July 4, 2007: Joey Chestnut whacks Takeru Kobayashi at the 92 annual Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest! 50 thousand people jammed the boardwalk at Conney Island to witness "the Tsunami's" 6 year domination of the event come to an end. And poof; just like that, he's gone. Actually, it took 12 minutes.
Nagano Japan's Kobayashi, employing his patented "solomon method", set a personal record of 63 HDB's (that's Hot Dog with Bun) but wasn't able to match the, rather grotesque, gobbling power of US born Joey Chestnut (California not New Jersey). Chestnut ate out Kobayashi by swallowing a new world record of 66 dogs in the allotted 12 min. of competition. That's one every 10.9 seconds. I want to barf just thinking about that many wienies in my mouth. I bet Ken could handle it though.
The I.F.O.C.E. sanctioned event was broadcast live on ESPN (Thank you again ESPN!) and the pair were neck and neck (lips & assholes as well) the entire race. They each scarfed down 60 sausage in 60 seconds. The tally at the end was actually closer than the final 66-63 results. But the coveted Yellow Mustard Belt was Kobayashi's to loose. Unfortunately, at the close of the bout, he suffered from what the I.F.O.C.E terms a "reversal". I'm sure you can figure out what that means. Competitors receive credit for "anything in their mouths at the 12-minute mark, provided they can swallow it." Kobayashi couldn't swallow it. However, even without the penalty, Chestnut would have beaten Kobayashi by a dog or more.
I know it was the 4th of July and all, but I have to admit, I was sort of rooting for the little Japanese guy. I don't follow the sport closely, but Kobayashi is a legend in the field of competitive eating. I actually remember the first time he won the Nathan's contest in '01 because he was about 110lbs. and smashed the 25 dog record by eating 50. But a few weeks ago, the master-eater dropped a bomb in his own blog that stunned his peers. For two years now, Kobayashi has been dealing with severe pain from arthritis of the jaw brought on by the intensive training regiment he's maintained for so long. He wasn't even sure he could compete in this year's event. “My jaw has given up the fight” lamented Takeru. He described the arthritis as so acute, that he could only open his mouth wide enough to allow a fingertip past his teeth. Who'd have thunk that stretching your mouth and stomach with excessive quantities of cabbage and water would result in jawthritis? Um, me? Sadly, Takeru feared that his mouth was paralyzed. In true Japanese style, Kobayashi only blamed himself: “I feel so ashamed that I didn't hear the alarm bells ringing in my own body." Just three hours before yesterday's contest, Kobayashi was still receiving acupuncture treatment to minimize the pain. You got to give the Tsunami credit though; reversal and all. 63 dogs in 12 minutes is, well...nasty, but quite impressive. Along with his 6 Nathan's Hot Dog titles, Kobayashi also holds the world records for Johnsonville Brats, Krystal's Hamburgers, Lobster Rolls, Rice Balls and Cow Brains.
Nagano Japan's Kobayashi, employing his patented "solomon method", set a personal record of 63 HDB's (that's Hot Dog with Bun) but wasn't able to match the, rather grotesque, gobbling power of US born Joey Chestnut (California not New Jersey). Chestnut ate out Kobayashi by swallowing a new world record of 66 dogs in the allotted 12 min. of competition. That's one every 10.9 seconds. I want to barf just thinking about that many wienies in my mouth. I bet Ken could handle it though.
The I.F.O.C.E. sanctioned event was broadcast live on ESPN (Thank you again ESPN!) and the pair were neck and neck (lips & assholes as well) the entire race. They each scarfed down 60 sausage in 60 seconds. The tally at the end was actually closer than the final 66-63 results. But the coveted Yellow Mustard Belt was Kobayashi's to loose. Unfortunately, at the close of the bout, he suffered from what the I.F.O.C.E terms a "reversal". I'm sure you can figure out what that means. Competitors receive credit for "anything in their mouths at the 12-minute mark, provided they can swallow it." Kobayashi couldn't swallow it. However, even without the penalty, Chestnut would have beaten Kobayashi by a dog or more.I know it was the 4th of July and all, but I have to admit, I was sort of rooting for the little Japanese guy. I don't follow the sport closely, but Kobayashi is a legend in the field of competitive eating. I actually remember the first time he won the Nathan's contest in '01 because he was about 110lbs. and smashed the 25 dog record by eating 50. But a few weeks ago, the master-eater dropped a bomb in his own blog that stunned his peers. For two years now, Kobayashi has been dealing with severe pain from arthritis of the jaw brought on by the intensive training regiment he's maintained for so long. He wasn't even sure he could compete in this year's event. “My jaw has given up the fight” lamented Takeru. He described the arthritis as so acute, that he could only open his mouth wide enough to allow a fingertip past his teeth. Who'd have thunk that stretching your mouth and stomach with excessive quantities of cabbage and water would result in jawthritis? Um, me? Sadly, Takeru feared that his mouth was paralyzed. In true Japanese style, Kobayashi only blamed himself: “I feel so ashamed that I didn't hear the alarm bells ringing in my own body." Just three hours before yesterday's contest, Kobayashi was still receiving acupuncture treatment to minimize the pain. You got to give the Tsunami credit though; reversal and all. 63 dogs in 12 minutes is, well...nasty, but quite impressive. Along with his 6 Nathan's Hot Dog titles, Kobayashi also holds the world records for Johnsonville Brats, Krystal's Hamburgers, Lobster Rolls, Rice Balls and Cow Brains.
Happy Independence Day everybody. Take it easy on the hot dogs.
We have visited your blog and we it find of pleasant mas, thanks and regards from Reus - Catalonia - Spain
ReplyDeleteGracias. I'm glad you find it of pleasant mas. That's good, right?
ReplyDeleteMy blog has now gone bilingual. Excelente!
Not Kobayashi! Nooooooooooo! I remember seeing the competition last year (?) with Joey Chestnut and he wasn't able to beat the master. I guess this was his year!
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ReplyDeleteI'm a little iffy on the whole eating contest business. It's so unhealthy! I feel bad for that dude's jaw arthritis. But, I will say, you're mention of lobsters rolls at the end has my mouth watering. Lobster rolls are one of my favorite things in the whole world. I have to find a place near Chicago that has them. At least I can always get a good lobster at Bob Chinn's.
ReplyDeleteYeah KM, Joey C. shoveled those dogs down his gullet like there was no tomorrow. At the end, he says, "I could eat another one if I had to." OK JC, that was disgusting, please don't. Although, it really was Kobayashi's "reversal" that changed the whole tone of the thing. It went from just crazy to watch to, lets say, distasteful.
ReplyDeleteLo siento Rodrigo. He won't be possible.
I'm not sure you can get a real lobster roll out side of New England my man. But I agree, you can't stuff anything better into a hot dog bun. Did you know that the coastal McDonald's serve a "McLobster" now? I think it's made out of the same stuff they use to create the McRib though.