Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Contest 2023: It almost didn't happen
Just as much as drunk rednecks blowing their fingers off is a staple of the July 4th holiday, so is the Nathan's Famous Hot Dog contest. Those times that I wasn't out of town on the 4th or busy at some party celebrating, I have always turned on the TV and watched the contest.
I didn't get a chance to catch it this year, but @mrsbozz and I were talking about it in the early hours of Tuesday morning. She was surprised that they still have it given all the restrictions that have been carried over from Covid by default.
I mentioned that anymore it just feels like the Joey Chestnut show. I'd have to guess over the past ten years or so, there hasn't been anyone that even comes close to beating him. It's basically just him trying to beat his own record.
That was certainly the case this year. Joey Chestnut won his 16th 4th of July contest taking down a massive 62 hot dogs and buns. That wasn't close to the 72 pace they expected him to hit, but it was still more than 10 above the second place finisher Geoffrey Esper who ate an impressive 49 hot dogs and buns.
Although competitive eating has been around forever. I remember a time a decade or two ago when it really had a resurgence. I think a lot of that had to do with the fact that Kobayashi was going into retirement and they were trying to get people excited about the next generation of competitive eaters.
ESPN2 and ESPN3 would air all kinds of eating contests from wings to crab legs. Which kind of begs the question, is competitive eating really a sport or more of a lifestyle choice?
What do you think?
Interestingly enough, the contest this year almost didn't happen. It was supposed to start at noon, and then they had to delay it due to a storm coming through and the danger of lighting strikes. The panel had made the decision to cancel the event, when Joey Chestnut gathered the eaters and said they were going to compete one way or another.
With their hand forced, the officials rescheduled the event for 2:00 PM.
I kind of get where Joey was coming from. I would imagine there is a lot of prep that happens before you have an event like this as a competitive eater. Prep that likely isn't very pleasant and something you don't want to go through more than once a week or so.
Another year, another 62 dogs. Will Chestnut ever beat his record of 76? I guess we will have to tune in next year to see.
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I heard the Cryptomaniacs guys mention this contest. I don't think I've ever seen an eating contest on TV over here. I'm sure some happen anyway. I expect some people make themselves sick doing that.
Have you heard of nettle eating?
Yes, there are a couple of times I have seen people get sick from contests like this. They call it a "reversal of fortune". Although this contest has been around forever, competitive eating doesn't get the spotlight it once did. I have not heard of nettle eating. I will check it out.
It is really impressive what these "athletes" do. whatever happened to that little Asian guy that used to win it all the time?
He retired I think. He might still be doing stuff here and there, but he largely just quit. Sorry, I was on vacation and I just got this comment.