Sky City Fry Bread - Phoenix AZ, 10/28/06

Results from Sky City Fry Bread Championship (IFOCE rank in paranthesis):

8 minute contest

1st - Erik the Red Denmark(12) - 9.75 (New World Record), $1500
2nd - Jalapeno Jed Donahue(18) - 8.5, $1000
3rd - Jason the Erbivore Erb(35) - 6.5, $500
4th - Tim Brown(49), 6.4
5th - Frank Wach(26), 6? (Not exactly sure)
5th - Wild Bill Myers(41), 6? (Not exactly sure)
7th - Andrew Skinny Boy Lane(36), 4.5


From L to R - Frank Wach, Jed, Erbivore and I grind through the fry bread
(photo published by Arizona Republic)

I know I am a little slow in updating this competition re-cap but I guess I just wanted to enjoy the victory for awhile. Winning always feels good and it is the best cure for losing (see Krystal qualifiers).

Just before I came out to the stage at the Arizona State fair where the competition would be held , there was a group of us eaters watching the Krystal Square Off finals (in Chattanooga, TN) on ESPN at a bar in the pavilion of the fair. We witnessed Kobayashi and Joey Chestnut go crazy on the Krystals with Kobayashi finally outlasting Joey again with 97 Krystals to Joey's 91. Damn, awesome performance from these two and everyone else in the contest quite frankly exceeded expectations. It is getting tougher and tougher to shock the world like Kobayashi did in 2001 when he ate 50 hot dogs but I have to say this year's Krystal totals by both Koby and Joey have to be up there as the second biggest shock in the history of the sport.

Meanwhile, back in Arizona after witnessing the eating display at the Krystal finals on TV, I felt a sense of pride, motivation, and kick-in-the-assidness (just made up this phrase). How could I possibly except the thought of losing after realizing that our sport of competitive eating had just received another jolt of energy and publicity? I couldn't is the answer.

As we were standing on the side of the stage getting ready for the introductions, they brought out the fry bread in stacks of 10 on a plate. They dumped a pile of powdered sugar on the top of the stack so only really the top couple had any significant amount of sugar on them. Looking at them, I figured I could proably eat about 20-30 depending on the density. When the contest started and I took my first bite, I knew that 20 would not be possible in 8 minutes. Although, each frisbee sized slice of bread probably only weighed between 6-7 oz., they were like rubber. Dipping the bread in water helped but since the bread is fried it didn't absorb much. So the key to the contest really was about jaw strength and swallowing technique. Chewing fast and swallowing chunks of bread consistently, I managed to get through the whole stack of fry bread (minus a quarter of the last slice).

When the final tallies were made and I was announced as the winner to the crowd, I received a nice ovation - the crowd was a bit rowdy at first cheering heavily for the locals and somewhat jeering at the professionals as they were announced but they were very kind to me. I felt very satisfied with my performance and the victory and somewhat vindicated for not making the Krystal finals. But this victory is just one step in my plan and my future goals in competitive eating, and although there may not be many contests in the next coming months, I do not plan to take any time off.

As a side note, I had hoped to get a chance to go by the Heart Attack Grill after the contest and try my luck at the quadruple bypass burger record set by Jed Donahue. I had exchanged emails with Jon Basso from the Grill and he notified me that they were only open on the weekdays from 11-9, which I found to be shocking considering the type of crowd and atmosphere I envisioned for the restaurant. Jon responded and told me that the Heart Attack Grill in Phoenix is currently a test pilot restaurant for a franchise store. He did also offer to open the restaurant special for me on that Saturday just so I could come by and give the burger a try but unfortunately I didn't get the email until I came back home to Seattle. Dang, next time.

Krystal Qualifier - Jackson, MS 10/15/06

Full Results from Jackson (IFOCE rank in paranthesis)

8 minute contest:

1st - Crazy Legs Conti(11) - 38 burgers
2nd - Arturo "the Natural" Rios(24) - 35
3rd - Erik the Red Denmark(12) - 32
4th - Ken "Mongo" Federighi(34) - 26
5th - Morris Mermelstein(NR) - 23
6th - Terry Brown(NR) - 20
7th - Damon Serignet(NR) - 19
7th - Kris Barnhart(NR) - 19
7th - Michael Parlaman(NR) - 19
10th - Mike Richardson(NR) - 18
11th - Justin Mih "So Hungry"(33) - DQ (had 37 in his mouth but could not swallow it)



I hate you Magic

What? What the hell happened here? Well, I fucked up and didn't make it in to the finals in Chattanooga on October 28. 32? I know it's pathetic. 32 is my new least favorite number and 37 (the number I needed to hit) is my new second least favorite number. Magic Johnson, Sandy Koufax, Jim Brown all wore number 32 - I hate you. Shaun Alexander, running back for the Seattle Seahawks wears number 37 - I don't hate you but I hate your jersey.

