I just got back from the first ever World Rib Eating Championships in Lincoln City, OR. What an unbelievable event. I took tons of pictures and got to have a great conversation with Ed 'Cookie" Jarvis, "Gentleman" Joe, and George Shea (who are all big fans of the Cluckbucket, go figure!). Here is the link and the official write-up:

http://www.cluckbucket.com/ribs.htm

On Saturday, July 19th, 2003 in scenic coastal Lincoln City, OR, some of the world's finest competitive eaters converged on the first annual World Rib-Eating Championships. The event was held in the parking lot of the Chinook Winds Casino as a part of the Smokin' at the Ocean BBQ, chili, and salsa festival. Led by the co-founder of the International Federation of Competitive Eating (IFOCE), George Shea, the contest consisted of an amateur semi-final round on Friday night with a spectacular final round at 6:00 PM on Saturday. The eaters were challenged to consume all of the pork spare ribs they could eat in twelve minutes. On hand were IFOCE heavyweights Ed "Cookie" Jarvis, "Gentleman" Joe Menchetti, Dale Boone (a direct decendent of Daniel Boone), and Ray "The Bison" Meduna.

The odds on favorite was definitely Ed 'Cookie' Jarvis, who recently ate 30 ½ hot dogs on July Fourth to finish second to Japanese sensation Takeru Kobayashi in the Nathan's Famous July Fourth Hot Dog Eating Contest in Coney Island, NY. Jarvis is also the reigning World Ice Cream Eating Champion (1 Gallon, 9 ounces in 12 minutes), World Cannoli Eating Champion (21 Cannolis, 6 minutes) and has polished off a 76-ounce steak in 20 minutes. Jarvis also won the Travel Channel's 'Battle of the Buffets' in 2002.

The other professional athletes also come with an impressive resume. 'Gentleman' Joe Menchetti is the eighth-ranked eater in the world and current World Conch Fritter Eating Champion and World Corn-on-the-Cob Eating Champion; Dale Boone is the ninth-ranked eater in the world and current World Pelemeni Eating Champion and World Reindeer Sausage Eating Champion; and Seattle's Ray 'The Bison' Meduna is the top-ranked eater in the Pacific Northwest.

The leading amateur in the group was Scott "The Pork Slayer" Sayer. Sayer, an engineer with Hewlett Packard in Albany, OR advanced to the final round by polishing off 2 and 1/4 pounds of ribs (that's pure meat, not including the bones) in the preliminary round on Friday evening. The other amateurs that participated in the final round were Tom Jones, Levi "The Mountain" Oliver, and one other guy whose name if forgot (sorry).

When the dust settled on the event, here's how the finalists finished up:

1st Place: Ed "Cookie" Jarvis, 4.65 lbs

2nd Place: Dale Boone, 3.70 lbs

3rd Place: "Gentleman" Joe Menchetti, 3.15 lbs

4th Place: Ray "The Bison" Meduna, 2.9 lbs

5th Place: Scott "The Pork Slayer" Sayer, 2.7 lbs

6th Place: Levi "The Mountain" Oliver 2.5 lbs

What an unbelievable event. Pictures will be coming very soon!!!