Krystal Burgers Memphis Qualifier 2006
I was riding the train into work this morning and I suddenly laughed out loud. It was a response to a thought I had. I had a miserable performance in Memphis, and it's a bitter bitter pill that I am chewing and refusing to swallow until I can understand it. I laughed on the train, because I realized I was trying to find meaning in it. Meaning in an eating contest loss. I still get it...it's funny, but for me it's been a weekend of soul searching and reflection.
People try to find meaning in so many things. We see the Virgin Mary in a grilled cheese sandwhich. We wonder why we have Cancer, or Herpes or Bad Breath. Has God chosen this for us? Have we chosen it? Was it just bad timing? What is the meaning of this Car Accident, this crashed harddrive, this broken Happy Meal Toy. I dont mean to make light of any of those things, just point out that what may seem trival to you, may be a profound event for another.
I've made it clear how deeply I wanted a great performance. I trained, I charted my results and improvements on spreadsheets. I worked my technique. In my head, my first Goal was to Eat 30 Hamburgers, my next goal was to eat 36 hamburgers and Qualify for the Finals on ESPN....my deep fantasy was that I was going to eat 40 Hamburgers and win the contest. None of those things happened.
In practice I've been able to eat 20 Hamburgers in 2:25. Thats a fine pace, and afterwards I didnt feel any discomfort, nothing from my body to say I'm at my limit. At the contest I only ate 23 Total in 8 minutes. I hit 15 at the two minute mark and immediatley fell into the 'Meat-Sweats' Thats the reaction your body gives you when it's trying to convince you to stop...I didnt anticipate the sweats until roughly the 3-4 minute mark. I chewed and chewed my food and had to force each swallow.
Whats so puzzling is that I have nothing to blame it on, I dont know WHY I couldnt eat more. This is what makes it baffling for me.
I was well rested
My stomach was completely empty and I was starving
I attacked the food passionately
I went to Graceland Earlier in the Day and Prayed to Elvis at his grave. (honestly who better to serve as the God of Eating?)
I was focused, and didnt even look up from my tray until after the 4 minute mark.
On the train I recognized that food, and the act of eating have a spiritual element. Our religeons incorporate this into their rituals...we eat the host, we fast, we have Seder, we leave a plate for Elijah, cookies for Santa Claus, Carrots for the Easter Bunny, and a Turkey on ThanksGiving.
Many of the People who continue to Eat Competitively find that they get more out of it than a win. So many of us are shy people in an everyday sense, who are able to lower our walls abit and really enjoy a meal together. It is easy for me to walk up to an unknown eater and initiate a conversation. I know that he shares my illness...my obsessiveness, my need for comfort and comraderie. All of us are driven to compete against ourselves, to reach that magic number in our heads.
Picture this Scene:
It's moments after the contest and the trophy has just been awarded to Eater X for Eating 54 Hamburgers in 8 minutes. (Only six people in the World have eaten 50 or more in 8 minutes and TWO of them did it at this contest. The Locust ate 51!!!) X's face is painted in a mask and I'm standing there in a Kilt and fake tattoos. I tell him that I'm confused and sad about the result. He's kind enough to be genuinly consoling, and offers a story about his first Krystal contest. All of this while he must be in serious discomfort, and several reporters are trying to get his attention for interviews. I dont know X except though some comment exchanges on some blogs.
This kind of thing would never happen in my real world, and I certainly wouldnt let it happen, but in this community it's the norm. I think thats a wonderful thing to be apart of, and it's the only reason I refuse to give up despite my embarrassing showing.
I dont have the time or money to travel to another Krystal Qualifier (they're all in the South) but I'll be watching on October 28th rooting for the all the Eaters. The only other plans I have for Eating are Qualifying for WingBowl 15 and possibly eating in the Tropicana Meatball Contest in Atlantic City in December.
Thanks to my wife, kids and everybody else for screaming into the computer screen during the contest. I could hear you in my head. Thanks Humble Bob for the guidance these last couple of weeks. Also, nice job Wing Kong on eating 27. I know you wanted 30. Seaver and Arturo, you guys made the biggest statements at the table!
People try to find meaning in so many things. We see the Virgin Mary in a grilled cheese sandwhich. We wonder why we have Cancer, or Herpes or Bad Breath. Has God chosen this for us? Have we chosen it? Was it just bad timing? What is the meaning of this Car Accident, this crashed harddrive, this broken Happy Meal Toy. I dont mean to make light of any of those things, just point out that what may seem trival to you, may be a profound event for another.
