Chewing their way to fame

There must be something intoxicating about the annual Nathan's Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest because not only does the audience grow every year, both at the event and watching from home, but it inspires many people to take up the fork and give the sport of competitive eating a try. Two local men, Larry “The Legend” McNeil and Loren “Bubba” Yarbrough, both graduates of McIntosh High School (Mcneil graduated in 1989 and Yarbrough graduated in 1991) and current Newnan residents, were among those inspired by the spectacle, so much so that they entered a qualifying event for the contest at Zoo Atlanta the following year. Though neither won, Yarbrough did better than McNeil, the two were hooked and have continued to participate in International Federation of Competitive Eating events.

At the qualifying event at Zoo Atlanta in 2005, McNeil ate a total of eight hot dogs, while Yarbrough got up to 18.

“People asked if I had been training, which I hadn’t, so I started training and going to more events,” said Yarbrough.

“I did terrible. One mistake I made was practicing with regular hot dogs. Nathan’s Hot Dogs are more like sausages with casings on them and they have a lot more flavor. My lack of preparation really showed.” McNeil added that he tried everything that day; dipping the hot dogs, eating the hot dog first and then the bun, tearing the hot dogs in half and more. Nothing worked. Yarbrough did much better that day though and McNeil was excited for his friend.

McNeil wasn’t sure he’d competitively eat again, but he researched the IFOCE and found a rib eating contest in Cherokee, N.C. McNeil placed fourth, won some money and was hooked. One thing that added to his excitement was placing in the contest in overtime, after being tied with Crazy Legs Conti, a famous eater in the sport. Since the rib contest, McNeil, who is currently ranked 25th, has participated in events where he ate bratwurst, pulled pork, chili cheese fries, meatballs and Krystal hamburgers. Both he and Yarbrough have competed in many of the same events, such as a waffle eating contest, as well as a steeplechase event, where every two minutes the eaters would move on to a new food and the lowest finishers were eliminated. The foods in the steeplechase included hot dogs, nachos and cheese, pralines, peel and eat shrimp and ice cream.

Yarbrough, currently ranked 21st, has also kept competing and has had a lot of success. He defines himself as a speed eater and his best finish so far was in a chocolate eating contest at the Chicago Chocolate Factory in Chicago on Valentine’s Day. He placed second in the event and two ounces behind the winner and eventual world record setter. Though he won a couple of thousand dollars in the event, the success came at a price. Yarbrough explained that the key to eating a lot of chocolate is to drink a hot liquid along with it, so that the chocolate will melt and be easier to swallow. Yarbrough boiled some coffee that morning, poured it into a thermos, boarded his plane to Chicago and drank the coffee, which was still hot, during the contest. This resulted in blisters on the inside of his mouth but it allowed him to eat two pounds of chocolate in five minutes.

While McNeil states that he has never felt poorly after one of the eating competitions, Yarbrough admits that some of the contests have left him feeling ill, especially a key lime pie competition.

“One pie equals around 5,000 calories and I ate three pies, about six pounds in the competition,” Yarbrough explained. “It was high in sugar and high in fat. I wasn’t full and I just felt horrible.”

Both McNeil and Yarbrough had hoped to make the Krystal Square Off World Hamburger Eating Championship last month and neither made the competition. The two had trained a bit for it, buying 24 Krystals and eating them to work on their speed. Yarbrough ate 26 that day but the winner of the Atlanta qualifier was Chip Simpson with 53, which wasn’t close to the overall champion, Takeru Kobayashi with a record setting 97.

Both men state that to prepare for a competition, they stretch their stomachs. McNeil suggests drinking a lot of water, but adds that a prospective eater has to see what works for them. Yarbrough drinks a lot of water as well, but also eats a high volume, low calorie meal, something like three bags of salad. They are both ranked members of the IFOCE and they are only allowed to participate in those events sanctioned by the IFOCE which Yarbrough states is like the NFL of competitive eating. The men have the full support of their families. Yarbrough’s family, his wife, Jenny, and his daughters Emily and Caroline, can often be seen in their “Go Bubba” T-shirts at the events. McNeil’s wife, Jennifer, and his daughter, Regan, also travel to the competitions, enjoying the atmosphere.

Yarbrough’s goal is to just continue to improve and to perhaps one day win one of the major competitions, while McNeil’s goal is to have fun while also improving. They realize the talent level in competitive eating is very high right now and both of them are still learning about how to compete and what their limits are. McNeil has a mental obstacle to overcome. In training for the Krystal competition, he was eating well and with a lot of speed, but at the competition, the pace that had allowed him to go through 24 Krystals in three minutes had slowed dramatically. He has watched tape of the competition and hasn’t seen any one thing that he was doing wrong. Yarbrough has had several second place finishes in competitions and knows that he can do well in short competitions, especially with foods that leave a debris, such as chicken wings or shellfish. He feels that if he is going to win a competition, it will be in a contest like that, but it won’t stop him from giving his all in longer contests.

The next contest is the Third Annual Tropicana World Meatball Eating Contest in Atlantic City on Dec. 2. The competition lasts 12 minutes and last year’s winner, Sonya Thomas, consumed 10 pounds and three ounces of meatballs, two full pounds more than second place finisher Joey Chestnut.

It has been said that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. Though both McNeil and Yarbrough are self-described “big boys” (McNeil is listed at 225 pounds and Yarbrough is listed at 250 on the IFOCE Web site), they definitely have big hearts and a passion for the sport of competitive eating.

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