Competitive eaters Joey Chestnut and Takeru Kobayashi will once again face off on Sunday for the Krystal Square Off VI World Hamburger Eating Championship in Chattanooga, Tenn.
In less than two days, they’ll face off as sworn enemies at the competitive eating table and battle it out for the biggest prize in competitive eating.
Today though, the top four-ranked eaters – Joey Chestnut, Pat Bertoletti, Takeru Kobayashi and “Humble” Bob Shoudt – met on amicable terms at the official press conference for the Krystal Square Off VI World Hamburger Eating Championship, held along the banks of the Tennessee River in Chattanooga, Tenn. The four gurgitating giants addressed the assembled media as well as traded tips and strategy among themselves for the upcoming event this Sunday, September 27, 2009.
You can follow @ksquareoff on Twitter for live updates or settle down on the couch and watch the live televised broadcast on Fox SportSouth at 2:30pm on Sunday. If you don’t get Fox SportSouth or are stuck in front of the computer, have no fear because you can watch the KSO Live Stream from the comfort of your monitor.
An excited Humble Bob Shoudt gracially accepts his trophy as the KSO VI Atlanta Qualifier first place winner after chomping down 41 Krystals and 5 Big Angus Burgers for the title.
Hundreds gathered at Lenox Square Mall on Sunday, Sept. 13 to see one of the top gustatory greats, “Humble Bob” Shoudt eat his heart out as he consumed an awe-inspiring 41 Krystals and 5 Big Angus Burgers for a total of 66 Krystal Burger Points – beating the next closest contender by 24 points.
However, second place winner Eric “Steakbellie” Livingston still put up a count of 42, which seems to be the lucky number at the moment because it was enough to tie the Birmingham-local amateur Erik Unger for a KSO VI Wild Card spot.
Shoudt’s performance qualifies him for a seat at the the Krystal Square Off VI World Hamburger Eating Championship on Sept. 27 in Chattanooga, Tenn., where he will face defending KSO winner Joey “Jaws” Chestnut and three-time KSO Champion Takeru Kobayashi for a shot at the title. With $50,000 in cash prizes on the line, we’re guessing Shoudt is prepared to step up his game. After all, his Qualifying score is only one point away from 2nd-ranked eater in the world Patrick Bertoletti’s total from the Chattanooga Qualifier.
To check out Shoudt’s eating strategy and see him in action, watch the video below.
Krystal Square Off VI Atlanta Qualifier Photo Gallery:
Seen here being as "Humble" as ever by sporting his own personalized hat, Shoudt had much to celebrate with his win at the KSO VI Atlanta Qualifier at Lenox Square this past Sunday.
The cool and comfortable temperatures inside Lenox Square Mall proved to be very advantageous for competitive eater “Humble” Bob Shoudt on Sunday as he put away 41 Krystals and 5 Big Angus Burgers for a total of 66 Krystal Burger Points to take first place.
Shoudt is the first headline eater in the Krystal Square Off VI qualifying tour thus far to start with the Famous Krystal Burger and end with the Big Angus Burger. A risky strategy, but one that clearly paid off as he came in at only one point less than 2nd-ranked eater in the world Patrick Bertoletti’s 67 Krystal Burger count done at the Chattanooga Qualifier. It’s no doubt that Shoudt is in it to win this year’s Krystal Square Off VI World Hamburger Eating Championship.
The win in Atlanta guarantees Shoudt a seat at the final table in downtown Chattanooga on Sept. 27 next to fellow competitive eaters Joey Chestnut, Takeru Kobayashi and the KSO VI Qualifying winners to date: Patrick Bertoletti, Sonya “The Black Widow” Thomas, Hall “Hoover” Hunt and Eric “Badlands” Booker.
Finishing in second place with 42 Krystal Burger Points was Eric “Steakbellie” Livingston and not far behind was up-and-comer Jon Bello who actually beat out his previous score at the KSO VI Jacksonville Qualifier with 39 Krystal Burger Points.
