First-ever hot dog contest raises eyebrows, spirits

Written By:  Eric Pesola

June 19, 2003

Burger challenge tests limits of competitive eating titans

Written By:  Eric Pesola

September 11, 2003

First-ever hot dog contest raises eyebrows, spirits

Written By:  Eric Pesola

June 19, 2003

Norfolk—The winner was elated.  And his competitors looked on in awe and respect.  International Federation of Competitive Eating chairman George Shea handed Carson “Collard Green” Hughes the trophy, after Hughes scarfed down 16 hot dogs in a mere 12 minutes.  Hughes, a Newport News resident, won a trip to Coney Island, N.Y., on the Fourth of July to face competitors from around the world and won a place in the record books June 14.  

“I’ll be bringing home the ‘Mustard Belt,’” yelled Hughes as he held the trophy above his head.

 The first-ever IFOCE-sanctioned event in Hampton Roads brought out the best that the area had to offer.  One of the main lobbies in Norfolk’s MacArthur Center was jammed with onlookers, waiting to see what was about to take place.  The men strode proudly to a long line of tables.  A plate of five hot dogs with buns rested before them, along with a cup of water and ketchup and mustard.  The object was to eat as many hot dogs — and buns — as possible in 12 minutes.

Among the competitors were writers, food service workers, computer technicians and even a member of the U.S. Navy.

“Actually a bunch of my friends said that they were going to come and see me, but only one of them showed up.  It was pretty awesome.  I just couldn’t hang with ‘Collard Green,’” said SN Ernie Lee Boden, who is stationed at the air terminal at Naval Station Norfolk.  “I didn’t realize how much you would just fill up from eating four, because I ate four and got filled up.  It’s real hot in here and that is definitely a problem, but it was definitely an experience.  It was harder to eat while it was hot because the dogs were really juicy.”

 As the competition started, it became obvious that the premier match-up was between Hughes and a character known as “Crazy Legs” Conti.  The guy with the stringy dreds flew into Norfolk from New York just for the competition.  

Hughes and Conti made each other eat more, as they glanced back and forth at each other’s progress.  But it soon became apparent to all who knew the IFOCE rules that Conti would be disqualified. As Conti ate, crumbs and debris flew from his mouth and lips.  That sort of action is illegal.  Competitors are required to eat the hot dog and the entire bun, not just most of the bun.  One audience member compared Conti’s style to Cookie Monster, where almost no food was eaten, but a huge mass of particles made for an interesting distraction.  

Conti was disqualified  

I think there was a human error there,” said Conti.  “Instant replay is in the NFL but it is not in competitive eating yet.  I think that if we go back and look at the tape, everything was perfectly legal by IFOCE standards.  I think there will be a review of the table and I will be exonerated.”  

Conti’s disqualification made for quite the controversy as conspiracy theories swirled through the fans and friends at MacArthur Center.  

Landing in a tie for third place with 10 hot dogs downed were Portsmouth native Mike “Top Dog” Leonard and Kevin Maverick.

“I could have eaten more, but I made the mistake of looking down there at Crazy Legs,” said Leonard. Leonard struggled a bit at the beginning of the contest.  He too said that the hot conditions made the eating a bit tougher than usual.

“I am happy with my performance because this one will go into the records books.  When I finished fourth in that Atlanta qualifier last year, that wasn’t an ‘A’ qualifier.”

Second place, with 11 dogs, went to Michael Adams.  But after all the controversy was set aside, the trophy went to Hughes.  “I worked up a sweat and I have mustard on my face,”  said Hughes.  “It feels great.  I feel good.”

 “I probably couldn’t eat much more, because it was mainly a speed and timing as to how you approach it,” said Hughes.  “After the 10th or 9th dog, you start to feel it.  I had to focus and constantly keep on going.” 

In winning, Hughes showed a remarkable amount of humility and dignity, unlike some competitors who sulked off the stage.  

“I was up against a tough competitor,” admitted Hughes.  “Crazy Legs is really good.  But by the end, I just stood back and watched him struggling with the dogs.  He was wetting them down and putting two in his mouth.  And I thought ‘this is it for me.’  I did burp a little bit but every competitor has to do that.”  

IFOCE chair George Shea called Hughes’ victory “pure bliss,” and remarked that Crazy Legs’ disqualification was “very disappointing and visually disturbing.”  But overall, he was pleased with the first ever contest in the area.  

“It was a great display of patriotism here today,” said Shea.  “Some athletes came out and they really did it all to bring back the Mustard Belt.”   

“The goal here is to go to Coney Island and represent the United States on the Fourth of July,” said Shea.  “The only question is how many Collard Green can eat on the fourth.  I suspect that he could get to 20.”  

Shea announced the event as the “first annual” hot dog eating competition.  He anticipates that the competition will indeed be a yearly event.  

“This is a hotbed of competitive eating,” said Shea.  “I think that this would be neglectful to ever let this get off of the circuit.”  

“In the Ring’s” Chris Perry, who mainly covers professional wrestling and boxing for the Flagship was in attendance for the contest.  He was amazed.  

“There was a lot of competition here today,” said Perry.  “It will certainly be tough for Collard Green against Kobayashi.”  

