Comments on: Black Widow Crowned ‘World Popcorn Champion…Of The World’

By: Joey Chestnut 2009 Threepeat: 68 Hot Dogs in 10 Minutes

Joey Chestnut 2009 Threepeat: 68 Hot Dogs in 10 Minutes — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 17:16:59 +0000

[...] YOU KNOW? Ryan is no stranger to the IFOCE judging process, having witnessed and judged a popcorn-eating contest and a chili-cheese-fry eating contest for George Shea and the IFOCE at various points in his shady [...]

By: Black Widow Out-Chili-Cheeses Chestnut By Ounce

Black Widow Out-Chili-Cheeses Chestnut By Ounce — Sun, 12 Feb 2006 02:30:05 +0000

[...] Sonya â€˜The Black Widowâ€˜ Thomas ate eight pounds and two ounces worth of Wienerschnitzel Chili Cheese Fries in ten minutes this afternoon at the Queen Mary, earning the title World Chili Cheese Fries Championâ€¦of the World by a mere ounce. [...]

By: Chili Cheese History to be Made Saturday

Chili Cheese History to be Made Saturday — Fri, 10 Feb 2006 18:15:50 +0000

[...] Our very own Ryan, who maintained order in last year’s popcorn eating championship, will again serve as judge for this event. Check back for a full report on all the chilicheese festivities. [...]

By: Ryan

Ryan — Thu, 30 Jun 2005 22:42:31 +0000

I have about as much pull with MTV as I do with Bil Keane (creator of the immensely popular Family Circus series…you know the one…it’s round, it has Jeffy, Barfy, GhostGrandpa, Dotted-Line-Paths and NotMe) … namely, none.

That said, I’ll escalate what I can. I’ll escalate what I can. If a rematch should surface some day, at the very least they’ll need some type of official box counters on hand alongside the judges. I’m estimating somewhere in the neighborhood of 15 skilled judges/counters per contestant.

By: Buddy

Buddy — Thu, 30 Jun 2005 01:38:53 +0000

I, too, am very curious. Why don’t you do it again and see if he can pull it off. I wouldn’t bet against him!

By: audree

audree — Fri, 24 Jun 2005 23:00:15 +0000

this is hilarious…since i missed the first showdown..i’d surely love to see The Locust in action for a repeat. Ryan..set up the neew time/place!

By: Rich LeFevre

Rich LeFevre — Mon, 20 Jun 2005 16:46:45 +0000

Hi Ryan,

Thanks for your response. I would be glad to show MTV that I can eat more than 10 boxes in a ten minute period (as I did during the competition). I’m really disappointed that others (aside from a Fox 11 TV reporter) didn’t notice that I was a full box ahead of Sonya with under two minutes to go. As I never even slowed down in the slightest, it would have been next to impossible for her to catch me.

Have them give me the time and place and I will prove it to them to erase any doubt about it.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Sat, 18 Jun 2005 17:31:15 +0000

Rich,

Didn’t mean to offend you. Definitely saw a significant amount of water going into the bowl early in the second overtime; I think it happened after you tried to take a drink. Other judges wanted to rule on spillage – I was looking at the water factor.

That said, MTV should have ponied up more than one prize – this was just way too close.

Frankly, I’m just thrilled that one of the greatest eaters in America found this site. I might not want to be judging something that close again, but I do look forward to seeing you in action again soon. Eat on.

Ps – with the miscount ref. above – are you contending that you actually ate 13 boxes!? Can this be repeated? Talk to me.

By: Richard LeFevre

Richard LeFevre — Sat, 18 Jun 2005 17:10:38 +0000

Ryan,

For your information, I did NOT slosh a 1/2 bottle of water into my bowl and there was no water whatsoever in my bowl. The only reason I picked it up was to scoop the little bits into my mouth so I wouldn’t leave any (in fact, that’s whan I dropped the few little pieces that would have fit on the surface of a quarter). If it makes you feel more justified in saying that so you can feel good about your call so be it. My only mistake was not securing one of my empty boxes that did not get stacked in my pile. However, not counting that, I still appeared to have a slight edge after regulation and in the first overtime as well. It would have been nice if MTV had given out a prize to me as well as the two of us made it the entertaining event that it was and the decision could have gone either way.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Thu, 16 Jun 2005 21:31:05 +0000

It was really, really close. But don’t believe everything you read about a few kernels being the deciding factor. There were other factors in play – he basically sloshed 1/2 bottle of water (possibly accidentally) into his bowl in the second eat-off, which is why you can see him ‘drinking’ the bowl in the MTV clip. By strict theatre rules, that’s not allowed – and that had to be taken into consideration.