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http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/07/05/SPEEDEATER.TMP
Controversy dogs eating contest
San Jose challenger's dreams ground down as 5-time champ from Japan sets world record
Justin Berton, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, July 5, 2006
7-05) 04:00 PDT Coney Island , N.Y. -- Joey Chestnut, a San Jose college student who over the past 12 months rose to fame in the competitive eating world, failed in his bid to defeat five-time champion Takeru Kobayashi of Japan at the Nathan's Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest on Tuesday.
Kobayashi set a world record by swallowing 533/4 hot dogs in 12 minutes, yet his victory was contested. At about 1:50 p.m., with just a few minutes left on the clock, the 6-foot-1, 230-pound Chestnut was tied with his diminutive competitor as they neared the 50-dog mark. Suddenly, Kobayashi appeared to regurgitate -- a move that results in automatic disqualification and that speed eating experts call "a reversal of fortune."
As Kobayashi lifted a cup of water to his mouth, a spray of bread chunks and wiener bits shot into his cup, which the 170-pound champion immediately gulped down. Chestnut, unable to spit out words, pointed and gestured toward judges to draw their attention to the slip.
"The judges found a quarter of a hot dog in his cup," said Patrick Chestnut, Joey's older brother who witnessed the spew from the front row as he cheered on his brother. "If that's not grounds for disqualification, what is?"
Gersh Kuntzman, the judge who ruled in Kobayashi's favor, saw it differently.
"The effluvia never touched the table," Kuntzman said, a distinction he claimed was part of the International Federation of Competitive Eating's official rules.
"When the hot dog came up, and some of it came out his nose, Kobayashi sucked it back down. To me, that's the testament of a champion and great athlete."
Still, Chestnut refused to blame the officiating decision.
"I feel like I could have prepared better," he said afterward, still red-faced and drenched in sweat. "I could have pushed myself harder."
This summer as the competition neared, Chestnut prepared by drinking two gallons of warm water each morning to stretch his stomach; and he sweated out the majority of the liquid instead of relieving himself. He also worked on his jaw speed three times a week in his San Jose apartment, eating more than 40 hot dogs in each sitting. Averaged over the course of three weeks, the engineering major ate about 17 hot dogs a day until this past weekend. The night before he headed to New York on Thursday, Chestnut ate 54 dogs in his final practice run -- an effort that would have earned him the "Coveted Mustard Yellow Belt."
Kobayashi, 27, who arrived on the humid and packed boardwalk with a head of bright-yellow dyed hair, flashing his well-crafted abdominal muscles to the estimated crowd of 2,000, managed to digest an impressive cargo. Fifty hot dogs and buns weighed an estimated 12 pounds in his stomach, not to mention the gallon of water he consumed to help it all go down. In the 12-minute competition, Kobayashi took in roughly 15,000 calories.
Through an interpreter, Kobayashi dismissed any notion that he'd vomited. Instead, he said, "Joey was a great competitor. He made me focus, and I hope to see him here next year."
Tuesday was the 87th year of the contest. According to the Nathan's Famous account, the event began in 1916 when four immigrants settled an argument over who was more patriotic by holding an eating contest. The winner, an Irishman named Jimmy Mullen, ate 13. The contest was canceled three times during war years. In 1997, when promoter George Shea started the International Federation of Competitive Eating, he coined the term "competitive eaters," and the bet that had turned into a novelty act was given athletic cache.
At Coney Island, though, the scene hadn't shed its entertaining roots. Promoter Shea, who has the bold features of a vaudeville entertainer and wears a straw hat, introduced Chestnut and Kobayashi as the two were raised 20 feet above the stage on automated lifts to the roars of the crowd.
It was just the kind of overproduced pageantry that strained Chestnut's patience, who represents a new breed of eaters that train seriously. In the past three years, the popularity of speed eating -- and the eaters -- has risen dramatically, Shea said. Four years ago, the Coney Island event wasn't even televised. This year, it went live on ESPN to an estimated 1 million viewers, with an hour lead time that included "eater profiles," a la the World Series of Poker.
When Chestnut appeared on ESPN the night before the competition, he was interviewed with a somberness reserved for quarterbacks on the eve of a Super Bowl. He answered in an equally reverent nature.
"I train all the time," Chestnut told his questioner. "Just like a marathoner does."
Chestnut, a self-described shy guy, made appearances on "Good Morning America," "CNN Live," "Cold Pizza" and, of course, ESPN. The sports network, Shea said, also agreed to televise three more competitive eating events this year.
"We never expected this much," Shea said. "But it's not slowing down, and I have to think America has finally embraced it for the sport that it is, and these athletes as the athletes that they truly are."
Shea attributed the popularity of the sport to its appeal to the average guy. "It's probably the one sport where a guy in Middle America watching TV today can say, 'I can do that' and not have to train a lifetime, because he already has."
