It's Coming Home!: Joey Chestnut vs Hot Dogs

While the rest of the world has their attention on some little kickball tournament across the pond, we Americans are solely focused on the biggest sports event of the summer; the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest. Ask any American and most will say they'd rather watch a man shove 15 pounds of processed meat down his gullet than a Brazilian flop around a field for 90 minutes. Americans aren't, and most likely will never be, renowned for our soccer playing ability, but there is no doubt that we boast the greatest collection of competitive eaters in the world. Argentina can have Messi and Portugal can have Ronaldo, but America has Joey Chestnut. Now that Tim "Eater X" Janus has retired and Takeru Kobayashi has been barred from the event since 2010, Chestnut has emerged as the apex predator of the competitive eating circuit. Joey Chestnut is the Usain Bolt of the sport and has become a household name. After an incredible run of 8 consecutive Nathan's Hot Dog titles, Chestnut was dethroned by a young upstart named Matt Stonie in 2015. Many people began to doubt Chestnut after the loss, especially because his numbers had dipped from 69 dogs in 2013 to 61 in 2014 and just 60 when he lost to Stonie in 2015. But, just like Michael Jordan, Joey Chestnut is a world-class athlete and competitor and the loss to Stonie only seemed to strengthen his resolve. Chestnut busted his ass in the off-season and roared into Coney Island on July 4th, 2016 and set a new World Record of 70 hot dogs. Nobody thought 70 dogs was possible, especially because of Chestnut’s declining numbers over the past few competitions, but just like how Roger Bannister broke the 4-minute mile mark in 1954, Chestnut also crossed a seemingly impossible threshold of human achievement. The following year, Chestnut's encore was even more impressive as he boasted an awe-inspiring 72 dogs, breaking his previous record and leaving the rest of the field in the dust. This year's competition will be must-see TV as there's been a lot of chatter about Matt Stonie perhaps challenging Chestnut for the title. In my professional opinion, it seems like Chestnut is getting stronger, the same way LeBron seems to be getting stronger. I, personally, don't think Stonie can overtake Chestnut this summer, maybe somewhere down the road but not this year. I think the real competition will be Chestnut vs himself. Will he be able to do the unthinkable and hit 75? This July 4th remember not to sulk about our country’s absence from the World Cup, instead focus on the fact that we lay claim to the most dominant international athlete of all time and buckle up and prepare to witness greatness.