Re: [scifinoir2] Japanese Eating Champion Crashes NYC Contest
Me too, Keith. I'm at the point where I tune out food porn like this. Sadly, it's gaining ground. The Travel Channel has two shows more or less devoted to it, Man vs Food and Food Wars (that may not be the exact title -- it's early). On Sun, Jul 4, 2010 at 9:51 PM, Keith Johnson keithbjohn...@comcast.netwrote: Okay, you can't write fiction any stranger than that. The whole concept of gorging food like this makes me ill for physical and social consciousness reasons. We all have too much food in the main in this country compared to much of the world, and many of us overindulge, but come on. And there's an eating league that's the counterpart of the NFL??? ** [AP News] NEW YORK — A Japanese eating champion who sat out this year's Coney Island Fourth of July hot dog contest apparently couldn't resist the temptation to hotdog afterward — and got arrested. Six-time champion Takeru Kobayashi was sitting in a jail cell Sunday after the annual Nathan's Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest. Earlier in the day, Joey Jaws Chestnut gobbled his way to a fourth consecutive championship. But he was suddenly upstaged by the surprise appearance of his biggest rival, Kobayashi, who crashed the eating platform after Chestnut's win and wrestled with police. Let him eat! Let him eat! the crowd chanted as officers handcuffed the world's No. 3 professional eater, dubbed The Tsunami. The 32-year-old Kobayashi did not compete this year because he refused to sign a contract with Major League Eating — the fast food equivalent of the NFL. On his Japanese-language blog, he said he wanted to be free to enter contests sanctioned by other groups. But a few days ago, he told Japan's Kyodo News: I really want to compete in the (Coney Island) event. Wearing a black T-shirt that said Free Kobi, Kobayashi mingled with the crowd, standing inside a police-barricaded pen just under the stage. When the eating ended, he slipped up the stage stairs. Then, several security officers appeared and tried to usher him off. He grabbed a metal police barricade with both hands, clutching it tightly as the officers pulled at him. Finally, they dragged him down the stairs, with Kobayashi resisting vehemently. He was expected to spend the night in jail awaiting an appearance in Brooklyn Criminal Court on charges of resisting arrest, trespassing and obstructing governmental administration. There's a contract dispute, so they weren't giving him his freedom, said Kobayashi's interpreter and publicist, Maggie James. She said he had hoped the Coney Island crowd would recognize him and he could offer them an eating demonstration for free. But nobody knew he'd jump onstage. Minutes earlier, Chestnut downed 54 hot dogs in 10 minutes to win the contest televised live on ESPN. The runner-up was Tim Eater X Janus, with a total of 45. Patrick Deep Dish Bertoletti came in third with 37 dogs. Chestnut was disappointed with his performance, despite claiming the bejeweled, mustard-yellow belt plus a $20,000 purse. The 26-year-old from San Jose, Calif., was aiming for a record 70 dogs in 10 minutes. I was dehydrated going in, he told The Associated Press, explaining that he did not drink enough liquids the day before because he was striving for an emptier stomach. After witnessing the drama involving Kobayashi, Chestnut said, I feel bad for him. Still, the Fourth on Coney Island paid tribute to two of America's biggest loves: hot dogs and competition. The two pastimes merged by the Brooklyn boardwalk, with a crowd of thousands squeezed elbow-to-elbow on a sweltering afternoon, with temperatures around 90 degrees. Eight-year-old Stephen Pearce found his own way of keeping cool: with ice cubes melting atop his head. It feels good. He said something else was cool as he watched Chestnut: I could never eat that many hot dogs! It's gross, said the boy from Chappaqua, N.Y. Americans enjoy 150 million hot dogs each July 4 — enough to stretch from D.C. to L.A. more than five times, said Janet Queen of Wien Riley, president of the National Hot Dog Sausage Council. Last year, Chestnut ate 68 dogs against Kobayashi's 64. That's about as many as the average American eats in a year — 60, according to the council. Coney Island is said to be the birthplace of fast food. The first hot dog was sold here around 1870 by German butcher Charles Feltman. His competitive, Polish-born employee, Nathan Handwerker, opened his own business in 1916 — Nathan's Famous, still the backdrop to the contest started here that year. According to local lore, immigrants arguing about who was most patriotic settled their dispute by testing who could eat more franks. Irishman Jim Mullen won with 13. After watching the stomach-churning feast, some of the tens of thousands of spectators could have used Pepto-Bismol — a new 2010 sponsor — before they joined the