Chestnut still hasn't embraced the theatrical shtick that comes with the sport. One of his competitors, Tim "Eater X" Janis, 27, arrived in New York in face paint carrying a pair of bicycle handlebars with a horn and bell attached. Patrick Bertoletti, 20, of Chicago fashioned a black spiky Mohawk; and "Crazy Legs" Conti sported dreads and an orange goatee. By contrast, Chestnut, 22, has the pleasant demeanor of a guy who sits in the back of class, and wears a simple uniform of cargo shorts, sneakers and a T-shirt.
Jed Donahue, a 33-year-old eater from Huntington Beach, said, "He's had so many expectations placed on him, I sort of feel for him. This has become a media-driven sport, and Joey's not a media-driven guy."
"Joey looks within himself for inspiration," Donahue continued. "He doesn't look at the cameras, and he won't be looking at Kobayashi."
Before he left for New York, Chestnut feared nothing except an appearance on Letterman, the rumored prize for victory. "I'm too shy for it," he said, noting that his face turns red and his eyes tear up on camera.
At the precompetition weigh-in on a crowded terrace in Midtown Manhattan, Chestnut had a hard time mustering enthusiasm for the sport he loves. Like a carnival barker, Shea introduced the eaters by inviting them to stand on the scale to make sure they were "competition certified."
Photographers yelled, "Show your muscles!" as each eater stood on the scale and hammed it for the cameras.
"Show yer muscles, Joey!" they called out to Chestnut.
"No, no muscles," he said from the scale and waived them off.
"C'mon Joey."
Finally, Chestnut relented and gave a brief and flimsy curl.
Kobayashi was next, and when the media called out for the biceps shot, he lifted his shirt instead to display his six-pack abs.
Chestnut and his colleagues looked on and laughed.
After the shutters stopped clicking, Shea grabbed Chestnut and Kobayashi at the elbows and stood them nose-to-nose to choreograph a stare-down -- then handed them each a hot dog.
After the competition was done and Chestnut was bested, Kobayashi hoisted the Mustard Belt above his head. Chestnut lowered his head and rested on his hands on the table. He'd eaten more than any other American in a previous competition and had led Kobayashi during the first half of this contest by as many as two dogs.
As he watched Kobayashi receive the trophy, Chestnut looked back down at the empty plates from which he had consumed 52 hot dogs and pressed his eyes closed.
------------------
Is anyone else just stunned that this is actually considered a sport and is even being covered by ESPN?
jag
Controversy dogs eating contest
San Jose challenger's dreams ground down as 5-time champ from Japan sets world record
Justin Berton, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, July 5, 2006
7-05) 04:00 PDT Coney Island , N.Y. -- Joey Chestnut, a San Jose college student who over the past 12 months rose to fame in the competitive eating world, failed in his bid to defeat five-time champion Takeru Kobayashi of Japan at the Nathan's Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest on Tuesday.
Kobayashi set a world record by swallowing 533/4 hot dogs in 12 minutes, yet his victory was contested. At about 1:50 p.m., with just a few minutes left on the clock, the 6-foot-1, 230-pound Chestnut was tied with his diminutive competitor as they neared the 50-dog mark. Suddenly, Kobayashi appeared to regurgitate -- a move that results in automatic disqualification and that speed eating experts call "a reversal of fortune."
As Kobayashi lifted a cup of water to his mouth, a spray of bread chunks and wiener bits shot into his cup, which the 170-pound champion immediately gulped down. Chestnut, unable to spit out words, pointed and gestured toward judges to draw their attention to the slip.
"The judges found a quarter of a hot dog in his cup," said Patrick Chestnut, Joey's older brother who witnessed the spew from the front row as he cheered on his brother. "If that's not grounds for disqualification, what is?"
Gersh Kuntzman, the judge who ruled in Kobayashi's favor, saw it differently.
"The effluvia never touched the table," Kuntzman said, a distinction he claimed was part of the International Federation of Competitive Eating's official rules.
"When the hot dog came up, and some of it came out his nose, Kobayashi sucked it back down. To me, that's the testament of a champion and great athlete."
Still, Chestnut refused to blame the officiating decision.
"I feel like I could have prepared better," he said afterward, still red-faced and drenched in sweat. "I could have pushed myself harder."
This summer as the competition neared, Chestnut prepared by drinking two gallons of warm water each morning to stretch his stomach; and he sweated out the majority of the liquid instead of relieving himself. He also worked on his jaw speed three times a week in his San Jose apartment, eating more than 40 hot dogs in each sitting. Averaged over the course of three weeks, the engineering major ate about 17 hot dogs a day until this past weekend. The night before he headed to New York on Thursday, Chestnut ate 54 dogs in his final practice run -- an effort that would have earned him the "Coveted Mustard Yellow Belt."
