SPORTS
Appreciation for a July 4th eating contest
The Fourth of July holiday is full of traditions and memories for people.
A day at the lake, grilled burgers, hanging with family and of course fireworks.
For me, one Fourth of July tradition I keep is watching the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest on ESPN.
Sponsored by Nathan’s Famous Corporation known for its hot dogs and taking place on Coney Island, NY, the competition is the “Super Bowl” of sorts for competitive eating. Since most activities that take place in competition format and crown a world champion are fascinating to me to some degree, I have been interested how this group of people eats as much as I do in a week in about 10-12 minutes every Fourth of July.
Most people think competitive eating is a freak show and are grossed out by the aesthetic of someone stuffing their mouths for about 10 minutes. I can get past that because I am amazed with how fast they chew and swallow said food only to stuff their mouth again.
It is relatable in the fact we all eat every day of our lives. Most people have eaten a hot dog. At some point we have all tried to eat a meal fast. Now watch people who can eat not only fast but more than seems humanly possible.
I have been watching or keeping up with the contest since the early 2000s, right when the whole scene was taken to a new level.
Takeru Kobayashi, a skinny Japanese man, won the contest in 2001. He had never eaten a hot dog until the day of competition. He did not just break the record of 25 hot dogs in 12 minutes. He doubled the record and ate 50 hot dogs. His closest competitor only ate 26.
This started a six-year reign championship with Kobayashi starting several trends. His competitors now had a rabbit to chase and, seeing how seriously he took the competition, they also upped their preparation and commitment.
With no close competitors, Kobayashi was only able to up his record to 53 ½ during the next four years. His physique changed over time, but instead of gaining fat like one would expect, he gained muscle. Now looking like a shredded lean body builder, bulking up to as high as 192 pounds, Kobayashi still looked different from his competitors. Keeping unnecessary weight down and increasing muscle allowed more room for his stomach to expand, Kobayashi claimed.
In 2006, Kobayashi barley broke his record by eating 53 ¾ hot dogs and buns, but was seriously challenged for the first time ever by an American construction engineer named Joey Chestnut. An average looking guy weighing in at 230 pounds, Chestnut finished with 52 hot dogs and vowed to take the title back for America next year.
Chestnut did just that, beating Kobayashi in 2007 with a new world record of 66. They battled the next two years and even with the time going down to 10 minutes from 12, Chestnut won both years and upped the record to 68 hot dogs in 2009.
That would be the last year Kobayashi would compete at the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest. Competitors at the event are forced to sign a contract with Major League Eating, which he refused to sign. He attended and attempted to get on stage at the 2010 competition, but was arrested and has not been back since.
Chestnut has won almost every year since 2007, losing once to a young skinny American named Matt Stonie. Chestnut raised the record to 74 hot dogs and buns on Wednesday.
For comparison’s sake, the 10th Annual KFDX Hot Dog Eating Contest at Castaway Cove in Wichita was won by Ozzie Gutierrez eating 13 hot dogs in eight minutes.
Stonie has gained internet fame by filming himself doing eating challenges on his personal Youtube channel. His channel has more than 5.2 million subscribers. Apparently I am not the only person who wants to see someone eat 25 Big Macs in 22 minutes.
Since 2011, there has been enough interest from women to have their own contest. Before they would compete with the men and a small Asian American women named Sonya Thomas more than held her own.
She won the first three years of the women’s competition and still has the women’s record of eating 45 in 10 minutes. The last five years have been dominated by another woman named Miki Sudo. One of the reasons I watch sports is seeing what the human body is capable of doing when pushed to the limit.
Watching the fastest runners in the world draws admiration. Watching the strongest humans in the world lift is awe inspiring. Watching the best eaters in the world, for me, is on that level.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.
A solid day was had by Montague county high school tracksters at the State Track and Field Meet May 16 in Austin.
Bellevue’s Mattie Broussard had a pair of second place finishes in both the 800-meter run with a time of 2:21.41 and the 3,200-meter run with a time of 11:31.33. Broussard also was 4th in the 1,600-meters with a time of 5:22.18.
Her teammate Brylie Hager was 9th in the 110-meter hurdles in 19.93.
Forestburg’s Brenna Briles was 4th in the triple jump with a 35’9 1’2” leap. Her teammate Jocelyn Rich was 4th in the pole vault with a 9’ leap.
For further details, pick up a copy of Thursday’s Bowie News.
Bowie had a pair of top four finishes at the State Track and Field Meet May 14.
Sophomore Brayden Willett made it onto the medal stand, finishing 3rd in the 1,600-meter run with a time of 4:17.89. Bowie junior Tyler Richey finished 4th in the pole vault after a 14’6” effort.
The top two finishers from Holliday, also in Bowie’s district, celebrated with him after he crossed the finish line.
“It was kind of surprising,” Willett said about Ryder and Noah Stroman embracing him in a celebratory hug. “They’re good guys, so it was kind of cool.”
