HAPPY NEW YEAR! (AND MY 2014 WATERMELON RESOLUTION)

Hopefully today’s blog entry finds everyone in good spirits as we bid farewell to 2013 and hello to 2013. I’m sitting here at home getting ready for our big New Year’s celebration, which will include plenty of snacks and watching the ball drop on TV.

I’ve spent the last four weeks or so mulling which watermelon-related New Year’s resolution I would conquer in 2014 and reminiscing about my past resolutions. My last two goals worked out reasonably well. In 2012, I organized and competed in a watermelon seed spitting contest. This year, I tested my farming abilities by growing my own watermelon. The contest was more of a success than my watermelon-growing adventure, but both experiences were a lot of fun.

In 2014, I’ll return to my competitive roots by vowing to compete in a watermelon eating contest. Similar to my seed spitting contest adventure in 2012, the challenge will be finding a contest in my area to compete in. I’ve found a few local watermelon eating contests in the past, but I have to cross my fingers that they’ll make them an annual event and have them again next year.

Unlike my seed spitting adventure, which I had never done before and required lots of practice, I do have experience when it comes to eating competitions. Those who know me well are well aware of the five or six years I spent as a semi-professional competitive eater. (I use the term “semi-professional” very loosely. I won only a few contests and earned less than a $100 from my exploits.)

I gave up competitive eating about four years ago, right around the time I got married, although my wife had nothing to do with my retirement from the sport. In my heyday, I competed in contests of all types – hot dogs, shoo fly pie, ice cream, pizza, chicken wings (which included my very first contest win), giant hamburgers, and tacos, just to name a few.

Despite my experience at “the table” (as competitive eaters call it), I’ve never competed in a watermelon eating contest. That means I’ll need to practice a bit to learn the best techniques for effectively devouring one of my favorite foods. As always, I’ll post regular updates about my New Year’s resolution progress throughout the year, so stay tuned!