Nathan's Qualifier in Sunrise, FL Saturday, April 15

This weekend, the Road to Nathan's begins with the first qualifier of the 2006 season. This will be my first attempt at hot dogs and with this being the first qualifier, may very well be my best opportunity to make it to the final table at Coney Island on the 4th of July. I am confident with hot dogs, they go down pretty easy for me, I expect the winning total on Saturday to be between 21-24.

Here's how I would objectively set the odds for winning this qualifier (IFOCE rankings in parenthesis):

Crazy Legs Conti(12) 3-1
Jammin Joe LaRue( 21) 5-1
Loren Bubba Yarbrough(14) 5-1
Larry the Legend McNeil(19) 8-1
Erik the Red Denmark(26) 8-1
The Field 20-1

That's my objective outlook but honestly I expect to win this competition. I make Conti the favorite because he has proven that he can eat 20 hot dogs in 12 minutes and has made it to the final table the last two years. Joe LaRue has won this competition the last two years with a total of 20 but has been relatively inactive of late. Yarbrough ate 18 last year in a qualifier and McNeil could also pull out a big number. Hall Hunt (17) was expected to make this competition but I just read on the buffet that he is out.

Here are some pictures from my training last night. I ate 12 hot dogs in 6 minutes, I should be able to maintain this pace for 12 minutes - you do math...