To Beautiful Brian

Beautiful Brian has posted his thoughts on the latest IFOCE rankings. He poses a (rhetorical?) question and a comment about me...

1. Not in competition. My first contest was 9/3/2005, well after the hot dog circuit in 2005. This year will provide the punctuation to the question. Let us revisit your question in a few months.

2. I have nothing but unending and unwavering respect for you, Kevin, and every other IFOCE eater who has come before me to pave the road upon which we now tread. You and Kevin have reserved your places in the Pantheon of gustatory gladiators. I, too, would not have dreamed of debuting ahead of you both, but it is what it is.

Here is the text (copied from the page)...

The IFOCE has updated it's rankings as of 3/31/06 The update has been met with skeptism but then again what else is new? It is the same scenario every time they update it. The same people bitch, moan and complain year after year. Needless to say i was one of them. I have since put an end to any complaining on my part realizing that what goes up will not come down. At least not until the next rankings update.To this day i have yet to figure out what type of formula they use to determine these rankings. If they base it on individual stats or who finished in front of who in a contest, then i can honestly say the ranking format was revised in a proper manner. Maybe some of what i mentioned is taken into consideration but i feel in the long run its not only about eating it is more along the lines of your self worth in the organization and whom the organization feels they want to promote in the months ahead. To sum it all up its POLITICS! The first seven ranked eaters i will not touch. The deserve to be where they are right now .The Chestnut brothers are an interesting act. Joey being the star of the pair while older brother Paul debuts at #46 . Baseball great Hank Aaron and brother Tommy had a combined homerun totals of 768. Hank hit 755 and brother Tommy chipped in with 13. Same will more than likely apply to Paul and Joey. If Paul's nickname is "Lucky" he might be able to pass as Joey's twin brother in a contest if Joey falls ill .They look almost identical. Humble Bob who is not only a great eater but a class act and a exceptional human being as far as im concerned, but the IFOCE might have waited until Nathans is complete before moving him from #11 to # 7 .This is not to say the Humble one does not belong there but he has yet to win a major title and has yet to make it to Coney.I am confident he will achieve both in the coming year.Leave the humble one at # 7 he deserves it. Cookie Jarvis getting bumped down to the 8th spot from 4 ? Anytime Jarvis takes a drop in anything beside his weight , dont expect him to be a happy camper. The only consolation is that they ranked him ahead of Booker or i believe he would really have something to say if he hasn't said something already. Ron Koch dropped from 8 to 10? With all the whining and complaining im surprised he wasnt dropped even further. Chip Simpson finally gets ranked. I didnt think he would debut at 11 but i am postiive he can live up to it. Crazy Legs from 19 to 12? I like him too much to rain on his parade but lets face it he is the darling of the IFOCE and the media . I call him the Bob Murphy of the organization. There will always be a front office spot for him if he decided to ever leave . Yarbrough bumped from 28 to 14? A good eater and an up and coming eater. But 14??? What do you want him to do? call the IFOCE and tell them i think you ranked me a bit too high? If they give you a 14 spot without having a title and yet to make it to coney then take the gift and enjoy it. Good chance he might live up to the ranking. Reeves bumped from 12 to 15. Here is a clear cut case of an under rated eater constantly ignored when it comes to media coverage. . He is one of my favorites. Always on the brink of greatness but never got the cigar. Carlene from 9 to 16? I think it was a nice gesture on the IFOCE part to keep her around considering she hasnt competed due to health issues but others have complained that she should be dropped from the rankings due to inactivity. Boone from 13 to 18. After his tirade in Vegas i was shocked they didnt drop him altogether . He has been inactive and a bad boy so hence the dropdown. They have to keep him in the top 20 because ESPN wants him for Alka Seltzer. Larry the Legend from 27 to 19. He is a good eater but this is also about positive role models for the organization and the IFOCE believes the southern sensations (Bubba , Larry) fit that mold. Larue bumped down from 14 to 21? I like Joe but i always thought he was a bit over ranked but down to 21 might be a bit harsh. Sam Vise as good an eater as he is , should be removed from the rankings because he rarely competes unless its an all inclusive trip (airfare and hotel included) . When i saw him try to sweet talk a stewardess old enough to be his mother for free bottles of spring water on the plane ride home from Vegas, i knew this guy was the last of the big spenders. Oleg should be removed from rankings but he is a favorite of the shea's and he will always a have a spot no matter how many times he stands them up at Coney.Andrew Lane is a nice chap with an entertaining blog site from Denver CO, but does he deserve # 27?. Has he ever eaten more than 10 hot dogs? In all due respect i think Beautifulbrian and Krazy Kev should at least hold a ranking over the skinny boy. Subich bumped down from 29 to 20? As big as this guy is, i still say one day he will break out and i am not saying this just because we both have the same initials. I guess my feature on his 6lb pancake challenge didnt help matters much. He feels if he makes it to Coney his ranking will change. Not so fast . In order for them to take notice you have to knock off a top 10 eater or grab a title. Krazy Kev & Beautiful Brian . Kev from 34 to 32 and Brian from 35 to 33. How nice. You have to wonder how long they will flip flop our rankings like siamese twins. Maybe they should retire those numbers 33 32 34 etc etc or give us our own ranking page. Geeez ! Unless either one of us has a break out and beats a top ten eater our rankings will hardly change for the better. Im figuring i got bumped up two notches for the Don Lerman episode on BB corner. However maybe a case should be made to bump Don Lerman up a few notches in the rankings since he was the star of the show.As far as the rest of the rankings , 36 to 50 appears about right . Leon Feingold dropped from 29 to 41 is well justified. When he does compete even after a long layoff he puts up good numbers but competing once in a blue moon doesn't cut the mustard. And there you have it take it or leave it! You can whine and bitch all you want . They aint takin em down!