Joey Chestnut competes at the Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating contest at Coney Island, Friday, July 4, 2014, in New York. Chestnut won his eighth contest by finishing 61 hotdogs and buns. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
A True American doesn’t wake up and put on his stars and stripes underwear and waltz around the house without consequences. A real patriot puts it all on the line for America. Joey Chestnut is that American as we dive into another edition of Sports Explained: Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest.
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Today, American Joey Chestnut will try and obliterate more than 70 hot dogs in 10 minutes and break the World Record.
The Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest has become an Independence Day celebration that has joined the likes of many other American hallowed traditions. It’s origins harken back to a simpler time, where Greasers, Sharks and Jets ruled the blacktop, and a Coca-Cola went for nothing more than a nickel. Competitive eating was just in its infant days when a small fair in Portland held a pie eating contest. A man named Davie Hogan would forever change the landscape.
Yes, the first event was a messy one and its hard to imagine how it caught on from then. Never underestimate the power of patriotism, however, because to this day, competitive eating lives on.
To drum up excitement after the debacle Hogan caused, the competitive eating world accepted submissions from all over the world. Men, women, children and families sent in audtion tapes with the hopes of winning it all.
Things got dicey, when intergalactic loan shark, Pizza the Hut attempted to enter the fray. Unfortunately, his tastiness was too much for his sidekick to handle.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33n-IS8a1S4
Since then, legitimacy has grown, a man named Kobayashi took over the scene and brought mainstream media to the event. His ferocity and aggressiveness towards hotdogs gave all sausages a scare and caused accidents from Brooklyn to Milwaukee.
Kobayashi’s rule did not last long however. It was only right that a true American Hero would take back the event held on Independence Day, in America. Joey Chestnut, from Vallejo, California has ruled the sport since 2007.
Many have tried to unseat Chestnut over the years, but the steel stomach of Chestnut has taken on all comers and sent them home packing. The California native has not shied away from his competitors.
As was mentioned with Benny “The Jet” Rodriguez, “Heroes get remembered, but legends never die.”
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Photo Credit: /John Minchillo/ AP Images
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