Eat This!

I could mention this on my blog yesterday because I was sworn to secrecy until today, but Johnsonville Brats and the International Federation of Competitive Eating have announced that ESPN will be filming a one-hour special on Sheboygan's Brat Eating contest to be aired on Aug. 5 and Sonya Thomas, The Black Widow, will be defending her title of brat eating champion of the world against 7-time hot dog eating champion Kobayashi.
Organizers are calling it the Showdown in Sheboygan!
Last year, the first time the IFOCE was involved in the competition, Sonya Thomas ate 35 brats in 10 minutes to take the championship. Then, what the rest of the media isn't telling you, she ate two more as a victory lap.
But, Kobayashi is an eating machine. He ate 53.75 hot dogs and buns in 12 minutes at the 2006 Nathan's Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest at Coney Island, NY to set a new world record. Thomas took third with 37 hot dogs and buns.
The runner up to the hot dog eating contest, Joey Chestnut, will also be in Sheboygan as well as other professional eaters.
This is actually a pretty big deal. George Shea, president of the IFOCE, told me yesterday that the Brat Eating contest quickly became one of the top four eating contests in the world and could be equal in popularity to Nathan's contest.
This is going to be huge. The brat eating contest will be held on Aug. 5.

Brat days website HERE.

Photo of Kobayashi courtesy of Nathans.