The Final Post

Is Baseball still America's National Pasttime? Maybe, but if Competitive Eating keeps on its blistering pace then we may soon be cheering for San Jose's own Joey Chestnut instead of San Francisco's own Barry Bonds, and Japan's finest Takeru Kobayashi instead of Japan's finest Daisuke Matsuzaka. It is time people recognize the sport because many Americans, Europeans, and Asians already have. This is why:
-America loves food, they love to eat food, they love to watch food(i.e. Food Network) so therefore many people imitate the sport. If you type in "Eating Contest" on YouTube you get 2,780 results. While this number is nowhere near an international sport like football (the soccer kind, which receives 237,000 results) it has been on a furious increase since the late 1990's.
-America loves weird stunts and records. On YouTube "World Record" returns 43,200 videos. This means America loves risk, and competitive eating has among other things; health issues, choking and suppressed hormones. People have even died on Japanese Competitive Eating Gameshows. While these may be sad statistics, it is further proof that Eating will catch on.
-Competitive Eating has become more televised. ESPN now carries many events and eating competitions have been featured on over 15 shows in the past 2 years. If Competitive Eating starts gameshows again it is likely it will get higher ratings then some sports like hockey.
-America Loves Nicknames. Just as we once loved Lester "The Molester" Hayes, Broadway Joe Namath, Walter "Sweetness" Peyton, Rod "He Hate Me" Smart, and Elroy "Crazy Legs" Hirsch, we now support Crazy Legs Conti, Sonya "The Black Widow" Thomas, Erik The Red Denmark, and Takeru "Tsunami' Kobayashi. How could you not love these guys?
-Every Day is an all-star game. Unlike team sports that only have one all-star game, or sports like boxing that now has over 5 leagues with numerous "world champs" each competition is home to the greatest competitive eaters the world has to offer. If you win, then you truly are the best.
-When the action ends, there is still more action. The weak stomachs should look away, but many Americans are now seeing that even when a great contest comes to an end, we are sure to see the food again within the minute, in a rather unpleasant way.