NATHAN'S FAMOUS QUALIFIER (CAMDEN, NJ)

It was a hot day in Camden (hotter than it looked and hotter than it felt if you were only outside for a few minutes), but it was a good day for Eric "Badlands" Booker to come out of his two-year retirement to win the final East Coast qualifier for the Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest.

Badlands scarfed down 27.5 dogs, followed by Buffalo Jim Reeves (22) and Steakbellie (20.75). Full rankings can be seen here. It was a big day for Steakbellie. Even though he didn't win, he surpassed a personal goal -- his first ever 20+ hot dog performance.


Before the contest, the eaters relaxed in the air conditioning of the Nathan's restaurant. Here, Badlands spins a tale about the old days while Steakbellie and Little Steak hang on every word (well, one of them did).


Some of Camden's finest enjoy the day.


Here's Steakbellie (second from right) early in the contest, looking as focused as a really focused laser beam. To his right is Badlands Booker and Wing Kong. Badlands, in a nod to his old friend Takeru Kobayashi, let his rivals take the first bite and waited about six seconds after the contest started before digging in. Very cool.

A full set of pics can be seen here.

IT'S OFFICIAL: NEXT UEPa MEETING IS JULY 12

On Saturday, July 12 at 3 p.m., the United Eaters of Pennsylvania (UEPa) will converge on Gregory's Steakhouse in Allentown, Pennsylvania to devour some of the largest steaks in the world. Ian "The Invader" Hickman will headline the event by attempting to consume Gregory's legendary 120 ounce ribeye (noted on the menu as "steak for 4"). If he completes the feat, UEPa President Dave Shoffner will pay the $63.99 tab and never talk trash on Hickman again.

Ian, we need to agree on a suitable amount of time in which you have to finish this beast. I'll let you make the first suggestion with a comment. Suggestions from others would be helpful too. As for me, I'm going with the 72-ounce ribeye. That's four-and-a-half pounds of beef. More than enough to hold me over until dessert.

I'll make the reservation at Gregory's later next week. Who's coming?

THE NEXT UEPa MEETING: STEAKS IN ALLENTOWN?

I hate to admit it, but Ian made a good point in the last post about the somewhat low incentive to visit RU Hungry in State College and annihiliate the Fat Bitch sandwich. With that in mind, I payed a visit to the challenges database over on EatFeats (we love you, OJ) and found a place called Gregory's Steakhouse in Allentown, PA.

Gregory's is sort of like the Big Texan of the north, complete with a website claim of "the biggest and best steak you'll ever have." The Big Texan has a legendary 72-ounce steak challenge and Gregory's also has a 72-ouncer on its menu. They've got a 96-ouncer and a 120-ouncer too, but I don't think anyone is man enough to try those (except for John Candy in The Great Outdoors).

I don't know if Gregory's has an "eat it and it's free" incentive, but I'll bet I can talk them into it if I tell them the UEPa is coming and bringing some media attention with us. If so, would anyone be up for giant steaks on July 12 or 13?

THE NEXT UEPa MEETING: RU HUNGRY?

WHERE: RU Hungry, State College, PA

WHEN: July 12 or 13?

MENU: Fat Bitch sandwiches (cheesesteak topped with french fries, chicken fingers and mozzarella sticks) and other RU Hungry menu items (the Fat Lion: cheesesteak, hamburger, chicken fingers, bacon, gyro meat, mozzarella sticks and jalapeno poppers).

According to the article linked above, the UEPa's own Big Brian Subich put down a Fat Lion in 1:48. That might be something to shoot for during our trip...and then keep eating, of course. Let me know if that weekend is good or bad for anyone. Below is a pic of the Bitch. The description sounds better than the sandwich looks, but either way, I'm looking forward to eating a few of these things.

SUMMER OF GLUTTONY: THE SIX PACK CHALLENGE

I'd like to say it's taken me this long to recover from our "Six Pack Challenge" on Friday. That's why I've been a lazy blogger. It's not true, but I will admit that eating six McDonalds double cheeseburgers and downing six beers was the hardest thing I've ever had to do in competitive eating. And I didn't even finish.

On paper it seems simple. Six double cheeseburgers. No problem. Six beers. In college, that's called "dinner." But it's not easy. It's hell. Six greasy fast food burgers is what it is, but the beers...that's where they get ya. That's SEVENTY TWO OUNCES of carbonated malt beverage (just over half a gallon) and it doesn't like to go down fast along side the aforementioned burgers.


Here we are getting ready. We started out strong. My strategy was to eat all the burgers, washing them down with one or two beers and then drink the remaining beers. Ian chose to combine all his beef patties on one burger and then use the remaining buns to "soak up the beer in his stomach." Beau went with the one-and-one approach -- one burger, one beer, repeat.

In the end, Beau won, taking his last bite and last gulp of Miller Lite just past the 34 minute mark. An eternity, sure, but don't knock it until you try it. The contest ended -- thank God -- when Beau finished, leaving me with two beers remaining (Coors Light). Ian, Jeremy and Billy all tied for third, each with either one beer and two burgers or two burgers and one beer leftover. John followed with two burgers and three beers to go.


This is me somewhere around minute 20. I've never felt so sick during an eating contest as I did right here, but I still managed to get down another beer-and-a-half after this.


This is one of my favorite shots from the contest. Here we see Ian's 10 patty monstrosity and him looking forward to eating the other half.

If I had it all to do over again, and knowing the contest stretched past half an hour, I might have adopted the strategy suggested afterwords by my father. Drink the beers first and then eat the burgers. Not only would the drunkeness make me hungry (we've all been there), but the drunkeness might have numbed the nausea caused by ingesting 2,800 calories of fast food. PLUS, by the time I got around to the burgers, some of the liquid might have left my stomach. Would it have worked? I'll never know because there's no way in hell I'll ever try it again.

A full set of pics can be seen here. Next up in our office Summer of Gluttony is cake!

WANTED: SOME BINGE EATING/DRINKING ADVICE

Speaking of cheeseburgers, this Friday is our "Six Pack Challenge" at work. Six McDonalds double cheeseburgers and six 12-ounce beers. First to finish, wins.

It's the second event in our Summer of Gluttony series and it's one that many people are looking forward to competing in. There aren't many rules to this contest. You can eat the burgers and drink the beers in any order you'd like. The beers can be whatever brand or type you'd prefer (a few competitors have publicly annouced Miller Lite as their brew-of-choice). You can pour the beers into a pitcher if you want. The only rule we've agreed upon is that you cannot funnel or shotgun the beers.

I'll probably go with good ol' fashioned High Life as my beverage and pour the beers into three large glasses. The first two will be used to wash down the burgers and the last will be gulped at the end. Is chugging 24 ounces of beer after eating six burgers a good idea? Maybe not. Should I chug three beers FIRST and then get started on the burgers (drinking the last three beers during the eating process)? I'm open to suggestions.