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For the uninitiated, sure, it was a hell of a performance: Eric "Badlands" Booker downed 112 chicken wings – 3
 lbs., 8 ounces of bone-ripping carnage — to win the first leg of the Frank’s Red Hot Buffalo Wing Eating
 Circuit on Saturday. ¶

It was a singular performance for the 7-train conductor, who’s victory completed a difficult hat trick that
 began with the Thanksgiving eat-off, where he ate 8 pounds of turkey, stuffing and potatoes, and was followed
 by the Ben’s Kosher Deli matzoh ball contest, where he set a world record by consuming 21 of the
 baseball-sized sinkers in 5 minutes and 25 seconds. ¶

So naturally, hundreds of competitive eating fans at the Back Page Sports Bar on Third Avenue applauded
 Booker’s wing win. But after all the back-slapping was over, after the camera crews had gone home and after
 all the bones had been cleaned away, Eric "Badlands" Booker admitted that his hat trick was just an appetizer.
 And a too-small appetizer at that. ¶

"It doesn’t mean anything unless I can beat Kobayashi," the 406-pound Booker said, referring to the world’s
 greatest eater, Takeru Kobayashi, a 130-pound wisp of a man who ate 50 1/2 Nathan’s hot dogs and buns in 12
 minutes on July 4, stunning the world and temporarily overtaxing his digestive system. ¶

After Kobayashi flew back to Japan with the coveted Mustard Yellow International Belt, Booker went back to
 basics: He’s been doing yoga and working with a judo sensei to get in the right frame of mind. And he’s been
 eating to get in the right frame of stomach. Not hot dogs, but cabbage. Boiled Cabbage. Lots and lots of
 boiled cabbage. ¶

"I eat 13 ½ pounds a day," said Booker, whose best is 28 hot dogs. "Bringing home the belt is all that matters
 now." ¶

International Federation of Competitive Eating chairman Richard Shea said Booker has the talent to reach the
 sport’s pinnacle. "But does he have the passion?" Shea asked. ¶

Booker, standing amid chewed up wings, soiled napkins and chicken grease, didn’t answer. He merely unscrewed
 the top of a 6-ounce bottle of Frank’s Red Hot Sauce, waited for the cameras to get up to speed, and drank
 spicy contents down in one long gulp. ¶

Passion doesn’t seem to be Eric Booker’s problem. 

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