A great moment in American history

[Olympic Fan]

Driving home today from an errand, I was listening to ESPN radio and heard a replay of the closing moments of the Coney Island Hot Dog Eating Contest.

The guy doing the commentary was going nuts. Al Michaels didn't loose it like that when the US Hockey team beat the Soviets in Lake Placid. As Joey Chesnut closed in on his upset of Kobyashi, he screamed, "If he can just hang on, this will be the greatest moment in American sports history ... Joey Chesnut bringing home the Coney Island hot dog eating championship after nine straight years!"

Then he added, "Tomorrow, if you google 'America heroes' you'll see the names Abraham Lincoln ... Neil Armstrong ... Taylor Hicks ... and Joey Chesnut!'"

Yeah, what a great moment for American -- we've reclaimed the mantle as the world's greatest gluttons. And potential Presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg was there to celebrate it.

ESPN posted a picture of Chesnut, draped in the American flag, almost as if he was Jim Craig.

Seriously, ESPN has gone beyond parody ...

BTW: Who the heck is Taylor Freakin' Hicks?

[Channing]

I dont know if you have ever bothered watching one of those events when they air them on TV, but they are actually quite entertaining. They make a whole big production out of it, and everyone present seems to be enjoying themselves. When the competitors come in they tell you wehre they have succeeded and what there specialty is, and the fans go crazy.

Remember, ESPN stands for ENTERTAINMENT and sports programming network. If ESPN has found a new event that entertains people, good for them for airing it.

[dkbaseball]

BTW: Who the heck is Taylor Freakin' Hicks?

A pity, O.F. You've lost touch with the greatness of America. Taylor Hicks of course is last year's American Idol.

When the entire public discourse has become, or sounds like, self parody, is that the point when we've stepped through the looking glass into Wonderland?

[rthomas]

PeeUKE.

Lincoln and Taylor Hicks?

Neil Armstrong and hot dog eater?

I don't think so.

I'm eating steak. My kid is shooting fireworks. Go USA!

[wilson]

You guys aren't serious, are you? The commentator's bit was obvious self-parody. It's difficult to lay the sarcasm on via TV, but I caught it loud and clear. If you took that seriously, then your only problem is that you need to lighten up.

[Deslok]

Well, I would have watched, but I don't get ESPN8, the Ocho, over here.

[Indoor66]

Well, I would have watched, but I don't get ESPN8, the Ocho, over here.

and so very fortunate you are!

[Dukerati]

You guys aren't serious, are you? The commentator's bit was obvious self-parody. It's difficult to lay the sarcasm on via TV, but I caught it loud and clear. If you took that seriously, then your only problem is that you need to lighten up.

And hilarious sarcasm at that. I throughly enjoyed the announcing and will even go as far as to say that yesterday was the way it SHOULD be announced. Competitive eating is not for the conservative.

[Olympic Fan]

Look,

I understood what ESPN was doing when I started this thread -- my comment about Taylor Hicks was in the same over-the-top vein (just in the other direction).

But that doesn't mean I liked what they did. I don't.

The trouble of a legimiate news organization actually covering an event and treating it as a joke presents problems for me. Where do they draw the line? If their coverage of a hot-dog eating contest is played for laughs, is their coverage of the X Games (in my mind, just as ludicrous as hot dog eating) straightforward or a joke? Does the tongue in cheek coverage leak over into women's softball ... unimportant men's basketball games ... major league baseball?

When can we take what they say seriously and when are they joking, or worse, just trying to be procative? That's something that goes on a lot in talk radio (which ESPN sponsors) -- one reason to have two hosts is so that one can say that Barry Bonds is a criminal who ought to be in jail because he cheated by using steroids and the other can say Bonds is the greatest player who ever lived and nobody gives a damn about steroids. That will generate the phone calls.

There's a place for humor on ESPN ... I loved the Sklar brothers' show and even though I don't care for UNC-lover Stuart Scott, I enjoy a lot of the repartee on the Sports Center desk.

Sports should be fun ... but when you are a journalistic entity there is a line you don't cross. At least IMHO.

[JasonEvans]

As a journalist I have no problem at all with the way ESPN covered this event. It was fun and funny and, mot importantly, the hyperbole was OBVIOUS!! Anyone watching could tell they were just joking around. They went so far over the top that it had to be a joke. That is what makes it ok. If it was not obvious hyperbole then it would not have worked and I might haev a problem with it, but when the announcer puts Chestnut alongside Abe Lincoln then you know he is just doing it for fun.

Come on people, lighten up.

And the final minutes of that contest were as much drama as I've seen in any sporting event in several months. That was fun!! My sona dn I were on the edge of our seats cheering at the TV. It was great!!

The biggest problem I have is that ESPN did a terrible job of announcing the final result. They went to commercial with the final tally unknown and speculation about what would happen because of Kobayashi's "reversal of fortune" and then they came back and never explained how it had been resolved except Chestnut had won with 66 dogs. They built up a moment of great drama and then it was like they skipped the 3 minutes that mattered and just gave us the ending. I felt cheated.

-Jason "we also needed a post-match report on whether Kobayahi's jaw had affected his performance" Evans

[rthomas]

Listen. I don't mind eating. I don't even mind eating a hot dog now and then. But how many hot dogs had to give up their life for gratuitous gluttony and the enteratainment of the 100's who watched this. Shame on ESPN.

