The Metropolis

US hotdog eating championship heralds decline of Western civilisation

Mike Pollitt | Tuesday 5 July, 2011 15:26

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The news:

“Joey “Jaws” Chestnut maintained pigout primacy Monday, winning his fifth straight mustard belt…Chestnut, the certified champ, choked down 62 dogs and water-soaked buns.”

But his victory was controversial, because a rival was disqualified:

“Kobayashi, who was ineligible to compete in the beloved Brooklyn contest because he won’t sign an exclusive contract with Major League Eating, put away 69 dogs purchased earlier in the day.”

Rarely does a news story come along which so completely illustrates the state of contemporary culture. For here we have decadence, and we have excess; we have the dread hand of commerce, and the fat thrusting fist of individualism; we have irony and sincerity, we have laughter and despair. We have, at the end of it all, an organisation called Major League Eating. This is who we are.

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