International back-to-back: Poutine to Pumpkin Pie10/4 and 10/5

In less than two weeks time, a big weekend for MLE and yours truly will be taking place on the road. First, a poutine eating contest sponsored by Smoke's Poutinerie in Toronto on Saturday, October 4th.

I've been drooling over this contest for the past 4 years, always wanting to be there but never being able to work out the travel. This year, for whatever reason, the timing and travel costs are going to work and I'm going to be there to smash fries, gravy, and cheese curds. The food will be served in 1/2 pound boxes composed of 3.5 ozs of fries, .5 ozs of cheese curds, and 4 ozs of gravy. No word yet on how the metric conversion will be dealt with.

2013 giant pumpkin winner, 1536 lbs!

 As much as I love Canada (I truly do), I won't have too much time to digest the poutine and post-contest carbonations, because I'll be jumping on a plane that evening and heading back out West for Sunday's  Pumpkin Pie eating contest sponsored by the                      Elk Grove Giant Pumpkin Festival in Elk Grove, CA (near Sacramento). This is the inaugural event and being a West coast contest, it's hard not to be there as they are few and far between. I love it when the competitive eating world gets to clash with these unique festivals and foods because the kind of crowd that makes it out to Elk Grove for a giant pumpkin festival is typically our target audience: entertaining weirdos being entertained by weirdos. I can't wait.


Check back for pictures, videos, and results.

Competition is a Coming!!

Uhhhhhhm, I guess it's been a while since I have posted anything. Sorry about that, I really do enjoy writing about competitive eating and especially like sharing when people are interested in hearing. I've been in several contests since my last post: maybe I can wrap those up for you in brevity in my next post. But first I wanted to let it be known what is coming up for me.

This weekend I'm traveling to the bay area to eat Hooters wings and celebrate Joey Chestnut's epic ending to a college career that almost lasted a decade. I kid because I care Joey; no matter how long, at what age, or from what institution, a college degree is a priceless accomplishment.

Next, in the first full week of June, I'll be embarking on a 3-city competition extravaganza. I'll be returning to Chicago for the 3rd straight year for Rib Fest on June 8 - one day after my 34th birthday and two days after Chicagoan Pat Bertoletti turns like 23 or something virginic like that. Word is, I'll be working that Friday night as well on the Glutton Force Five MERV mobile wearing something horrifying and ridiculous.

On Saturday morning, I hope to dust off any previous night remnants and catch my 7am flight to Phoenix. I will be aiming to 4-peat as the regional Nathan's Hot Dog Eating champ and punch my 7th straight ticket to the finals at Coney Island on the 4th of July. You all know about that one.

After hopping up to Tucson (guess that makes 4 cities) and saying hello to my Grams, I'll be flying back to Seattle early Sunday morning to compete in the West Seattle Golf Club Championship, playing 36-holes on Sunday and aiming to qualify for the final 16 matchplay. I've been retooling my golf game considerably lately and I plan to play in a handful of very competitive Amateur events throughout the summer.

Check back soon for results.


Here is a dumb picture of me in a shirt that's too tight

And for good luck, here is a picture of a Monk waiting for the Bangkok subway

Jimmy Johns Sandwich Makers vs MLE Eaters 7/17/10

Videos from yesterday's contest at the Bite of Seattle. The contest was 5 minutes and the format was three freaky fast Jimmy Johns sandwich makers versus three major league eaters, Joey Chestnut, myself, and Ben Monson to see who was faster - the makers or the eaters. The makers won by 1 22-21, the sandwich makers are 10-0 in the series now - this one was the closest (possibly tied with the last event in Chicago in 2009 with Bertoletti, Hunt, and Gravy)

Video of intros for me and Joey Chestnut. This is the first MLE contest in Seattle in 5 years and the first since I have been eating. We were in the shadow of the space needle where the Seattle Sonics used to play and I wanted to pay hommage to our former team that was wrongfully taken from us (Gary Payton Jersey):


Video of the entire contest:

Q13 Fox TV - Jimmy Johns Promo 7/16/10

Video of today's morning news appearance with Q13 Fox anchor Mark Wright (great guy) promoting this weekend's Jimmy Johns contest at the Bite of Seattle @2:00 pm.