I've made it clear how deeply I wanted a great performance. I trained, I charted my results and improvements on spreadsheets. I worked my technique. In my head, my first Goal was to Eat 30 Hamburgers, my next goal was to eat 36 hamburgers and Qualify for the Finals on ESPN....my deep fantasy was that I was going to eat 40 Hamburgers and win the contest. None of those things happened.
In practice I've been able to eat 20 Hamburgers in 2:25. Thats a fine pace, and afterwards I didnt feel any discomfort, nothing from my body to say I'm at my limit. At the contest I only ate 23 Total in 8 minutes. I hit 15 at the two minute mark and immediatley fell into the 'Meat-Sweats' Thats the reaction your body gives you when it's trying to convince you to stop...I didnt anticipate the sweats until roughly the 3-4 minute mark. I chewed and chewed my food and had to force each swallow.
Whats so puzzling is that I have nothing to blame it on, I dont know WHY I couldnt eat more. This is what makes it baffling for me.
I was well rested
My stomach was completely empty and I was starving
I attacked the food passionately
I went to Graceland Earlier in the Day and Prayed to Elvis at his grave. (honestly who better to serve as the God of Eating?)
I was focused, and didnt even look up from my tray until after the 4 minute mark.
On the train I recognized that food, and the act of eating have a spiritual element. Our religeons incorporate this into their rituals...we eat the host, we fast, we have Seder, we leave a plate for Elijah, cookies for Santa Claus, Carrots for the Easter Bunny, and a Turkey on ThanksGiving.
Many of the People who continue to Eat Competitively find that they get more out of it than a win. So many of us are shy people in an everyday sense, who are able to lower our walls abit and really enjoy a meal together. It is easy for me to walk up to an unknown eater and initiate a conversation. I know that he shares my illness...my obsessiveness, my need for comfort and comraderie. All of us are driven to compete against ourselves, to reach that magic number in our heads.
Picture this Scene:
It's moments after the contest and the trophy has just been awarded to Eater X for Eating 54 Hamburgers in 8 minutes. (Only six people in the World have eaten 50 or more in 8 minutes and TWO of them did it at this contest. The Locust ate 51!!!) X's face is painted in a mask and I'm standing there in a Kilt and fake tattoos. I tell him that I'm confused and sad about the result. He's kind enough to be genuinly consoling, and offers a story about his first Krystal contest. All of this while he must be in serious discomfort, and several reporters are trying to get his attention for interviews. I dont know X except though some comment exchanges on some blogs.
This kind of thing would never happen in my real world, and I certainly wouldnt let it happen, but in this community it's the norm. I think thats a wonderful thing to be apart of, and it's the only reason I refuse to give up despite my embarrassing showing.
I dont have the time or money to travel to another Krystal Qualifier (they're all in the South) but I'll be watching on October 28th rooting for the all the Eaters. The only other plans I have for Eating are Qualifying for WingBowl 15 and possibly eating in the Tropicana Meatball Contest in Atlantic City in December.
Thanks to my wife, kids and everybody else for screaming into the computer screen during the contest. I could hear you in my head. Thanks Humble Bob for the guidance these last couple of weeks. Also, nice job Wing Kong on eating 27. I know you wanted 30. Seaver and Arturo, you guys made the biggest statements at the table!
11 comments:
If you love what you're doing, keep doing it. Fuck all that math - you had a good time, right?
You're still a champion with your family and friends.
Congrats, Steakbellie!
Awesome reflections man.
I know what you mean about the eaters being oddly comfortable around each other despite our relative stranger status. At Lancaster dogs I saw a long-haired guy wearing a sponsor t-shirt just standing there in amongst the crowd. I thought I recognized him and told Heather I'd be right back.
I went up to him feeling perfectly comfortable (I'd never feel this way talking to a someone I'd never met before), stuck out my hand and right away knew that he recognized me too. He was Sean Gordon (from Philly and the eventual winner of the contest) and I was right--I did recognize him. He and I made our IFOCE debuts together about four months ago in the shoo fly pie contest. Coincidentally also in Lancaster, PA. We traded news and tips for about five minutes like old friends until my name was called to take the stage.
That's what I love about this sport.
I know whatcha mean about the instant feeling of camaraderie... If I see another bass player, no matter the talent level or genre, I know I can go up to 'em and talk. We have something in common.
