By Bill Rohn
Wyoming-Kentwood News Today Contributor
Friday Night Highlights Co-Host
greer@wktv.org
Doggoned if we haven’t reached the second half of summer. The days are getting shorter, and school buses will soon be back on the roads.
Which got me to thinking about what would make the season special.
What Wyoming and Kentwood really need before Labor Day is a good old-fashioned hot dog eating contest.
You know…like they have every Fourth of July in New York City.
After all, what’s New York City got that we ain’t got here in the WKTV viewing area?
Sure, they’ve got Broadway, Times Square, and the Statue of Liberty.
But we’ve got Lamar Park, Kentwood’s City Center complex, and plenty of folks who’ve never met a hot dog they didn’t like.
Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest
Earlier this summer, ESPN televised the annual Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest, where thousands gathered in the Big Apple to watch contestants chase prize money and a chance to wear the champion’s coveted “Mustard Belt.”
Forget the Detroit Tigers. The World Cup is yesterday’s news. For 10 glorious minutes, nothing mattered except how many hot dogs the competitors could make disappear.
The women competed first and winner Miki Sudo consumed an astonishing 38.5 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes — nearly four per minute — before a screaming crowd.
Contestants were allowed to dip their buns in water, but only for five seconds. Apparently there are standards.
Sudo’s victory was no huge surprise. According to ESPN, she once ate 8½ pounds of kimchi — whatever THAT is — in six minutes.
Next came the men, led by 17-time champion Joey Chestnut, the “Mozart of the mandible.” Joey often jumped up and down while chewing, adding rhythm and speed to his digestion. And Chestnut was no choker, skillfully keeping a “wall of meat“ in his stomach, thus dodging disqualification for what officials politely call a “reversal of fortune” — which is a much gentler description of refunding one’s lunch than anything I can think of. Chestnut avoided that unpleasantness while inhaling 66 hot dogs in 10 minutes to claim yet another Mustard Belt.
So, acid reflux and concerns over gastroparesis aside, why couldn’t we stage our own championship here in West Michigan?
Imagine the civic pride. Consider the bragging rights as a traveling Mustard Belt makes its way between Wyoming and Kentwood every summer. Perhaps any money that would be raised could go to a local charity. Or maybe to me.
We already have food truck rallies, concerts, and community festivals. Why not celebrate one of America’s great culinary creations right here in West Michigan?
South Christian vs. East Kentwood at the table?
As to competitors, how about local high school football teams? After all, aren’t hot dogs the most popular food at a football game? We could have East Kentwood vs. South Christian on the field, and then immediately after a battle at the table underneath the bright lights. Or how about Godwin Heights vs. Kelloggsville?
Or political candidates looking for a boost in the polls as fall elections approach?
Talk about the dog days of summer…, and I know a local TV station that could broadcast the proceedings.
Just don’t ask me to compete. I’d still be wolfing weenie No. 2 while the winner was giving a victory interview.
On second thought, maybe I could still win.
I’d simply wait patiently for everyone else to experience a “reversal of fortune.”
