Cheap thrills
World's best athletes compete on St. Patty's day

Jim Furbush

Related: See Crazy Legs Conti's letter to The Oyster

Most Irish bars in Boston are doing similar things for St. Patty’s Day: opening as early as they can to serve Guinness, Irish breakfast in the morning, and then it’s corned beef and cabbage, and more Guinness. And, of course, most bars have flutists and fiddlers playing live reels, jigs, and drinking songs.

In a way, it’s sad that every bar falls back on the same routine year in and year out, but if that’s what the people want, then that’s what they want. However, there is something different going down, literally, at Ned Devine’s in Faneuil Hall –a corned beef and cabbage eating contest.

The Goldenpalace.com 2006 Corned Beef and Cabbage competitive eating championship begins at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday. The event kicks off the International Federation of Competitive Eating season. Thursday’s winner takes home $5,000 as well as a belly full of corned beef.

“There is no better place then Boston to hold a St. Patrick’s Day event,” said IFOCE spokesman Richard Shea. And this is not an amateur competition.

Some of the biggest (and highly ranked) competitors will be at Ned Devine’s devouring corned beef, including Sonya “The Black Widow” Thomas, Joey Chestnut, Belmont’s prodigal son “Crazy Legs” Conti, Tim “Eater X” Janis, Eric “Badlands” Booker, and Richard “The Locust” LeFevre.

Fortunately for all the gastro-athletes, corned beef and cabbage world record holder Cookie Jarvis, who scarfed five pounds in 12 minutes, is retired and won’t be competing. Takeru Kobayashi, the Michael Jordan of competitive eating, won’t be in Boston either.

Admitting that no event could compare to the July 4th hot dog eating contest at Coney Island, Shea hopes the Boston event becomes a big draw as it pulls together three complimentary things: Boston, St. Patrick’s Day, and corned beef and cabbage.

“We’d like to see the Boston market grow, and this event should do it,” said Shea.

Making his return to Boston, will be the Zen Master himself. No, not Phil Jackson, but Crazy Legs Conti. The 19th ranked eater in the world can’t wait to take his hometown city by storm.

Now living in New York City, the transplanted Bostonian is hoping this event jumpstarts his 2006 season. Last year, he got distracted by what he calls “the celebrity and groupie” aspect of competitive eating. Now in his 5th year on the competitive eating circuit, Conti finds it harder to keep up with the younger and hungrier eaters.

Although he’s only participated in a single corned beef and cabbage competition, Conti thinks the “symbiotic relationship between the dense meat and lubricated cabbage” will make for an intense eat-off.

“Most competitions, it’s either meat (where halfway through everyone has the meat-sweats) or more commonly now it’s a vegetable,” said Conti, who happens to hold the World Record for French-cut string beans and pancakes. “To have the two together is such an anomaly for the Esophageal Arts.”

Conti is most worried about Sonya Thomas, the #2 ranked eater in the world, whom he described as “indestructible.” Thomas recently broke his world record for oysters on the half-shell. There is still lingering animosity about the broken record. Conti estimates it will take close to six-pounds of corned beef and cabbage to win the event.

Six pounds. That’s almost the size of a newborn baby.

“That mark will certainly separate the men and women from your casual diners and picnickers,” said Conti.

Photo courtesy of Crazy Legs Conti.

Jim Furbush can be reached at jfurbush@theoysteronline.com

03/15/2006   |   Permalink