Competitive Hotdog Eating – Sport or Gluttony?

Posted on July 3, 2008 by The Founding Father

This 4^thof July, there’s nothing more American than celebrating our Independence by gathering with friends and family and eating and drinking till we’re near sick to our stomachs. Personally, I plan on stuffing myself with burgers, dogs and some Summer Ale, though it will pail in comparison to what will be consumed in Brooklyn this weekend. In just a few hours, some of the world’s greatest competitive eaters will descend upon Coney Island, New York for the 93^rd annual Hot Dog Eating Contest. And while some may argue this is gluttonous, immoral and hardly news worthy, others may argue this is competition in its purest form worthy of being dubbed a “sport”.

Whats my take? Well, here at the Mantuary, I define sport as any competition between 2 or more people where there is atleast some form of physical or mental exertion. Granted, there are different types of sports which Man will endlessly debate as being superior but so long as competition reigns, I consider them sports nonetheless. As a man, you may question why I would tag Badminton and Curling as much a “sport” as American Football and Ice Hockey, so let me elaborate. Badminton is a sport because of its competitive nature. As one team tries to get their shuttlecock to land on the other team’s side, competition ensues and so it’s a sport. That said, The Mantuary does not endorse any sport that uses a shuttlecock and does not considere badminton to be a respected sport… let’s just call it a gay sport and move on. I compare it to guys who went to see that Sex in the City movie or wear garden hats. Because of their genetic makeup, sure they are still called guys… they’re just gay guys.

So that leaves us with the question, “where does a hotdog eating competition fit in the grand scheme of sport?” While I’m not prepared to go on the record saying it’s less Manly then American Football but could blow the doors off of the WNBA, I will say it does fit somewhere. That said, this weekend poses the perfect arena to debate the subject with friends and family over a few beers and dare I say, a hotdog. Here are some facts you can use to figure out where it fits in the pecking order of all sports:

Joey Chestnut (2007’s Hot Dog Champ) warms up by downing a couple gallons of water in under a minute to get his stomach accustomed to the stretching it will endure. The world’s greatest soccer players warm up by doing this: Side note- in looking for an appropriate image, I learned the hard way to NEVER, EVER do a Google image search for “gay stretch”.
Over 30,000 people showed up to 2007’s hotdog eating event. That’s about 22,258 more people than the average WNBA game drew in the same year.
With $10,000 going to the champion, this year’s winner stands to earn more than John Daly brought in over his last 7 PGA tournament appearances (John made a mere $7,630)
I really don’t mean to keep picking on John, because in many respects he is my idol, but Takeru Kobayashi looks a lot more like an athlete than Daly does.
With its 93^rdannual contest this year, Nathans International Hot Dog Eating Contest has been around longer than the NBA (1946), NFL (1920) and NHL (1917). MLB has been around since 1903.
There are actually woman who compete in this as well. And although it will never hold a candle to watching woman’s beach volleyball… watching Sonya “The Black Widow” Thomas do her thing with a hotdog, may have its perks.
William the Refrigerator Perry spent 10 years in the NFL but couldn’t last more than 5 minutes in 2003’s Hotdog Eating Competition. The Fridge downed a mere 12 hotdogs in the qualifier and 4 HDBs at the contest while that year’s champion ate 44 ½.
Joey Chestnut has groupies.