 

Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Championship July 4, 2010

Just in case you have not gotten the full results...

Coney Island, NY - 10 minute contest:

1 - Joey "Jaws" Chestnut - 54 HDB's
2 - Tim "Eater X" Janus - 45
3 - Pat "Deep Dish" Bertoletti - 37
4 - Sonya the Black Widow Thomas - 36
5 - Notorious B.O.B. Shoudt - 34
6 - Erik the Red Denmark - 32
7 - Tim "Gravy" Brown - 31
8 - Allen Shredder Goldstein - 28
9T - Ben Monson - 27
9T - Juliet Lee - 27
11 - Sean "Flash" Gordon - 26.5
12T - Eric Badlands Booker - 24
12T - "Pretty Boy" Pete Davekos - 24
14 - Crazy Legs Conti - 20
15 - Bryan "Big Sexy" Beard - 15.5
16 - Kristopher Adams - 11

I will update with my complete recap, thoughts, pics and vids from the event in the next day or so (just got home) so check back.

*photo courtesy of Val bromann (http://sillyamerica.com)

The Road to Nathan's is Here

The MLE competitive eating circuit is busy almost year round now, which is great to see; contests popping up almost weekly in regions throughout the United States. The prize money structure for contests in the past 12 months has seemed to be more evenly spread out between all paid spots, which has kept many eaters 1-25 involved and winning prize money. The huge top prize purse contests have been few and far between, which from a selfish perspective has been refreshing. Of course, I am not thrilled to have to settle for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place money all of the time, I want to win the big prize. I am straving for a victory, in fact. My last win on the circuit was almost a year ago at the Tempe, AZ Nathan's qualifier. I have not won a non-qualifier contest in 2.5 years when I won the Spike TV hard boiled egg contest in October, 2007 with 61 in 8 minutes. I have to get at least one non-qualifier win this year or no matter what, it will be a failure.

That being said, it's Nathan's season and it's time to win a qualifier. This is probably the most exciting time of the year in Competitive Eating for me. I am looking forward to each coming weekend with anticipation to see what numbers people are putting up this year. The culmination and build up to the 4th makes the final contest what it is. I myself think that my performance in Nathan's contests has in a large part shaped my career. I have won my last 4 qualifier attempts with totals of 22 ('06), 26.5 ('07), 24 ('08), and 28 ('09). And my totals in the finals have been 22, 23, 28, and 38 respectively. The trend is going up for me, last year was a leap forward in the finals and I know I am capbale of more.

My Nathan's qualifier schedule for this year will be Tempe, AZ on June 5, Charlotte, NC on June 19 (if I don't win in Tempe), and San Diego, CA on June 26 (if I fail to win in Tempe or NC). Let's get it on, the road to Nathan's!!

If you need some motivation, listen to my 2009 single, the Internet sensation and what was deemed by some who have no musical genre credibility as Electronic EMO - "Surf and Stillwell"

New Bacon Record Attempt for Charity at "the Bacathlon"

J&D foods , the creaters of Bacon Salt and Baconnaise are based in Seattle and are putting on a bacon themed event on Thursday, November 19th at Heaven Nightclub in Seattle. All of the proceeds from the event will go to Ashley's Team in support of chilren and families of childhood cancer patients. Deemed "the Bacathlon", the fundraiser will include several competitions involving bacon, which I and other Seattle dignitaries will be participating in as well as the main event in which I will be attempting to set a new record for the most amount of bacon ever eaten.

All are welcome to attend, the event is open to the public, here is the event flier:



There will be a lot of local media coverage at the event and I feel good about the liklihood that we will raise a lot of money for Ashley's Team.

