The preparation for the 2010 pizza eating contest in front of Rocco's.

It is now less than four weeks until the 5th Avenue Festival, which means it is no longer too early to start talking about the annual pizza eating contest hosted by Rocco’s. That’s right – to mention it on Saturday would have been the equivalent of drinking before noon. Talking about it today? It’s just like, umm… drinking at 12:00:01 pm…

Of course, gone are the days when a person could qualify simply by showing up at Rocco’s a few weeks before the contest and proving to them that you’re a pizza glutton (by eating an 18″ pizza in 8 minutes or less). Now you have to have competitive eating experience, and then still be lucky enough to win the application lottery. I guess that’s “overwhelming demand” for you, but boo. I tell ya, there outta be a playoff.

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