Another local contest, another $20 gift certificate

Just wanted to take this opportunity to see how many competitive eaters are reading this by asking for a little advice. On July 22nd I'll be competing in a minor league eating contest called the "2006 Spot Hot Dog Inner-City Championship." (That's my title, not theirs. I think it's more commonly known as "the eating contest after the first band".)

Thing is, it's not a "how many can you eat in XX minutes" event. Instead, it's a "fastest to finish XX hot dogs" event. All speed, no quantity. And I'm assuming you have to have a clear mouth to finish. I don't really like speed-only events, but such is life on the lower rungs of the competitive eating ladder. I guess that's typical of amateur contests. That method is easier to judge, easier to set-up and less of a logistical committment for the sponsor (in this case, Harrisburg's favorite hole-in-the-wall hot dog joint, The Spot). We could be eating four dogs or six dogs. Probably not more than ten. My kid brother will be competing as well, so there's a little bit of family bragging rights at stake here.

So really, I'm just looking for some tips on how to eat hot dogs reallyfast. I'm not looking for personal trade secrets here (feel free to keep those to yourself). Just "Dog 101" stuff. I'll be doing some experimenting on my own. Solomon method versus Japanese. Various degrees of dunking. Chipmunking versus a more traditional, picnic-style approach. You know, the usual drills. Thanks in advance!