Nathans Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest Qualifier Results:
10 Minute Contest:
1st - Erik the Red Denmark (12) - 24 HDBs
2nd - Chris the Mad Greek Abatsas (20) - 23 HDBs
3rd - Nic the Incredible Bulk Fry (NR) - 21 HDBs (impressive rookie debut)
4th - Pat Bruss (24) - 20 HDBs
pciture courtesy of the Kansas City StarClick Here to read the
Kansas City Star article
by Ryan Young recapping the contest
Sam's Club hosted this contest in Overland Park, KS as part of their effort to
promote Nathan's hot dogs being sold in Sam's Club. I noticed the line for hot dogs inside of the store was lengthy; I am pretty sure they will sell very well with the Sam's Club patrons. A slight difference in the way that Sam's Club prepares the Nathan's dogs as compared to vendors in New York however - they boil the dogs and use the skinless version of Nathan's instead of the traditional grilled dogs with casings. That's okay, the texture and taste was a little different than what we are used to eating in the contest, but they weigh the same.
The Mad Greek and I have had a couple of close battles, most recently in the final Chowdown episode on Spike TV where I edged him out in hard boiled eggs 61 to 59.5 to win the title. I know Chris was looking forward to the opportunity to avenge that narrow loss, and I did give him a shot on Saturday (not on purpose). I rather enjoy having a competitive rival, I really have not had one in my CE career. If I can bring out the best in the Mad Greek and he can do the same for me than I welcome the challenge.
I did feel a little bad when Chris told me that he is having to drive to every contest this year because his birth certificate and citizenship documentation was lost in a fire that burnt down his building last year. He drove all the way from Cleveland for this contest and drove to Houston and back for the Gyro contest a few weeks ago. He said he is waiting for his birth certificate to be shipped from Germany but that it takes 6 months or something - ouch. I hope you have another chance to qualify Chris.
By the time I got to Kansas City on Saturday I had already been on the road for four days putting in some work time in St Louis during the week. I was relieved to finally be able to focus on eating and to have a chance to qualify for this years Nathan's finals. The contest is a bit of a blur for me, I am not sure if I was just burnt out from working all week and traveling from city to city or if I was too nervous to be able to calm down. For some reason, I always feel anxiety before Nathan's qualifiers that is magnified more than any other contest. Probably because the consequences for not winning are so severe; the qualifiers really have carried more pressure for me.
In years past I have put so much effort in to getting ready to qualify that I have not been able to improve on my numbers in the finals, breathing a metaphoric sigh of relief after qualifying and not pushing myself harder than before the qualifier. This year, my goals are to put up much bigger numbers in the finals. Knowing that I did not have my best day in Kansas City, all of my focus is now on the 4th of July and to make sure that no matter what my final number is, I know that I will have my best day ever in eating hot dogs. See you in New York!
Today I will be participating in the Detlef Schrempf Celebrity Golf Classic. I am honored to be a guest this year for the first time in the tournament and to help support Detlef's charity foundation. Ever since I started receiving recognition for competitive eating, it has been a parallel goal of mine to get myself in to the ring of celebrity golf tournaments. It is not like I know Detlef, I met him for the first time yesterday. But I am hoping I will make a good impression on my fellow celebrities/competitors and the people who will donate thousands of dollars to Detlef's great charities to participate in the event. I imagine I will have to play great golf in a 5-person scramble format and I will likely have to embark on some impromptu speed eating exhibition to really make my presence known. It should be a great time, that is if my team can win...
