It's hard to say if having the subject of your first blog being about a hot dog contest is amazingly unique or just crazy. But either way, that's what we did to start July 4th, 2007. We hopped on to the Q subway and headed out to Coney Island. Having been out there before, we used our superior navigational skills to get lost almost immediately upon arrival. Once we recovered, we quickly hiked down the main drag in the Brooklyn neighborhood to throw ourselves into the crowd that had already formed two hours prior to the start of the contest. After some pushing, shoving, and liberal use of elbows we were able to make our way towards a somewhat decent view of the stage. It turns out that all the tall people in NYC got there early and had formed a phalanx that was not to be penetrated by Shelton's very own Miss Congeniality 1997, Ellen Sims. We had to settle for pictures being taken by raising the camera over our heads and pointing in the general direction of the most noise. Some turned out, some were deleted.
After hours of anticipation, the contest finally started. Eric "the red" Denmark was our early favorite, since he was the lone Seattle representative. However, we quickly turned our attention from him to the only two real competitors, Joey Chesnut and Takeru Kobayashi. The record in the prior year was 53.5 HDBs (HDB means hot dog and buns.) That means the estimated pace should be something like 5 HDBs a minute.
The contestants dove in to the plates at a furious pace. After the first minute, Joey Chestnut had consumed 15 HDBs. The crowded wanted to cheer, but most people had looks of shock and horror! The 12 minute contest went by without much change until the last minute of the contest. The crowd started to come alive, mostly with chants of "Joey, Joey, Joey." The race was close. At the one minute mark, it was clear the world record was going to be broken. Joey Chesnut was at 59 and Kobayashi was at 59. Can you even write a movie script with that much drama? As the ten second count down began, there was a massive shoveling maneuver performed by all contestants to get as many HDB's as possible into their cheeks. Chipmunks around the world were jealous. When the bell/whistle rung/blew, the unofficial counts were 62 for both competitors. It was going to be a 12 minute race decided by a crumb! After the officials convened for what seemed like hours, Joey Chestnut was pronounced the victor with a final count of 66 HDBs, compared with Kobayashi's 63. Amazing. The mustard yellow belt was going to stay in America. The 6-time defending champ was finally beaten.
After that, we were hungry but had no real desire to eat, again, ever. We stayed for the award ceremony then headed home to watch the whole thing again on ESPN, thank you DVR. And with that, I end my first blog.
See pictures of the Coney Island Hot Dog Contest here:
http://www1.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=159068756/a=12456302/t_=12456302
After hours of anticipation, the contest finally started. Eric "the red" Denmark was our early favorite, since he was the lone Seattle representative. However, we quickly turned our attention from him to the only two real competitors, Joey Chesnut and Takeru Kobayashi. The record in the prior year was 53.5 HDBs (HDB means hot dog and buns.) That means the estimated pace should be something like 5 HDBs a minute.
The contestants dove in to the plates at a furious pace. After the first minute, Joey Chestnut had consumed 15 HDBs. The crowded wanted to cheer, but most people had looks of shock and horror! The 12 minute contest went by without much change until the last minute of the contest. The crowd started to come alive, mostly with chants of "Joey, Joey, Joey." The race was close. At the one minute mark, it was clear the world record was going to be broken. Joey Chesnut was at 59 and Kobayashi was at 59. Can you even write a movie script with that much drama? As the ten second count down began, there was a massive shoveling maneuver performed by all contestants to get as many HDB's as possible into their cheeks. Chipmunks around the world were jealous. When the bell/whistle rung/blew, the unofficial counts were 62 for both competitors. It was going to be a 12 minute race decided by a crumb! After the officials convened for what seemed like hours, Joey Chestnut was pronounced the victor with a final count of 66 HDBs, compared with Kobayashi's 63. Amazing. The mustard yellow belt was going to stay in America. The 6-time defending champ was finally beaten.
After that, we were hungry but had no real desire to eat, again, ever. We stayed for the award ceremony then headed home to watch the whole thing again on ESPN, thank you DVR. And with that, I end my first blog.
See pictures of the Coney Island Hot Dog Contest here:
http://www1.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=159068756/a=12456302/t_=12456302
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