The Coney Island Crazies

My thoughts this week have been consumed by the wild events surrounding this year's July 4th Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest.

Yes, Joey Chestnut returned to claim his fourth straight title. That certainly was news.

But the even bigger news was all of the shortcomings of this year's event.

1) Joey didn't even come close to the astronomical figures he's reached in years past. Sure, 54 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes is an insane eating feat, but this man has done 64 and 68 previously.

2) Takeru Kobayashi was not in contention, which dramatically lowered the expectations for the showdown. This man was once synonomous with the hot dog contest, a champion of multiple years, originally responsible for doubling the winning total. A contract dispute which turned ugly kept him in the stands.

3) One of my friends onstage must have had a bad day! I expected a bigger performance, but I'm sure next year will turn out much differently. This has been a miserable hot dog season all around.

I can only hope that next year will be a little bit better.

Hot Dog Speed Run

I've been practicing for the upcoming Nathan's 2010 Hot Dog Eating Contest Qualifiying Circuit.....



This was the first time I actually recorded myself attempting to "speed eat," though other people have recorded me participating in eating contests.

Looking at my video, I realize that I spent way too much time on the buns. I'm going to have to get better about that during my next practice session.

I managed to eat two hot dogs and buns in 1:20, which would be extrapolated to 15 hdbs (the semi-official abbrieviation for hot dogs and buns in the eating world) in the ten minute contest run. This assumes I can maintain a constant speed for the duration of the contest. Some people actually speed up as a contest goes on. I gotta hope for that!

I figured it made sense to practice with a small number of hdbs, since otherwise I'd be ingesting huge amounts of calories for no real benefit.

My goal on the contest stage is to put away 15-20 hdbs. I'm hoping I can get there!