"Humble Bob" Finally Wins a Spot at Coney Island

It was a great Father's Day gift for "Humble" Bob Shoudt when he downed 29 HDB (a personal best) on Sunday and qualified for the first time to compete at Coney Island. Though he's ranked the #7 eater in the world, a spot at Coney's has always alluded the eater. But competing at Shea Stadium, alongside pros like "Beautiful" Brian Seiken and debut eaters like "Fast" Eddie Hardy (Charles Hardy's son), it was his time to shine. He, along with Brian, who retired from the hot dog circuit at the event, were kind enough to answer a few questions for us.

From Bob Shoudt:

Give us the quick lowdown on the event:

My wife, son and oldest daughter drove to Shea for the event. It was a very hot day and we were searching for some shade before the event. My daughter was entered in her second neat eating contest of the season. She had already won the Philadelphia neat eating contest and she was able to get her 2nd win of the year at Shea. I am very proud of her as it can be very tough to win back to back contests.

Also in attendance were the Goldstein's and the Hardy's. Eric Booker and his son. Crazy Legs and Tim "Eater X" Janus - both fresh off of their huge qualifying wins in Brats the day before. They came straight to Shea from the airport.

Rich Shea did another fine job of emceeing the event. Participating were myself, Beautiful Brian and "Fast Eddie" Hardy among others. I was able to eat 29 HDB. "Fast Eddie" in his very first Nathan's attempt got down 17 and Beautiful Brian came in third. I am not sure how many he did as I am always pretty much in a daze after a contest.

How was this qualifier different to ones you've gone to in the past? How did you feel about your chances going into this one?

This is the first contest that I wore my full "Monk" outfit in. I thought a "Monk" outfit is the most Humble outfit that I could wear. "Humble" Bob... Unfortunately no one on earth gets the outfit, let alone makes the connection of Monk to humble to Humble Bob. The outfit is also a tad warm on hot summer days. Lets just say that I had a good sweat going before the start.

I felt like I always do going into a contest. I think that if I do the things that I need to do, then everything else will fall into place. Having been in so many of these, I knew I had an advantage over a lot of the newcomers. This is the same advantage any experienced pro has at every contest.

The stage at Shea is very similar to the Finals. You are directly in the sun and there is no protection anywhere. Other events are inside, or in a tent. At Shea, it is you, on a platform, in the sun, with hundreds of people watching and walking by. The crowd is very into it. They are all familiar with Nathan's and the contest. So they cheer and yell. That part is great.

How has your technique or training evolved?

I used to think that in order to be successful, that you had to consume a lot of volume. I would drink water with dinner and things like that. I have found over time that these things do not give you any kind of long term success. I have totally stopped any kind of at home training that involves consumption. After a trial an error process lasting over 5 years, I have come up with 12 things that make me a better eater and keep me in peak eating condition. Some of the twelve are known, things like I am an avid mountain climber with 3 solo ascents and numerous team climbs. I have also been studying and actively participating in Krav Maga. While there is no "belt" system as in traditional forms of martial arts, lets just say that I am at an advanced level. The other 10 things I do, people may or may not know about. If asked directly about them, I will speak to people about them. However I view them as trade secrets. I first started this "12 things" program in October of last year. I had some success with it at the Krystals Finals and I have stuck with it ever since. I can not stress enough though, none of the other 10 things have any anything to do with the consumption of food and/liquids. I am 100% opposed to any kind of at home training and I do not participate in, nor do I condone it.

What were you thinking when the winner was announced?

I was happy that I had won but I was crushed by my total. I really thought that it would have been higher than that. This is a big driver in our sport. No matter how successful you were that day, you always think that you could have gone higher. This is something that I have wanted for so long, and it was finally here. Rich Shea announcing that I won the contest. It was almost like an out of body experience. Is this really happening to me. Did I finally beat the delicious Nathan's Hot Dog Curse? Is he just pulling an elaborate hoax on me? I almost felt like asking him if he was sure that I had won. "Wait Rich, lets count the plates, there must be something wrong here. You just said that I won."

The next thing I know, I was handed a tray of 29 HDB, a bat, a trophy and asked to pose for pictures. It was all very surreal. When I finally realized what happened, I knew that I would have a very memorable Father's Day.

Tell us something funny or unusual that happened during this qualifier.

Several things happened. One thing was a bus of college age women pulled up and they unloaded right next to the stage. One of the girls recognized Tim and Crazy Legs. They immediately swarmed the two of them and they all wanted autographs. Tim and Crazy obliged them all. The sacrifices those two make!

After Eric was done performing live on stage before the event, he threw out some of his CD samplers to the crowd. The people were doing everything they could to get one. The was amazing to watch.

Beautiful Brian announced his retirement from competitive hot dog eating at the event. He will be missed at the hot dog table.

Last question:

Three letters can answer this question. U S A

We turned the tables on "Beautiful" Brian Seiken, who is usually the interviewER!

What was your overall impression of the event?

I wish all the Nathan's contests were run that smoothly. This is the first time the Shea's cut the preambles and got the contest going without the long drawn out speeches we have had to endure the past 8 years.

How was this qualifier different to ones you've gone to in the past? How did you feel about your chances going into this one?

I trained my butt off. I won't go into specifics but I did very well in practices. Practice is never the real thing I've learned that in the past but I still had hopes of doing well. I wasn't beating Bob Shoudt by any means, but if I put up some real good numbers I would have moved on to my next qualifier.

In the late 90's there was no registration process for a qualifier. There were far less than what you see now. The brunt of the qualifiers were in NJ and NY. It wasn't until 2001 that the IFOCE expanded to other states in the U.S. Back then you could qualify with 10. Today that number is obsolete. A 13-year-old can eat 10 hot dogs. The downside to that was you never knew if a Mike DeVito or one of the big eaters would show up time and time again if they failed on their previous outings, because there was no limit on how many qualifiers you could attend.

You mentioned this may be your last attempt at Nathan's. Care to comment?

Yeah, for all intents and purposes this is it, unless someone throws some dough on the table. Just kidding. I'm fooling myself with father time at 46. I've had many chances to get to the finals and I just can't seem to get a grip on it. Twenty years ago I would have given some of these new kids a run for their money because I couldn't stop eating back then.

I compare not competing in hot dogs and being on the sidelines to watching someone else have sex because I can't perform any longer.

How does it feel witnessing the amazing eating that's come out of this year's qualifiers?

Totally insane. I mean, it's practically unheard of to watch a human being consume so much food in one sitting. When a giant of a man like Ed Jarvis struggles with the 5th hot dog plate, and Bertoletti, Simpson, and Chestnut are just getting warmed up, it's scary to say the least. All I can say is god "blessed" these kids.

What are your predictions for the 4th?

Kobe will win. It won't be the usual cakewalk this time. He finally has someone that can come within a handful of hotdogs instead of the gap of 13 or 14 dogs between him and his closest competition. Don't believe the hype when they tell you if Kobe loses they will send someone else. Kobe is the only one that can put up 50 or more.

Last question: