World Pizza Eating Championship

By Benjy Lipsman in Food on Jun 16, 2004 3:22PM

Chicago is a sports town and Chicago is a pizza town, so it's only natural that it plays host to the Bacci World Pizza Eating Championship this Saturday at Bacci Pizzeria in Little Italy.

Sanctioned by the International Federation of Competitive Eating, world class "eating athletes" from across the country will compete in the event. Among the favorites to take the title include Sonya "Black Widow" Thomas (105 lbs.) of Alexandria, Va. and Ed "Cookie" Jarvis (409 lbs.) of Nesconset, N.Y. -- ranked 2nd and 3rd in the world. They'll face off against local competitors like Joe Donar and last year's champ Mark Skiba, both from Downers Grove.

While some question whether competitive eating is a sport, Ed Jarvis clarifies that:

"If they say fly-fishing is a sport, then eating is a sport," said Jarvis, who weighs 409 pounds and once ate 4 pounds of mayonnaise in eight minutes. "Eating is a heck of a lot harder than fly-fishing."

Chicagoist thinks it's a toss-up as to whether we'd rather watch fly-fishing or a 400 pound man devour 4 pounds of mayo.