[Duvall]

The trouble of a legitimate news organization actually covering an event and treating it as a joke presents problems for me.

Well, there's your problem. This was ESPN, not a legitimate organization of any kind, let alone news.

[EarlJam]

Did anyone catch the "rematch" eight hours later on ESPN? Well, they called it a rematch anyway. To me, it was a seperate contest alltogether. Kobyashi and Chesnut in the "Heaviest Bowel Movement" competition.

Kobyashi actually won by two ounces in a gut-wrenching, explosive rectum-biter that had the fans on the edge of their toilet lids.

Okay, hey, that's really gross and I'm sorry, but that would make for a great tie-breaker though, eh? No, but seriously, what would they do in the event of a tie?

-EarlJam

[JasonEvans]

Did anyone catch the "rematch" eight hours later on ESPN? Well, they called it a rematch anyway. To me, it was a seperate contest alltogether. Kobyashi and Chesnut in the "Heaviest Bowel Movement" competition.

Kobyashi actually won by two ounces in a gut-wrenching, explosive rectum-biter that had the fans on the edge of their toilet lids.

Okay, hey, that's really gross and I'm sorry, but that would make for a great tie-breaker though, eh? No, but seriously, what would they do in the event of a tie?

-EarlJam

In a tie the rules call for a 1-minute eat-off tiebreaker. Chestnut would be waaay favored in this as he is a faster starter while Kobayashi is a closer who continues to pack them in late in the competition. Chestnut can easily do 13 or more dogs in 1 minute.

I think a better tie-breaker would be a "sudden death" competition where they alternate each eating one hot dog at a time until one of them passes out. Sorta like the drinking contest that Marion wins at the beginning of Raiders.

-Jason "" Evans

[jimsumner]

MEMO

To: Anyone who cares
FROM: Me
RE: Competitive eating

If I ever find my life so devoid of meaning and stimulation that I feel compelled to watch strangers stuff themselves with hot dogs, you have my explicit permission to put me out of my misery. Just make it quick.

[Dukerati]

MEMO

To: Anyone who cares
FROM: Me
RE: Competitive eating

If I ever find my life so devoid of meaning and stimulation that I feel compelled to watch strangers stuff themselves with hot dogs, you have my explicit permission to put me out of my misery. Just make it quick.

Geez Jim, I guess my life isn't worth living anymore! The thirty minutes I spent on a holiday watching humans tackle unimaginably large mounds of hot dogs must mean I was in the deep throes of depression and boredom. Oh woe is me.

On another note, did anyone see Tim Janus (aka Eater 'X' aka Dude who paints his face) hold up that sign with the potential spoiler for Harry Potter? Regardless of the signs' veracity, it was a real douchy thing to do and he is officially villain #1 in the competitive eating world to me.

[EarlJam]

There's about 10,000 soulless, meaningless, "empty," ridiculous, stupid, brainless, mind-numbing, pathetic reality TV shows on every night of the week on almost every network channel - and then some - and people are complaining about the meaninglessness of a once-a-year hot dog eating contest????

Geeeeeeeeeeeeesh.

-EarlJam

[jimsumner]

"There's about 10,000 soulless, meaningless, "empty," ridiculous, stupid, brainless, mind-numbing, pathetic reality TV shows on every night of the week on almost every network channel"

And you know what? I manage to find myself too busy to watch any of them.

Full disclosure. I did watch one episode of American Idol. It was the Clay Aiken-Reuben Studdard (sp?) sing-off. I figured since Clay and I share a hometown, why not? Bored beyond belief.

And I did suffer through some Taylor Hicks commercials (Chevy?) when the remote control was buried under some papers and I couldn't find the mute switch quickly enough. If the rest of the AI competition was worse than this hack, then I'm confident I didn't miss anything.

But at least AI and the rest don't pretend to be sports. I freely confess that one of my pet peeves is turning on a sports channel and seeing poker, spelling bee, competitive eating et. al. Everytime I turned on Sportscenter yesterday, they were showing pictures of Kobayashi throwing up. Hey, I know it's July and everything but the real sports world can't be that bereft of sports.

Notice that I didn't suggest putting anyone else out of their misery. Whatever floats your boat. But I've got 1440 minutes per day and that ain't enough for Kobayashi.

[EarlJam]

I freely confess that one of my pet peeves is turning on a sports channel and seeing poker, spelling bee, competitive eating et. al. Everytime I turned on Sportscenter yesterday, they were showing pictures of Kobayashi throwing up. Hey, I know it's July and everything but the real sports world can't be that bereft of sports.

I must admit, we are in full agreement on everything you said in the quote above - as well as the whole throwing up thing.

-EarlJam (who, by the way, threw up Sunday night due to a virus - tooooooo much information!)

[Channing]

Listen. I don't mind eating. I don't even mind eating a hot dog now and then. But how many hot dogs had to give up their life for gratuitous gluttony and the enteratainment of the 100's who watched this. Shame on ESPN.

certainly not as many as lose their life to supply all the baseballs throughout the course of a major league baseball season - and dont tell me that those come from cows who were dead anyway, because we all know that hot dogs come from the "leftovers."