Laredo Jalapeno Contest Results

Eating and Focusing during the contest


Receiving my Second place trophy with consternation, I wanted 1st


Laredo, Texas, I am not sure if I love it or hate it. Here are the results of the contest...

1st - "Gentleman" Joe Menchetti - 105 jalapenos (Wallingrford, CT) - $1,000
2nd - Erik "the Red" Denmark - 98 jalapenos (Seattle, WA) - $500
3rd - Benjamin Navarro - 74 jalapenos (Laredo, TX) - $250
4th - Jose A. Mar - 71 jalapenos (Laredo, TX) - $0

Here is a link to an article published about the contest (The first one has a picture of the winner, Mechetti)...

http://www.lmtonline.com/news/archive/021906/pagea1.pdf
http://www.lmtonline.com/news/archive/021906/pagea8.pdf

There should be more pictures and videos, including a live interview I did for Pro 8 news (NBC) before the contest. I will post more later...

I am sick about losing, let me say this, I should have won this contest. I had a big lead early and then slowed my pace because I did not want to risk throwing up and I thought I had a big enough lead. The weather was very uncharicteristically cold in Laredo, which is about 5 minutes grom the Mexican border. It was around 35 degrees with the windchill and the contest was held outside, which definitiely made it harder to warm up my jaw. No excuses though, I should have won, I could have won, and I will win next time...

Jalapeno Eating Contest

This Saturday, 2-18-06, I will be flying to Laredo, Texas to compete in the nationally renowned Laredo jalapeno eating contest. I can't wait for this contest, I am confident I can win this one. Although, this is not an IFOCE event per se, many IFOCE eaters have competed and won this event in the past including #16 ranked "Jalapeno" Jed Donahue and #23 ranked "The Jalapeno King" Don Lerman. Donahue has the record with 152 jalapeno's eaten in 15 minutes - I will attempt to break this record. This should be a big breakout contest for me if I can win and set a record. The Jalapenos will be La Costena, pickled, and there will be 30 people in the contest as part of the Jalapeno Festival . They said they offer beer to drink during the contest which shows they are serious...check back for results

Queen Mary Chili Cheese Fries Results

Here are the official results of the contest,
as written by IFOCE President and MC of the
event, George Shea.... I finshed in 9th place,
the top 7 won money, I needed another pound-and-
a-half to get there. I felt good for this competition,
I am somewhat disappointed but 3.5 pounds
is more than I could have eaten a month ago
in 10 minutes. I will get there, in the money that is,
I just need more training to increase my capacity...


#2 ranked eater in the world, Sonya Thomas, won the
contest over Joey Chestnut by literally a fry or two, I got
a photo with her just after the contest, she was already
sucking down a milkshake after just consuming over
8 pounds of chili cheese fries! Thanks to Eater X, who
finsished 3rd in the contest, with an impressive almost
6 pounds eaten, for taking this picture...


The Queen Mary herself, first set sail in 1934 to house
WWII soldiers, said to be haunted, I didn't see any ghosts on
the ship but the rooms are really old and somewhat creepy
and I could definitely see how it could be haunted

Queen Mary Chili Cheese Fries Competition Preview

This Saturday (2-11-2006) I will be competing in the Queen Mary Chili Cheese Fries Competition in Long Beach, CA. I know there will be some good eaters at the competition including #3 ranked eater Joey "Jaws" Chestnut, #6 Rich "The Locust" Lefevre, and #16 "Jalapeno" Jed Donahue, along with the usual cast of characters. Anyway, I hope to have a breakthrough performance, the top 6 places win money and that will be my goal. Well, screw that, my goal is to win always, anything less will be failure. Here are some pictures of some training I did recently eating 3.5 lbs of chili cheese fires in 15 minutes. I will probably need to break 4.5 - 5.0 lbs to have a chance....stay tuned for results.


3.5 lbs. of homemade chili cheese fries....no time to enjoy it though


A picture of the time just before I began eating
at 12:00 am...


I snapped a quick picture 7 minutes in and about 2.5 lbs eaten


The last pound went down slow, took about 15 minutes
overall to finish the whole 3.5 lbs. but definitely was not
at max speed or max capacity....I can eat more, and more...

My Tribute to the Seahawks Winning Super Bowl XL

2-5-2006. Seahawks are in Super Bowl 40 and
I will attempt to eat 40 Hot Dogs and Buns (HDB)
in honor of a Seahawks victory.....


Just after kickoff, 3:50 - I pose with 40 hot dogs and
high hopes for the Seahawks in Super Bowl XL, we
won the cointoss.


The eating begins....Seahawks score first field goal


After the first quarter Seahwaks were looking good
up 3-0, I finished 8 hot dogs after starting late
and going at a slow pace

Around halftime I have finished 13 HDB as the
Seahwaks sloppy play was starting to distract me
trailing 7-3 at half


The second half was pariticularly painful
for the Seahwawks and I couldn't focus on 40 anymore.
I finished at 20 and the sorrow of a loss in
Super Bowl XL for the Seahawks. That's
alright, good season, we were screwed by
the refs, and Pittsburg made big plays -
final score Steelers win 21-10.