Fantasy league loser eats 9 waffles, 15 hours
BRANDON, Miss. —He never imagined he’d end up in last place in his fantasy football league when suggesting his punishment for losing.
But there Lee Sanderlin was, sitting in the orange Waffle House booth in Brandon, Mississippi, counting the hours — and the number of waffles laden with butter and syrup he’d eaten — as thousands of people kept him company on Twitter.
“No part of me believed that I was going to come in last,” Sanderlin, 25, said Friday morning. Sanderlin is a reporter for the Clarion Ledger, part of the USA TODAY Network.
Sanderlin’s self-inflicted sentence for having the worst team: Spending 24 hours in a Waffle House with the caveat he could shave off an hour with every waffle he ate.
The investigative reporter arrived at the Waffle House at 4:07 p.m. on Thursday armed for the long day and night ahead with books, magazines and podcasts. He started out strong, ordering and eating two waffles right off the bat.
“That means two hours down. 21.37 hours left roughly. Already my stomach is rumbling. Gonna be a long one. The staff does not believe me that I’ll be here that long… little do they know,” he tweeted.
At 5:39 p.m., he’d finished off more of the butter and syrup-covered, plate-sized fluffy pancakes with dents.
“Four waffles down. Been here for 1.5 hours, so that means I have 18.5 to go. I am already in immense discomfort. Please, somebody, launch me into the sun,” he tweeted.
At 11 p.m., Sanderlin was deep into his waffle struggle, six under his (loosened) belt. Fellow diners offered Gatorade, Tums and Pepto Bismol, and they snapped a photo with him as thousands of Twitter followers hit the “like” button, retweeted his quips and posted encouraging comments.
“Hello. It is hour 7. Where we stand: 6 waffles consumed. 11 hours remain. Insides are in shambles, but two kind Mississippians came in and gave me some Rolaids. Shoutout those people. Yr boy is in PAIN,” Sanderlin tweeted.
Finally, the sun rose and, never waffling, Sanderlin had consumed an impressive nine waffles in 15 hours and was at home recovering.
He offered sage advice.
“I recommend absolutely no one do this,” he said, ready to never eat another waffle again.
Gabriela Szymanowska can be reached at [email protected], on Twitter at @GabrielaSzyman3.
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