Life on the Road – Trucking News Blog

Last night I was having dinner here at the Stockman’s TS in beautiful St. Paul. I had the chili bowl. The driver next to me – a large man – not fat by any means – but tall and “thick” ordered the $15 ALL YOU CAN EAT steak Sat. night special. “How many steaks do you want to start” asked the waitress. TWO. Soon after, I observed a vast amount of mashed potatoes with gravy, several rolls topped with real butter, veggies and two “sides” of Kansas City blackened steer consumed before my eyes. “How many more?” asked the waitress. TWO. And in short order came a duplicate of what this driver had just consumed and it was gone. I was impressed. This guy might consider being a member of the Int’l Federation of Competitive Eating.

Takeru Kobayashi is their champion. He is known as the Michael Jordon of competitive eating. And this Saturday, he once again beat his rival, Joey Chestnut, by eating 5 3/4 Pizza Hut P’Zones in 6 minutes! Chestnut could only manage to down 5 1/2. If you’ve never had one, a P"’Zone (pictured left) resembles a calzone, weighs 1 lbs. and is about a foot long. It is stuffed with cheese and pepperoni. The “meaty” version contains 1,380 calories, 26 grams of fat and only 3,460 milligrams of sodium.

Kobayashi, 31, hails from Japan and is the 6 time world champion competitive hot dog eater. He is 5″ 7″ 131 lbs. He suffers from “Jawthritis” (jaw arthritis) because, he claims, of improperly grown wisdom teeth and years of competitive eating. Back in 2001, he ate 50 hot dogs (with the buns) in 12 minutes. In ’05 he consumed 83 “veggie” dumplings in 8 minutes. The next day, according to Wikipedia, he ate 100 roasted pork buns in 12 minutes. In ’06, he ate 58 bratwurst sausages in 10 minutes. Also that year, Kobayashi set the world record at the Phantom Food Festival in Boston eating 41 lobster rolls in 10 minutes, replacing the previous record of 22 rolls. Other world-eating records held by Kobayashi include 17.7 pounds of cow brains in 15 minutes and 20 pounds of rice balls in 30 minutes.

Kobayashi claims to employ the “Solomon” method during competitions. He eats, an one example, hot dogs, by splitting the frankfurter in half, swallowing both parts at once, and then dipping the buns in water, Sprite or 7UP and stuffing it in his mouth. He also uses his trademark body wiggle, referred to by some as the "Kobayashi Shake", to force food down his esophagus and settle more compactly in his stomach.

What’s next for the champion? To once again go head to head with his arch rival, Chestnut, on July 4th in Coney Island NY for the Nathan’s “Famous” hot dog (with bun) eating contest. Drivers, think you can compete? Go to http://www.majorleagueeating.com/ or http://www.ifoce.com/home.php for more information.

Photo credits are: www.usask.ca/…/anatomical_models/index.php, http://takeru-kobayashi.com/view.php?pic=18, http://takeru-kobayashi.com/view.php?pic=34, http://www.pizzahut.com/Menu.aspx and information from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takeru_Kobayashi and http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/31019524/ was used to create this post.