4th of July Hot Dog Eating

One of my very favorite parts of the 4th of July is the Coney Island hot dog eating contest. This show of human greatness makes me stand in awe and shake my head out of pride. For six years in a row, on this American holiday, my greatest hero was a Japanese guy. Takeru Kobayashi finally lost last year after vomiting during the competition but remained my hero when preceded to eat the vomit. Sadly, after seriously injuring his jaw in 2007, he came in 2nd again today. Warning: the included video of the 2007 contest just might make you gag.