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It's our favorite July 4th tradition, this side of smiley-face fireworks: The Annual Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest, held at Nathan's in Coney Island. And this year's competition is particularly tantalizing: Current champion Takeru Kobayashi has been having jaw pains, while Joey Chestnut broke the hot dog eating record, by scarfing down 59.5 at a June event. So we shall begin our liveblogging, and Jen Chung and Tien Mao will be providing other commentary during the competition from time to time.
12:09PM ESPN reports that they are expecting 30,000 people at Coney Island - and it does look packed at Surf and Stillwell. Kobayashi arrived, and apparently he's been getting acupuncture treatment.
Jen Chung: I like this bit of hyperbole from the Nathan's site: "The bejeweled Coveted Mustard Yellow International Belt, worn only by the International Champion, is to hot dog aficionados what Faberge Eggs were to Czar Nicholas. The belt is of unknown age and value, and is unveiled only at the annual contest."
Tien Mao: I like how it's the Mustard Belt, yet they aren't putting any of that tasty condiment onto their dogs.
Jen Chung: Well, Heinz is the sponsor.
12:15PM Commentators mention that there may be a 13-dog pace, and that Joey Chestnut has quite the swagger. Plus Chestnut touched his jaw - is that trash talking?
Jen Chung: Ha, they called "Eater X" the Jake Plummer of competitive eating." And is it sexist that when they discuss Sonya Thomas, they say, "She's beautiful."
12:19PM Now it's the part of the ESPN segment where they visit the Coney Island side shows. The eating contest is in 21 minutes!! Oh, and the side show folks are discussing the fate of Coney Island, given the new development plans. They emphasize that Coney Island isn't shutting down.
Ooh, a feature on Chestnut. He seems focused.
Tien Mao: I don't know about ESPN's "Mustard Vs. Wasabi." I'm not sure I would consider mustard the national condiment of the United States. And I doubt they would consider wasabi their national condiment in Japan.
Jen Chung: I don't get the mention of Gedde Watanabe - is it just so they can say "Donger needs food?" Man, this is what happens when it's an eating contest between a Japanese champ and Americans!
12:27PM: ESPN interviews other competitive eaters to ask them about Kobayashi's jaw. They all like him and want him to feel healthy and good. Crazy Legs Conti says that great athletes fight through the pain, like Curt Schilling.
Okay, now they are calling out the competitors. Some of them are: Burrito specialist and wild card Tim Brown. Wild card Long Islander Allen Goldstein. Dale "Mouth of the South" Boone. Crazy Legs Conti from the Lower East Side. Juliet Lee, a 105-pound Chinese immigrant. Eric "The Red" Denmark. Arturo Rios, pigs' feet eating champion of the world.
Tien Mao: I love that Rios has a PR flag necklace
Jen Chung: And he's a Daily News driver!
Aha, Sonya "The Black Widow" Thomas! She's got many championships under her belt, including Turducken eating!
Jen Chung: How is your hot dog eating going, Tien?
Tien Mao: I'm proud to report that I can easily eat a hot dog in three bites.
Next attempt - two bites!
Tim "Eater X" Janus is holding a sign that says "Hermione Dies." Patrick Bertoletti does pushups on stage.
12:36PM Joey Chestnut, the world record holder for hot dog eating, arrives to a boisterous crowd! Now it's Takeru "The Tsunami" Kobayashi arrives, the crowd goes CRAZY!!!!
12:41PM Joey Chestnut's preparation: He had a gallon of water at 6AM. He hasn't been eating any solid food for the past two days. He's really hungry. And it's on.
Chestnut has eaten 10 hot dogs in 50 seconds. Kobayashi is trailing right behind him. Bertolini is in third. But it's still early in the competition.
12:45PM Wow, Chestnut is at 36 dogs, Kobayashi has changed styles twice and is at 31 hot dogs. Bertoletti is at 28 dogs.
Jen Chung: stupid ESPN commentator mentioning According to Jim. I hate you, corporate synergy!
Tien Mao: Stop making basketball analogies! Most the watchers don't know anything about basketball
Tien Mao: I like the flat belly of the model behind Kobayashi. I wonder when the last time she ate was.
Wow! Kobayashi pulled within one dog of Chesnut! A new record this year is coming!
12:49PM A new Nathan's record - Chestnut hits 54 dogs. But with 2.5 minutes left, Chestnut and Kobayashi are at 55 dogs. Damn!
The two break Chestnut's world record! 60 dogs!!!!
Time is called! Chesnut ended around 66 dogs, Kobayashi with 63. Kobayashi may have puked. It looks like Chesnut has won, but the judges are reviewing the tape. Dunh dunh DUNH.
Tien Mao: I think I just saw a reversal of fortune
Jen Chung: did Kobayashi puke?
Tien Mao: I think so! I saw water come out.
Tien Mao: The slo-mo replay was even more gross.
Jen Chung: It'll be all over YouTube.
12:57PM Okay, the official announcement from George Shea. Takeru Kobayashi ate 63 dogs to secure second place, which means Joey Chestnut has brought the Mustard Belt back to America by eating an insane 66 dogs!
Tien Mao: Did you see george shea force the flag onto chestnut?
Jen Chung: I think the weather helped the record. It was a great competition, both were performing well.
Tien Mao: Yeah, great weather for the event.
