KSOV Podcast: The Pat Bertoletti Interview

Pat Bertoletti (above left) is ready to face off against Joey Chestnut (above right), Takeru Kobayashi and other top eaters this Sept. 28 in Chattanooga.

For this week’s audio podcast, the Krystal Square Off Blog had the pleasure of chatting with competitive eating’s mohawked master of mastication Pat Bertoletti. The Chicago native known as “Deep Dish” is heading to the ATL tonight in advance of tomorrow’s Krystal Square Off V Qualifier at Lenox Square Mall, where he’ll look to repeat as the Atlanta champ and earn a seat at this year’s final.

During our interview, Bertoletti talks about everything from his hectic travel schedule to the girls in Prague to why the heat doesn’t bother him when it comes to chowing down Krystals. He also gives his opinion on what the top numbers will be at this year’s Krystal Square Off World Hamburger Eating Championship and how his 94 Krystals at last year’s championship was an “off day” for him.

What you won’t hear is what Bertoletti told us after the podcast, which is that he plans to head to the nearest Krystal restaurant as soon as he lands tonight and eat 30 plus Krystals and wash them down with a Krystal MilkQuake. A good warm-up for tomorrow? Completely insane? Or both?

Stay tuned as we’re hoping to get video of this Atlanta Qualifier eve chowdown.

Listen to our full audio interview with Pat by clicking the play arrow on the right below.

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Relatedly, check out the video of Pat Bertoletti training for the Krystal Square Off over at our sister site Krystalist.com here.

Follow the action as it happens this Saturday. Sign up for the Krystal Square Off Twitter feed.

KSOV Podcast: Hall Hunt Dishes on Sonya Thomas, Krystal Square Off

Hall "Hoover" Hunt is hungry for a win on his home turf at the Jacksonville Krystal Square Off V Qualifier on Labor Day.

After posting our audio podcast with Sonya Thomas this morning, we had the chance to chat with her main competition this Labor Day in Jacksonville, Hall “Hoover” Hunt. One of the sport’s rising young stars, Hall Hunt is currently ranked eighth in the world according to Major League Eating, and he’s focused on continuing his meteoric rise up the ranks with a strong performance at the Krystal Square Off V World Hamburger Eating Championship.

In our phone interview, the Jacksonville-based eater talks about competing in Prague recently, what he loves about the sport of eating and what is next on the horizon for him. Hunt also shares his thoughts on training for the Krystal Square Off, going up against The Black Widow on Monday, how the weather may affect the contest and whether he thinks he has a “home table” advantage as he expects a huge contingent to come out and cheer for him down on the Landing in Jacksonville.

And like Sonya and Humble Bob Shoudt did during their podcasts, Hunt looks ahead to the finals and gives his prediction on the number of Krystals the champion will put down.

Check out our full interview with Hunt below and be sure to check out our podcast with Sonya here. Also, check out Hall’s blog here.

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KSOV Podcast: The Sonya Thomas Interview

Sonya Thomas, seen above facing off with Takeru Kobayashi in 2006, is ready to take on the boys this year at Krystal Square Off V.

Every week during this year’s Krystal Square Off V tour, we’re interviewing the biggest names in competitive eating, and this week the spotlight is on Sonya Thomas and Hall Hunt as they prepare for the Jacksonville Qualifier this Labor Day. As we stated yesterday, the contest down in J-Ville looks to be a good one, with Hall competing on his home turf and constantly improving his numbers and Sonya looking to hush her critics who say she’s no longer a threat when it comes to Krystals.

We talked with Sonya via phone yesterday and asked her how she felt about this Monday’s event and whether she thinks Hall “Hoover” Hunt will challenge her. The Black Widow also shared with us who she’s picking to win it all at the Krystal Square Off V World Hamburger Eating Championship (it isn’t Joey Chestnut), what she thinks the top number will be (it isn’t as high as Humble Bob’s prediction), what she predicts for herself and what kind of pressure she’s putting on herself this year.

Finally, we asked Sonya some of the great questions our readers submitted via the Krystal Square Off Twitter feed and on this site.

Hear all Sonya Thomas had to say by listening to the audio podcast below, and stay tuned for our podcast with Hall Hunt later today.

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KSOV Podcast: Interview with Humble Bob Shoudt

Competitive eater Humble Bob Shoudt is looking to cruise to victory this Saturday in Chattanooga.

When it comes to the Krystal Square Off V World Hamburger Eating Championship, talk is cheap. The only thing that matters is who puts away the most Krystals by the time the clock strikes 8 minutes.

With that said, what competitive eaters have to say along the tour is often priceless, and for this reason alone, krystalsquareoff.com is introducing a regular series of audio podcasts featuring your favorite eaters talking trash, squashing (or starting) rumors and sharing their perspectives on anything and everything in the world of competitive eating.

Today, we’re getting things started with “Humble” Bob Shoudt, who will seek to earn a birth to this year’s final at the kick off qualifier this Saturday. During our interview, Shoudt proves less-than-humble about his chances to win it all this year and shares why he considers the Krystal Square Off “better than the Olympics.” He also let’s us know what we can expect from him Saturday (may not be the century mark, as we mentioned), whether he’s in it for the money and who he thinks will be joining him in the top three at this year’s championship.

Click below to listen to the audio interview.

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