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May 25, 2012

Competitive eating is a sport that should not be televised

by Joel Keller, posted Jul 4th 2006 3:21PM

Nathan's hot dog eating contest 2006Quick question: When did ESPN start broadcasting the annual Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest? I vaguely recall it being on TV last year, but must have forgotten about it, because when I flipped passed ESPN this afternoon, I was shocked that they were broadcasting the competition. So I settled in and watched the entertaining introductions, especially of women's champ Sonya Thomas, American challenger Joey Chestnut, and the Babe Ruth of competitive eating, five-time defending champ Takeru Kobayashi.

But then I realized something: I'd have to watch people cramming hot dogs in their mouths. And chewing. And swallowing. For... twelve... whole... minutes. The prospect of that grossed me out. A lot. I was able to hold on for about twenty seconds before I had to turn away. Then I turned back about three minutes in to the contest and things just looked worse. So I just decided to find out later who won (Kobayashi did, with a record 53 3/4 dogs; Chestnut set the "American record" with 52). It wasn't too long ago that the only place we saw the Nathan's contest on TV was when we saw a snippet about it on the evening news. And, judging by what I saw today, it seems like it should have stayed that way.

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Preston

They need to stop showing that every year and stick to sports. They know that Sportscenter is their trademark--why not show a new show on the sports highlights going on that day. Or show baseball games going on live? I think that because ESPN has been such a top sports cable network for 27 years, it's hard for them to come up with some new ideas. They let ESPN2 show the better stuff and they're stuck with poker shows--stop filling up your empty hours with complete nonsense! What do they actually do in that studio along with playing that catchy Sportscenter theme song 500 times in a row or so? I still can't get over the fact that they cancelled Top Rank Boxing in the early '90s on that network.

July 13 2006 at 9:56 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
carli

Last year, ESPN aired the Competitive Eating Championships, or some such thing. There were several rounds, including a salad round, a nacho round, etc. The commentary was hilarious. "Salad is not his specialty, but look how he's using the two-fork technique. That's very inventive and might be dangerously close to a rules violation."

I want to know when sedentary or gluttonous activities such as poker and competitive became worthy of appearing on a sports network.

July 05 2006 at 3:27 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
scott mclendon

Anybody remember the "Glutton Bowl" on Fox a few years ago(who could eat the most sticks of margerine,the most bowls of mayonnaise,etc.).What I want to know is what Kobayashi's laxative is?

July 05 2006 at 10:15 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Anonymous Eric

just sick, as far as I'm concerned

July 04 2006 at 10:24 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Lampbane

Oh please. I have a weak stomach, and yet, I find the whole competitive eating culture fascinating. Sick, but fascinating.

July 04 2006 at 8:53 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Caitlin

The grossest part, though, is that I've seen a competitive hot dog eater (I can't remember if it was Kobayashi, but it might have been) whose big secret was to SOAK THE HOT DOGS IN WATER before putting them in his mouth, making them easier to go down. EEEEWWWWWWW.

July 04 2006 at 7:16 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply

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