Complete Results (current IFOCE rank in parenthesis):
1 - Joey Jaws Chestnut (1) - 59 + 5 in OT
2 - Takeru the Tsunami Kobayashi (3) - 59 + 4.5 in OT
3 - Tim Eater X Janus (4) - 42
4 - Pat Deep Dish Bertoletti (2) - 38
5 - Sonya the Black Widow Thomas (6) - 34
6T - Humble Bob Shoudt (5) - 30
6T - Hall Hoover Hunt (8) - 30
8 - Juliet Lovely Lee (10) - 29
9T - Erik the Red Denmark (12) - 28
9T - Juris Dr. Big Time Shibayama (17) - 28
11 - Tim Gravy Brown (13) - 27
12 - Eric Badlands Booker (NR) - 25.5
13T - Rich the Locust LeFevre (7) - 25
13T - Patrick Van-damage Vandam (45) - 25 (nickname coined by Kate Westfall)
15 - Crazy Legs Conti (11) - 24
16 - Allen Shredder Goldstein (15) - 21
17 - Pat from Moonachie Philbin (21) - 19
18 - Nasty Nate Biller (30) - 18.5
19 - Pete Pretty Boy Davekos (25) - 18
20 - Arturo the Natural Rios (14) - 16
21 - Kevin "00" Ross (29) - 14
Just before the eating begins...(pic taken by valjean615 , used with permission)
The contest was truncated to 10 minutes this year; it has been 12 minutes for every contest in the modern era. 2 minutes may not seem like a lot but in terms of competitive eating it creates a drastic change in psychological and physical preparation. Joey and Kobayashi proved once again, maybe in even more of a staggering light this year, that they are the elite of this sport. The two of them drive themselves to a place that honestly I think makes the both of them dread going. But it is so entertaining and invigorationg to see Chestnut and Kobayashi so determined not to lose and so driven to prove themselves that they go way beyond the point they would ever go without each others' competition.
The result after 10 minutes was a virtual tie at 59. The overtime format was decided on the fly to be the first one to eat 5 HDB's. This is not a traditional overtime format; usually overtime would be either a one or two minute sudden death. But, I actually think it was a good decision by George Shea, Charles Hardy, and Ryan Nerz to go with a first to 5 format because they were both already so close to their physical limit that any more than 5 dogs would likely have pushed one of them to reverse. Neither of them was going to give up and with a cleared mouth they could both probably do more than 5 dogs in one minute even after 59 down already.
Despite what I thought was a fair format, the overtime decided almost nothing because they were virtually tied again. It was a blur of stuffing, but both Koby and Joey had a ball of buns and meat in their hands that they were trying to stuff in first to claim victory. Initially it looked like Kobayashi had gotten the food to his mouth first, but after the both of them stuffed the mass in to their mouths, Kobayashi still had about half of a bun in his hand that he had to go back and grab after Joey had stuffed the last bit in and that was the difference. Joey raised his arms in victory a bit premature before it was called, but he quickly lowered his arm and gulped some liquid to clear his mouth first after George screamed that they needed to clear their mouth. It was hard to see from the ESPN broadcast and even from the crowd that Koby still had food left in his hand during that last stuff and many believed that Kobayashi should have been declared the victor.
It is hard to say that Kobayashi did not deserve the victory on the 4th but Joey was technically a fraction better and just as deserving. In the post eating interview with ESPN, Joey had a good quote when he said that "he (Kobayashi) wanted it but I needed it." Well said Joey and you definitely proved it. Takeru probably could have stuffed a bit more in at the end of regulation (he mentions in his blog here), Joey was behind in the last minute and I know that hurts Kobayashi and will drive him for the next re-match. The good news for Kobayashi is that he seems to have moved beyond his jaw injury and although he has lost some power, he has made adjustments in his eating style and mentally he is back in the game now.