Full results below:
“Humble” Bob Shoudt – 41 Krystals, 5 Big Angus = 66 Krystal Burger Points
Eric “Steakbellie” Livingston – 17 Krystals, 5 Big Angus = 42 Krystal Burger Points
Jon Bello – 14 Krystals, 5 Big Angus = 39 Krystal Burger Points
Mike Landrich – 10 Krystals, 5 Big Angus = 35 Krystal Burger Points
Richard Foley – 9 Krystals, 5 Big Angus = 34 Krystal Burger Points
Steve Martin – 7 Krystals, 5 Big Angus = 32 Krystal Burger Points
Steve Ramirez - 5 Krystals, 5 Big Angus = 30 Krystal Burger Points
The next Krystal Square Off VI Qualifier takes place in Nashville, Tenn. on September 19 at the Tennessee State Fair. For more details, follow the Krystal Square Off on Twitter @ksquareoff.
Humble Bob will practice his signature meditating techniques before the Atlanta Qualifier to help better his performance and earn a seat at the final table in Chattanooga on Sept. 27.
The Krystal Square Off VI Qualifying Circuit makes its way to Atlanta this Sunday where Humble Bob Shoudt plans to shatter his KSO V qualifying score, all while in the comfort of Lenox Square’s air conditioned shopping mall. Atlanta’s winner will continue on to Chattanooga to compete in the Krystal Square Off VI World Hamburger Eating Championship on Sept. 27, which will be televised live on SportSouth starting at 2:00 p.m. Below we have some quick bites of info for you to chew on between now and then.
Contest Bites:
The Atlanta Qualifier will take place on Sunday, Sept. 13, inside Lenox Square Mall.
Lenox Square Mall opened in 1959 and was the first major shopping mall in the state of Georgia.
Five amateur hopefuls will be selected on the spot to compete. Those wishing to be selected can register on site starting at 1:00 p.m.
The 8-minute contest will start at 2:00 p.m.
Bob Shoudt, the 5th-ranked eater in the world, is no doubt the favorite to win on Sunday. Shoudt placed fourth at the Krystal Square Off V World Hamburger Eating Championship last year with 76 Krystals. His personal best is 95 Krystals, which he did at the 2007 championship.
The race for second should be a close one between 13th-ranked eater in world, Pete Davekos and 17th-ranked eater in the world, Micah “Wing Kong” Collins. The two will be battling it out for a shot at one of the two Wild Card Spots.
Four of the eaters confirmed for the Atlanta Qualifier are in the Top 50 of Major League Eating’s world rankings.
At least 8 different cities and six states will be represented at the table on Saturday.
The current list of confirmed eaters includes: “Humble” Bob Shoudt (Royersford, PA), Pete Davekos (Boston), Juris Shibayama (Murfreesboro, TN), Mike Landrich (Fredonia, NY), Micah “Wing Kong” Collins (Drexel Hill, PA), Steve Martin (Roopville, GA), Brian Subich (Johnstown, PA) and Nicholas Giffen (Raleigh, NC).
Historical Bites:
Charles Hardy won the first Atlanta qualifier held at the North Georgia State Fair in 2004 with 32 Krystals.
The Gwinnett County Fair has hosted the Atlanta qualifier twice; once in 2005 (won by Tim “Eater X” Janus with 39 Krystals) and again in 2007 (won by Bertoletti with 85 Krystals).
Bertoletti’s mark of 85 Krystals at the KSO IV in Atlanta was, at the time, the most ever eaten at a qualifier. Joey Chestnut broke the record several weeks later in Tuscaloosa when he ate 87 at the Birmingham Qualifier. Takeru Kobayashi then broke Chestnut’s Qualifier record last year in Birmingham by consuming 89 Krystals in eight minutes.
This will be the third time Lenox Square Mall has hosted the Atlanta Krystal Square Off Qualifier.
