Loading ...5-Dog OT (The Mustard Yellow Belt Stays Home)
If you didn’t watch the Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest this past Friday…what the hell is wrong with you? From this day forward, I officially declare this event to be on every Man’s Holiday Viewing CalMander. In the same way that it’s just not Christmas until you hear Uncle Eddie shout, “Shitter’s full”, or see The Old Man pull the Leg Lamp out of its “Fra-jee-lay” crate for the first time, it’s just not Independence Day anymore until you witness a Man eat 59 hot dogs in 10 minutes…and then turn raround and eat 5 more in 50 seconds.
That’s exactly what happened at this year’s contest when Joey Chestnut once again defeated the 6-time champion and MLE legend, Takeru Kobayahsi, to claim the Mustard Yellow Belt for the 2nd year in a row. I think Richard Shea (one of the brothers who founded the IFOCE) said it best when he proclaimed, “Gas is approaching $5 a gallon, tomatoes are unsafe to eat, but the Mustard Yellow Belt is on American soil. Joey Chestnut is an agent of change.” I couldn’t agree more.
If you didn’t get to see the event, check out this video replay:
Although the focus naturally gravitates toward Chestnut and Kobayashi these days (the closest competitor finishing in 3rd place could only down a mere 42 dogs), it wouldn’t be right to forget the rest of the field who sacrifice their stomach linings in an effort to make this a spectacle worth watching. Below are the top five finsihers in this year’s competition, including how many dogs they downed and another MLE record they currently hold.
1. Joey Chestnut (59 + 5 in 50 seconds), 103 Krystal Burgers in 8 minutes
2. Takeru Kobayashi (59 +5 in 57 seconds), 17.7 lbs. of Cow Brains in 15 minutes
3. Tim Janus (42), 141 pcs. of Nigiri Sushi in 6 minutes
4. Pat Bertoletti (39), 177 Pickled Jalapeno Peppers in 15 minutes
5. Sonya Thomas (34), 7.75 lbs. of Turducken in 12 minutes
It’s good to be a Competitive Eater these days, they even have their own video game on the Nintendo Wii.
The IFOCE changed the duration of the Nathan’s contest from 12 to 10 minutes this year because they apparently found some old documents stating that’s the way it was run back in 1916 when the contest was first held, but mostly they did it because Rich and George Shea are marketing geniuses. I for one am hooked. The only thing I might have done differently would have been to settle the tie with one of these classic urban legend challenges:
The Saltine Challenge (eat 6 crackers in 60 seconds - see fat girl attempting by clicking here)
The Gallon Challenge (drink 1 gallon of milk in 1 hour and hold down for 1 hour - see dirty girl attempting by clicking here)
The Cinnamon Challenge (swallow 1 tablespoon of cinnamon - see hot girl attempting by clicking here)
If you think you’ve got the intestinal fortitude to be a gustatory athlete, you can start by regsitering with the IFOCE, but before you do I would think long and hard about the ring-sting you’ll experience the day after your first chili pepper eating contest. I would also suggest reading/eating this excellent book that provides some great coverage of the competitive eating circuit:
Make sure to mark your CalMander for next year’s hot dog eating competition. It’s sure to be the biggest and baddest one yet.
Be A Man.
- The Founding Father
