Nathan’s president on new Wall of Fame
AOL Weird News has an article about the new Nathan’s Wall of Fame with quotes from Ed “Cookie” Jarvis and Wayne Norbitz, president of Nathan’s:
“The reason that we changed the graphic is that the wall is in the sun — the design fades,” said Norbitz. “We needed to upgrade the look of it, so we decided to not just redo it the way it was.
“We decided to make the picture more current with people who have competed more recently,” added Norbitz, who noted that the wall’s bottom continues to list all of the winners of past Nathan’s contests — though insiders are quick to point out that many top eaters retire without ever winning big in Coney Island.
No reason is given for the omission of Eric “Badlands” Booker and Bob Shoudt.
update The article has been posted to the AOL News facebook if anyone wants to comment there.
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Don '' Moses''Lerman said
June 3, 2010 @ 9:15 pm
theres one thing being replaced by newer eaters, but and 8 ft Uncle Sam could have accommodated at lest 3 -4 eaters and it was important to put the Mr hot dog on the wall and the trophy ,the card counter this space could had all the old timers on the wall.
anonymous said
June 3, 2010 @ 11:06 pm
Who cares wanna make a statement come out of retirement and show your stuff
Don '' Moses''Lerman said
June 4, 2010 @ 7:49 am
anon11:06 why should I” I’m Retired an will be 62, I Helped build up this sport and Nathans to a national televised event , whats your worth?I
Anonymous said
June 4, 2010 @ 8:55 am
Take a moment at look at the Hollywood Walk Of Fame. It may not be a Hall Of Fame according to Andrew A-Bomb Lane but it is a Hall Of Fame nonetheless.
Jack Benny, Frank Sinatra, George Burns and John Wayne are all in the Walk Of Fame. With the IFOCE comment on why some names were removed from the Wall Of Fame, why not remove Jack Benny, Frank Sinatra, George Burns and John Wayne. They are all retired and not making any more movies. Even better they are dead and cannot complain. It makes as much sense to remove these four names I mentioned as it does reading the Sheas reason to remove some of the older eating legend champions.
Hate to say it said
June 4, 2010 @ 11:04 am
Let’s all be honest here, no common person knows who any of the old eaters are. It doesn’t matter if Lerman helped build the sport up to what it is today because it wasn’t till Koby came along did anybody really care. Hell I bet half of the general public don’t even know Koby by name, they know him as “the little Asian guy who eats all those hot dogs”.
The IFOCE has been more then good to the eaters who they removed by putting them on TV and Media in the past. True fans know what these guys did for the sport and that should be good enough for them and not care so much for a picture on a fadding wall.
With that said, I still think Booker got the hose!
anonymous said
June 4, 2010 @ 11:33 am
Booker could have easily dominated the sport but Sonya stood in his way. When these other phenoms came along Booker became a top 15 instead of top 5. Eaters such as Hardy Booker Lerman & Lefevre were within striking distance. With the exception of Lefevrre he beat them on countless occassions
Get Over It said
June 4, 2010 @ 11:49 am
Geez, it’s a freakin’ poster on the side of a building – it’s not some kind of holy shrine. Yes, yes, yes, we all now know who “helped build the sport,” who “should” be on it and isn’t, and how disappointed some you are. But “Hate to say it” is right – nobody knows who those people were on the old wall were, and aside from Koby and maybe Joey, nobody knows who’s on there now. The only difference is hopefully, the people on the new wall won’t cry in public when the next poster is put up in five years. Nathan’s couldn’t care less how hurt you are, how important you think you are or were to the “sport,” or anything else other than advertising their product on the side of their building. Suck it up and move on – it’s a stupid hot dog eating contest.
Rhonda Evans said (Registered March 6, 2008)
June 4, 2010 @ 12:38 pm
I agree with much of whay you say Get Over It, but the “Wall of Fame” should have remained intact.
The new wall is fine too, but it should augment—-not replace—-the original Wall and those on it. Otherwise it becomes a Wall of Shame!
Mega Munch said
June 5, 2010 @ 8:57 pm
It’s funny that the president of Nathans quote was infinitely more sensitive to the feelings of those who were taken of the wall than George “Lady Gaga” Shea’s quote last week. One’s an honest businessman and one’s a media whore who loves the sound of his own voice. Can you guess which is which?
Gentleman Joe said (Registered December 8, 2005)
June 5, 2010 @ 9:25 pm
Don exagerates his importance to the “sport”, but he really isn’t that far from the truth.
And if you don’t toot your own horn, who’s else is gonna do it??
While that wall may not be a true hof, it obviously meant something to those who were on it.
This “sport” we participate is a vehicle for advertising, thats all there is to it.
Which is why I put sport in quotes.
So, I understand why they changed it. (along w/ the fading)
With all that, it would have been nice to let those taken off the wall, know about it before hand.
Mega, from your comments above, should I assume i’ll see you at an independant event…soon??
Anonymous said
June 5, 2010 @ 9:32 pm
Joe, you know who OJ Rifkin is. Why don’t you just come out and say it.
beautifulbrian said
June 5, 2010 @ 10:27 pm
From the latest turn of events its obvious the word loyalty means nothing. Self evident with wall of fame’s ring out the old ring in the new. There are few that stay loyal to an organization or loyal to friends and i hate to brag but i am one of those selective few .I would never leave MLE for any other. . Maybe its because i chose to align myself with individuals in Brooklyn that were not the greatest breed of human beings but they were taught never to screw their friends. Whether or not you decide to blame George Shea is your decision but he’s a Nathans man and if he goes against Norbitz wishes to “tear the wall down” there goes the account and for that matter the IFOCE.Before there was IFOCE /MLE it was Nathans and nothing but Nathans. I know because i was there during the infant stages. Sure they would have Krystals to fall back on but Nathans is the bread and butter of Sheacommunications and not Krystals. Krystals is more like the gravy or iceing on the layer cake. Don , Ed, Kevin its pretty shitty what they did to you guys but face the music. Its the sign of the times . Enjoy what you had because like CE where they rarely reverse a call, dont expect them to reverse this one
Don '' Moses''Lerman said
June 5, 2010 @ 11:49 pm
Brian.you know how many times I was asked to be a guest celebrity at hot dog night at triple A ball games but I turned it down because they were nit using Nathans … Plenty I gave them Loyalty they showed me squat, If you look at the new wall they could have accommodated all the-old time veteran eaters, by eliminating the 2uncle Sams and Mr hot dog ,the trophy and hat and card girl,,its a travesty.