The 2006 Atlanta Qualifier was the closest in Krystal Square Off history with just half a Krystal separating Chip “The Phenom” Simpson (53 Krystals) and Eater X (52.5).
Erik "The Red" Denmark downed a total of 5 Big Angus Burgers and 30 Krystals at the San Antonio Qualifier to grab the current first place spot in the KSO VI Wild Card Race.
With the Chattanooga, San Antonio and Jacksonville Qualifiers already completed, the Krystal Square Off VI wild card race is in full force and getting even more intense with the two upcoming competitions this Saturday and Sunday in Birmingham and Atlanta.
Currently, Erik “The Red” Denmark, who won second place at the San Antonio Qualifier with a total of 55 Krystal Burger Points, leads the Wild Card contenders. The unranked amateur Jon Bello, who finished second at the Jacksonville Qualifier with 36 Krystal Burger Points, is second.
The professional eaters that are tentatively scheduled for this weekend include 5th-ranked Humble Bob Shoudt, 11th-ranked Eric “Badlands” Booker, 17th-ranked Micah Collins, 22nd-ranked Eric Livingston, 31st-ranked Kevin Ross and 38th-ranked Super Paul Barlow. These competitors will all be throwing back as many Krystal Burgers and Big Angus Burgers as possible in hopes of guaranteeing themselves a seat with a win or at least putting up a big enough score to grab one of the two Wild Card spots.
The Krystal Square Off VI World Hamburger Eating Championship will feature 12 finalists on Sept. 27 in Chattanooga. Seven of the 12 spots will consist of winners from the Qualifying tour. Joey Chestnut, as defending champ, earns an automatic seat to the final in Chattanooga. As three-time world champ of the Krystal Square Off, Takeru Kobayashi has earned a Krystal Blitz sponsor’s exemption giving him an automatic seat at the final table. Two “Wild Card” spots will go to the two best scores posted by eaters who did not win a Qualifier. Finally, the 12th spot will go to a competitive eating fan picked from the crowd on Sept. 27.
For a list of remaining Krystal Square Off VI Qualifiers, go here. Don’t forget to follow @ksquareoff on Twitter for the most up-to-date KSO news.
Humble Bob Shoudt has taken to Twitter for a little competitive eating gamesmanship.
It’s no secret Humble Bob Shoudt’s favorite eating contest is the Krystal Square Off World Hamburger Eating Championship. He’s coined it the “Super Bowl of Competitive Eating” and once claimed it’s “bigger than the Olympics.” And despite his nickname, Humble is never one to shy away from a little friendly “trash talk,” or shall we say, confident speculation ahead of competing.
This year’s no different as Humble has taken to Twitter for a little banter with last year’s Krystal Square Off runner-up Patrick Bertoletti, who just earned his seat at the final table on Sept. 27 with a victory in Chattanooga.
After Bertoletti’s win on Saturday, Humble tweeted:
@deepdisheats Congrats on your new Krystal world record. Enjoy having it while you can. It is Humble’s on 9/13/09.
Bertoletti fired back via Twitter:
@humblebob Bring it, sept 27th I will double your total
If he’s right, that would give him a Krystal score of 68, just one more than Bertoletti’s mark at the kick off qualifier. What do you think Humble Bob will do on Sept. 13 in Atlanta and who’s your pick in a heads-up match between Bertoletti and the Humble one at the Sept. 27 finals?
Follow the Krystal Square Off on Twitter @ksquareoff.
The lobby of the Sheraton Read House hotel in Chattanooga, TN, is a hive of activity at the moment as competitive eaters start working their way down to catch a shuttle to Ross’s Landing for the Krystal Square Off V. While hanging around, the eaters have found some time to get in some last minute preparations and media opportunities.
We spotted Humble Bob Shoudt out in the lobby giving a quick interview. Juris Shibayama was mingling with friends and family, and Pat Bertoletti was seen in Starbucks filling up his cooler with boiling water, which he hopes will be the perfect dipping temperature by the time he gets up on stage in about three hours.
