Everything Wrong With America on Display at Hot Dog Contest
Competitive eating (aka food contests) is enough of a cultural phenomenon that the annual Nathan's hot dog chokedown is broadcast on ESPN. This weekend Joey Chestnut took the honors, but his greatest threat (and some would argue the "sport's" true champion), Japanese phenom Takeru Kobayashi, was barred from participating. (continued)
Competitive eating (aka food contests) is enough of a cultural phenomenon that the annual Nathan’s hot dog chokedown is broadcast on ESPN. This weekend Joey Chestnut took the honors, but his greatest threat (and some would argue the “sport’s” true champion), Japanese phenom Takeru Kobayashi, was barred from participating.
We don’t normally busy ourselves with this kind of lowbrow entertainment, but something foul is at work here and it deserves a moment of derision.
You see, something called Major League Eating wouldn’t let the great Kobayashi participate unless he agreed to sign a contract forcing him to eat exclusively for the “league.” Kobayashi refused, but showed up anyway. He was arrested while attempting to take the stage — even though he had the good manners to wait until the contest was over and the crowd was chanting “Let him eat!”
Is this really the message America needs to be sending on our national birthday? Not only do we eat competitively, but monopolistically, and we arrest anyone who gets in the way.
Happy birthday, America. Live fat or die. — PZS
WAIT BEFORE YOU GO...The Guardian:
A former hotdog-eating champion has been arrested after trying to crash the stage of the annual event in Coney Island, New York.
Six-time champion Takeru Kobayashi, of Japan, was in jail yesterday after the 4 July contest.
Earlier in the day, Joey “Jaws” Chestnut ate his way to a fourth consecutive championship. But he was upstaged by the appearance of his biggest rival, Kobayashi, who crashed the eating platform after Chestnut’s win and wrestled with police.
This year, the ground feels uncertain — facts are buried and those in power are working to keep them hidden. Now more than ever, independent journalism must go beneath the surface.
At Truthdig, we don’t just report what's happening — we investigate how and why. We follow the threads others leave behind and uncover the forces shaping our future.
Your tax-deductible donation fuels journalism that asks harder questions and digs where others won’t.
Don’t settle for surface-level coverage.
Unearth what matters. Help dig deeper.
Donate now.
Book Review
Opera fans will enjoy Patrick Mackie's close reading of the composer's final years.
Arts & Culture
The city known for Hollywood produces more plays than Broadway.
Labor
From the New School to museums and book publishers, we’re witnessing the black-turtleneck-worker uprising.
Artists who tell the truth are the mortal enemies of despots, who seek to distort the past, the present and the future.
Perhaps the most shocking statistic in the NBC News poll is that 47 percent of respondents say the subject of race relations never comes up in conversation with family and friends.
You need to be a supporter to comment.
There are currently no responses to this article.
Be the first to respond.