No, I’m not talking about Tom Petty. Frankly, I didn’t even see him. As soon as the first commercial break was over, I flipped the channel to Spike to catch the MLE Championship. You can watch it on Spike’s web site, if you dare. I’m still deciding if I’ll plug it into this post or not. I think that I probably will, but I’m just not sure. Let me talk for a minute first.
If you have caught the prior MLE Chowdowns, then you have some idea of what to expect. The Turkey Bowl at Thanksgiving was awesome. The Table Enders were actually the best, chowing down tubes of cranberry sauce. But this was the championship, for all the marbles. With the awesome Kobayashi out due to his still-present jaw injury, the question was whether Joey Chestnut would be able to finally conquer Pat Bertoletti on Spike. So far it hadn’t happened.
The Table Enders took on hard-boiled eggs. Some of the competitors just about swallowed them whole, while others ate in a couple of bites. The standard dipping practice didn’t look like it would work, but Erik “The Red” Denmark jumped out to a fast lead by dunking in hot sauce. Just imagine the pain he’ll be having later – the mix of sulfur and hot sauce on the way out. The announcers mentioned that he’ll need toilet paper in the freezer. I think he might. When it was all over, Denmark took the win – and the ninth ranking in the world of competitive eating – by eating a whopping 61 eggs.
In second was Chris “The Mad Greek” Abatsas, with 59.5 eggs. He lost by just 1.5 eggs, and he did manage to move up to #10 in the world. It was disturbing and awesome at the same time.
The championship table took on spiral hams, and it was really no competition. In fourth place, Tim “Gravy” Brown downed an impressive 3.34 pounds of ham. Remember, this is in eight minutes, just like the egg competition. But 3.34 pounds just wasn’t even close to enough to get him near the top of the table. Third place was Tim “Eater X” Janus, with 4.1 pounds of ham. Second place was Pat “Deep Dish” Bertoletti with 6.34 pounds, leaving the victor as Joey “Jaws” Chestnut with 7.14 pounds.
When the two victors beat third place by such a huge margin, it’s just insane. There aren’t even words to describe it. The feat is incredible. Watching these guys eat is just awe-inspiring. I have to do it. My apologies to those who can’t take it, but here is the video. If you can’t watch it (in a reader, perhaps), check out the link above to view it on their site. While you’re there, you can view several other videos, including Kobayashi’s terrible defeat in the Turkey Bowl and Pat Bertoletti’s rise in the ranks. Enjoy!
Oh – the Super Bowl? The game wasn’t bad. You probably know by now that the Patriots lost at the end to miss an undefeated season by a mere 35 seconds. The fourth quarter was solid, but the rest of the game was a bit weak. The commercials weren’t very good, either, making for a painful experience overall. I’d have to give the win to the Planters Commercial. Part of it is that Planters isn’t one of the biggies and the other is that it was just enjoyable, with a good amount of slapstick humor, which I always enjoy. The USA Today Ad Meter shows the Planters ad at #9.
What did you think?