Perry is referring to Japan’s Takeru Kobayashi, the reigning hot dog eating champion, who downed a record 50.5 hot dogs at last year’s final competition.  

“Not only is Kobayashi the champ and world record holder at eating hot dogs, but he is also the cow braineating world champion,” said Perry.  “He brings it strong.”  

“Kobayashi’s one of the best,” said Perry.”  “But Collard Green will proudly represent Hampton Roads at Coney Island.”  

Hopefully.  Either way, this  first competition will be long remembered as a ground-breaking and honorable meeting in the largest growing sport in the world.

Burger challenge tests limits of competitive eating titans

Written By:  Eric Pesola

September 11, 2003

NEWPORT NEWS — Mike Leonard strode into the Matadore sports pub in Newport News Sept. 7 with one thing on his mind — destiny. Leonard, who goes by the moniker “Top Dog” on the competitive eating circuit, had his eyes set on his latest challenge and if he could do it, he would walk away with a new hamburger named whatever he wanted. A six-pound burger, that is.  

The rules were simple. The men gathered at the Matadore knew what they had to do. Devour this sandwich in under a half-hour along with fries and a drink of their choice. But this was no normal burger — this was a six-pound juggernaut, complete with layers of cheese, jalepenos, tomatoes, lettuce and all the rest of the appropriate fixings. Cronos, the figure in Greek mythology who ate his own young, would have certainly thought twice about attempting to consume such a creation.

But they came. From Portsmouth came Leonard, and from Newport News sat fellow International Federation of Competitive Eaters Carson “Collard Green” Hughes. The rosy-cheeked Hughes won the local hot dog qualifier in June to net him a trip to the international Nathan’s Famous hot dog championship.

To outsiders Leonard, who also competed in the qualifier at MacArthur Center in Norfolk (and placed third) and Collard Green might be rivals, competing for Hampton Roads’ affections as the No. 1 eater. But inside the Matadore, these two ravenous athletes traded notes and techniques before the competition. “I’ve eaten two, five-pound bags of fried potatoes,” said Collard Green to Leonard. “That’s a lot of potatoes.”

While Leonard and Collard Green shared tale and trick, another icon of the circuit waited for his chance. Ranking 12th on the IFOCE top eaters list is Boyd Bulot. He flew in from his native Louisiana to compete in the contest. He owns the record for oyster eating — 56 dozen in an hour and 46 minutes and several other marks.  

“And after that I had a seafood platter, french fries and some cheesecake,” said Bulot of his record-setting day. Known as “The Hammer from Hammond (Louisiana),” Bulot sat quietly as the gigantic patties simmered on the Matadore’s grills — which took almost three hours to finish.  “They are freshly made,” said Matadore’s owner Tony Hilaril as he pointed to the Dachshund-sized behemoths as they sizzled. “I just hope that somebody can eat it.”

When the eating encounter finally began, all who had gathered at the Matadore to tune into the NFL games, forgot about the action across the country and focused on one table. The pub tension peaked when Hilaril finally gave the signal for the half-hour rumble to commence. Chanting and hooting drowned out the games. Hilaril and his staff presented the competitors with each burger, complete with a steak knife through the center of the bun.

Collard Green, in his usual crowd-pleasing style grabbed the entire burger and attempted to cram it into his mouth. He later admitted that he wished he could have dislocated his jaw in order to fit more in. Bulot started tearing into his burger like a chainsaw, ripping apart the bun to get to the meat. Other competitors included local favorite “Big” Gene Schwartz and a relative unknown, who called himself “Peter.”

Schwartz leaned his head on his wrist and started to eat methodicially and at a much slower pace than the other eaters. Meanwhile, Leonard used a different technique. Instead of eating with his hands or burying his head into the bun, Leonard calmly sliced the burger into eighths and devoured each piece. He even took a few moments to wipe his goatee.

As the halfway mark passed, the crowd could see the tension on the competitors’ faces as the gravity of the situation started to sink in. Collard Green seemed to struggle after he finished his tomatoes and lettuce. The meaty beast proved difficult, indeed. But all eyes were fixed on Bulot, who was making the greatest progress.

Bulot tore through his fixings and started pulling the burger apart by hand. Chunk after chunkwent down his mighty hatch and his fingers dripped with cheese. It seemed unlikely that anyone would catch Bulot after he set his feverish pace.  Shortly after Peter gave up, Bulot made a french fry taco, folding his remaining fries into a half of the bun. Collard Green charged Bulot with “illegal technique” in jest.  

After just 22.5 minutes Bulot had finished everything. The audience surrounded Bulot like an Olympic sprinter who had just broken a worlds record. “I feel fine,” said Bulot after his victory. “I could probably do another half of one.” Leonard placed second and Collard Green was awarded third place.

Bulot dubbed the burger “The BulattaHughes,” after himself and Collard Green. “The jalepenos were a curve ball,” said Collard Green. “I wasn’t expecting that. It’s just a lotta beef."

In the end, all agreed that it was a tremendous competition, one that the Matadore expects to hold annually. “It was just for fun,” said Leonard. “But I am glad that I was able to eat all that meat.”