Krystal Square Off Champion Joey Chestnut downed 45 slices of pizza in 10 minutes yesterday.

Krystal Square Off V World Hamburger Eating Champion Joey Chestnut can now add Pizza Champion to his long list of titles.

On Sunday, Chestnut downed 45 slices of pizza in 10 minutes during the Famous Famiglia Pizza Eating contest in Times Square.

According to Eatfeats, Pat Bertoletti came in second with 43 slices and Humble Bob Shoudt was third 41.

Head over the CNN for an article about yesterday’s compeititon.

Pat Bertoletti moves up to second place in the Major League Eating Eater's Poll after coming in second at the Krystal Square Off V, defeating Takeru Kobayashi who came third.

Krystal compeititive eater Hall Hunt has posted the October edition of the Major League Eating Eater’s Poll on his blog.  This poll is the first to come out after the Krystal Square Off V World Hamburger Eating Championship.

Joey Chestnut remains at the top of the list with Pat Bertoletti moving up one spot to claim second.  Takeru Kobayashi moves down one taking third.  “Humble” Bob keeps his fourth place ranking and Hunt himself moves up to fifth from seventh.

The complete list of the top 10 are below.

1. Joey “Jaws” Chestnut
2. Patrick “Deep Dish” Bertoletti
3. Takeru Kobayashi
4. “Humble” Bob Shoudt
5. Hall “Hoover” Hunt
6. Tim “Eater-X” Janus
7. Rich “The Locust” LeFevre
8. Sonya “The Blackwidow” Thomas
9. Eric “Badlands” Booker
10. Juris “Dr. Bigtime” Shibayama

For a complete list of the top 25 eaters, head over to Hunt’s blog.

We don’t think we ever got around to posting some of our favorite photos from the Krystal Square Off V World Hamburger Eating Championship, so here they are.  

And no, we’re not crying, we just have something in our eye.  Ok, ok, we may be crying just a little, but looking at these makes us a little sad that we have to wait an entire year for the next Krystal Square Off. Stop laughing!

For more Krystal Square Off photos, head over to Flickr.

Crazy Legs Conti stretching before attempting to break the Guinness World Record of movie watching.

Krystal Square Off V competitive eater Crazy Legs Conti recently took a break from stuffing his face to attempt five days of ’round the clock movie watching.

Crazy Legs, along with several other endurance champions, have been competing to see who can sit through 121 hours of movies in order to break the current Guinness Movie Watching World Record of 120 hours and 23 minutes as a part of the Netflix Movie Watching World Championship.

The contest has been taking place in New York’s Time Square since October 2.  The winner, which will be decided today as the marathon nears its 121st hour, will receive $10,000, a lifetime subscription to Netflix and the first ever Popcorn Bowl trophy.

The contestants have been allowed a 10 minute break every two hours (so in between each movie) to stretch, go to the bathroom, etc.  However, while the movies are on, they must keep their eyes on the screen and are immediately disqualified if they fall asleep. Medical professionals have also been on hand to monitor the contestants’ conditions throughout the event and to determine if contestants are truly “watching” or are simply staring at the screen.

Unfortunately, according to Netflix’s Facebook page, it looks like Crazy Legs won’t be taking that Popcorn Bowl trophy home, as he only made it through 33 hours movie watching.  You can watch an interview with Crazy Legs after dropping out of the contest here.  According to the eating pro, Chevy Chase’s movie Fletch was the final movie of the contest for him.

For more on the movie watching contest, including videos and photos from each day, click here.

Joey Chestnut downed 93 Krystals in 8 minutes yesterday, reclaiming his title as World Hamburger Eating Champ.

Courtesy of the Krystal Square Off Blog:

American eating sensation Joey Chestnut retained his hamburger eating title today at the Krystal Square Off V World Hamburger Eating Championship in Chattanooga, Tenn. The 24-year-old from San Jose, Calif. downed 93 Krystal hamburgers in eight minutes, ten shy of his world record mark set at last year’s championship.

Billed as the highly anticipated rematch between Chestnut, the No.1-ranked eater in the world, and Japan’s speed-eating legend Takeru Kobayashi, the contest quickly became a one-man show as Chestnut jumped out to an early lead and never looked back as a crowd of 10,000 cheered him on in downtown Chattanooga.

Kobayashi, a three-time Krystal Square Off winner who missed last year’s championship due to a jaw injury, finished in a disappointing third place, eating just 84 Krystals, 13 less than he ate when he won Krystal Square Off III in 2006. Twenty-three-year-old rising star Patrick “Deep Dish” Bertoletti was the second-place spoiler, out-eating Kobayashi by just one Krystal.

“Chestnut’s win today at Krystal Square Off V proves once again that he is competitive eating’s new superstar and the undisputed number one ranked eater in the world,” said Brad Wahl, vice president of marketing, The Krystal Company.

