Actually up until this past 2007 Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest, there were no cash prizes awarded, just the bragging rights to what is probably one of the most famous food eating competitions in the world. While it's easy to place a label on something just from hearing or reading something about it, you shouldn't be quick to judge it with such a negative view without actually knowing more about it than what you read in the headlines. It's the good things these organizations do such as Nathan's donating over 10,000 hot dogs each year to City Harvest, a group that feeds more than 260,000 New Yorkers each week that does not make the headlines. So before you blame these competitive eater's for the world's hunger and starvation issues, know they probably do more to raise awareness and help fight hunger than the athletes that make millions up millions of dollars every year but claim they aren't getting paid enough to feed their own family.
Last things first: Sprewell is a moron but at least basketball is a real sport that produces people you can let your kids look up to. I doubt you seriously would want to compare Kobayashi or Chestnut or any other eater to Jordan, Johnson or Bird (for example).
On the rest of your stuff:
I was commenting on eating competitions in general but you make it look as if I were attacking Nathan's only. That's not what I said. I'm also not blaming these so called athletes for starvation or hunger. I was just stating facts. Of course it's not their fault but wouldn't you agree that there's something wrong here? People are starving while others waste food for "sports".
If you really want to argue, please don't screw up the things that were said.
You complain that donating 10000+ hotdogs a year doesn't make the news? I complain that all the voluntary workers that spend their own time and money every day to help the poor don't make the news! For a company it's easy to write a check for some good PR. And while 10000
a year sounds much at first, it's quite a small number if you take the mentioned 260000 people that need support
every week and multiply that up to a full year. (260000 * 52 weeks = 13520000)...
I also think it's quite offensive of you to just assume I don't know what I'm talking about. Just because not everybody writes an essay justifying their position every time they post doesn't mean they jump to conclusions or have no clue about what's going on.
I guess you're just too excited about the whole thing that you feel personally offended by my different opinion.
^ :ROFL: I didn't notice till I watched on Sportscentre that Kobayashi puked it out OHSHIT
Yeah Shumatsu Samurai, America THE FAT. There is actually a MLE. Major League Eating:
http://www.majorleagueeating.com/
and International Federation of Competitive Eating - IFOCE
http://www.ifoce.com/news.php?action=detail&sn=437
that officially sanctions this shit. So that pie eating contest at the county fair has become BIG TIME ESPN ratings
bonanzas. BELIEVE IT.
I know - I've seen it before and I think it's disturbing that this stuff is even shown on TV...
There was a documentary about it last year. They showed several competitions, "training" and some "great historical moments", as well as comments by regular people. After that, a doctor commented about the long term risks for participants and a psychologist explained that we have to live with this and other phenomena in the future....