Major League Eating

Are you ready for Nathan’s 4th of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest?  Competitive eating champion and rapper, Eric "Badlands" Booker guides us through what to expect...

“Badlands” Booker is fresh off his Major League Eating contest qualifying win at New York’s Citi Field, where as the world’s 13th-ranked competitive eater he downed 40 hot dogs and buns in 12 minutes. The win got Booker a spot at Nathan’s annual 4th of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest at Coney Island – the Super Bowl of competitive eating.

Expect big things on the 4th from this 6-foot 4-inch, 340-pound gastronomical great. He holds 11 competitive eating titles in everything from matzo balls (21 baseball-sized balls in 5 minutes, 25 seconds) to corned beef hash (4 pounds in 1 minute, 58 seconds).  Badlands has been on a strict training regime for the past 6 months, expanding his stomach size by eating pound after pound of cabbage.  He works as a nightshift subway conductor and also raps about his experiences in the Major League Eating circuit…

But he won’t be chowing down alone. Booker is up against other top-ranked competitive eaters who range in size from 230-pound Joey Chestnut (last year’s champ) to 104-pound Sonya Thomas (the 6th-ranked competitive eater who once downed a tenth of her body weight in seafood).

Head out to Coney Island on the 4th to see the spectacle firsthand, or witness all the stuffing, spewing and spitting from a safe distance by catching the event live on ESPN.

And as "Badlands" Booker always says, "You blow, you go. You heave, you leave.”  [Throwing up triggers immediate disqualification.]

Check out Eric "Badlands" Booker tackling another favorite...crawfish:

Craving hot dogs now? Check out our hot dogs with tomato and scallion relish:

TELL US: If you had to eat a WHOLE lot of something, really fast...what would YOU eat?

Post contributed by Kelly Ann Senyei, Just A Taste