ribfest Chicago’s RIBMANIA Eating Championship |
Chicago, IL |
0.474 |
2012 Jun 8 |
5th |
3.8 |
8 min |
Erik “The Red” Denmark |
Ribfest Chicago’s RIBMANIA Eating Championship |
Chicago, IL |
0.436 |
2013 Jun 7 |
2nd |
2.62 |
6 min |
Michelle “Cardboard Shell” Lesco |
Ribfest Chicago’s RIBMANIA Eating Championship |
Chicago, IL |
0.426 |
2013 Jun 7 |
3rd |
2.56 |
6 min |
Joey “Jaws” Chestnut |
Ribfest Chicago’s RIBMANIA Eating Championship |
Chicago, IL |
0.389 |
2013 Aug 28 |
5th |
4.67 |
12 min |
Steve Hendry |
John Ascuaga’s Nugget World Rib Eating Championship |
Sparks, NV |
0.384 |
2013 Jun 7 |
4th |
2.31 |
6 min |
“Notorious” Bob Shoudt |
Ribfest Chicago’s RIBMANIA Eating Championship |
Chicago, IL |
0.383 |
2012 Aug 29 |
4th |
4.6 |
12 min |
Michelle “Cardboard Shell” Lesco |
Nugget World Rib Eating Championship |
Sparks, NV |
0.375 |
2012 Aug 29 |
5th |
4.5 |
12 min |
Juan “more bite” Rodriguez |
Nugget World Rib Eating Championship |
Sparks, NV |
0.331 |
2013 Jun 7 |
5th |
1.99 |
6 min |
Juan “more bite” Rodriguez |
Ribfest Chicago’s RIBMANIA Eating Championship |
Chicago, IL |
Permalink
Anonymous said
August 30, 2013 @ 10:57 am
All due credit to jaws and megatoad, but i guarantee the trays were miscounted. 8lbs in 2012 to 14? 7.5lbs to over 11? Come oonnnn
Anonymous said
August 30, 2013 @ 11:37 am
Miscounting and bad math are par for the putt putt course that is “major” league eating.
Siggy said
August 30, 2013 @ 1:34 pm
It’s also the way the ribs are prepared.I know I’m a chef.
anonymous said
August 30, 2013 @ 1:51 pm
MLE widely exaggerates totals of eaters during intro’s as well as making up fabricated titles for second rate eaters just so the crowd will get excited. I have seen it done on countless occassions
Long time listiner... said
August 30, 2013 @ 3:44 pm
For all those that don’t it yet, competitive eating is a business first. MLE is the most successful attempt at commercializing competitive eating as a promotional stunt. Instead of buying advertisements, running coupons, or any other traditional marketing, competitive eating is used to get the most bang for the buck in ad spend. The Sheas are in this business. They have done an amazing job with Nathan’s and use that reference to sign up other businesses to sponsor eating contests. Overall, they are the best and only “blue-chip” firm doing this thing. The major part of their success is putting the sponsor first and using the eaters to support the event as a true contest. The reason we see so many one-off contests is that it did (or didn’t) build the brand; but tying sales pre and post event is the tricky part. If contests are quantifiably tied to an increase in sales, the event comes back. If not, no-go from the marketing department for next year. Johnsonville is a great example.
The contests are real. No doubt about that. The eaters train. The pain is real. But as far as considering it a sport, I would say that’s quite honestly up for debate. Same as wondering if lawn mower racing is a sport. All the elements are there, but the nature of the beast is the crux of the debate. This site helps bolster the idea that CE is a sport. 80% of the readers are probably eaters. 10% are former eaters, 5% are dropping in, and the rest are organizations that run contests. I would like to see a new poll with the question, “Is CE a true sport or a vehicle for promoting a brand?”. A true sport is baseball. MLB has sponsors, but Little Leaguers are playing for sport’s sake. Same with tennis, soccer, football, and other traditional sports. They are sponsored but the non-pros play regardless. Monster truck racing and yacht racing is on the other end of the spectrum.
In any case, anyone that comes here and follows CE is in a very small group of people in this world. I would say it’s a community of sorts, but not in a real neighborhood sense. People are too far flung and the contests too sporadic. No matter how you look at it though, it’s fascinating, addictive if you’re in the scene, and better than following the Premier League of soccer any time.
Thanks, O.J., whoever the hell you are, for keeping this alive. The bottom line for me is that all of this is entertaining and I will keep reading (and occasionally posting). And I almost for got to mention Brian Seiken. There, I mentioned him.
ojrifkin said (Registered July 27, 2005)
August 30, 2013 @ 5:55 pm
On the subject of sports v non-sports, ESPN has an interesting article about Bobby Riggs allegedly fixing his 1973 match against Billy Jean King.
http://espn.go.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/9589625/the-match-maker
Anonymous said
August 30, 2013 @ 6:08 pm
That’s old, O.J.
Anonymous said
August 30, 2013 @ 8:51 pm
6:08, have you read the article? It was posted on 8/25/2013 as a feature story on ESPN. Whatever you think about the charges or the story being old, that is credibility. And it is actually very interesting.