Stage 1 of the Tour de France had finished in a series of crashes, and Rafa had wrapped up another Wimbledon title. What else was there in the way of sport to watch on television?
I strayed over to ESPN America, where usually I’d find something like live baseball at this time of year. But it’s Independence Day in the US, so there was something slightly different: Nathan’s International Hot Dog Eating Contest.
Yes – ESPN America was bringing LIVE coverage of a bunch of men eating a disgusting amount of food. I’m no spring chicken, and I’ve heard about these kinds of contests before, but is that really what gets broadcast on a major sports network on July 4? I found it gross, and actually quite sickening to watch. I stumbled across it somewhere towards to the end of the broadcast with what I imagine were the finalists stuffing food down their gullets while trying not to throw it back up. In front of each of them was a referee with the unenviable task of counting how many hot dogs (and buns!) each competitor was eating.
And lest you think otherwise, there was an enormous crowd at the location – Coney Island.
I tuned away to another channel.
But then I tuned back.
I’ve no doubt this “harmless” event has been going on for years without problem. But when the eventual winner was interviewed he seemed to be downing some kind of pink medicine – no doubt to keep his guts from spewing right back up.
I later spotted this story in my RSS reader – a former competitor who is no longer aligned with “Major League Eating” (I am not kidding), had tried to storm the stage and compete unofficially.
I notice their website has this warning:
All applicants must be 18 years of age or older and fully acknowledge and understand the inherent dangers and risks associated with participating in an eating contest.
Utterly vile.