Must See TV
Please tell me you were watching ESPN tonight (Thursday). Please tell me you saw the replay of Nathan's Hot Dog Eating competition, followed immediately by the Alka-Seltzer US Open of Competitive Eating. Because this might be the best 90 minutes of TV I've ever watched.
I studied my way through high school and college, but can I eat 40 hot dogs in 12 minutes? How much did college cost? Apparently, I didn't really learn anything.
Takeru Kobayashi won over $500,000 last year. He's 26, I think? I bet he's going to have some sweet stories to tell at his 10 year reunion:
classmate - I got my MBA from Harvard, married a model, and I'm now working for a Fortune 500 company making $150,000.
Takeru - I set world records by eating 53.5 hot dogs in 12 minutes, 17.7 pounds of cow brains in 15 minutes, 59 Krystal square burgers in 8 minutes, and 20 pounds of rice balls in 15 minutes. Oh, and I made $500,000 last year. I'll now help myself to your wife.
(Turns to wife, nods head.) What's up, baby? (walks away with wife, heads towards dancing leprechauns)
But until there's a competitive cereal eating circuit, it's all just a dream for me.
Comments
cadiz12 said:
i saw some of the pictures in the paper. how the heck does he do that? a while ago i saw a tiny little 100-pound woman who was a champion, too, on leno. she said it's b/c her stomach is "stretchy." mind-boggling. dude, i'd probably puke after the first three hot dogs.
Jon said:
Yeah, the most amazing thing about Kobayashi is that you would never even suspect him of being capable of such a feat. I bet he totally hustles fat guys all over the world. He is dominant and I am jealous. (and you didn’t even bring up the fact that half of that 150k is probably going to student loans anyway… for Takeru, it’s literally all gravy!)
Nadia said:
I hate sausages. I like hot dogs though. Don't you dare tell me there's no difference.
Boy, it's gonna be a real bitch when all that food catches up to him in his old age. Cereal-eating makes so much more sense.
Speaking of which, are there any plans for omarphillips.net to branch out into the culinary industry?
cadiz12 said:
every time i hear/see the name kobayashi, i think about 'the usual suspects.'
I said:
cadiz - I don't think there is any explanation as to how he does it. Just like that skinny girl, Sonya Thomas. She is the #2 ranked competitive eater in the world, and she actually holds way more records than Kobayashi. It's amazing. I consider myself an expert on the "sport" now, by the way.
jon - Dominant indeed. He's inspiring, really.
nadia - There most certainly is a difference. And though I hadn't considered taking omarphillips.net in that direction, now that you mention it, the idea has merit.
Just another general side note, they showed a graphic that explained how many calories Kobayashi consumed during his record setting hot dog eating performance. They said he ate OVER 17,500 CALORIES. IN 12 MINUTES.
RaJ said:
Seems like stuff besides their stomachs would need to stretch. Also seems like Omar would need another poll choice for these extraordinary people:
"All Of The Above"
Sarah said:
Kobayashi??
Who is Kaiser Soze'?
mep said:
I didn't watch that last night, but I did watch those a while ago when they were on. Kobayashi was so far ahead of the second place girl. It was insane.
I could do an eating contest if it was something like homemade icecream . . . mmmmm.
Jym Ferrier
said:
Cereal is for suckers. Just because your mommy wouldn't let you eat bowl after bowl of sugar covered in sugar doesn't mean you can do that now! It's gonna make you fat!
Viking054 said:
That's just not right. How can anyone eat that much, and that fast? I know I would pop, like the fat guy in Monty Python's Meaning of Life...
Didn't he go against a bear on that Man vs Beast show last year? I think he lost too...
I said:
viking - Yes, that was him, and he did lose. Supposedly, he took that loss very hard.
jym - Fat is a state of mind.
mep - Wouldn't it be hard to speed-eat something cold? It makes my teeth hurt just thinking about it.
MEP said:
Perhaps. That's a good point, but I was just thinking about something that I can eat a LOT of. I wasn't considering speed I suppose.
Maybe cheesecake would be a better pick.
Nadia said:
Omar - It's a state of mind? Someone help me pack, quick! I'm moving right now!