Shoudt's interest in competitive eating surfaced around 2001, when he caught a Nathan's Famous hot dog eating contest on TV. Soon after, he entered a Wing Bowl qualifier and tied seasoned pro eater Ed "Cookie" Jarvis. "I started to think that maybe I could actually do this," he says.

Now Shoudt travels across the country, throwing down in all manner of competitions. The father of three is the fifth-ranked eater in the world by the International Federation of Competitive Eating (IFOCE). It sounds silly, but the standards are rigorous — eaters must perform at a consistently high level to stay ranked.

Since the system grants precedence to the most recent contests, you can't win big one year and fall off the next. Shoudt recently finished fourth in the Johnsonville Bratwurst Eating Championship in Sheboygan, Wisc., chomping 38 and a half sausages in 10 minutes. The winner of that clash, however, was Japanese wunderkind and IFOCE top dog Takeru Kobayashi.

Shoudt's self-effacing nature earned him his nickname, but he's adept at compromise as well. Since his wife is a strict vegetarian, the couple made the decision to raise their kids meat-free. It's created a bizarre dietary canon for Shoudt — his only opportunity to eat meat comes during contests. People often identify him as vegetarian for novelty's sake, but he disagrees.

"Technically, it's really hard to call myself a vegetarian," he says. "I love meat. I mean, I'm going to eat a ton of ribs this Sunday."

The eater's favorite event is the Krystal Hamburger Championship scheduled for October. He will travel to Nashville for a preliminary qualifier on Sept. 10. "It's the contest that I think Kobayashi can be beaten in," says Shoudt, who devoured 51 burgers to Kobayashi's 67 in 2005. "This is our best chance."

Kobayashi is the Yankees equivalent of competitive eating. He's seemingly unstoppable, which has led some media outlets and jealous competitors to paint him as a villain. Shoudt doesn't see it that way.

"At the burger finals, I want him to be at the top of his game," he says. "I just want to eat one more than he does."

The IFOCE has grown in recent years, but Shoudt stresses that it's more than just a bunch of gluttons stuffing their craws. It's a real sport with real rules — and eaters are real athletes.

"We all realize that [contests] make a great 20-second blurb on the evening news," he says. "Whether people embrace it on a gimmicky level or a sport level, I just appreciate them checking us out. Everybody's got a taste in life."