Re: [scifinoir2] Japanese Eating Champion Crashes NYC Contest
Yeah, I've seen one of those, where this heavyset guy travels around trying to consume outrageously large portions of food, such as burgers the size of dinner plates and whatnot. I don't get the appeal at all. There was a Looney Tunes--or maybe it was Merry Melodies--cartoon from way back in the day about a little pig who always gorged himself at meals. He ends up having a nightmare where he's force fed by a mad scientist until his body is literally at the bursting point. But despite this, on his way to escape, he can't resist eating one more morsel and--kablam! The screen is awash in color as he explodes. Immediately the young pig wakes up, shaken badly by the dream--until Mom calls for dinner, at which point he runs to the table and proceeds to push his siblings aside and inhale his food as always. Shows like this remind of that cartoon. Back when I was a kid, a lot of the black parents used to point to that cartoon when they'd chastise us kids for being greedy. - Original Message - From: Martin Baxter martinbaxt...@gmail.com To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Sent: Monday, July 5, 2010 6:15:59 AM Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] Japanese Eating Champion Crashes NYC Contest Me too, Keith. I'm at the point where I tune out food porn like this. Sadly, it's gaining ground. The Travel Channel has two shows more or less devoted to it, Man vs Food and Food Wars (that may not be the exact title -- it's early). On Sun, Jul 4, 2010 at 9:51 PM, Keith Johnson keithbjohn...@comcast.net wrote: Okay, you can't write fiction any stranger than that. The whole concept of gorging food like this makes me ill for physical and social consciousness reasons. We all have too much food in the main in this country compared to much of the world, and many of us overindulge, but come on. And there's an eating league that's the counterpart of the NFL??? ** [AP News] NEW YORK — A Japanese eating champion who sat out this year's Coney Island Fourth of July hot dog contest apparently couldn't resist the temptation to hotdog afterward — and got arrested. Six-time champion Takeru Kobayashi was sitting in a jail cell Sunday after the annual Nathan's Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest. Earlier in the day, Joey Jaws Chestnut gobbled his way to a fourth consecutive championship. But he was suddenly upstaged by the surprise appearance of his biggest rival, Kobayashi, who crashed the eating platform after Chestnut's win and wrestled with police. Let him eat! Let him eat! the crowd chanted as officers handcuffed the world's No. 3 professional eater, dubbed The Tsunami. The 32-year-old Kobayashi did not compete this year because he refused to sign a contract with Major League Eating — the fast food equivalent of the NFL. On his Japanese-language blog, he said he wanted to be free to enter contests sanctioned by other groups. But a few days ago, he told Japan's Kyodo News: I really want to compete in the (Coney Island) event. Wearing a black T-shirt that said Free Kobi, Kobayashi mingled with the crowd, standing inside a police-barricaded pen just under the stage. When the eating ended, he slipped up the stage stairs. Then, several security officers appeared and tried to usher him off. He grabbed a metal police barricade with both hands, clutching it tightly as the officers pulled at him. Finally, they dragged him down the stairs, with Kobayashi resisting vehemently. He was expected to spend the night in jail awaiting an appearance in Brooklyn Criminal Court on charges of resisting arrest, trespassing and obstructing governmental administration. There's a contract dispute, so they weren't giving him his freedom, said Kobayashi's interpreter and publicist, Maggie James. She said he had hoped the Coney Island crowd would recognize him and he could offer them an eating demonstration for free. But nobody knew he'd jump onstage. Minutes earlier, Chestnut downed 54 hot dogs in 10 minutes to win the contest televised live on ESPN. The runner-up was Tim Eater X Janus, with a total of 45. Patrick Deep Dish Bertoletti came in third with 37 dogs. Chestnut was disappointed with his performance, despite claiming the bejeweled, mustard-yellow belt plus a $20,000 purse. The 26-year-old from San Jose, Calif., was aiming for a record 70 dogs in 10 minutes. I was dehydrated going in, he told The Associated Press, explaining that he did not drink enough liquids the day before because he was striving for an emptier stomach. After witnessing the drama involving Kobayashi, Chestnut said, I feel bad for him. Still, the Fourth on Coney Island paid tribute to two of America's biggest loves: hot dogs and competition. The two pastimes merged by the Brooklyn boardwalk, with a crowd of thousands squeezed elbow-to-elbow on a sweltering afternoon, with temperatures around 90 degrees. Eight-year-old Stephen Pearce
