UNBEATABLE EATERS OF PENNSYLVANIA

To say that this has been a good week for the United Eaters of Pennsylvania would be an understatement.

Let’s start with Humble Bob Shoudt (ranked #5 worldwide). On Saturday, the Philadelphian beat Sonya Thomas (#4) and Joey Chestnut (#2) to win the Carmines Meatball Eating Contest in Atlantic City. It was the first time in nearly a year that Chestnut lost a match to someone not named Kobayashi. Needless to say, it was a stunning achievement that shocked the competitive eating world…but it shouldn’t have. Bob is a machine, capable of beating any eater on the planet.

And today, the kilted pride of the UEPa, Eric “Steakbellie” Livingston (#38 worldwide) appeared on WIP-AM in Philadelphia in an attempt to become the fourth person to qualify for February’s Wing Bowl. To do so, he had to complete an on-air eating stunt. His challenge: eat a two-foot Wawa hoagie, half a gallon of lemonade and a bag of chips in five-and-a-half minutes. He did it—in three minutes and 34 seconds. His previous best time while training for the stunt was 5:23, which means he beat his top time by 33 PERCENT. That’s like a distance runner consistently putting up six minute miles and then waking up one day and breaking the four minute mark. Insane.

After the attempt, the DJ said (I jotted these words while I was listening at work), “What you have done has rivaled anything anyone’s ever done to qualify for Wing Bowl.” Keep in mind, that includes Joey Chestnut’s stunt from last year: drinking a gallon of milk in 42 SECONDS (video). The DJ then likened Steakbellie to Rocky, calling him the great hope of Philadelphia to defend the Wing Bowl title from the barrage of out-of-town eaters hoping to take the title. Last year’s champ was Californian Joey Chestnut.

Joey is getting beat up a lot in this entry. Could that be a sign of what’s to come at Wing Bowl?