rss feedHigh Drama at Coney Island
Posted by Sarah DiGregorio at 2:53 PM, July 4, 2008
For the first time ever, the Nathan's competition came down to a dog-off. After 10 minutes, Joey Chestnut (last year's champ) and Takeru "The Tsunami" Kobayashi (2001-2006 champ) were tied with 59 dogs each. So the contest went to overtime—who could put down another 5 dogs and buns the fastest? Joey Chestnut, ladies and gentlemen. Chestnut wins a year's worth of Nathan's hot dogs, $20,000 and the right to keep the mustard yellow belt.
Tim "Eater X" Janus came in third, with 42 hot dogs.
Highlights:
A guy proposed to his shell-shocked girlfriend onstage during the pre-game show; she said yes; emcee Rich Shea then insisted that he was a reverend of the "Universal Church dot com," and mock-married them on the spot. Then Shea made them do a first dance to "Beverly Hills" by Weezer. The girlfriend looked increasingly pissed.
Um, the "bunettes"...sigh. These poor girls looked like deer in the headlights, and were made to shake their high school asses to Gwen Stefani.
Rich Shea fantasizing about Kobayashi "sireing a child" with Sonya Thomas.
Maybe I'm easily impressed, but I thought the Skyriders, trampoline artists that performed in the pre-game, were completely amazing.
Photo gallery (photos by Amol Mhatre) after the jump.
The bunettes
Crazy Legs Conti
Tim "Eater X" Janus
Kobayashi
Joey Chestnut
Badlands Booker
