Monday, May 21, 2007

My Voice Has Been Heard

The other day, I posted an e-mail I received regarding the last-minute revocation of my invitation by the IFOCE to the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest because of my affiliation with the AICE. Today, I discovered that my voice was heard. A passage from the e-mail was included with some comments that supported my views in the matter. It is a good feeling to know that I am not alone and am supported by my contemporaries. I repeat what I said in my response to posting to the Eatfeats.com website, "If this is what it means to be a ranked eater with the AICE, I am honored."

Here is the link to the page:

http://eatfeats.com/mike-hoffmans-rejection-letter.html

Saturday, May 19, 2007

Prejudice in Competitive Eating

Here is a letter I received less than 24 hour before the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Competition. I was discriminated against because of who I associated with.

Hi Michael,

The Nathan's Famous hot dog contest is an IFOCE/MLE event. It has just recently come to my attention that you are ranked by a rival eating league and are therefore not eligible to participate in the Nathan's Famous contest, or any IFOCE or Major League Eating events. This is a long-standing, well-publicized policy. As a result, we withdraw your invitation to compete in the E. Hartford Nathan's qualifier and your standby status in the Molly Pitcher qualifier. Sorry for the late notice, and thank you for your understanding.

Best wishes and good luck.

Thanks,
Kate Westfall
Director of Operations and Client Services
International Federation of Competitive Eating
151 West 25th Street
Fourth Floor
New York NY 10001-7204
212-352-8651
Fax: 212-627-5430
E-mail: kwestfall@ifoce.com