American Wins Coney Island Hot Dog Eating Contest
Robert Paul Reyes
July 05, 2007
Today we celebrate independence from the Brits with fireworks, picnics, parades and of course the annual Coney Island Hot dog Eating Contest.
An amusement park with cheap thrills and junk food -- what an appropriate venue for a disgusting display of gluttony.
The folks behind the hot dog eating event don't see their spectacle as an exhibition of human debauchery, but as the Super Bowl of the competitive eating circuit.
There is actually an organization that sponsors and oversees a series of "eating contests", and they consider competitive eating a sport. I think I hear the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse; I need to join the nearest Baptist church.
Competitive eating is the only sport where you earn a disqualification, if you (how can I phrase this delicately) poop in your drawers.
"Sugarplum lay off me, I'm not making a pig out of myself by ordering three Whoppers, an apple pie, Supersized fries and a Diet Coke. I'm in training for the competitive eating circuit.
I like Tim Dahlberg's (Associated Press) take on this subject:
"There is something all-American, though, about contests where the ultimate goal is to consume more food than the eater next to you. This is a country, after all, where two-thirds of adults are overweight or obese, and where 177,000 people underwent surgery to lose weight last year alone."
For the record Joey Chestnut won this year's hot-dog eating contest; I guess soon we will be seeing his mug dripping with mustard on a baseball-type card.
An amusement park with cheap thrills and junk food -- what an appropriate venue for a disgusting display of gluttony.
The folks behind the hot dog eating event don't see their spectacle as an exhibition of human debauchery, but as the Super Bowl of the competitive eating circuit.
There is actually an organization that sponsors and oversees a series of "eating contests", and they consider competitive eating a sport. I think I hear the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse; I need to join the nearest Baptist church.
Competitive eating is the only sport where you earn a disqualification, if you (how can I phrase this delicately) poop in your drawers.
"Sugarplum lay off me, I'm not making a pig out of myself by ordering three Whoppers, an apple pie, Supersized fries and a Diet Coke. I'm in training for the competitive eating circuit.
I like Tim Dahlberg's (Associated Press) take on this subject:
"There is something all-American, though, about contests where the ultimate goal is to consume more food than the eater next to you. This is a country, after all, where two-thirds of adults are overweight or obese, and where 177,000 people underwent surgery to lose weight last year alone."
For the record Joey Chestnut won this year's hot-dog eating contest; I guess soon we will be seeing his mug dripping with mustard on a baseball-type card.
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