The video of Krista Lander competing against two minor league hockey players in a one pound burger eating contest is now available on the CBS 7 website.

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The commercial Kobayashi filmed in Vancouver last month is now available on youtube. Western Canada Lotteries’ scratch and win cards are the advertised products.

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(From ChicagoApartmentLife) A pizza eating contest with a prize of $250 will be held next Sunday at Chicago’s Pizza Fest.

Bacci Pizza will also sponsor a Chicago pizza festival with an eating contest on July 19. No other details are provided other than that qualification will take place at all Bacci locations.

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Paul Barlow competed in a short hot dog eating contest in the studio of 96.1 WKLS this morning on “The Giant Show” to promote his appearance in tomorrow’s Nathan’s qualifier in Charlotte. A video clip of his appearance is available. Paul says that Hall Hunt will also compete in the qualifier.

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• July 12 Fort Wayne, IN hot dog eating contest, $850 purse ($500 first place), 3 qualifiers, $10 entrance fee
• 15 second podcast about the Dover, DE BBQ sandwich contest
• Video of Crazy Legs Conti and Tim Janus playing the MLE video game
• Video from 2001 Nathan’s finals
• Video of Stevens Point, WI pizza challenge, $500 prize for finishing

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Gersh Kuntzman’s article about the reduction of Nathan’s contests by 2 minutes has been updated with an image of the document that established the original contest duration at 10 minutes according to George Shea.

The New York Times (via the Google archive) reports that the 1978 Memorial Day contest in which Kevin Sinclair, then 10 years old, tied for first was 6.5 minutes long:

[May 30, 1978] … swimming pools for the season. .fit Nathan’s Famous in Concy Island. 4-foot 9-inch 75-pound Kevin Sinc lair, of Brooklyn, 10 years old, tied an IS-. … for first place in the hot-dog-eat ing contest, a field of 28 contestants to get down 10 hot dogs, with buns, in six-and-one-half minutes. …
From Many of Holidayless New Yorkers Made Yesterday… – New York Times ($$)

update The New York Times City Room has a blog entry about the contest length

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The new poll asks how many first time competitors will there be in this years Nathan’s finals. Two rookies, Patrick Vandam and Juris Shibayama, have already qualified and there are 8 remaining qualifiers.

There will be at least three more finalists who did not compete in the 2007 finals because there are 5 eligible finalists from last year (Tim J, Chip, Pat P, Allen G and Hall) who have yet to qualify. 10 finalists from 2007 have already qualified: Joey, Pat B, Sonya, Bob, Juliet, Rich, Crazy Legs, Tim B, Erik and Arturo.

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The website for Marie Claire magazine has a brief interview with Sonya Thomas.

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The PJ Star reports that Todd Rawls of Vertucci’s Chicago Style Eats has high ambitions for the Independence Day hot dog eating contest he is organizing in East Peoria, IL:

“Chicago is, in my opinion, the hot dog capital of the world,” Rawls said. “Everybody knows their Chicago dog. So I’m shocked Chicago hasn’t done this. Well, they’ve had their opportunity. East Peoria’s going to do it, and we’re going to get known. I’d love to be able to see this overtake Nathan’s, and I think it can get done quickly if purse money – the money that can be won by eating – exceeds Nathan’s.”

The contest will start off with $1,000 prize money for the winner, but the eatery is looking for sponsors to increase the pot for next year.

The contest has a page on the city of East Peoria’s web page. Prospective entrants will need to qualify at Vertucci’s Chicago Style Eats by eating as many hot dogs as possible in 9 minutes. The best performances will receive entry into the contest and the qualification fee is $9.99

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Philly.com has an article about the Camden, NJ and West Chester, PA Nathan’s qualifiers with the following information about the field:

Expect other big-name, gut-throat gorgers to be in West Chester and Camden. Eric “Badlands” Booker, who has recorded hip-hop albums about his eating exploits, will exit retirement to take on the likes of Eric “Steakbellie” Livingston and Micah “Wing Kong” Collins, both of Drexel Hill, as well as Pat “from Moonachie” Philbin, who has qualified for three straight July Fourth finals.

PhillyBurbs blogs reports that Booker will compete in the Camden qualifier (which is not clear in the philly.com article)

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Like last year, the Charlotte, NC area qualifier will be held in the Concord Mills parking lot under the midday sun. While the current eastern USA heat wave will subside somewhat, the high temperature Saturday is currently predicted to reach 90, so entrants and spectators should prepare themselves for high heat and humidity.

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• David Mitolo completes the Outrageous Split at BR Frozen Custard – video, gallery
• Furious Pete finishes the Belly Buster Challenge from MT Bellie’s
• Skinnyboy catches Anthony Bourdain on the Big Texan’s webcam
• Orange County sushi bar with hot dog roll named after Kobayashi (from Liz K, link fixed)
• Beautiful Brian will not be entering the Shea Stadium qualifier (update – he will enter)
• Brooklyn stinky cheese eating contest June 22
• The New York Post reports that Dick Zigun, the “Mayor of Coney Island”, has been living rent free in a publicly financed building
• Speculation that a developer was responsible for the information about Zigun
• The New York Times on the future of Coney Island

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June 14 Tigard, Oregon (Portland area), $250 first prize with $30 entry fee. All proceeds to be donated to the Lance Armstrong foundation – craigslist listing, meetin thread

July 5, Payson, Arizona, $200 first prize with $10 entry fee, registration deadline is June 15

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(from “Crawfish” comment) The ribs eating contest held at the Chinook Winds casino on the Oregon coast has been added to the IFOCE calendar for July 13.

