Parents, you can put the Pepto Bismol back in the medicine chest. The gastrointestinal distress your children have been enduring over the last three weeks is finally over.
The third and final Recreation Department-sponsored eating contest, an event dubbed "The Hot Dog Eating Frenzy," was held Wednesday night at Weehawken Stadium. After gulping down watermelon two weeks ago, then gorging themselves on pie last week, Weehawken youngsters turned their attention this time toward the American summertime classic, the hot dog.
In an attempt to capitalize on the popularity of the contest held annually by the Nathan’s hot dog company, the powers-that-be at Weehawken Recreation decided to try a hot dog eating contest of their own this year for the first time.
Sure enough, their first foray into wieners has not come without controversy.
Weehawken’s reigning eating champion, namely 12-year-old Gilberto Lopez, was the winner of the hot dog frenzy, much like he won the pie-eating extravaganza last week.
However, when you ask Gilberto if he was the worthy victor, all you get is a shrug.
"I got lucky," he said. "It wasn’t skill. My friend, he was going to town. He would have won."
The friend, 12-year-old David Reyes, had successfully eaten six hot dogs, compared to five for Lopez, when Reyes suddenly got up and moved away from the table.
"He got up because he had gas," Lopez said. "He had to burp."
Sure, eating five frankfurters in less than four minutes can cause indigestion.
"I thought I was full, but I had gas," Reyes said. "Because I got up, I couldn’t continue. [Lopez] was going so slow and I was eating them faster."
The contestants were told that if they felt they were getting full and couldn’t eat any more franks (buns were included and essential), then they were asked to stand up and walk away from the table, disqualifying themselves.
So once Reyes stood up, his chance of winning disappeared.
"He definitely said he was done," said Weehawken Recreation Director Chuck Barone. "Then, he wanted to come back. But it was too late."
Seizing the opportunity to sneak in and grab his second eating trophy in two weeks, Lopez managed enough intestinal fortitude – or make that intestinal room – to munch down two more red hots.
"After the second one, I felt full," Lopez said. "After the fourth one, I felt like I was getting sick. But I wanted to win, so I kept eating."
Ah, the mark of a true champion.
Barone said that Lopez had a strategy entering the contest.
"He must have watched the Nathan’s contest on television, because he kept dipping his hot dogs in water, then stuffing them down," Barone said. "And he just kept gobbling them."
Lopez’ end result was seven hot dogs in the four-minute allotted time, which was one better than his friend.
"It doesn’t matter if you can eat a lot," Lopez said. "It only matters if you truly want to."
In the Lopez household, where there are seven children, Gilberto obviously always wants to eat.
"He’s like a garbage disposal," his mother, Ana, said. "He’s my baby of seven children and he eats everything. He likes everything. He eats everything I cook."
Gilberto was quick to disagree with his mother.
"Everything except liver," Gilberto said. "I don’t like liver."
He also wasn’t too fond of the feeling he had a day after the competition.
"I really felt sick the next day," Lopez said. "I couldn’t eat anything until 3 p.m. Thank God there are no more contests."
Gilberto Lopez said his favorite food is mashed potatoes, but it will be a long time before he tries a hot dog or a slice of apple pie.
"If I eat those things, I’ll definitely throw up," Lopez said.
Meanwhile, the disappointed and gastric-distressed Reyes said that he wasn’t planning to file an appeal with the International Hot Dog Eating Association.
"There will be no protests," said Reyes, wondering if there was such an organization as the IHDEA (not). "I’m OK with what happened. I knew the rules. There’s always next year."
"There is no scandal," said Barone, trying to downplay the controversy. "He can certainly appeal the decision, but there is no controversy."
Barone said that his department went through more than 100 Ball Park franks and buns for the contest.
"I think the kids had fun," Barone said. "But that’s it. We’re done with eating contests for the summer."
Reyes is already planning a strategy for 2003.
"Now, if there was an ice cream eating contest, I’d win that," Reyes said.
Now there’s food for thought.