Intl. Federation of Competitive Eating: Sport or celebration of gluttony?

[prolesunited]

ALKA-SELTZER® AND IFOCE ANNOUNCE US OPEN OF COMPETITIVE EATING
6/14/2005

NEW YORK, NY, JULY 1, 2005 – Alka-Seltzer® and the International Federation of Competitive Eating today formally announced the 2005 Alka-Seltzer® US Open of Competitive Eating, a tournament of the world’s top eaters that will air prime-time on ESPN from 8 PM to 9 PM on July 28, 29 and 30, 2005.

The series, which will be produced by the IFOCE, will feature the world’s number one-ranked Takeru Kobayashi of Japan, the number-two-ranked Sonya “The Black Widow” Thomas of Alexandria, VA, and 30 other elite eaters competing for a total of $40,000 in prize money and the coveted Alka-Seltzer Cup.

http://www.ifoce.com/feature.php?action=detail&sn=14


Is this really a sport? We watched the Nathan's hot dog competition recently and I was amused by the commentary and how surreal it was, but there was an uneasy sickness in the pit of my stomach as well.

So, is it a sport or just a disgusting display? Have you ever participated in an eating contest?

[smiley_glad_hands]

1. Sinful, Gluttony, Narsacism

Everything that is wrong with our society.

[GOPisEvil]

2. Only in America.

Only in a country where children can go hungry would there be any such thing as competitive eating contests. :eyes:

[prolesunited]

5. Actually, it's quite popular in Japan, perhaps even moreso,

from what I understand and many of the champs in American contests hail from there.

[GOPisEvil]

10. Yeah, hot dog eating champ is from there.

But we dreamed it up, you can be sure of that.

[prolesunited]

12. Not exactly true

Here's what I found:
ALMOST AS AMERICAN as apple pie is the summertime pie-eating contest. It seems that every city and county in this country sponsors some sort of binging competition, usually featuring hefty men and women with a few chins to spare woofing down a local food or concession. But for Americans, these competitions have never been appreciated as true athletic events or garnered the attention and reverence of football or baseball games. Watching full-grown men and women control their gag reflexes as they shovel pies, hot dogs, eggs, burritos, and even haggis down their throats isn't considered a sport. It's a freakshow.

But it's a freakshow that sells, and Japanese television programmers know it. Riding the international success of Iron Chef, the television show that popularized cooking as sport, Japan has capitalized on the spectacle of competitive eating. For the past five years, Japanese television stations have been broadcasting eating competitions where people try to ingest as much rice, ramen, sushi, and curry as quickly as they can, and the winner can walk away with up to five million yen. And these shows aren't broadcasted the way ESPN airs professional pool or bass fishing at 4 am; the Japanese viewing public loves to watch their so-called "food fighters" do battle. Shows like Food Battle Club and TV Champion-which featured an episode where contestants tried to beat their opponents' time in eating a 60-foot long California roll-regularly attract up to 15 percent of Japan's total daytime and primetime viewing audiences and rake in lucrative sponsorship deals. Meanwhile, the gluttons-turned-athletes become local celebrities. The winners of these televised eating programs are treated like movie stars and are constantly hounded for autographs by their rabid fans.

http://www.brown.edu/Students/INDY/alpha/oldstuff/issues/102402/sports/1.html

And, it seems that just like the "Iron Chef," we're co-opting it and making it our own.

[GOPisEvil]

14. Wow. I stand corrected.

It just seem so American I guess. Interesting that Japan is so into this, with their limited natural resources, you'd think they'd be more into conservation, but maybe this is rebelling against that. :shrug:

[prolesunited]

15. It does seem like it would be an American invention

I'm sure we'll be taking it to new heights never imagined by the Japanese, though.

[I Know How To Do it]

3. I used to think it was pure gluttony until I learned about the Dumpling

eating competition. That changed my mind about it.

[prolesunited]

7. How so?

:shrug:

[I Know How To Do it]

9. I don't know. I guess I made it up.

[Blue-Jay]

4. The King of competitive eating!

Kobayashi!

[MN ChimpH8R]

13. How Kobayashi, who weighs

125 lbs can eat 50 hot dogs (and buns) in 12 minutes is hard to figure out. The Korean-American woman (Sonya?) ate 35 in the same time and she barely weighs 100 lbs. They can out-eat the fat guys 2 or 3 to 1. :shrug: Not an athletic contest, but there has to be some kind of training involved.

I saw the hot-dog contest on ESPN on the 4th of July and it was pretty wild.

[Ron Green]

6. Somehow I don't think this sort of thing is innocent fun.

There's something fundamentally wrong with overeating, whether from depression or phobia or for sport.

[LynneSin]

8. Have you ever seen the Black Widow?

She's like 5'2 and weights about 99lbs. Believe it or not, the champion eaters aren't like these overweight beasts



That's her on the left. I know who she is because she's won the Wing Bowl in Philly a few times

[Rabbit of Caerbannog]

11. Takeru Kobayashi...

Cow Brains: 57 (17.7 pounds) / 15 minutes

:puke: :puke: :puke:

http://www.ifoce.com/eaters.php?action=detail&sn=22