There were a number of circumstances that contributed to my poor performance - I was sick all week, my throat was soar, the burgers were dry and cold, the humidity was high, I lost something very important (medicine) prior to the contest, but honestly none of that shit mattered - I underachieved, and I know it.

So, now I am left to ponder, what if? What if I had made it to the finals? What would be my entrance for the ESPN crowd? How many burgers over 40 would I have eaten? How much could this nationally televised event and this contest boost the popularity of competitive eating? And how much of an impact could I have made? I think I could have made an impact for sure.

Well, I have confidence that the eaters who qualified will put on a good show and not disappoint the crowd. Kobayashi should be ready and as focused as he was at Bratwursts which means Joey, Sonya, Pat, Humble Bob, Chip, Tim and Rich will all need to raise their level beyond what any American eater ever has to have a chance in the end. The beautiful thing about this contest is there is hope, realistic hope that Kobayashi can be beaten and there will be more than just Joey to push him I believe. I'll be watching with bitterness and regret in my stomach that I can't be there. But soon after I will take the stage in Arizona and have a chance to take out my frusteration on fry bread.

I intend to use this most recent failure of mine as fuel and motivation - I will be back, I will be better, I will be stonger, I will make a difference, and I won't be denied again.

As for the DQ incident with Justin Mih in Jackson - I don't like the way that Krystal wrote up the competition recap . It makes it seem like it was my mission to get Justin DQ'd so that I would get third place, that I followed him around the corner and watched him throw up and then starting yelling profusely for his disqualification - this is not what happened. What actually happened is about two minutes after the contest had ended, Justin was still struggling to swallow his 37th burger, I wasn't paying attention to him, I was in my own world of frusteration when I looked over and saw Justin's body jerk and a force of burger chunks and liquid shoot out of his mouth directly on to the table. It wasn't like he let everything go and stomach bile was all over the place but it was clear that the stomach acids had reacted and forced an outward projectile of food from his mouth. Mike Castellano was standing in front of Justin on the stage but was half facing the crowd so he missed the moment but he could see the remains on the table. I asked Mike if he had just seen what happened and that Justin had just had a reversal. Mike investigated and then Kenny from Krystals reviewed the tape and determined that Justin would be discounted 1 burger for the reversal giving him a total of 36. After the contest results were announced I went to Kenny and Mike and asked them what they had seen and how it was determined to only discount 1 burger. They both reviewed the video again and they determined that Justin should in fact be disqualified.

The reason I pointed out the reversal was not for my own personal benefit, Justin did have a better contest than me and I thought for sure he would be able to get everything down. I didn't give a shit if I got third place or fourth place, I actually at first was thinking that it would affect Arturo Rios' wildcard position but I later remembered that since Crazy Legs had won, Arturo would still get a wilcard spot regardless of what happened with Justin. Basically, I think it comes down to maintaining the integrity of the sport to make sure that the rules are clearly set and are clearly followed and if I see something that is not right I am going to point it out, it's a reaction - it is up to the judges however to make the final decisions. I hope Justin does well in Chattanooga.

Jalapeno Results - Dallas, TX 10/8/06

Click Here to listen to my interview and 1 minute jalapeno eating exhibition on Dallas news station 1080 KRLD

Reults from Jalapeno Contest (IFOCE rank in paranthesis)

8 Minute Contest:

1st - Rich the Locust LeFevre(8) - 247 peppers, $2000
2nd - Sonya the Black Widow Thomas(3) - 239 peppers, $1000
3rd - Pat Deep Dish Bertoletti(4) - 226 peppers, $700
4th - Erik the Red Denmark(12) - 108 peppers, $300
5th - Allen Earl Jones(NR) - 90 peppers

First off, let me say congratulations to Rich LeFevre, he deserved a big victory and he definitley earned it against a strong field. Many people want to say that maybe the contest wasn't fair in some way but it definitely was fair and Rich won outright. The peppers that were used were La Costena out of the jar, the same as the ones they use at the Laredo jalapeno contest. The number of jalapenos consumed seems like a huge number considering that the 12-minute record set by Pat Bertoletti in NM was 177 but let me describe why I think the numbers were so high:

The jalapenos were varied in size, some small, some medium, and very few were large. Also, the peppers had been left uncovered in the sun for at least 20-30 minutes which caused them to absorb the vinegar, get softer, and evaprate some of the heat that is inherent in a fresh jalapeno. Regardless of these factors, I think Rich would have set a record anyway, he was literally and figuratively on fire that day.

As for my performance, it wasn't the best, but considering I could have eaten 117 more and still placed 4th, maybe it wasn't such a bad choice to stop at 108.

Click Here to read The Star-Telegram article about the contest
Click Here to Read the Dallas Morning News article about the contest
Click Here to read the AP newswire article about the contest