Jen Chung: Last year was hotter.
Tien Mao: After watching how Kobayashi finished that contest, I'm glad that the broadcast on ESPN HD wasn't really in HD.
Final standings: Chestnut ate 66 dogs, Kobayashi ate 63, and Patrick Bertoletti, who was eating in honor of Nicky Hilton (she's in the shadow of Paris, as Bertoletti feels he's in the shadow of Chesnut), ate 49 dogs. Chestnut told ESPN he could eat another hot dog right now.
Photograph of Mayor Bloomberg getting a hug from a Nathan's Hot Dog mascot at yesterday's weigh-in by Louis Lanzano/AP
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Come on Chesnut, win this one for the USA
Is Chesnut is really name? Sounds like Pauly Bagodonuts.
who's the other commentater on espn, he has a conservative bent and should get bent.
there should be no politics in this event. for shame.
those two asian females look very good for their age. 39 and 41.
Is there a place where I can watch this live online? Or is that wishful thinking? I don't have cable =(
No eating for two days? Doesn't that shrink your stomach?
Less than half a dog margin, it's close.
this contest is the sickest thing ever! ewwwwww
I hope that ching chong wa goes down. U-S-A!!!!!!!!
Oh well,
at least Serena williams beat Sharapova.
Woot! Go Chesnut!
That's alright. The USA can't sustain any championships. Next year ,the Japs will create a new monster with a new eating techniques and will bust Joey's nuts and the bust on his face... bukkake style.
USA!! USA!! USA!! USA!!
That's right!! USA proves that Americans are still the biggest and fattest glutton in the world. The amount of food chowed down today could have fed a village in Africa for a week!!
The parallel of the hotdog eating contest with the failure of the American electronic and auto industries is so obvious.
#9 It was Venus who beat Sharapova, get your Williams sista straight, dumbass!
she still beat a white girl, that's all that matters to me, sucka.
great coverage!
george
Hamburger America
ALTHOUGH CHESTNUT DID NOT EAT FOR TWO DAYS HE WAS STILL DRINKING WATER TO KEEP HIS STOMACH STRECHED AND IT TAKES ABOUT 2 WEEKS OR SO TO REALLY START TO SHRINK YOUR STOMACH, I KNOW THIS BECAUSE I WAS IN WRESTLING ALL THE WAY THROUGH COLLEGE. HE ALSO DRANK A GALLON OF WATER AT 6:00 AM THE DAY OF THE CONTEST ONE FINAL STRECH YOU KNOW
Yeah great coverage, there were so many people.
America wins!
I'm going to check out Die Hard over in Bay Ridge. Long live Astroland and Coney Island Americana.
-Americo de ThunkDifferent.com
#15 - white girls get beat by black girls all the time in school, that's why we should go back to segregating them.
who's the other commentater on espn, he has a conservative bent and should get bent.
there should be no politics in this event. for shame.
those two asian females look very good for their age. 39 and 41.
A) The announcers on ESPN were completely tongue in cheek. Maybe you are the one that should get bent.
And you say there should be no politics in this event but it's ok for you to be a total racist. Go F yourself.
The parallel of the hotdog eating contest with the failure of the American electronic and auto industries is so obvious.
Zzzzzzzzzz. At least we have software. Did the Japanese develop the iPod or the iPhone? No. It's all about software. Pick up a newspaper.
And the UAW destroyed the US auto industry.
I see the racists don't take a break on the fourth and worship ann coulter.
when you mean tongue in cheek I think you meant the commentators tongue on Sean haddity's cheek because he mentione sean haddity.
YOu go Eff yourself you closet racist.
and shove your 14 words.
#21 - Softwares? Are you stupid or something? Take a good look at the programmers in Microsoft or Oracle and all you see are Indian, Russians or Asians from aboard writing the programs. Americans are more creative but the catch-up time is so short, especially for technology, that cheaper and more efficient foreign brands come to the markets so fast, while lazy Americans sit on their asses until another industry is taken over. Please name even one American brand of HDTV that is as competitive as foreign made brands.
I just noticed I recorded this eating competition on the same tape as the eating disorder documentary Thin.
Wow, great effort on Kobayashi-san's part!
Amazing new records!!
Chestnut is going to take the most massive, rancid smelling shit ever...very soon.
i wonder if there's contests for that sort of thing.
I thought you get disqualified if you puke?
great coverage Gothamist !
So many racists on here. I love it.
Of course, only ignorant folks would be into this shit.
that was crazy this guy is cool
Wow! They actually ran this stupid shit on the news today . Personally, It would be nice if during one of these "Competitions" all the contestants stomachs would simotaneously exploded expelling there contents . That would be worthy of breaking news ! As well as one of them corny public service messages . Posted by; "Still Not Amused"
I heard that reference to Sixteen Candles, too.
don't know why it would be mentioned it's not like this guy is chris berman or anything.
He did mention Sean Haddity.
Still not amused is a dueche bag...sna was bustin on the hot dog competition last year too. go find something else to complain about
I love how uncomfortable Bloomberg looks in that picture.
Suggestion to "Still Not Amused": since you've already bothered to create such an inappropriately self-important tag for yourself (in light of your repeatedly stupid yet simultaneously irrelevant comments), why not also take a few moments to learn the basic rules of grammar and spelling?
Ah, Mr. Creosote.