Hot-dog-eating champions to pay H-Town a visit
Matt Stonie is 23 years old. He’s on the smallish side, 5-foot8 and 120 pounds.
Now watch him eat 21 pounds of pumpkin pie in eight minutes.
Ten pounds of frozen yogurt in six minutes … 241 Hooters wings in 10 minutes … 5.5 pounds of birthday cake in six minutes.
He is a full-time competitive eater, ranked No. 1, the youngest member, greatest recordbreaker and new face of the International Federation of Competitive Eating.
The shark in “Jaws” once told him, “You might want to slow down, buddy. Eating 120 Twinkies in six minutes can’t be good for you.”
“I’d have to say that pumpkin pie is my favorite record. That was 25,000 calories in one shot. I was expecting to eat only 15 pounds,” Stonie said.
I’m not a math major, but isn’t 21 pounds of pumpkin pie more than one-sixth of your total body weight? You must have looked like you swallowed a basketball.
“Yeah, that was a good contest for me.”
What size belt do you wear, and can you wear the same pants home that you wore to a contest?
“I wear a Size 30 belt. After a contest, I have to go to the last hole on the belt. I’d be lying if I said my pants were comfortable after a contest. When I get home, I usually throw on pajamas or something,” Stonie said.
May 15, Stonie will face former No. 1 eater, the great Joey Chestnut, in Niko Niko’s World Gyro Eating Championship at Greek Fest, held at St. Basil the Great Greek Orthodox Church, 1100 Eldridge Parkway in Houston.
Stonie is the defending champ, with Chestnut right on his heels. They both live in San Jose, Calif. What are the chances of that? They’re friends, except on contest days.
Last year, Stonie won by downing 22 fully loaded Niko Niko’s gyros in 10 minutes. He holds the record — 24 gyros at Greek Fest in 2014.
“The gyro contest is one of my favorites each year,” he said. “I want to three-peat this year. The thing I like about this event is, they make the gyros just like they do at their restaurants. It’s really a delicious contest.
“It’s a tough contest because there’s lots of chewing,” he said. Chewing is a complete time-waster in the world of competitive eating.
“Pita bread is pretty dense, and there’s a lot of meat involved. The biggest factor with gyros that gets me is the tzatziki sauce. It’s got a lot of garlic and onions. It hits you pretty hard.”
First prize is $2,500. Second place is worth $1,250, down to $100 for sixth place. Registration is closed.
Stonie competes in only 11 eating contests a year. That’s low for an IFOCE champ. Like tzatziki sauce on a Niko Niko’s gyro, Stonie doesn’t spread himself too thin.
“I go out maybe once a month. When I do an event, I put everything I have into it. There’s a lot of physical training in this sport, and the mental game is a big part of it, too. I always give it my best effort,” he said.
OK, maybe one contest a month, but he puts a spectacular eating video on YouTube practically every week. He’s got 237 videos online. Yes, he takes requests from fans.
“The one people like the most is where I eat a 5-pound burrito in under two minutes. Everybody says it looks like I’m inhaling that burrito. I like to entertain people with my videos, you know, make their jaws drop or their mouths water,” Stonie said.
The Super Bowl of competitive eating is Nathan’s Hot Dog Contest, July 4 in Coney Island. ESPN airs it live. Millions tune in.
I have been a judge at the Coney contest for 10 years. Last year, I thought I had put in enough time to earn the right to count Chestnut’s hot dogs. He was the eight-time defending champion, considered the greatest of all time.
Right before the contest, I was told that, no, some bigshot corporate sponsors were pushing their weight around and demanding to judge Chestnut. I was pushed down one contestant. I got Stonie. He won with 62 hot dogs and buns, beating Chestnut’s 60 dogs. In your face, you corporate fat-cat bullies.
“It was incredible,” Stonie said. “I didn’t expect to win. I was definitely the underdog.”
ESPN called it the “greatest upset in sports history.” It was news around the world.
After the contest, I was interviewed live on CNN International. Talk about your slow news days. Five minutes before my interview, I was called into “hair and makeup.” I asked the woman who spackled me, “Who else has sat in this chair?”
“Bill Clinton, Benjamin Netanyahu” … more.
The next time someone asks her that question, I wonder if she’ll say, “Bill Clinton, Benjamin Netanyahu and some guy who had mustard stains on his shirt.”
I’ll be back judging in Coney this year. I’ve worked up new material for CNN. But if I’m not assigned Stonie, I’m turning in my striped referee’s jersey and walking. I will not be disrespected like last year. I have my pride.
I’m not sure where pride enters a hot-dog-eating contest, though.
I asked Stonie, do you have groupies?
He said, “Yeah, sometimes they show their faces, but I’m a little disgusting after a contest. I’m bloated and greasy. Plus, I’m not a rock star or an NFL player. We’re not at that level yet.”
Stonie said he’s “working harder than ever” for Coney Island.
“This will be the 100th anniversary of the Nathan’s event, and they’re going to put on a really great show. I don’t like to give a number of how many hot dogs I hope to eat. The hot dogs are different every year. Some years they’re warm, some years they’re cooler. Plus the weather makes a difference. And there’s the mental game, the mind games. I’m working to get my body in shape. So I won’t give you a number. I’ll just keep my eye on Joey and try to win.”
“I’ll do whatever it takes, but 70 would be a magic number. Nobody’s ever done 70.”
Chewing is a complete time-waster in the world of competitive eating.