Creating a competitive brain freeze

Young Chang

Robert Rodriguez went home a proud man Saturday as both his godson

and cousin proved themselves ice-cream eating champions at the Orange

County Fair’s “It’s Not Easy Being Green” contest.

The wins started with 5-year-old James Chavez, who competed in the

5-and-under category. He sat on the floor with five other children

and their bowls of mint chocolate chip ice cream (hence the “green”

in the contest title.)

James dove in. He placed his face all but in his bowl of ice cream

and concentrated entirely on the task of shoveling the stuff in. His

competitors tried to do the same but lacked the intensity James had.

One little girl got scared and held onto her father’s leg. She didn’t

touch her bowl.

“It was a lot. I ate it all,” said James, panting after he won.

He went home with a first place ribbon and a free meal pass for

contest sponsor Hometown Buffet.

The ice cream eating contest at the Kids Stage at Kids Park was

just one of similar food-themed competitions at the fair this year.

Others included jello tossing and tart eating.

The event was divided into four rounds by age groups. The

5-and-under ones went first, using spoons.

The 6 to 10 age group competed next, using spoons but with the

hand opposite their comfortable hand. The 11- to 15-year-olds

followed with their hands behind their backs and only their mouths to

do the eating, and the final group of contestants, 16 and older, went

last.

The rules in this category varied, as competitors were even

blindfolded.

“It’s for fun,” said Krista Chamberlain, a Kids Park employee,

when asked why adults participate in the event. “Their kids want them

to do it.”

The rules are to have fun, to raise your hand when finished and to

open your mouth to the judges to prove that you’ve swallowed your ice

cream.

When 11-year-old David Chavez got on stage to tackle two scoops of

green ice cream without a spoon, James and Robert Rodriguez cheered

as if they were at a sporting event. David pressed on, smothering the

bottom half of his face with ice cream and coming up once in a while

for air.

When it got too cold -- when the brain started freezing -- he

pressed his hand to his eyes in pain.

Rodriguez kept cheering.

When asked, after winning his second place ribbon, what made him

want to win an honor for fast ice-cream eating, David seemed shy.

“My cousin talked me into it,” he said.

* YOUNG CHANG writes features. She may be reached at (949)

574-4268 or by e-mail at young.chang@latimes.com.