Not to be outdone by the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, the Krystal Square Off V World Hamburger Eating Championship will host an Opening Ceremony today in downtown Chattanooga. The ceremony will start up at 1:00 pm EST with the official lighting of the Krystal Square Off Grill to signify the beginning of this year’s Krystal Square Off Qualifying Tour.

After the lighting, Chattanoogans are invited to join the first ever “Running of the Grill” down Chestnut Street, complete with a police escort, parade of vehicles with local dignitaries, the Krystal cycling team on bikes and a host of Krystal employees.

The procession will end down at the Riverfront, where Krystal’s VP of Marketing Brad Wahl and George Shea from Major League Eating will host a press conference to set the stage for this year’s competitive eating contest, and immediately afterwards, Chattanooga’s most popular news personalities will compete in a 2-minute Krystal burger eating contest.

Head over to our sister site, the Krystal Square Off Blog, to find out which media personalities are competing and for more details. They’ll also have updates throughout the day, including photos, video and more.

Looks like it’s going to be another beautiful spring day across most of Krystal country, so we thought this great photo posted by Flickr user Brian Hart was appropriate. Enjoy.

We stumbled across this Krystal photo today, which was posted by Flickr user ajpresto714. The photo was taken in Nashville’s Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park at the Wall of History, a 1,400 ft. long granite wall etched with dates and information detailing a historical time line of Tennessee. Pretty cool, huh?

We snagged this photo from our marketing department’s blog.

We’ve already posted pictures of the Burger King and the Chick-fil-A cow showing their preference for Krystal, and now Hardee’s is in on the small, square action.

Maybe those Thickburgers just aren’t cutting it, or perhaps this employee was hit with the irresistible Krystal craving.

We understand and know how it is. When you gotta have Krystal, you just gotta have Krystal.

Thanks to our good friend and Krystal Square Off competitive eater Hall “Hoover” Hunt for the May edition of the Eater’s Poll. As we mentioned in a previous post, the Eater’s Poll rankings are determined by a group of competitive eaters and media that cover the sport. They basically vote to determine who they think make up the Top 25 in Major League Eating.

There aren’t really any surprises with the rankings as you can see from the top five, which we’ve listed below. It’s always good however, to see our Krystal competitive eaters remain on the top.

For the complete poll rankings, visit Hunt’s blog.

1. Joey “Jaws” Chestnut

2. Patrick “Deep Dish” Bertoletti

3. Takeru “The Tsunami” Kobayashi

4. “Humble” Bob Shoudt

5. Tim “Eater-X” Janus

Below is a video of Chestnut breaking the record for the most Krystal burgers eaten in two minutes. Just in case you needed a reminder as to why he’s ranked number one.

So after a minor technicality involving eBay’s charity auction policies, the rare Coke bottle commemorating Krystal’s 75th anniversary is back up for bid.

Because of the glitch, we’ve extended the auction until Monday, April 28.

Visit our new (and eBay approved) auction page, and please rebid, as all proceeds will go directly to benefit the FCA.

For the past week, a rare Coke bottle commemorating Krystal’s 75th Anniversary has been up for auction on eBay. The collectible bottle has been a hot item, and as we’re typing this post, the latest bid is at $510.00

There are only three more days left in the auction, as bidding ends Monday, April 21 at noon. So, if you’re in the market for a one-of-a-kind piece of Krystal and Coke history, you’d better get in on the action.

Seriously, this is the only bottle out of the 500 produced that is being made available to the public - plus, it’s number 75 out of the series, making it all the more special.

So visit Krystal’s eBay auction page to place your bid.

If you win, not only will you score a major collectible, but you’ll be helping out a worthwhile organization with 100% of the proceeds going to benefit the FCA.

If the Burger King eating at Krystal and Jack almost finding himself in a Krystal box came as a surprise to you, today’s Krystal-lovin’ fast food mascot photo will be a shocker.

Yes folks, that’s who you think it is. It’s one of the famous Chick-fil-A cows sporting an “I’m a Krystal Lover” sticker.

We’re guessing (and hoping) he’s not a cannibalistic cow, but simply loves our new line of icy drinks, the Krystal Freeze, or prefers the smallness and squareness of our Krystal Chiks - or maybe it’s the way we spell it?

Either way, there’s no denying this “Chikin”-lovin’ cow loves Krystal.

Eatfeats.com is reporting that Krystal competitive eater Pat “Deep Dish” Bertoletti won today’s Acme Oyster-Eating Championship, downing 35 dozen oysters in eight minutes.

Juliet Lee finished second with 31 and a half dozen, and Crazy Legs Conti tied with Chris Abatsas for third after both sucked down 24 dozen.

Tim “Gravy” Brown was disqualified for a reversal after 14 dozen.

Click here for the full AP story on today’s competition.

Just a reminder that bidding began on eBay today for the rare Coca-Cola bottle commemorating Krystal’s 75th anniversary.  Bidding is already up to $102.50, which is awesome because all of the proceeds will go directly to benefit FCA.

The auction ends Monday, April 21.

Place your bid now by going directly to the eBay Krystal 75th Anniversary Commemorative Coca-Cola auction page.