Re: [scifinoir2] Japanese Eating Champion Crashes NYC Contest
There's a woman doing a show like that now too. Why I dunno. Do we need multiple people eating gigantic portions of food? On Mon, Jul 5, 2010 at 2:52 PM, Keith Johnson keithbjohn...@comcast.netwrote: Yeah, I've seen one of those, where this heavyset guy travels around trying to consume outrageously large portions of food, such as burgers the size of dinner plates and whatnot. I don't get the appeal at all. There was a Looney Tunes--or maybe it was Merry Melodies--cartoon from way back in the day about a little pig who always gorged himself at meals. He ends up having a nightmare where he's force fed by a mad scientist until his body is literally at the bursting point. But despite this, on his way to escape, he can't resist eating one more morsel and--kablam! The screen is awash in color as he explodes. Immediately the young pig wakes up, shaken badly by the dream--until Mom calls for dinner, at which point he runs to the table and proceeds to push his siblings aside and inhale his food as always. Shows like this remind of that cartoon. Back when I was a kid, a lot of the black parents used to point to that cartoon when they'd chastise us kids for being greedy. - Original Message - From: Martin Baxter martinbaxt...@gmail.com To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Sent: Monday, July 5, 2010 6:15:59 AM Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] Japanese Eating Champion Crashes NYC Contest Me too, Keith. I'm at the point where I tune out food porn like this. Sadly, it's gaining ground. The Travel Channel has two shows more or less devoted to it, Man vs Food and Food Wars (that may not be the exact title -- it's early). On Sun, Jul 4, 2010 at 9:51 PM, Keith Johnson keithbjohn...@comcast.netwrote: Okay, you can't write fiction any stranger than that. The whole concept of gorging food like this makes me ill for physical and social consciousness reasons. We all have too much food in the main in this country compared to much of the world, and many of us overindulge, but come on. And there's an eating league that's the counterpart of the NFL??? ** [AP News] NEW YORK — A Japanese eating champion who sat out this year's Coney Island Fourth of July hot dog contest apparently couldn't resist the temptation to hotdog afterward — and got arrested. Six-time champion Takeru Kobayashi was sitting in a jail cell Sunday after the annual Nathan's Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest. Earlier in the day, Joey Jaws Chestnut gobbled his way to a fourth consecutive championship. But he was suddenly upstaged by the surprise appearance of his biggest rival, Kobayashi, who crashed the eating platform after Chestnut's win and wrestled with police. Let him eat! Let him eat! the crowd chanted as officers handcuffed the world's No. 3 professional eater, dubbed The Tsunami. The 32-year-old Kobayashi did not compete this year because he refused to sign a contract with Major League Eating — the fast food equivalent of the NFL. On his Japanese-language blog, he said he wanted to be free to enter contests sanctioned by other groups. But a few days ago, he told Japan's Kyodo News: I really want to compete in the (Coney Island) event. Wearing a black T-shirt that said Free Kobi, Kobayashi mingled with the crowd, standing inside a police-barricaded pen just under the stage. When the eating ended, he slipped up the stage stairs. Then, several security officers appeared and tried to usher him off. He grabbed a metal police barricade with both hands, clutching it tightly as the officers pulled at him. Finally, they dragged him down the stairs, with Kobayashi resisting vehemently. He was expected to spend the night in jail awaiting an appearance in Brooklyn Criminal Court on charges of resisting arrest, trespassing and obstructing governmental administration. There's a contract dispute, so they weren't giving him his freedom, said Kobayashi's interpreter and publicist, Maggie James. She said he had hoped the Coney Island crowd would recognize him and he could offer them an eating demonstration for free. But nobody knew he'd jump onstage. Minutes earlier, Chestnut downed 54 hot dogs in 10 minutes to win the contest televised live on ESPN. The runner-up was Tim Eater X Janus, with a total of 45. Patrick Deep Dish Bertoletti came in third with 37 dogs. Chestnut was disappointed with his performance, despite claiming the bejeweled, mustard-yellow belt plus a $20,000 purse. The 26-year-old from San Jose, Calif., was aiming for a record 70 dogs in 10 minutes. I was dehydrated going in, he told The Associated Press, explaining that he did not drink enough liquids the day before because he was striving for an emptier stomach. After witnessing the drama involving Kobayashi, Chestnut said, I feel bad for him. Still, the Fourth on Coney Island paid tribute to two of America's biggest loves: hot dogs and competition. The two
