By Jacky Gerzema
"Don is the most feared eater," said friend and fellow competitor
"Krazy" Kevin Lipsitz.
Lerman and Lipsitz are competitive eaters. As members of the
International Federation of Competitive Eating, they take their sport
very, very seriously.
At the 2002 Baldwin Ben's Matzo Ball Eating Quarterfinals
Contest last Thursday, Lerman was out for revenge. After losing his
2000 title last year, he is dead-set on regaining the throne.
Dressed in a lifeguard T-shirt and matching baseball cap, Lerman
acted like a sports star before the big game. Sitting with his IFOC
teammates, he chatted up fans and spectators and graciously
introduced himself to various members of the press.
"After the contest, I would like you [speaking to this reporter] to
hold people back for autographs and photos until I'm ready," Lerman
requested.
Lerman wasn't alone in his quest for the title last Thursday.
Among the over 50 competitors downing the tennis-ball sized matzos
in just under three minutes, he was joined by fellow IFOCE
members Ed "Cookie" Jarvis, Eric "Badlands" Booker, "Krazy" Kevin
Lipsitz and his wife, Lorraine.
Though these IFOCE members try to out-eat one another in
competition, they are a close-knit group of friends who share a passion
for eating as much food as they can in the briefest time possible. Clad
in personalized T-shirts and funky hats, the group waited at a table
together, distinguishing themselves from the amateur competitors as
serious eaters.
"We're all the biggest eaters in the country," Lerman said.
"People come from eight hours away to see us compete."
Lipsitz, sporting a T-shirt with an airbrushed wolf and "Krazy
Kevin" monogrammed in velvet letters along with a baseball cap
boasting a furry white polar bear's head on the front, talked about his
training technique.
"I train with my dogs," he said. "I eat when they eat. I am also the
current pickle-eating champion."
Eric "Badlands" Booker, a formidable man who stands at 6'4 and
weighs in at 400 pounds, won the Nathan's Hotdog-eating contest in
Brooklyn.
"I ate 24 and one-eighth hotdogs in 12 minutes," he said humbly.
Though he is not a braggart, Booker was intent on winning
Thursday's competition.
"I'm a bad man from the bad lands, what can I say?" Booker said
of his nickname. "I hate to say it though, but this is going to be my
contest."
Lerman pointed to his fellow teammate Ed "Cookie" Jarvis, who
sat with a somber expression and spoke little.
"Ed can put the whole matzo ball in his mouth at once," Lerman
said. "He is also the ice-cream champ."
Members of the IFOCE will be competing in the "Olympics" of
competitive eating this year at the Glutton Bowl in California in mid-
February.
And the race is on
With the tables set and the music blaring at the Baldwin Ben's,
each competitor sat in front of a dish of five matzo balls; a fork, knife
and napkin; a bottle of water; salt and pepper; and a small plastic
bucket, in case any competitor ate too much. Additional dishes of
matzos sat on the table for those who could eat more than five in two
minutes and 50 seconds.
As the six-round contest began, techno music blared over the
loudspeaker to pump up the competitors. Some audience members
cheered on their favorites, while others gawked in disbelief and disgust
as the fist-sized balls were shoved one after another into players'
mouths.
Each competitor had their own technique. Some ate with their
hands and smashed huge chunks of matzo balls into their mouths.
Some held the matzo ball in their hand and nibbled them very quickly,
while other contestants cut their balls into sections and ate them with
a fork.
An Emergency Medical Technician named Madalyn Ross said she
has helped supervise this contest for several years. "I'm here to
Heimlich anyone who needs it," she said. "They just can't spew on me."
Brian Seiko, a college student from Oceanside, won the first
round with a consumption of eight and a half matzo balls.
"This is my first time, but I'm starving still," he said. "I'm ready
to eat dinner.
Michael Biteloi, another student from Oceanside, won the third
round with nine matzo balls. He said he learned a special preparation
technique after competing in last year's contest.
"I had three Buds beforehand," he said.
During the excitement, Lerman spontaneously poured an entire
bottle of water on his head while waiting his turn and talking to
members of the press.
"I'm hot," he explained nonchalantly to a fellow IFOCE member who
shot him an incredulous look.
In the fifth round, "Badlands" Booker took the night's lead after
consuming 11 and three-fourths matzo balls.
"I probably could have eaten 13 if I didn't drink water," he
explained later. "If you can avoid it, don't drink the water. It takes up
too much time in two minutes. I'm also not used to the smaller bottles
here. That's another thing that made me lose time."
And the winner is...
For the sixth and final round, Jarvis, Lerman and Lipsitz faced
off against each other. Jarvis sat at the table in quiet meditation with
his eyes closed, then he cracked his neck, flailed his arms and wiggled
his fingers to warm up.
As the announcer rattled off Jarvis's achievements as the
current reigning pizza and french fries champ and Nathan's Hotdog
runner up, his wife called from the audience, "And I'm proud of that."
Lerman made a speech to the audience before the competition.
"I'm the Matzo Ball champ of 2000," he announced. "Though I lost, my
fans still write me. I have 8 x 10 photo glossies for my fans tonight. I
haven't had time to write them all back and I apologize for that."
As the whistle blew, Lerman, Lipsitz and Jarvis dove in. Lerman
nibbled furiously on his matzo balls while Jarvis ate with a combination
technique of nibbling and inserting entire matzo balls into his mouth. As
the whistle signaled that the two minutes and 50 seconds were up,
Lerman came out on top with a total consumption of 12 matzo balls,
beating Eric Booker by one-fourth of a matzo ball.
After winning Thursday's contest, Lerman was halfway to his
goal of regaining his title. Booker came away with the "wild card" that
is awarded to close runner ups and will join Lerman at the Manhattan
semi-finals on Jan. 29.
"I trained him," Lerman said of Booker. "We're all good friends, we
compete in everything together."