Kobayashi, 27, who arrived on the humid and packed boardwalk with a head of bright-yellow dyed hair, flashing his well-crafted abdominal muscles to the estimated crowd of 2,000, managed to digest an impressive cargo. Fifty hot dogs and buns weighed an estimated 12 pounds in his stomach, not to mention the gallon of water he consumed to help it all go down. In the 12-minute competition, Kobayashi took in roughly 15,000 calories.
Through an interpreter, Kobayashi dismissed any notion that he'd vomited. Instead, he said, "Joey was a great competitor. He made me focus, and I hope to see him here next year."
Tuesday was the 87th year of the contest. According to the Nathan's Famous account, the event began in 1916 when four immigrants settled an argument over who was more patriotic by holding an eating contest. The winner, an Irishman named Jimmy Mullen, ate 13. The contest was canceled three times during war years. In 1997, when promoter George Shea started the International Federation of Competitive Eating, he coined the term "competitive eaters," and the bet that had turned into a novelty act was given athletic cache.
At Coney Island, though, the scene hadn't shed its entertaining roots. Promoter Shea, who has the bold features of a vaudeville entertainer and wears a straw hat, introduced Chestnut and Kobayashi as the two were raised 20 feet above the stage on automated lifts to the roars of the crowd.
It was just the kind of overproduced pageantry that strained Chestnut's patience, who represents a new breed of eaters that train seriously. In the past three years, the popularity of speed eating -- and the eaters -- has risen dramatically, Shea said. Four years ago, the Coney Island event wasn't even televised. This year, it went live on ESPN to an estimated 1 million viewers, with an hour lead time that included "eater profiles," a la the World Series of Poker.
When Chestnut appeared on ESPN the night before the competition, he was interviewed with a somberness reserved for quarterbacks on the eve of a Super Bowl. He answered in an equally reverent nature.
"I train all the time," Chestnut told his questioner. "Just like a marathoner does."
Chestnut, a self-described shy guy, made appearances on "Good Morning America," "CNN Live," "Cold Pizza" and, of course, ESPN. The sports network, Shea said, also agreed to televise three more competitive eating events this year.
"We never expected this much," Shea said. "But it's not slowing down, and I have to think America has finally embraced it for the sport that it is, and these athletes as the athletes that they truly are."
Shea attributed the popularity of the sport to its appeal to the average guy. "It's probably the one sport where a guy in Middle America watching TV today can say, 'I can do that' and not have to train a lifetime, because he already has."
Chestnut still hasn't embraced the theatrical shtick that comes with the sport. One of his competitors, Tim "Eater X" Janis, 27, arrived in New York in face paint carrying a pair of bicycle handlebars with a horn and bell attached. Patrick Bertoletti, 20, of Chicago fashioned a black spiky Mohawk; and "Crazy Legs" Conti sported dreads and an orange goatee. By contrast, Chestnut, 22, has the pleasant demeanor of a guy who sits in the back of class, and wears a simple uniform of cargo shorts, sneakers and a T-shirt.
Jed Donahue, a 33-year-old eater from Huntington Beach, said, "He's had so many expectations placed on him, I sort of feel for him. This has become a media-driven sport, and Joey's not a media-driven guy."
"Joey looks within himself for inspiration," Donahue continued. "He doesn't look at the cameras, and he won't be looking at Kobayashi."
Before he left for New York, Chestnut feared nothing except an appearance on Letterman, the rumored prize for victory. "I'm too shy for it," he said, noting that his face turns red and his eyes tear up on camera.
At the precompetition weigh-in on a crowded terrace in Midtown Manhattan, Chestnut had a hard time mustering enthusiasm for the sport he loves. Like a carnival barker, Shea introduced the eaters by inviting them to stand on the scale to make sure they were "competition certified."
Photographers yelled, "Show your muscles!" as each eater stood on the scale and hammed it for the cameras.
"Show yer muscles, Joey!" they called out to Chestnut.
"No, no muscles," he said from the scale and waived them off.
"C'mon Joey."
Finally, Chestnut relented and gave a brief and flimsy curl.
Kobayashi was next, and when the media called out for the biceps shot, he lifted his shirt instead to display his six-pack abs.
Chestnut and his colleagues looked on and laughed.
After the shutters stopped clicking, Shea grabbed Chestnut and Kobayashi at the elbows and stood them nose-to-nose to choreograph a stare-down -- then handed them each a hot dog.
After the competition was done and Chestnut was bested, Kobayashi hoisted the Mustard Belt above his head. Chestnut lowered his head and rested on his hands on the table. He'd eaten more than any other American in a previous competition and had led Kobayashi during the first half of this contest by as many as two dogs.
As he watched Kobayashi receive the trophy, Chestnut looked back down at the empty plates from which he had consumed 52 hot dogs and pressed his eyes closed.
------------------
Is anyone else just stunned that this is actually considered a sport and is even being covered by ESPN?
jag