ED "COOKIE" JARVIS said
June 6, 2010 @ 9:28 pm
IT SEEMS TO ME THEY TOOK ALL THE FAT GUYS OF THE WALL TO PROMOTE A THINNER IMAGE, NOT COOL. NATHAN’S HAS PLENTY OF ROOM TO MAKE ROOM FOR THE FIRST PEOPLE TO TAKE THIS SPORT TO THE NEXT LEVEL . SEEMS TO ME NATHAN’S HAS FORGOTTEN THE OLD TIMERS. IT’S NOT JUST ABOUT THE PRESENT EATERS IT STARTED IN THE PAST. IT’S GREAT FOR ALL THE EATERS WHO MADE THE NEW BOARD ,THEY ALL DESERVE IT. SORRY FOR BOB SHOUT, MUST OF BEEN ANOTHER SHORT SITE BY NATHAN’S OR YOU WERE JUST TO FAT TO FIT THE IMAGE THEY’RE LOOKING FOR. THIS CONTEST HAS BEEN GREAT FOR ALL FROM THE PAST ,WE WORKED HARD TO GET THERE BUT WHERE JUST DISGARDED FROM THE WALL WITHOUT EVEN A PHONE CALL . THANKS FOR ALL THAT RESPECT. THE PICTURE MIGHT HAVE BEEN FADED THE IMAGES WILL LIVE FOREVER IN THE HEARTS OF ALL THE GREAT FANS WHO STILL CALL TO WISH ME WELL .THIS IS WHAT IT’S ABOUT, IT’S RESPECT WHICH NATHAN’S LOST FOR THE GUYS WHO HELP ED GET THEM ON TOP IN THE FIRST PLACE. I’M NOT SAYING THE SHEA BROTHERS HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH IT. THEY ALSO WORKED HARD GETTING NATHAN’S WHERE IT IS TODAY. GEORGE SHEA AND HIS GREAT SPEAKING WITH THE TONGUE OF A CARNIVAL BARKER .SOME OF THE BEST ONE LINERS ON EARTH. RICHARD SHEA IS ALSO GREAT ON THE MICROPHONE ON ESPN.THIS CONTEST IN THE PAST HAD 100O PEOPLE LOOKING AT A FEW LOCALS EAT HOT DOGS ,TO 50,000 PEOPLE WATCHING AT SURF AN STILLWELL IN CONEY ISLAND.THIS IS SOMETHING PEOPLE WILL TALK ABOUT FOR YEARS TO COME. WE, THE EATERS THINK NATHAN’S SHOULD FIX THIS ERROR AND MAKE IT RIGHT BY MAKING A WALK OF FAME LIKE HOLLYWOOD OR ADD A HALL OF FAME TO REMEMBER THE PAST GREATS OF THE SPORT .THE EATERS WHO WALKED THE WALK AN TALKED THE TALK FROM COAST TO COAST RADIO ,TV ,PAPERS AN MUCH MORE BECAUSE WE HAD RESPECT FOR NATHAN’S .WE ARE NOW ASKING YOU WAYNE NORBITS TO STEP UP AND RESPECT THE ORIGINALS EATERS FROM NATHAN’S .
Don '' Moses''Lerman said
June 6, 2010 @ 10:22 pm
I agree with Ed, We worked hard to bring Nathans to this point , We set the table for future eaters like Joey Chestnut . It was an effort by the veteran eaters and our efforts should not be forgotten. We turned a local event into a televised national and international spectacular. Please do not forsake us and let us down. Don Lerman
anonymous said
June 6, 2010 @ 10:36 pm
I agree with Ed but you gotta love the way he lays the guilt trip on Nathans making them feel like total shit and all the while failing to show pity for the fat people in society.
Really just sad... said
June 6, 2010 @ 11:47 pm
you think what you did really matters. It doesn’t matter to anyone that has anything to do with anything. You did what you did for whatever reasons you did it. Now you think someone cares or owes you something. “Phone call” – are you serious? No reason to think you will be treated any better than the current bunch will be. Here today, gone tomorrow. You should have known that – the ones today know it. Did anyone tell you that you were forever famous? Be happy you were there when you were there and move on.
Don '' Moses''Lerman said
June 7, 2010 @ 12:58 am
Really just sad… said this is an eaters site and a such ,you should be a little more supportive of the eaters point of view .
anonymous said
June 7, 2010 @ 7:27 am
This type of sport if that is what you want to call it, is more like a home for the weak minded who believe they are rock stars. Competiitive eating is the only source where they could live out the dream of becoming famous when the motion picture or music industry has basically told them no thank you. Don why cry on this site? Does Wayne Norbitz, Marty Markowitz or Mayor Bloomberg visit here? What are you trying to accomplish? The more you rant especially on a site such as this , the more people are going to make fun of you especially the ones that wont post a real name.
Don '' Moses''Lerman said
June 7, 2010 @ 8:50 am
anon 727 I stand by my last comment