COMPETITIVE EATING: 2006 Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest

The World Cup is back and I am interested. But on this Independence Day, the "beautiful" sport cannot serve as America's one to watch. Instead, I recommend taking some time between festivities to watch the 2006 Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest televised live today on ESPN at 12:00 noon.

I'm a big fan of Nathan's. In fact, they make my favorite hot dogs, just slightly better than the Sabrett hot dogs that I sold for 2 years in high school when I operated a hot dog cart. I recently went almost 4 years without eating a Nathan's frank until we visited New York in May. In those 5 days, I managed to eat 6 in 2 visits to the Yonkers store and wish I could've eaten more. Damned weight problem! I think if entered in the Coney Island contest I could probably eat about 8. I'm sure I'd need a lot of Rolaids, but for those 12 glorious minutes, it would be hot dog heaven.

However, such a score would put me 45 1/2 hot dogs behind the world record holder. Champion Takeru "Tsunami" Kobayashi will attempt to win the contest for the 6th year in a row. The Japanese eater is no sumo wrestler; he's actually surprisingly diminutive. But don't let his size fool you. Kobayaski downed 49 hot dogs and buns in a mere 12 minutes in 2005. I've also seen American star eater Joey Chesnut in action on ESPN a few times. He holds the world record for asparagus, grilled cheeses, and Waffle House waffles. What an accomplishment! Chestnut finished 3rd in 2005 by eating 32 hot dogs. I'll be rooting for him to return the Nathan's championship to America.

My pick: Joey Chesnut. I really think eating those 18 waffles in 10 minutes will give him confidence to win. 20 years ago the winner ate a mere 12 hot dogs - 37 fewer than Kobayashi last year. Of course, the Nathan's event has gotten a lot bigger. And a sport was even born in 1997 when the International Federation of Competitive Eating was formed. All this serves as a reminder that people like me occasionally take sports too seriously. But it also makes me hungry. So I'll still be watching.



What will you be watching? Parades? Fireworks? Or women's eating champion, Sonya Thomas, who downed 37 hot dogs herself last year?