Wii: Major League Eating

As the spiritual anti-thesis to Wii Fit, there is a competitive eating Wii game on the market called "Major League Eating". If you've been following my blog, you'll know that I'm a fan of the competitive eating circuit.

The pinnacle of competitive eating (in my opinion) is the Nathan's 4th of July Hot Dog Eating Contest. If you have seen footage from last year's competition, you probably saw one of the lowest moments of the sport, as Kobayashi violently threw up his hot dogs seconds before the 12 minute finish time. For reasons unknown, Kobayashi was not disqualified... even though throwing up is grounds for disqualification. In any case, Joey Chestnut was crowned the 2007 Nathan's Hot Dog eating champion.

Watching Kobayashi lose his lunch really did scar me a bit. It's not a pretty sight to see a grown man throw up on stage. I've got mixed feelings about watching the competition this year. (July 4th is only a few weeks away!) For those with weaker stomachs than mine, you'll be pleased to know that officials have shorted the time for Nathan's Hot Dog Contest from 12 minutes to 10 minutes.

A shorter contest means you're less likely to see vomit, and that's a good thing. What else does this mean? It means that you're skewing the field towards faster eaters, rather than capacity eaters... though you have to be strong in both camps to be number one. Hey, it also means that new records are up for grabs in the new 10-minute competitions... Maybe Kobayashi has a chance of reclaiming his title. (Again, very suspicious rule-bending to favor Kobayashi's performance.)