A few months ago I broke down and got the traditional black leather vest that most bikers seem to wear these days. For twenty years I resisted the urge to blend in with my biker buddies and wore a blue shirt. But now I'm actually part of a group - the American Legion Riders - and I want people to know, so I have a vest with the big patch on the back. I also have a bunch of other arcane patches on my vest indicating my "biker history" (mostly funerals I've been to, waving a flag) and it's WAY cool how often someone will come up and point to part of my vest and say, "I was there too. Man, that was a cold ride." Instant camaraderie. It's a good thing.
You know, in a few months, very few of your Eating compadres will remember how you did in any particular contest. But they WILL remember that you were there, and that you were a good guy.
Searching for the meaning of life in a hamburger - seems better than looking for God in the bottom of a beer bottle.
I'm glad you do these things. I really enjoy hearing about 'em! Especially from someone so enthusiastic!
Steak,
You did great. You can look back and be content that you did all you could to prepare for the contest. Even though you were not at the level that you wanted, you gave it your best.
Take what you learned and use it the next time. Hopefully you get into meatballs. That is a great event. That has the most packed field of any non qualifier contest.
Coming from over 3 decades in the world of Pro-Wrestling I can relate how many tries it took before I got my first championship belt.
Now entering the world of Pro-Eating in 2005 I have a similar goal to obtain that win.
Over 3 decades ago I can recall being able to eat like Joey, Chip, Pat, Sonya and many others. I may be slowing down at 50 years old but that does not stop me. I may be what they call a table ender right now but I'm getting better the more times I try.
Do not get disappointed at your total. You may not have won the round but your a winner none the less. How many can say they do what you do.
Be proud of what you did and keep entering and trying more events.
Win or lose, just remember to hold your head high and enjoy it.
Oh my hero!!!!!!!!
You may have not reached your goal, but you are still a weiner, I mean a winner to me!!!
Listen to those who have posted, sounds good to me!!!
-BFF-
Good job Steakbellie. Like the marathon runner in the rhino costume, you may not have won, but you did more than 99% of the population by turning up and putting on a better performance than most of us could.
There is much debate about whether competitive eating is a sport. From the insightful blog entries resulting from this contest alone, I'd argue it is at least as much a philosophy.
Hangman said: "Over 3 decades ago I can recall being able to eat like Joey, Chip, Pat, Sonya and many others."
Yeah, of course you remember eating 52 hotdogs and buns in 12 minutes like Joey, eating 46 dozen oysters in 10 minutes and 65 hard boiled eggs in 6:40 like Sonya, eating 1 3/4 gallons of frozen ice cream in 8 minutes like Pat, and eating 41 tamales in 12 minutes like Chip.
Give it a rest already.
I understand what you're saying about comraderie. I was also at the Lancaster dogs contest and walked right up to Sean and talked to him. We were talking about eastern PA eaters like they were our best friends, "Oh yeah, steakbellie's in Memphis this weekend." It's kind of sad to admit, but I've been looking forward to this post all weekend.
Kat- I feel ok about it now, I think I was just frustrated that the result wasnt what I had trained for. I'll keep motoring!
Mega- Right, look how easily you and I got along at Shoo-Fly and Pizza. Dont you love the banter that goes on at these things...everybody talking shop!
Chris- it's a great thing to feel at home somewhere in the world. I think as men, we spend too much time keeping people out. It's a relief when you meet a new person you feel you can relate to soley on your mutual experiences
Bob,
Thanks for the kind words. I just feel like I missed the boat on an important contest. It's one of the two "Apples to Apples" contests and even if I didnt qualify I had wanted to put up a good number. I'm going to rethink and retool and go again....
SuperPaul - I wont quit if you dont! Go get'em in GA!
Hangman- I'll keep it up, hope to see your name at the table more too!
GB- Thanks Honey!
SZG- To know how crazy I truly am, I try to match as many factors as possible when competing. Time of day, Hunger level, food type, food presentation, even to use the same color plates or trays when I can get that info. Sometimes I cant match everything but I think it's important that I be able to take a curve ball when it comes....like if they change the rules on Game Day. I'm just scratching this one up to a bad day.....
Brazen: Competitive Eating is very difficult to categorize. I'm leaning towards a Sport Actually! It's extrememly physical!
Anon: Thanks for the Laugh...talk about putting the 'Smackdown"!
Anon Coward: It's nice that we all talk that way though. It's a very fast growing and tight knit community!
Post a Comment