Champion Eater

San Jose Mercury reports:

Do you have the stomach for this?

Joey Chestnut does, and it's made him a champion.

In just a year and a half of competitive eating -- which counts on volume, speed and, hopefully, accuracy -- the San Jose State University student is ranked second in the country by the International Federation of Competitive Eating.

The community of Santa Clara County is swollen with pride.

Its second-ranked star of gourmand goofballs rose fast.

``In the history of competitive eating, there has never been such an accomplished rookie,'' declares the IFOCE Web site, www.ifoce.com.

He's 22, weighs in at any corner at 220 pounds, and is working for a construction firm and studying civil engineering in college.

About a year and a half ago, friends suggested he enter a burrito eating contest at a San Jose taqueria. He ate a 5 1/2-pounder in four minutes, and won.

It was on to a lobster eating contest in Reno, at which he placed third, without really trying, he said.

Now here's a sport with a lot of potential in America.