Re: [scifinoir2] Japanese Eating Champion Crashes NYC Contest
AP is having a little fun with this story. Major League Eating is a scam. Kobi is right not to sign, but he definitely shouldn't have rushed the stage. He's in much better shape than the cops on the scene, so when it looked liek he wasn't gonna go politely, the cops probably figured better safe than sorry, and cuffed him. I'm waiting to read the first draft of the script before Will Ferrell and Ben Stiller get it. This is a movie that BOTH of them need. On Jul 4, 2010, at 9:51 PM, Keith Johnson wrote: Okay, you can't write fiction any stranger than that. The whole concept of gorging food like this makes me ill for physical and social consciousness reasons. We all have too much food in the main in this country compared to much of the world, and many of us overindulge, but come on. And there's an eating league that's the counterpart of the NFL??? ** [AP News] NEW YORK — A Japanese eating champion who sat out this year's Coney Island Fourth of July hot dog contest apparently couldn't resist the temptation to hotdog afterward — and got arrested. Six-time champion Takeru Kobayashi was sitting in a jail cell Sunday after the annual Nathan's Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest. Earlier in the day, Joey Jaws Chestnut gobbled his way to a fourth consecutive championship. But he was suddenly upstaged by the surprise appearance of his biggest rival, Kobayashi, who crashed the eating platform after Chestnut's win and wrestled with police. Let him eat! Let him eat! the crowd chanted as officers handcuffed the world's No. 3 professional eater, dubbed The Tsunami. The 32-year-old Kobayashi did not compete this year because he refused to sign a contract with Major League Eating — the fast food equivalent of the NFL. On his Japanese-language blog, he said he wanted to be free to enter contests sanctioned by other groups. But a few days ago, he told Japan's Kyodo News: I really want to compete in the (Coney Island) event. Wearing a black T-shirt that said Free Kobi, Kobayashi mingled with the crowd, standing inside a police-barricaded pen just under the stage. When the eating ended, he slipped up the stage stairs. Then, several security officers appeared and tried to usher him off. He grabbed a metal police barricade with both hands, clutching it tightly as the officers pulled at him. Finally, they dragged him down the stairs, with Kobayashi resisting vehemently. He was expected to spend the night in jail awaiting an appearance in Brooklyn Criminal Court on charges of resisting arrest, trespassing and obstructing governmental administration. There's a contract dispute, so they weren't giving him his freedom, said Kobayashi's interpreter and publicist, Maggie James. She said he had hoped the Coney Island crowd would recognize him and he could offer them an eating demonstration for free. But nobody knew he'd jump onstage. Minutes earlier, Chestnut downed 54 hot dogs in 10 minutes to win the contest televised live on ESPN. The runner-up was Tim Eater X Janus, with a total of 45. Patrick Deep Dish Bertoletti came in third with 37 dogs. Chestnut was disappointed with his performance, despite claiming the bejeweled, mustard-yellow belt plus a $20,000 purse. The 26- year-old from San Jose, Calif., was aiming for a record 70 dogs in 10 minutes. I was dehydrated going in, he told The Associated Press, explaining that he did not drink enough liquids the day before because he was striving for an emptier stomach. After witnessing the drama involving Kobayashi, Chestnut said, I feel bad for him. Still, the Fourth on Coney Island paid tribute to two of America's biggest loves: hot dogs and competition. The two pastimes merged by the Brooklyn boardwalk, with a crowd of thousands squeezed elbow-to-elbow on a sweltering afternoon, with temperatures around 90 degrees. Eight-year-old Stephen Pearce found his own way of keeping cool: with ice cubes melting atop his head. It feels good. He said something else was cool as he watched Chestnut: I could never eat that many hot dogs! It's gross, said the boy from Chappaqua, N.Y. Americans enjoy 150 million hot dogs each July 4 — enough to stretch from D.C. to L.A. more than five times, said Janet Queen of Wien Riley, president of the National Hot Dog Sausage Council. Last year, Chestnut ate 68 dogs against Kobayashi's 64. That's about as many as the average American eats in a year — 60, according to the council. Coney Island is said to be the birthplace of fast food. The first hot dog was sold here around 1870 by German butcher Charles Feltman. His competitive, Polish-born employee, Nathan Handwerker, opened his own business in 1916 — Nathan's Famous, still the backdrop to the contest started here that year. According to local lore, immigrants arguing about who was most