Kobayashi is confident the day before at the weigh in and
Joey signs autographs in Coney after his victory
I managed to eat a personal best for any time limit of 28 HDB's. My goal going in to the day was to put up a PR and finish in the top 10. I ended up in a tie for 9th place so I have to say I am satisfied with the result. My 28 dogs and improvement of +4 HDB's from my qualifying number was a bit of an anomaly as almost everyone in the contest failed to eat as many as they did in qualifying. Only Crazy Legs (ate 21.5 to qualify) and I actually improved on our qualifying number (I ate 24 to qualify) and I believe I was the only eater on stage to post a personal best for any time limit.
I'm swinging my..., getting ready, and interacting with the crowd (pic taken by valjean615 , used with permission)
The low numbers would suggest that the conditions were tough for eating and that a better day would have produced much bigger numbers. But, it is hard to attribute exactly why everyone seemed to struggle to perform their best. I think the shortening of the contest was a big factor because it usually takes a couple of minutes to get in to the rhythm of eating on the 4th for whatever reason, But the last few minutes are always easier to make up ground because of the incredible energy of the crowd and the moment. This year, there was no time to make up any ground that was lost in the first couple of minutes because of the 10 minute format.
Obviously, there are more distractions on the 4th than with any other contest. The stage and the crowd is so electric and there is so much anticipation of the event that it is so easy to not be able to focus solely on eating what is in front of you. I know it happened to me last year when I only managed to eat 23 in 12 minutes in the finals which was considerably lower than my capability and my qualifying total. I used the experience I had last year as motivation to focus only on eating this year and to try and not get too caught up in the theatrics of the event. Even though I thoroughly enjoy all of the entertainment of the day aside from the eating, I know that not putting up a big number hurts and takes a long time to get over. Either that or I just sucked in my qualifier this year which made my final total look like such an improvement. Either way, it feels good to put up a personal best on the biggest stage.
Despite the fact that not everyone put up their personal best, there was some impressive results this year. Crazy Legs' (24 HDB) nearly reached his goal of 25 HDB's, in fact he had them in his mouth but his judged discounted 1 HDB for debris. Hall Hunt posted 30 HDB's and finished tied for 6th continuing his rise up the top 10. Eater X improved from 4th last year to 3rd this year finally taking home some hardware with his consistent attack on the 40+ HDB mark. Badlands' (25.5 HDB) return was a welcomed relief; we need Badlands at the table eating not just rapping. Gravy Brown (27 HDB) threw up some huge numbers this year in qualifying and improved significantly over last year's final number (22.5 to 27). Both Juliet (29 HDB) and Sonya (34 HDB's) represented the "X" chromosomes well finishing in 8th and 5th respectively while taking up virtually no room at the middle of the table. Patrick Vandam led in impressive group of rookies to the final table. Despite not achieving his eye popping qualifier total of 31; Vandamage still impressed with 25 in the finals. And Dr. Big Time (28 HDB) did indeed prove he has top 10 talent.
The 4th of July has quickly and easily become my favorite day of the year. I had a great time competing and hanging with all of the eaters in NY. The fraternity of competitive eaters is a uniquely entertaining and elite group of talented nut cases. Special thanks to Crazy Legs and Nicole for arranging the after parties. It was great to see so many new faces and impressive rookies at the final table, the experience will be a propeller for better things to come.
A lasting image of Arturo following his wardrobe malfunction walking in the shadow of the Wall of Fame
The Road to Nathan's is complete for this year and now we look forward to the Krystal Burger Championship on September 28, one month earlier than last year. See you all soon!
See you all next year! (pic taken by valjean615 , used with permission)
4 comments:
Hey, Erik! It was great meeting you at Coney Island! I hope to see youe again soon on the circuit!
"Sweet" Jill Stoler
Agree about the overtime eat-off. A two minute round would have been better, I think.
Good point on only you and Legs besting your qualifying totals. Just think, your 28 HDBs would have been enough to win every Nathan's contest in the pre-Kobayashi era (from 1967 through 2000).
Hey MM, thanks, I'd be lying if I didn't say I thought about that being a record in 2000. But we all know times have changed considerably and competition is just deeper now.
But I also believe much of what we are capable of is restricted by what we believe is capable, it's just really hard to convince yourself that over 50 HDB's is possible. I'm working on it though.
Hey erik i hear your gonna be in Oklahoma next week gonna be a great comp lots of competetion looking forward to it.l
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