The hot-dogging Shea brothers

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When George and Richard Shea go to work on July Fourth, they will both wear white boaters. The hats have become their trademark at the annual hot-dog eating competition held at Nathan’s Famous, a restaurant in Coney Island, N.Y. Legend has it that the contest began in 1916, the same year the founder of the restaurant, Nathan Handwerker, began his hot-dog business.

But it didn’t become an international event until the 1990s, when Shea Communications Inc., a public relations firm that the Shea brothers operate in Manhattan, began promoting and eventually hosting it. On Sunday at noon, the feisty Sheas, who grew up in Bangor, will don their signature boaters to co-host a live show on ESPN. Although the eating contest has been featured in documentaries on cable TV, this is the first time the event has been televised nationally. It will also be shown simultaneously on the ABC SuperSign in Times Square.

The publicity stunt is a long way from the days of eating cheese spread at the now defunct Pilots Grill in Bangor, the brothers say. But they credit Bangor with giving them the well-rounded education that led them to choose college courses in English – George went to Columbia University in New York City and Richard went to Villanova University in Philadelphia – and professional careers in a field that requires confidence and social charm.

Of course, there was also the swimming. Both of the Sheas, plus their other three siblings, were on swim teams in Bangor. At Bangor High, George was an All-American diver, too.

“They were wonderful young men,” recalled coach Phil Emery. “They were upbeat, outgoing and pleasant. Everyone in the family was persistent. And they were all loyal. In 10 years total time of them in the school system, I don’t think they missed five practices – if that many – between them.”

Emery recalled holding time trials for the state meets one year when George was on the team. He didn’t ask George to compete but the boy stepped up and asked to swim in the trial run. With his other two competitors, George dove in and took off doing the butterfly stroke.

“He beat the other two,” said Emery. “There wasn’t much he didn’t think he could do.”

The competitive skills that the Sheas developed as swimmers has obviously served them well in their work, but growing up in Bangor may have had other influences on their barkerlike technique.

“The eating competition evokes images of the pie-eating contest at the Bangor State Fair at Bass Park,” said Richard Shea, who is 35 and lives in Chappaqua, N.Y. “But we have given it the trappings of sport.”

“We’re PR men. We run a PR firm. But we’ve also developed a business around competitive eating,” said George, who is 39 and lives in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn. “As a result of our work, we’ve developed the International Federation of Competitive Eating, and it has become a separate business. It’s essentially like running a league, with copyright lawyers and eater management. It also is an entertainment company just like the NFL is an entertainment company. Sadly or gladly, we are the entertainment.”

Even in their childhood, entertainment was clearly a family value. The men overlapped each other to talk about skateboarding and playing hockey and baseball in local parks.

“I have very fond, strong memories of Bangor,” said Richard, who goes by Rich. “I had an enormously good time.”

George had such a good time, he said jokingly, he felt that he had to come clean with some insider information about his teen pranks: “I think it’s time for me to reveal this because it has been an emotional and psychological burden

for more than 20 years. Now that the statute of limitations has run out, I was one quarter of the people who painted off the ‘B’ in Bass Park. I’m not going to name any accomplices. But there it is.”

Now, their good times are channeled toward staging parties for large crowds of people – upward of 10,000 at Coney Island – and media blitzes in towns and cities around the world. The format for each event changes according to sponsors and location, but they all more or less have a similar approach.

The hot-dog competition, for instance, takes place in a tense 12-minute period, when competitors ingest as many hot dogs as possible. The franks are baked rather than boiled so they don’t retain any extra water, and the buns are dipped in water so they slide more easily down the throat. Swallowing, not chewing, is the key to success.

This year’s 20 competitors include 13 eaters from the United States, two from Japan, and one each from England, New Zealand, Germany and Canada. The world record holder, Japan’s Takeru Kobayashi, who consumed 501/2 hot dogs and buns in 12 minutes in 2001, will defend his title. Women’s victor, Sonya Thomas of Virginia will also eat her way toward the mustard-yellow championship belt.

Two hot dogs are the cut-off for most normal eaters. So do all the competitors run the risk of obesity, one of the country’s most pervasive health problems?

“We do have big guys, the stereotypical big eater, but they were big when they came on the circuit,” said Rich. “But we do have little people, too. Sonya is 100 pounds. Kobayashi, the top-ranked eater in the world, is 145. The most active competitive eater does only 12 events a year. So obesity in America is separate and distinct from our gig.”

Despite the center stage gluttony, the commercial success comes from major sponsorship by brand-name companies.

“It ain’t the Super Bowl,” said Rich.

“But it will always be very close to the ground, oriented toward real people in a raw, regional way,” added George.

Indeed, the brothers travel the country staging qualifying events and other food competitions. During as many as 55 eating contests held nationally each year, the Sheas and other emcees at IFOCE may find themselves hosting as competitors stuff their faces with oysters in New Orleans, chicken wings in Buffalo, conch fritters in Key West, pelmeni in Brighton Beach and fish in Feifshire, Scotland.

According to the IFOCE Web site, eating competitions date back to Greek times. They are, the site reports, “among the most diverse, dynamic and demanding sports in history. It dates back to the earliest days of mankind and stands alongside original athletic pursuits such as running, jumping and throwing.”

Bearing that in mind, the Sheas have tried to have eating entered in the Olympic competition, but the committee has maintained a consistent response.

“Silence,” said George. “There has always been a cold, cold reception to our inquiries. But we are not giving up. One lives in great hope. The great thing about eating is that it is not only an original, fundamental and very elemental sport like running or jumping, but geographically and politically it has no boundaries. And we can go summer or winter.”

“In these uncertain times,” said Richard, “we can do a lot. Every July 4, we bring the various countries to the table. I would venture to say that we have a larger international coalition of eaters than our president has of countries behind the fracas in Iraq.”

On August 14, George will host the second world lobster eating competition at the Sea Star Grill in Kennebunkport. In conjunction with the contest, the Maine Lobster Promotion Council is holding several eating competitions throughout the summer and fall. The first one is Saturday, July 3, at the Bar Harbor Seafood Festival. At each, 10 competitors will be given four cooked lobsters to shuck and eat in a timed session. The winners named at festivals taking place before the August event will be invited to participate in the IFOCE-sponsored competition, which will also include world-class eaters.

“We don’t have a lobster festival in town,” said John Hathaway, owner of the Grill. “So we need something like this because we have a lot of fishermen in the area. Last year’s lobster contest was so popular that people stop me on the street and ask me when it is this year.”

Last year’s winner, Kevin Cross of West Kennebunk, ate 16 lobsters, or about five pounds of meat, in eight minutes. He plans to defend his title this year.

“He’s an amazing talent,” said Hathaway. “He has professional written all over him.”

Professional is also a word Hathaway used for the Sheas.

“These guys are the experts,” he said. “It’s kind of crazy but they’ve done incredible things, and that’s great for companies like mine. Being from Maine, I think they have a particular interest in the lobster competition.”

While both of the brothers call themselves social eaters, George once tried to compete in the hot-dog contest. He ate six and stopped.

“It was much more difficult than I would have expected,” he said.

“I’m thinking of entering that lobster contest, to be quite honest,” said Rich.

“Yeah, if there’s butter,” said his older brother.

For information, visit the International Federation of Competitive Eaters Web site at www.ifoce.com.

For information about the Maine lobster competitions held by the Maine Lobster Promotion Council, call 947-2966, or e-mail info@lobsterfrommaine.com for a registration form. Ten contestants will be chosen on a first-come, first-served basis. There is no fee to participate.