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Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest: Kobayahsi Arrested! Records and Statistics
Sonna no uso da! Fuzakeruna yo! Were those the words of ex-champ Takeru Kobayahsi as he brazenly stormed the stage at the ninety-fifth annual Nathan’s Hot Dog eating contest yesterday?
Poor Takeru! Joey “Jaws” Chestnut had just crammed 54 franks down his gullet in 10 minutes and was being awarded his fourth consecutive Mustard-Yellow Belt, when the crazed Kobayashi ran up the dais and went all anime. By which I mean, he stood rock still and expostulated and expostulated and expostulated. The only thing that was missing were his tentacles.
But New York’s Finest were there—thank you, boys!—and, after a brief struggle, fitted Kobayashi out with a set of personalized, Fourth of July, silver bracelets. Off to chokey! But not in the way Takeru had hoped.
Poor Takeru. It didn’t have to end this way.
It was 4 July 2001, at Nathan’s hot dog stand at the corner of Surf and Stillwell, in Coney Island, Brooklyn. I was there with about 150 fans—yes! only 150!—as we watched Kobayashi and his rivals mount the stage. It was the big men that impressed: eating legends like Ed “Cookie” Jarvis (who is now down with a thyroid cancer injury) and Eric “Badlands” Booker. Takeru practically disappeared behind these behemoths.
Continue wmbriggs.com/blog/?p=2587
