Hot Dog Eating Contest Season Begins (Now With Elephants)

The holiday weekend has all but started, which means the countdown is on to the 94th Annual Nathans Hot Dog Eating Contest. Tens of thousands will be watching Takeru Kobayashi and reigning champ Joey Chestnut shove the sticks of mechanically recovered meat down their throats. The current record stands at 66 hot dogs, and analysts have posted odds on the contest, in case you're, like, betting on this or something.

Odds for the Winner of the 94th Nathans Annual Hot Dog Eating Contest

Joey Chestnut -165
Takeru Kobayashi +135
Field (Any Other Eater) +300

Odds the Winner Will Beat the Record (66 Hot Dogs)

Yes the record will fall +180
The record will stay the same -400

Meanwhile, warm up for the main event with another eating contest: the first-ever cross-species competition, to be exact. It's elephants versus humans tomorrow morning (11 a.m.) on Coney Island, with Major League Eating and Barnum & Bailey teaming up for a six-minute hot dog bun-eating competition, held in cooperation with Nathan’s Famous. There will be three Ringling Bros. Asian elephants and three Major League Eaters. MLE's spokesman said: "This contest has significant implications for inter-species relations. If the humans win it shows we are unbeatable in this sport, and if the elephants win it will significantly enhance their stature in the animal kingdom." Who will win? Probably PETA.

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By Jen Carlson in Food on July 2, 2009 1:47 PM

Comments [rss]

RevWaldo

Please keep the elephants safe. The history of elephants and Coney Island circuses is less than stellar, to put it mildly -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topsy_(elephant)

Snoopy

"Coney Island circuses is less than stellar, to put it mildly" And Michael Jackson's performances were perhaps more humane?

Snoopy

Now Felix is complaining about hot dog buns? What is with this person, doesn't he realize that hot dog buns are not made out goslings, geese, polar bears, moose and any other thing that walks and crawls around the planet. It's a hot dog bun, not the first born son of mother Theresa.

Radtard

I've gone for the past two years. And what starts out as fun quickly devolves into one giant "ew stop it please!"

hotstepper

i love chest meat.

hotstepper

i love chest meat.

gamblor

"This contest has significant implications for inter-species relations. If the humans win it shows we are unbeatable in this sport"

I call bullshit. If they're going to make that claim, a human is going to have to avenge Kobayashi's loss to the Kodiak bear from Fox's "Man vs. Beast".

jibbly

YES. The grizzly bear destroyed Kobayashi. He started off toying with our emotions by languidly slurping up a wiener here, a wiener there, but eventually just scarfed down dozens at a time to crush the Japanese hero.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLzWJgMxQWA