This past Saturday afternoon, McGill’s chapter of Right to Play—an organization devoted to promoting and funding youth athletics in Africa and Northern Ontario—prevailed in a poutine-eating contest over students representing Concordia’s John Molson School of Business.
McGill’s Andrew “Junger” Jung, Nicholas “Big Cheese” Norkser, John “Dirty Mike” Hopkins-Hill, and Doug “Deep Dish” Chalke won Montreal’s first Smoke’s Poutinerie World Poutine Eating Championship: Campus Edition. They were presented with a prize of $1,000, which is intended to go towards campus initiatives. In addition, the $5,500 raised last week during the McGill Right to Play Spin-A-Thon will be used to fund 47 youth activities, as well as the hiring of 16 coaches.
The event was hosted by CampusPerks in conjunction with sponsor Smoke’s Poutinerie at the Irish Embassy Pub, on rue Bishop. Smoke’s Poutinerie hosts the World Poutine Eating Competition every year in Toronto, and this year Smoke’s decided to host Campus Editions across Canada. In Montreal, the competition is a relay between rival universities.
McGill’s victory, however, came amidst controversy. According to the previously agreed-upon rules, all curds and fries must have been consumed before the next teammate in the four-man relay could begin eating. During the competition, Concordia’s lead-off man Anthony “Durby” D’Urbano did not completely finish his dish. After reviewing video footage of the incident, judges overturned their previous decision—that Concordia had won—naming McGill’s Right to Play victorious.
Behind McGill’s win was a well-kept secret: the Kobayashi shake, named after Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Competition champion Takeru Kobayashi.
“It is essentially a shake that compacts the stuff in your stomach so you can eat more,” Norkser said. “Wrapping your mind around the fact that it’s going to take you a minute and a half to [gulp] down 1.2 pounds of poutine—a regular-sized poutine—that last quarter really hits you hard.”
Members of Concordia’s team, which included Nima “the Conqueror” Pouyamajd and Greg Synadis, as well as Smoke’s Poutinerie’s management, expressed enjoyment about being a part of the competition.
“I love poutine, and it was all about performing for the team,“ Pouyamajd said. “Everyone did a great job!”
“I think it went great. It’s an insane way to have fun and raise money for charity,” Kathy Davey, one of Smoke’s Poutinerie’s owners, said. “They’re all winners.”
As for the day’s victors, McGill’s chapter of Right To Play—having consecutively raised more money each of the last three years—seems to be improving on their yearly fundraising goals.
“Last year we hit our max, about $20,500,” Jung said. “To put that in perspective, we raised the most money as a club at McGill, and as a Right to Play representation university club in Canada.”
“We’re just trying to help our organization raise as much awareness and money we can,” Norkser said.
