59 and a Half!
Until Saturday in the world of competitive eating, Japan's Takeru "The Tsunami" Kobayashi loomed large (however thin he himself is) as the fiercest gut around. Although skinny and from a country not often associated with tubesteaks, the dude ruled, having established a record of 53 3/4 dogs in 12 minutes at last year's annual hot dog–eating contest on July 4 at Nathan's in Coney Island.
No more: American Joey Chestnut shattered Kobayashi's record over the weekend, consuming 59 1/2 wieners in 12 minutes. (Twelve minutes is the duration of all speed-eating contests sanctioned by the International Federation of Competitive Eating.)
Chestnut set the new record in Tempe, Arizona, while competing in a qualifying event for the Nathan's hot dog chow-off, considered the Super Bowl of competitive-eating contests, by those who care at least.
Kobayashi told the New York Post last year that he was thinking of retiring, preferring to go out on top without disappointing his fans. I'm hoping this new turn of events, however, has him reconsidering. A Chestnut-Kobayashi match would truly be spectacular, as Chestnut is now the only eater to rise to such Kobayashitastic heights.
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6 Comments:
why does it say "2 cocks at once" on the bottom of the joey chestnut wiki entry? i almost swallowed my tongue from laughter on that one.
goodbyeohio at 2:26PM on 06/04/07
I didn't even catch that at the bottom of his wiki page. Nice catch. I just removed it.
Adam Kuban at 3:08PM on 06/04/07
I don't mean to be a nabob of negativity, but isn't this the antitheses of "Serious Eats?" Since when is gluttony a sport? Tennis is a sport, gluttony is a sin.
Lou at 5:55PM on 06/04/07
I wish I didn't know this: Kobayashi beat Joey Chestnut in a Krystal burger eating competion. What made it special was that Kobayashi had won the event last year eating maybe 65 burgers. When he beat Chestnut the next year he ate closer to 100. (beating chestnut by Iess than 10). The point being, Kobayashi eats enough to win. I will be interesting to see if he can amp up hot dog consumption by 33%. My money would still be, if I cared, on Kobayashi.
adrocks at 7:49PM on 06/04/07
Lou: I know. It's not everyone's cup of tea, the speed-eating thing. It's always been a controversial subject when I've posted about it on Slice or A Hamburger Today. But it was food-related, interesting, and weird, so I thought some folks who missed it would like to check it out. And, yeah: It's pretty depressing to see people gorge on -- and essentially waste -- so much food.
Adam Kuban at 7:53PM on 06/04/07
I'm glad someone else said it (well, at least hinted at it) first . . . "it" being . . . what's the point??
To me, these "eating contests" are disgusting displays of Neanderthal behavior. But, everyone to his own tastes.
DocChuck at 7:14AM on 06/05/07