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.
The Nocona Indians wrapped up their first playoff berth since 2005 with a dominant win against Chico on Thursday at home.
The Indians won 10-0 in four and half innings due to run-rule to earn the district’s final playoff spot and break a nearly two decade drought.
Nocona was in a similar situation last year after beating Chico in the first game before losing twice more to the Dragons, once in the regular season finale and then in the play-in series.
The Indians won the first game earlier in the week 9-4, but knew they could play better. On Thursday they then proved it.
In the bottom of the first inning, Nocona got the scoring going as Wesley Murphey hit an RBI double. Two batters later, Landon Fatheree drove in two runs with a double.
Konnor Harrington followed with a groundout that scored another run as the Indians led 4-0.
In the second inning, Nocona kept up the pressure. Brody Langford drove in a run with a single. Later with the bases loaded, Caden Belcher was hit by a pitch that scored a run. A later passed ball allowed one more run to score as the Indians extended their lead to 7-0.
Nocona got one more run in the third inning. With the bases loaded, Wesley Murphey grounded into a fielder’s choice out that scored one run to make it 8-0.
The Indians got the final two runs they needed in the fourth inning. Walker Murphey and RJ Walker hit back-to-back RBI singles to put Nocona up 10-0.
Chico needed to score at least one run to prevent the game from ending early due to run-rule. Instead Walker Murphey completed the shutout performance by retiring the next three batters to end the game and the Dragon’s season.
The Indians won 10-0 and earned the district’s final playoff spot.
Wesley Murphey and Fatheree drove in two runs each to lead the team. Walker Murphey led the team with three hits. The team finished with 11 hits and drew six walks.
Walker Murphey also allowed zero runs and one hit while striking out five batters and walking none. The defense behind him committed only one fielding error.
Coach Zach Denson was beyond proud of this team for breaking the playoff drought.
“The amount of growth that they have shown throughout the year has been the most incredible I’ve seen in 13 years of coaching,” Denson said. “We went on a little skid in the middle of the year and that could have derailed our young team, but it actually brought us closer together as a unit.”
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
The Bowie Jackrabbits were able to clinch the final playoff spot on Thursday with a senior night home win against Henrietta.
The Jackrabbits won 6-1 in a game where all of the offensive action happened in the first three innings for both teams.
Bowie came into the game needing to win. Failing to do so would mean setting up a series with the Bearcats for the final playoff spot. If the Jackrabbits just took care of business against a team they had already beaten once pretty easily then they could avoid that whole situation.
Henrietta knew it was playing for the future of its season and struck first. A one out double followed by a single two batters later put the Bearcats up 1-0 against Bowie’s top pitcher Edmond De Leon on the mound.
The offense responded in the same inning with a two-out rally. Troy Kesey hit a single and Hayden Rodriguez drew a walk. De Leon then hit a double to drive one run in.
Cooper Hammer was then hit a by a pitch to load the bases up. Rayder Mann then drew a walk that scored one run and the Jackrabbits led 2-1 before the next batter popped up for out three.
Bowie added to that lead in the second inning. Boston Farris led off with a triple. Tucker Jones then hit a groundball to second base that resulted in an error that allowed Farris to score and make it 3-1 for the Jackrabbits.
Bowie then extended the lead in the third inning. Hammer hit a one-out single. Mann and Cy Egenbacher followed with hits that resulted in fielding errors for the Bearcats. The Jackrabbits scored one run on the second error.
Farris then hit a single that drove in another run. After a strikeout, a wild pitch then allowed another runner to score as Bowie was up 6-1. Another strikeout ended the scoring for the Jackrabbits.
The next three and half innings saw neither team score runs, though both had several chances with two runners getting on at times.
Henrietta’s best chance came in the fifth inning with two singles, but De Leon and Bowie’s defense shut that down. De Leon retired the final seven batters he faced as the Jackrabbits won 6-1.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
Last week all of the area schools competed in their district’s tennis tournament and several schools had athletes qualify for the regional tournament.
In the end, 10 athletes finished second or better at district to move on for a chance to qualify for state.
Unfortunately, no players from Bowie were able to break through and qualify.
Many faced early seeding opponents from tennis power Vernon that ended their tournament.
The highest finish for a Bowie player was Lily Hodges who placed fourth in girls singles.
From Nocona, one girl was able to break through as Kaygan Stone finished second in girls singles to qualify for regionals.
Stone has had a tough year, dealing with shoulder problems that shortened both her volleyball and basketball seasons, but she bounced back this spring to qualify for regionals in tennis.
Her teammate Melissa Segura was not so lucky, as she finished third in girls singles and just missed the cut, having to settle for an alternate spot
At the 1A tournament, several schools had multiple athletes in one division qualify.
From Saint Jo, last year’s state qualifying girl’s doubles team of Kyler Dunn and Taylor Patrick won the division.
They beat out the second place finisher and their teammates, the girl’s doubles team of Maxey Johnson and Bailey Nobile, who also qualified for regionals.
From Gold-Burg, Jimena Garcia and Alyson Rojas placed first and second in girls singles to move on to the regional tournament.
Other schools only had one team or individual.
From Forestburg, the mixed doubles team of Jesse Wadsworth and Alli Cisneros finished second as they qualified for regionals.
From Prairie Valley, Case Carpenter finished second in the boys singles division.
To read the full story and see pictures of all of the qualifiers, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
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