Chestnut pockets $20,000 for his win, along with the coveted Krystal Square Off Champion’s Belt and Trophy made out of crystal. Bertoletti earns $10,00 for his second place finish while Kobayashi takes away $5,000. The remaining top eleven finalists receive payouts ranging from $3,000 to $500. The $50,000 total cash purse is the largest in competitive eating history.

Presented by The Krystal Company and featuring the iconic fresh, hot, small, square Krystal hamburger, the Krystal Square Off is one of the two majors in the sport of competitive eating and the only world hamburger eating championship sanctioned by Major League Eating, the governing body of all stomach-centric sports.

“There are precious few moments in professional sports when you can watch as a competitor affirms his place in the history books. With this win today, Joey Chestnut just said to the world: I am Krystal King hear me growl,” said Richard Shea, president of Major League Eating. “In today’s economy anybody can be negatively impacted by unforeseen circumstances. Kobayashi is feeling that impact, but if I know him he’ll be back.”

Today’s victory was Chestnut’s first win over Kobayashi in a Krystal-eating contest, and further cements his dominance over the 30-year-old Japanese eating star. Kobayashi is responsible for first bringing the sport of competitive eating into the American mainstream more than seven years ago, only to see his star fall lately after several high-profile losses.

The official results are as follows:

1. Joey “Jaws” Chestnut, San Jose, Calif. - 93 Krystals
2. Pat “”Deep Dish”” Bertoletti, Chicago, Ill. - 85 Krystals
3. Takeru Kobayashi, Tokyo, Japan - 84 Krystals
4. “Humble” Bob Shoudt, Philadelphia, Pa. - 76 Krystals
5. Tim “”Eater X”” Janus, New York, N.Y. - 64 Krystals
6. Hall “Hoover” Hunt, Jacksonville, Fla. - 63 Krystals
7. Juliet “The Lovely” Lee, Germantown, Md. - 55 Krystals
8. Crazy Legs Conti, New York, N.Y. - 49 Krystals
9. Rich “”The Locust”” LeFevre, Henderson, Nev. - 47 Krystals
10. Juris “Dr. Bigtime” Shibayama, Murfreesboro, Tenn. - 43 Krystals
11. Eric “Badlands” Booker, Long Island, N.Y. - 41 Krystals
12. Kyle “12th Eater” Brogdon, Hixson, Tenn. - 10 Krystals

Click here for hundreds of photos from today’s Krystal Square Off V in Chattanooga, including the tailgating party, The Marshall Tucker Band concert, arrival of eaters by boat, autograph alley, crowd shots, Sackful Challenge and the 8-minute championship.

Also, head over to the Chattanooga Times Free Press for their coverage of the event including audio from Chestnut and a video of yesterday’s championship belt presentation.

Last year's event drew thousands of fans, so we'd suggest getting there early to guarantee yourself a seat.

Well, the big weekend is finally upon us.  We’ve been hyping it all year and now we’re less than 72 hours away.  We’re talking about the Krystal Square Off V World Hamburger Eating Championship, of course.

And to make sure you’ve got the 411 on this weekend’s happenings, we’ve put together the guide below that even includes when and where you’re likely to run into your favorite competitive eaters.

Saturday, September 27 -

1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. : The world’s greatest eaters will be at the Krystal in Hixson, Tenn., signing autographs and taking photos with fans including, Takeru Kobayashi, Joey Chestnut, Pat Bertoletti, Humble Bob Shoudt and others. Plus, in addition to meeting these eating superstars, you can fill up for free as the restaurant will be giving away free samples of various menu items as a part of it’s “Sample Saturday” series.

Sunday, September 28 -

9:00 a.m. - Krystal Square Off V Poker Bike Run begins.  For more information, click here.

12:00 p.m.  - Krystal Fan Fest begins at Ross’s Landing at the Chattanooga Riverfront.  This year’s Fan Fest includes:  games, free Krystals, autographs with the eaters and The Marshall Tucker Band will take the stage.

* Also, don’t forget - registration for the Sackful Challenge and the spot of the 12th Eater will take place between noon and 1:00 p.m.  This is your shot to take the stage and show your stuff - oh, and you’ll do it on live television!

2:00 p.m. - FSN South televised coverage begins and kicks off with the Sackful Challenge.  Immediately following, the official 2008 Krystal Square Off V World Hamburger Eating Championship will take place.

Ben Griffith and his family are headed to Chattanooga for the VIP Vacation Getaway.

Remember us telling you about Ben Griffith?  He is the up-and-coming competitive eater from Covington, Ga., who was coming off an arm injury to train for this year’s Krystal Square Off V.

