Joey Chestnut Eats 66
Hot Dogs & Buns in 12 Minutes

Hot Dog Eating Contest "Fills Up" Quiet Time During Leisurely 4TH of July

July 4, 2007       Leave a Comment
By: O. J. Cunningham

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I don't know how you spent your Fourth of July 2007 but for one hour (noon to 1:00 p.m.) I was glued to my television - watching the fastest 12 minutes in sports.

The 2007 version of Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest was front and center on ESPN at noon on the 4TH of July. Sponsors for the nationally televised event were: (I'm not making this up) Long John Silvers Super-Sized Shrimp Festival, Heinz Ketchup, Alka-Seltzer and Axia3 (Heartburn Medicine)

The Prize: The Yellow Mustard Belt and $20,000.

The battle between American challenger Joey Chestnut and six-time Nathan's defending champion Takeru Kobayashi has been hyped for the past 10 days on ESPN much like a January Super Bowl. Many considered Kobayashi the "underdog" since he had just recently had a wisdom tooth removed and some felt that this would hamper his ability to chew.

Kobayashi won last year by eating 53 1/2 Hot Dogs & Buns (HDBs)in 12 minutes. But just a few weeks ago, Chestnut set the world record by eating 59+ HDBs in a warm-up event.

There were 30,000+ fans on-hand at Nathan's on the corner of Surf St. and Stillwell at Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York for the annual hot dog challenge.


Everyone on hand was looking for the winner to break the magical 60 HDBs in 12 minutes barrier.

Although the hype was almost completely centered around Chestnut and Kobayashi, there were other notables (15 men and 2 women) in the competition. These included:

A National Burrito Eating Champion

Some guy that had eaten 23 grilled cheese sandwiches in 10 minutes

"The Shredder" - The Baloney Eating Champion of the World

"The Mouth of the South" - The Pork 'n Beans Eating Champion

The Lumberjack Breakfast Eating Titleholder

A Shoo-fly Pie eating specialist

The Pigs Feet World Record Holder

Sonya Thomas - "The Black Widow" - Who has eaten 1/10th of her body weight in cheesecake

63-year-old Richard LeFevre (My Favorite) "The Locust" - Who holds the world record for eating the most SPAM in competition.

The 12-minute competition was "dog-eat-dog" right down to the final swallow. The rules are simple: Eat the most HDBs in 12 minutes. No Reversal of Fortune (Barfing) is allowed. Here's the "chew-by-chew" play-by-play. It was a jaw-to-jaw dog fight.

6 Minutes To Go - Chestnut 44 . . . Kobayashi 42

5 Minutes To Go - Chestnut 47 . . . Kobayashi 44

4 Minutes To Go - Chestnut 51 . . . Kobayashi 49

3 Minutes To Go - Chestnut 54 . . . Kobayashi 53

2 Minutes To Go - Chestnut 57 . . . Kobayashi 57 . . . OMGGGGG

1 Minutes To Go - Chestnut 60 . . . Kobayashi 60

0 Minutes To Go - Chestnut 66 . . . Kobayashi 63 (Final)

I hope your 4th of July was as much fun as mine.

PROGRAM REMINDER: Saturday Night, July 7th, 9:00 pm, Don't Miss the Bud Light Rock/Paper/Scissors Championship on ESPN. (Why Would I Lie?)

When's the baseball All-Star Game?

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O. J. Cunningham
O. J. Cunningham is the Publisher of MyBayCity.com. Cunningham previously published Sports Page & Bay City Enterprise. He is the President/CEO of OJ Advertising, Inc. More from O. J. Cunningham

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