I Screamed For Ice Cream

Well, the ice cream eating contest was held yesterday at Bruster's and it was tough. I had practiced a couple of times and knew I could eat a half gallon in 10 minutes. I felt I was ready.

The rules were changed a little bit to the most ice cream in ten minutes, rather than the fastest half gallon. They would give you the flavor of your choice 1 quart at a time. Once you finished your quart, stand up and they would give you another.

Russell finished his first quart just seconds before me. The crowd went wild. Then I stood up and they burst out again. People began chanting our names. Russell and I had each other locked in our view while we were shoveling the ice cream into our mouths. Then I reached the bottom of my second quart. A half gallon down in about 6 minutes. When I stood up for my third quart, the crowd exploded into cheers. People I didn't even know were rooting me on. Then Russell stood up for his third quart. Again the cheering.

Then I hit my wall. I thought, "No more ice cream or I'll puke right here". I looked across at Russell and he had his spoon sticking out of his ice cream and was staring at it shaking his head "no". He had hit his wall, too. The time keeper called out three minutes left and I thought, Just a little bit more". My fans started chanting my name. Russell's fans did the same for him. We both picked up our spoons and started digging in again. This time, with a little less enthusiasm.

When the time keeper called the 10 second countdown, people started yelling "Big scoops!". I stuck my spoon deep into the container and pulled out huge spoonfuls. Then it was over. Time for the weigh in. They weighed Russell's first then mine. They re-weighed them. In the end, Russell won out by 4 ounces. He and his fans jumped in excitement.

I got up from the table and felt like my belly was about to explode. I thanked everyone for their support. We had a good laugh. Then I walked behind the drive through coffee shop next door and laid on the ground. I looked to my left and there was Russell. We both lost a couple of spoonfuls of our ice cream back there. The weird thing is, it was still cold. I congratulated him, then my wife drove me home, but not before stopping to lose a more of my ice cream. This time, though, it was a lot. When I was done, I felt a lot better, but still like crap. As a matter of fact, I didn't feel 100% until this morning when I woke up.

I love ice cream, but I won't be eating any for a while and I sure won't enter again next year. Then again, never say never, right?

T