Perhaps you remember seeing him compete live on Fox’s Good Day Atlanta against Super Paul Barlow and Steve “The Pie Guy” Martin.  Or maybe you even remember seeing him in Perry, Ga., and at the Gwinnett County Fair in 2006, hoping to secure a spot at the Krystal Square Off III final table.

Well, unfortunately, even despite his hard work and training this past year, Griffith was not able to secure a spot at the over-crowded Atlanta qualifying table.  So his chance of seeing the Krystal Square Off V finals live and meeting Joey Chestnut and Takeru Kobayashi, his favorite competitive eating superstars, seemed slim.

But, as fate would have it, Griffith and his entire family now have perhaps the best seat in the house at this year’s World Hamburger Eating Championship Event as they were selected out of 750 entrants to receive the VIP Family Vacation Getaway to Chattanooga for the Krystal Square Off V.

That’s right. After being featured on Good Day Atlanta, Griffith’s wife, Brittany, began searching online for footage of her husband’s television appearance that morning.  That search lead her here to us, where she read about and registered for the exclusive Family Vacation Getaway Package.

Now, the entire Griffith family is packing their suitcases for a once-in-a-lifetime weekend in Tennessee’s Scenic City where they’ll spend two nights at the fabulous Sheraton Read House, receive VIP treatment at one of Chattnooga’s area attractions and then enjoy the luxury suite “sky box” at the Krystal Square Off V complete with catered food and beverages as well as the best view of the contest.

And even though they haven’t decided yet what area Chattanooga attraction they’ll visit first, what they do know is what famous competitive eater they’re most excited to meet: Kobayashi.

“He’s the only eater my husband hasn’t met yet, and we are just so excited,” exclaimed Brittany.  “We can’t wait!”

*photo courtesy of The Newton Citizen.

Rich LeFevre, 64, will be at the World Hamburger Eating championship table this Sunday thanks to his win in Memphis.

As we promised yesterday, below are the results of the Memphis Qualifier for the Krystal Square Off V.  As the last competition before this Sunday’s World Hamburger Eating Championship event, the Memphis contest decided who would fill the final seat as well as the three wild card spots.

Here’s a summary of the contest from the Krystal Square Off Blog:

“As expected, the event drew a tough field featuring some of eating’s finest including Rich LeFevre, Crazy Legs Conti, Juris Shibayama and Erik Denmark. All were looking to win a seat at the Krystal Square Off V World Hamburger Eating Championship this Sunday in Chattanooga, whether by victory or by grabbing one of the three wild card spots.

The sixty-four year old LeFevre, who has qualified for all four previous Krystal Square Off finals, was considered the slim favorite going into Sunday’s competition, and while he struggled to maintain the lead for most of the contest, in the end his experience triumphed over the youth and bravado of his competitors, earning him the win with 52 Krystal burgers. Shibayama, aka “Dr. Bigtime,” took second with 51 burgers, the same number he was credited with in Nashville a week ago.

Denmark, who promised a victory this week via his Twitter feed, improved upon his performance from a week ago when he ate just 43 Krystals, but he was penalized in Memphis for cramming two Krystals in his mouth after time was called. After deductions the Seattle-based eater was deemed the third place finisher with 50 Krystals. Crazy Legs, who last week downed half a century in Knoxville, finished two behind that mark in Memphis to finish fourth with 48 Krystals.

Click here for photos from the Krystal Square Off V Qualifier in Memphis.”

One of the best bands to ever come out of the South will kick off the festivities at this year’s Krystal Square Off V World Championship.  That’s right, The Marshall Tucker Band is set to take the stage on Sunday, Sept. 28 to open up the official tailgating party for the biggest and best competitive eating event of the year.

Here’s more info. from the Krystal Square Off Blog:

The Southern rock icons famous for such songs as “Can’t You See”, “Fire on the Mountain” and “Heard It in a Love Song” will take the stage at noon along the banks of the Tennessee River in downtown Chattanooga. The Marshall Tucker Band will play a full set of their biggest hits as well as new songs off their latest album The Next Adventure.

The performance by The Marshall Tucker Band will get the official tailgating party going for the fifth annual Krystal Square Off World Hamburger Eating Championship, one of the two majors in the sport of competitive eating. Free and open to the public, the party will include carnival games, Krystal prize giveaways, free Krystal hamburgers, a “Parade of Eaters,” and an “Autograph Alley” where top gurgitators like Takeru Kobayashi, Joey Chestnut and Pat Bertoletti will sign autographs for fans.

The tailgating party leads up to the eight-minute world hamburger eating championship event, which will be televised live on FSN South at 2:00 p.m. EST. The Krystal Square Off World Hamburger Eating Championship is the only world hamburger eating championship sanctioned by Major League Eating, the official governing body of all stomach centric sports. This year’s championship features a $50,000 cash prize purse, the largest in the history of competitive eating.

Check out The Marshall Tucker Band on MySpace here.