For further details, pick up a copy of Thursday’s Bowie News.
This past week found your outdoor scribe doing some rather mundane things such as yard work, vegetable gardening and repairs around the old cabin. Oh, I also wrapped up a couple of magazine articles. I always enjoy sharing my adventures with all of you in this column but to be perfectly honest, not nearly as much as my ‘field work’ hunting and fishing which is an iatrical part of any good outdoor column. If you’re like me, you much prefer reading about an adventure that you can also partake.
I am far more comfortable telling you about an outdoor experience I had firsthand knowledge of rather than the reporting part of my job as an outdoor communicator. So, this week, I’d do a bit of ‘reporting’ and share some planned adventures I have scheduled for the next couple weeks. By the time you’re reading this, I will have already been in the woods in quest of a fat ‘eater’ hog and probably have some freshly caught blue catfish fillets in the freezer, details will follow in the next couple of weeks.
I’ll kick things off early in the week heading down to my friend Jeff Rice’s Buck and Bass Ranch located on the upper end of Lake Fork. Jeff produces our weekly TV show “A Sportsman’s Life” which airs on Carbon TV and YouTube. Our plan is to film a segment of our show on stalking wild hogs. It will be a challenge to capture the shot with all the thick grown spring vegetation. It could happen fast and require a fast shot. We will be breaking in my CVA Cascade scout rifle in 308 caliber. This short barrel little rifle is light and easy to handle in thick cover, ideal for this type of hunting. Our plan is to hit the woods during the last couple hours of daylight and ease along the trails, watching and especially listening for hogs. Wild porkers are vocal critters and it’s common to hear them before seeing them. We will play the wind and attempt to get downwind and then close the distance for a shot but you can never guess how a hog hunt will unfold. Wild pork or not, Jeff and I always have a great time together and I plan to bring a side of wild pork ribs already slow smoked and covered in brown sugar and BBQ sauce with a side of camp baked beans!
After a tasty dinner we plan to get a good night’s sleep and head out the next morning for a planned fishing trip with guide David Hanson at Lake Tawakoni. Both channel and blue catfish are on a very good bite right but it’s hard to pass up those snow white blue catfish fillets when the bite is good. David is, to my knowledge, the most veteran catfish guide on the lake and became friends close to a quarter-century ago when we first began fishing
together. The plan is to use freshy cut shad in shallow water and target eater size blues weighing between 2 and about 10 pounds but as every catfish angler knows, it’s always possible to connect with a big trophy size blue when fishing Tawakoni.
Next week, I plan to join my long-time friend J.C. McCollough on the Red River below the Texoma dam. I’ve been fishing and hunting with J.C. for many years and look forward to getting with him again. I would describe this to catching big catfish in a barrel but in this case the deep holes in the river are comprised of several acres. The water level in the river below Texoma are dictated by the water release at the dam by the Corp of Engineers. When there is a current in the river, fish move upstream to feed on baitfish coming through the dam. When the water recedes, they fish move into the deeper holes where baitfish also seek refuge from the falling water. Catching will be fast paced with the chance to connect with some big fish as well as limits of “eater” size fish. We’ll be rigging with big live gizzard shad fished weightless on a free line, using medium spinning gear. The bigger fish will often nail the frisky live shad and the fresh cut bait is a sure way to connect with lots of smaller fish. There is something very exciting about fishing big live baits on a slack line. One minute your bait will be darting around and you will occasionally feel it taking up slack and the next when a big blue catfish grabs the bait, the rod will bow and the fight will be on. There is usually no ‘setting the hook’, by the time you feel the fish, it will already be hooked and making a strong run to the nearest submerged brush. Your job will be to keep the drag set just enough to keep pressure on the fish but not so much as to cause the line to break.
J.C. uses his airboat to access these deeper holes because of the very shallow water. While it’s not impossible to portage a kayak or small boat in the river, it often requires a few miles travel to get to these deep holes, this is best accomplished by experienced kayakers with plenty of endurance. There was a time when I was game for this type fishing but I much prefer to do my river fishing these days from a boat designed to negotiate the shallow waters.
Squirrel season is underway in many of the east Texas counties and there’s some pretty good fox squirrel hunting here close to home in Kaufman county and I’ve been thinking about how tasty a big skillet of smothered squirrel with rice, gravy and biscuits would be. Bream are on the beds now and my friend Edgar Cotton invited me to come do some ‘perch jerking’ with him and his son David-it’s in the plans! Well, hopefully next week I will have a ‘sure nuff’ adventure of two to relate you you-I’m ready to get some relief from all this work around the homeplace! LC
You can contact Tawakoni/Fork catfish guide David Hanson at 902-268-7391. Contact J.C. McCollough at 580-372-0320.
Listen to Luke’s podcast, “Catfish Radio” just about everywhere podcast are found.
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