Re: [scifinoir2] Japanese Eating Champion Crashes NYC Contest
Yeah, this has all the markings of a comedic movie, doesn't it? Actually, I'd rather seen a good documentary on the topic that lets the humour speak for itself. As for Kobi being in shape, yeah. If I remember correctly, he has serious washboard abs and is in great shape overall, unlike most of his competition. I think he doesn't eat anything close to this food on a regular basis. - Original Message - From: Daryle Lockhart dar...@darylelockhart.com To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Sent: Monday, July 5, 2010 6:57:23 PM Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] Japanese Eating Champion Crashes NYC Contest AP is having a little fun with this story. Major League Eating is a scam. Kobi is right not to sign, but he definitely shouldn't have rushed the stage. He's in much better shape than the cops on the scene, so when it looked liek he wasn't gonna go politely, the cops probably figured better safe than sorry, and cuffed him. I'm waiting to read the first draft of the script before Will Ferrell and Ben Stiller get it. This is a movie that BOTH of them need. On Jul 4, 2010, at 9:51 PM, Keith Johnson wrote: Okay, you can't write fiction any stranger than that. The whole concept of gorging food like this makes me ill for physical and social consciousness reasons. We all have too much food in the main in this country compared to much of the world, and many of us overindulge, but come on. And there's an eating league that's the counterpart of the NFL??? ** [AP News] NEW YORK — A Japanese eating champion who sat out this year's Coney Island Fourth of July hot dog contest apparently couldn't resist the temptation to hotdog afterward — and got arrested. Six-time champion Takeru Kobayashi was sitting in a jail cell Sunday after the annual Nathan's Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest. Earlier in the day, Joey Jaws Chestnut gobbled his way to a fourth consecutive championship. But he was suddenly upstaged by the surprise appearance of his biggest rival, Kobayashi, who crashed the eating platform after Chestnut's win and wrestled with police. Let him eat! Let him eat! the crowd chanted as officers handcuffed the world's No. 3 professional eater, dubbed The Tsunami. The 32-year-old Kobayashi did not compete this year because he refused to sign a contract with Major League Eating — the fast food equivalent of the NFL. On his Japanese-language blog, he said he wanted to be free to enter contests sanctioned by other groups. But a few days ago, he told Japan's Kyodo News: I really want to compete in the (Coney Island) event. Wearing a black T-shirt that said Free Kobi, Kobayashi mingled with the crowd, standing inside a police-barricaded pen just under the stage. When the eating ended, he slipped up the stage stairs. Then, several security officers appeared and tried to usher him off. He grabbed a metal police barricade with both hands, clutching it tightly as the officers pulled at him. Finally, they dragged him down the stairs, with Kobayashi resisting vehemently. He was expected to spend the night in jail awaiting an appearance in Brooklyn Criminal Court on charges of resisting arrest, trespassing and obstructing governmental administration. There's a contract dispute, so they weren't giving him his freedom, said Kobayashi's interpreter and publicist, Maggie James. She said he had hoped the Coney Island crowd would recognize him and he could offer them an eating demonstration for free. But nobody knew he'd jump onstage. Minutes earlier, Chestnut downed 54 hot dogs in 10 minutes to win the contest televised live on ESPN. The runner-up was Tim Eater X Janus, with a total of 45. Patrick Deep Dish Bertoletti came in third with 37 dogs. Chestnut was disappointed with his performance, despite claiming the bejeweled, mustard-yellow belt plus a $20,000 purse. The 26-year-old from San Jose, Calif., was aiming for a record 70 dogs in 10 minutes. I was dehydrated going in, he told The Associated Press, explaining that he did not drink enough liquids the day before because he was striving for an emptier stomach. After witnessing the drama involving Kobayashi, Chestnut said, I feel bad for him. Still, the Fourth on Coney Island paid tribute to two of America's biggest loves: hot dogs and competition. The two pastimes merged by the Brooklyn boardwalk, with a crowd of thousands squeezed elbow-to-elbow on a sweltering afternoon, with temperatures around 90 degrees. Eight-year-old Stephen Pearce found his own way of keeping cool: with ice cubes melting atop his head. It feels good. He said something else was cool as he watched Chestnut: I could never eat that many hot dogs! It's gross, said the boy from Chappaqua, N.Y. Americans enjoy 150 million hot dogs each July 4 — enough to stretch from D.C. to L.A. more than five times, said Janet Queen of Wien Riley, president of the National
