Dethrowned by Jaw

Well this is a first for me, but here goes. It seems that we could have a new champ come this 4th of July. No, it won’t be in NASCAR. Baseball has a long way until the World Series. Football isn’t starting for months, and the NBA is just getting to the trade deadline. No sports fans, it’s going to be at Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest. Last year, Mr. Kobayashi put down 53 & 3/4 hot dogs in 12 minutes. Upstart American, Joey Chestnut with 59 and a half took the record earlier this year. This year however, Kobayashi has "a jaw". That’s what I said, "a jaw"! It seems that the guy who weighs a buck twenty soaking wet has sprained his jaw while practicing. I can think of no better place than this to quote A.I. : "Practice...we’re talking about practice."

Now I know that there are some people that think this is somewhat funny, but this guy is the face of speed eating. He held the record for hot dogs and holds the record for Krystal burgers. His mug is on the window of most of the local Krystals. For those of you up north, Krystal is the southern version of White Castle .

Each 4th of July, hundreds of people gather at Nathan’s on Coney Island to watch these people shove hot dogs down their gullet. Kobayashi has won this contest for years, but this year the champ maybe hobbled by a jaw. I can’t figure out the fascination of this event, however if I find it you’ll be the first to know. So, do you think it's the jaw...or just being scared to take on the new guy? Whitey picks Chestnut by two bun lengths.