The annual Nathan’s hot dog eating competition has a beef with their 16 time champion, Joey Chestnut. The organizers of the Coney Island event banned Chestnut this July 4th for signing an endorsement deal with Impossible foods that makes plant-based franks. I don’t see the Michael Jordan of competitive eating suddenly going vegan. Nathan’s is acting like a wiener in this because you don’t want the champion of your event to be supporting the competition’s dog. Seeing Chestnut win the belt and then hock the vegan franks. Which are made out of what exactly? If hot dogs have the mystery meats and bones rolled up together, a plant based frank is what? Dandelions and chick weed. The 4th of July without Chestnut may be to some like Christmas without a Santa Claus. The games will go on and the bigger players will survive as well.

Guys like Joey Chestnut will not just sit on his buns and take the news about being banned from the 4th of July tradition of Nathan’s. Chestnut who is 40 years old and his arch rival Takeru Kobayashi who is 46 years old, he too was banned from Nathan’s about a contract dispute. They will square off on Labor Day weekend. The event will be streaming all over the entire world being on Netflix. Not sure what hot dog brand will be the pick of poison for these two. Could the plant base frankfurters that Chestnut now backs get some legs? Kobayashi, they call him the Godfather of the eating world in these competitions. Kabayashi has won six Mustard belts he has won competing at Coney Island. Last time these rivals squared off was in 2007. Kabayashi actually announced he was retiring last month from competitive eating for health reasons. You know the sport of eating the most hot dogs is like boxing. Mike Tyson coming back to the ring this summer. Kabayashi wants to take down Chestnut one last time in this Labor Day weekend melee.

Everyone was sick of Tom Brady and the New England Patriots and that dynasty. Many now are sick of Patrick Mahomes and those irritating State Farm commercials. In sports you want to see new blood once in a while. We know Joey Chestnut is impossible to beat as he wolfed down 76 dogs in 2021 in ten minutes. A record that can stand for the ages. Last year he scarfed down 63 doggies in ten minutes. I remember trying to eat close to ten White Castle sliders and how I felt. Yikes! The 2nd place finish last year at Nathan’s belonged to 49 year old Geoffrey Esper who is ranked 2nd in the competitive eating world. With Chestnut out, does this open the door for Esper? These eating competitions like in the movie Rocky 4 have fatalities when Apollo Creed went down. In 2019, a California man died after being a part of taco eating competition in Fresno, California. Esper won that event when he ate 73 tacos in 8 minutes. Impressive. This 4th of July the big money may be on Esper but who knows because maybe some new talent may surprise us.

On the 4th of July I never thought to myself I must turn on the Nathan’s Hot Dog eating competition. I would watch it if I came upon it. I listen to the results on ESPN normally. I’m intrigued about this Labor Day competition between Joey Chestnut and Takeru Koybayashi. This may be a must see. That’s what they want. These two will probably rake in the riches of one event by themselves competing rather than all of the years doing Nathan’s. I’m curious about who wins this July 4th without Chestnut in the fold. I always like Man vs Food in his daily show challenges. I always looked on the restaurant walls of those challenges the establishment had by eating their biggest steak or burger in so much time.

The movie with John Candy, The Great Outdoors, comes to mind where he eats the 96 oz of steak. Then the pie eating competition in the movie, Stand By Me.

I don’t know how all these competitive eaters muster enough belly room for dozens of hot dogs, tacos, oysters as the list goes on about the food competitions they have done. When you’re on the highway and you see a wreck, your eyes look at it to see what’s going on. If I came across a food, I would have to watch. To see them sweat as the time limit is about to expire. Then to wonder how a skinny guy, 5’7″ weighing a buck twenty, could have enough stomach liner to hold all of that food inside without bursting. That poor toilet afterwards.