Competitive Eating Update

As a follow up to my earlier post and prediction of a Kobayashi win at this year's Nathan's July 4th Hot Dog Eating Competition I'm sad to report that I got it wrong, but almost right.  Apparently Kobayashi and Chestnut finished the 10-minute regulation time (down from 12 minutes this year as apparently it was discovered that the original competition in 1916 was only 10 minutes long.) tied with 59 hot dogs eaten.  They then went to a 5 hot dog lightning round where whoever eats their 5 dogs first is declared the winner and Chestnut eeked out the victory.  I'm going to cry a slight foul on this one as Kobayashi has developed his style of eating specifically for the "marathon" 10/12 minute scarf-fest and not the 5 hot dog sprint.  But then again, I suppose the competitors knew about the tie-breaker format and he should have been prepared to switch things up . . . .

Anywho, I'm about to go put some hot dogs on the grill myself, it is the 4th after all, but they won't be Nathan's.  These are actually the best dogs we've been able to find in our area, which is pretty scarce on specialty food shops - no nitrites or nitrates, uncured, all beef, no hormones, etc.  Still a hot dog but a little easier on the conscience and arteries.