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(from anon comment) Gersh Kuntzman has an article for the Brooklyn Papers about the shortening of Nathan’s qualifiers by 2 minutes which states that the July 4 finals will be 10 minutes as well. An anonymous eater repeats Rhonda Evans’ conjecture that the purpose of the reduction was to minimize the chances of a reversal. The article closes with a mention of the 3.5 minute contests in the 1970s.

Gothamist and Eater.com have posts about the article

update June 11 Serious eats has a blog entry about the shortening with quotes from Ryan Nerz

The Sheas say that a 1986 article from the New York Times was responsible for the truncation.

The note said the change for the upcoming July 4 contest comes after the discovery of a trove of “numerous old items and ephemera” near the Nathan’s stand at the historic corner of Surf and Stillwell avenues in Coney Island.

“It was in the form of random notes and contest-related scribblings that were apparently unearthed at Nathan’s,” said George Shea, chairman of Major League Eating.

“We put together a team of experts to determine its validity and then, through the use of what I believe scholars call ‘a Google search,’ we discovered a New York Times article from 1986 that referred to the contest as taking 10 minutes.”

Major League Eating President Richard Shea said the Times article was particularly compelling evidence that the contest’s traditional length was actually 10 minutes, not the 12 minutes that have been the standard for at least two decades.

That link first appeared on eatfeats in March 2007

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(From The Big Lead) Yahoo’s hockey blog, Puck Daddy, has an interview with Krista Lander about her preparations for competing against two members of the Odessa Jackalopes minor league hockey team in Fuddrucker’s one pound burger challenge. Ms. Lander is the sports anchor for CBS 7 and the contest will be a part of “Krista’s Sports Challenge” segments in which she competes against local athletes in various activities. The contest is expected to be televised on Thursday.

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QSR Magazine reports that Nathan’s Famous will donate 100,000 hot dogs on July 4 to the Food Bank For New York City. The 2006 donation was 10,000 hot dogs.

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StarHQ reports that Elizabethton, Tennessee will have a hot dog eating contest in conjunction with its fourth of July festivities. $250 will be awarded to the winner, making the contest the first 2008 July 4 hot dog contest to announce a cash prize that I am aware of.

update added 2008

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Kotaku reports that this week’s new downloadable games for the Wii are My Pokemon Ranch, a port of the 1980s arcade game Dig Dug and Bio Miracle Bokutte Upa, a less famous game from two decades ago. There are three more possible Monday release dates for the Major League Eating WiiWare game before the Nathan’s finals.

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Gal Sone had a book signing in Tokyo for her autobiography today and she has a blog entry about the appearance. Tomorrow, she will sign autographs in Osaka. The autobiography is currently #131 on the amazon.co.jp rankings (The Japanese translation of the final Harry Potter book, which will be released next month, is #1)

Tomoko Miyake’s book of photographs is now available for preorder on Amazon of Japan. The release date is June 28.

update June 9 Gal Sone’s book is currently ranked #97 on Amazon of Japan, which place it on the bestseller list. A screen capture has been uploaded (click the thumbnail below).

Gal Sone’s blog has a report about today’s Osaka book signing

Yama3 went to the Tokyo autograph session.

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• Beautiful Brian has expected entrants for next weekend’s contests in New York
• Cameron McKirdy has videos of the Las Vegas qualifier, including his reversal
• Don Lerman is selling his dentures for $1,000
• Article about Big Goomba pizza challenge attempt in South Carolina
• Jill Stoler and Will Millender of “Fat March” to exercise together
• Hungry Sisters report on the Hog Happenin eating contests
• Japanese article about Brooklyn Pizza contest – 2ch thread

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(from Steakbellie comment) The Onion has an article about a competitive eater who gets banned from the IFOCE after throwing a mayonnaise eating contest and has to resort to winning impromptu unsanctioned contests. The picture used for the article is from the Trip Rewards wing eating contest last year.

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New Orleans qualifier results from Dr. Bigtime comment & IFOCE.com report:

1. Juris “Dr. Bigtime” Shibayama – 28
2. Peter Parker – 17
3. Damon Serignet – 16

Dunno after that.

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Norfolk qualifier results from IFOCE.com

1. Sonya Thomas, 38.5 HDB (.5 off 12 minute personal best)
2. Russ Keeler 20.75
3. William Schierer 19.75
4, Joe Tursi 19

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Erica Pierson, a DJ at Love 96.1 FM, attempted Tumbleweed’s 2 pound burger challenge last October. The owner of Tumbleweed’s donated $500 to the Spinal Cord Injury Project after she successfully completed the burger.

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