Link to today's article in the

Seattle Weekly

Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Championship 7/4/09

Nathan's Famous Hot Dog eating Contest - Coney Island, NY
10 Minute contest
Complete Results:

1st: Joey Jaws Chestnut - 68 HDBs
2nd: Takeru theTsunami Kobayashi - 64 1/2
3rd: Tony Clifton (Pat Bertoletti) - 55
4th: Tim Eater X Janus - 53
5th: Humble Bob Shoudt - 41 3/4
6th: Sonya the Black Widow Thomas - 41
7th: Hall Hoover Hunt - 38.5
8th: Erik the Red Denmark - 38
9th: Juliet Lovely Lee - 34
T-10th: Tim Gravy Brown - 30
T-10th: Eric Badlands Booker - 30
12th: Buffalo Jim Reeves - 28.5
T-13th: Crazy Legs Conti - 25
T-13th: Pete Pretty Boy Davekos - 25
T-13th: Sean Flash Gordon - 25
16th: Marco Mongo Marquez - 23
17th: Micah Wing Kong Collins - 21
T-18th: Franco Camerini - 14
T-18th: Bob Coccodrilli - 14
Rich LeFevre wasn't able to compete due to illness



Joey was able to three-peat by putting up a personal best and destroying last year's record of 59 in 10 minutes. I think this was the perfect day for Joey, the conditions could not have been better for eating in NY. The weather was warm around 75-80 but the humidity was very low almost non-existent and on top of that there was a slight refreshing breeze coming off the water. This was the first year since I have been in the finals that the hot dogs (meat) were actually warm, I think a lot of credit goes to Randy at Nathan's for paying attention to the conditions this year. The buns had been out in the sun for probably over 30 minutes so they did dry out a bit but despite that it seemed like when I dipped the buns they sort of disentigrated and went down with ease. The combination of weather and hot dog conditions created the perfect storm for huge numbers to be put up. I think 68 will be a really hard number to beat.




I had my best day ever as a competitive eater. I surpassed my own expectations on the 4th. I had a realistic goal of between 32-35, I was confident I could hit those numbers - I had a best case scenario goal of eating 37 or more. So, when I shoved number 38 in the last few seconds of the conteset, I was satisfied. Probably more satisfied than I have been since eating 22 HDB's in my first qualifier win at Coney Island back in 2006 to make it to the finals for the first time. Maybe standing next to Tony Clifton (Bertoletti) who also had an awesome day putting up 55 helped me out as well to keep a faster pace. Of course, after seeing how well everyone else did in the top 8 and ultimately not realizing my goal of finishing in the top 5, I later became a bit less satisfied but still happy with 38.
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After watching the re-broadcast I noticed ESPN only kept a running total of the top 3. It seems like everyone I talk to says the same thing - they want to see everyone's totals and they want to know where everyone finishes not just the top 2 or 3. I can't control what ESPN does or doesn't decide to show but I do think it should be spread around a bit more than it is. This year it was Gravy and Juliet getting a lot of attention as they will be featured in a Bio-Channel special tonight "I'm a Major League Eater" and it looks entertaining. I think it is easy especially on the 4th to get a bit carried away with the attention and not focus on the eating enough but well it is entertaining. Everyone in the top 9 put up their personal best on the 4th. I increased my PB by 10 hot dogs; more than anyone else I believe for the second year in a row.


It was very unfortunate that the legend Rich LeFevre did not compete. He seemed to not be doing well the whole weekend and I am not sure what the future will hold for Rich as far as competing. If the time is now for him to retire it will truly be a sad day for me and competitive eating as a whole. He is truly one of the greatest of all time and has always been gracious and classy while being a fiesty competitor at the table and one that I have the utmost respect for.

I have a lot of pics I will be posting later on but right now I am headed down to Lincoln City for the Chinnok Winds BBQ contest on Sunday. Cheers.

"Surf and Stillwell" - Song by Erik the Red

CLICK HERE to listen to "Surf and Stillwell"

Copyright lyrics and vocals - Erik the Red Denmark
Produced by - Nick Peets (http://www.nickpeets.com/)

*redistribution is not authorized unless of course you want to