[scifinoir2] Japanese Eating Champion Crashes NYC Contest
Okay, you can't write fiction any stranger than that. The whole concept of gorging food like this makes me ill for physical and social consciousness reasons. We all have too much food in the main in this country compared to much of the world, and many of us overindulge, but come on. And there's an eating league that's the counterpart of the NFL??? ** [AP News] NEW YORK — A Japanese eating champion who sat out this year's Coney Island Fourth of July hot dog contest apparently couldn't resist the temptation to hotdog afterward — and got arrested. Six-time champion Takeru Kobayashi was sitting in a jail cell Sunday after the annual Nathan's Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest. Earlier in the day, Joey Jaws Chestnut gobbled his way to a fourth consecutive championship. But he was suddenly upstaged by the surprise appearance of his biggest rival, Kobayashi, who crashed the eating platform after Chestnut's win and wrestled with police. Let him eat! Let him eat! the crowd chanted as officers handcuffed the world's No. 3 professional eater, dubbed The Tsunami. The 32-year-old Kobayashi did not compete this year because he refused to sign a contract with Major League Eating — the fast food equivalent of the NFL. On his Japanese-language blog, he said he wanted to be free to enter contests sanctioned by other groups. But a few days ago, he told Japan's Kyodo News: I really want to compete in the (Coney Island) event. Wearing a black T-shirt that said Free Kobi, Kobayashi mingled with the crowd, standing inside a police-barricaded pen just under the stage. When the eating ended, he slipped up the stage stairs. Then, several security officers appeared and tried to usher him off. He grabbed a metal police barricade with both hands, clutching it tightly as the officers pulled at him. Finally, they dragged him down the stairs, with Kobayashi resisting vehemently. He was expected to spend the night in jail awaiting an appearance in Brooklyn Criminal Court on charges of resisting arrest, trespassing and obstructing governmental administration. There's a contract dispute, so they weren't giving him his freedom, said Kobayashi's interpreter and publicist, Maggie James. She said he had hoped the Coney Island crowd would recognize him and he could offer them an eating demonstration for free. But nobody knew he'd jump onstage. Minutes earlier, Chestnut downed 54 hot dogs in 10 minutes to win the contest televised live on ESPN. The runner-up was Tim Eater X Janus, with a total of 45. Patrick Deep Dish Bertoletti came in third with 37 dogs. Chestnut was disappointed with his performance, despite claiming the bejeweled, mustard-yellow belt plus a $20,000 purse. The 26-year-old from San Jose, Calif., was aiming for a record 70 dogs in 10 minutes. I was dehydrated going in, he told The Associated Press, explaining that he did not drink enough liquids the day before because he was striving for an emptier stomach. After witnessing the drama involving Kobayashi, Chestnut said, I feel bad for him. Still, the Fourth on Coney Island paid tribute to two of America's biggest loves: hot dogs and competition. The two pastimes merged by the Brooklyn boardwalk, with a crowd of thousands squeezed elbow-to-elbow on a sweltering afternoon, with temperatures around 90 degrees. Eight-year-old Stephen Pearce found his own way of keeping cool: with ice cubes melting atop his head. It feels good. He said something else was cool as he watched Chestnut: I could never eat that many hot dogs! It's gross, said the boy from Chappaqua, N.Y. Americans enjoy 150 million hot dogs each July 4 — enough to stretch from D.C. to L.A. more than five times, said Janet Queen of Wien Riley, president of the National Hot Dog Sausage Council. Last year, Chestnut ate 68 dogs against Kobayashi's 64. That's about as many as the average American eats in a year — 60, according to the council. Coney Island is said to be the birthplace of fast food. The first hot dog was sold here around 1870 by German butcher Charles Feltman. His competitive, Polish-born employee, Nathan Handwerker, opened his own business in 1916 — Nathan's Famous, still the backdrop to the contest started here that year. According to local lore, immigrants arguing about who was most patriotic settled their dispute by testing who could eat more franks. Irishman Jim Mullen won with 13. After watching the stomach-churning feast, some of the tens of thousands of spectators could have used Pepto-Bismol — a new 2010 sponsor — before they joined the demolition-derby crowd of sticky bodies bumping their way through Surf Avenue. And it wasn't over till the Tsunami hit Coney Island — just not quite the way anyone expected. He's fighting for his freedom — on Independence Day! declared James, the interpreter-publicist. As a handcuffed Kobayashi was led from
