On July 4th, Joey “Jaws” Chestnut defended his title (and winning for the 4th time in a row) in Nathan’s Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest by eating 54 hot dogs in 10 minutes. Due to a contracts dispute with Major League Eating & International Federation of Competitive Eating (yes, that organization is for real!), six-time hot dog-eating contest champion winner Takeru Kobayashi did not compete, but did attend the Coney Island annual event to supposedly support his fellow competitors.
Caught up in the excitement and by his chanting supporters (chanting “Let him eat! Let him eat!), Kobayashi jumped on the stage. Shortly after he got on the stage, he was arrested by officers and charged with obstruction of governmental administration, resisting arrest, trespassing and disorderly conduct and jailed overnight. He was released and then this somewhat serious press conference took place. What I found hilarious was one reporter’s question, “Did you have any hot dogs while in jail?”
Personally, I think the whole controversy was staged – like how wrestling is setup. I mean, Kobayashi was wearing a T-shirt that said, “Free Kobi.” And this only extends the coverage of the hot dog eating contest and Kobayashi’s fame. The New York Times does a great backgrounder piece on how the Nathan’s contest has grown and how competitive eating has taken the world by storm (amazing what good PR can do for a person, sport or company – aka Twitter).