All the eaters had to have their stage needs in their bins by 11:45, so what is done is done at this moment. The shuttle leaves at 12:15 to ferry the eaters down to the where they will meet up with the grand entrance cavalcade, the details of which still remain secret.
The KSO blog crew will be on hand to reveal the secret of the eater’s grand entrance and to provide posts and instant Twitter updates throughout this afternoon as we get closer to the big event. So, stay tuned and make sure to bookmark us and come back often.
As part of the events over the Krystal Square Off V weekend, competitive eaters Joey Chestnut, Takeru Kobayashi, Patrick Bertolettiand Humble Bob Shoudt went out to the Krystal restaurant in Hixson, Tenn. to sign autographs during the “Sample Saturday” celebration, where customers get to try out Krystal menu items for free and enter to win a $100 gift card.
Fans came out to see their gustatory heroes and get their official Krystal Square Off V event guide signed by four of the best eaters in the world. Once again, both Chestnut and Kobayashi were asked how many Krystals they were planing to eat tomorrow, and both said that they were looking to set a new record and were aiming around the 110 mark. Looks like it’s going to be a close, tense rematch tomorrow. However, even if just for an hour, all four got to hang out with their fans and relax for a little before going back to mentally prepare for the pending showdown.
Here is a quick video of the autograph signing and you can check out some photos here.
The fact that Joey Chestnut is the current hamburger-eating world record holder and reigning champ doesn’t seem to carry much weight with readers of the popular competitive eating site EatFeats.com. Consisting mostly of dedicated speed-eating aficionados and pro gurgitators, the site’s readerbase has so far picked Japan’s Takeru Kobayashi over Chestnut by more than 2-to-1 in its latest poll to win Sunday’s Krystal Square Off V World Hamburger Eating Championship. Three-time Krystal Square Off king Kobayashi has received 23 votes to Chestnut’s 10 the last we checked.
All but three eaters–Crazy Legs Conti, Tim Janus and Rich LeFevre–have received at least one vote so far. Even the yet-to-be-picked12th Eater received a vote, proving that the scientific validity of an open web-based poll may be somewhat questionable.
Click here to cast a vote for who you think will take down the biggest Major League Eating event of the year this Sunday in Chattanooga.
Being the defending Krystal Square Off champ has it disadvantages.
In an interview with The University Echo, the 2007 Krystal Square Off winner Joey Chestnut said that by not having to qualify for this year’s final he doesn’t know exactly what to expect this Sunday in Chattanooga when he defends his title against three-time KSO champion Takeru Kobayashi and nine other eaters, including the No. 2-ranked gurgitator in the world Pat Bertoletti and last year’s runner-up Humble Bob Shoudt.
When asked if he will break his record of 103 Krystals in eight minutes, Chestnut said:
“It’s possible. Quite possible. I don’t know because I didn’t have to qualify, so I haven’t eaten real Krystals in a while. It’s tough when you don’t have to qualify for a contest as big as the Krystal Square Off Finals, because there’s a lingering doubt that you’re not fully prepared.”
A confident Kobayashi told the same reporter, “I definitely can break the record, and I could have done it two years ago.” In 2006, Kobayashi defeated Chestnut by downing 97 Krystals. It was the Japanese eater’s third consecutive win in Chattanooga.
While Chestnut has not had his legendary jaws chomp down on a Krystal since 2007, Kobayashi has had the advantage of being in Krystal country for a full week now and rumor is he’s been ordering 100 Krystals at a time in Atlanta-area Krystal restaurants. Last week, just 24 hours before eating 89 Krystals at the Birmingham qualifier, Kobayashi had consumed 100 Krystals in under eight minutes in his hotel room.
So tell us what you think: Will Chestnut’s year-long hiatus from the small, square hamburger hurt his chances this Sunday or will the defending champ rise to the occasion and extend his reign over Kobayashi?
