First time I ever stepped onto Coney Island was to cover the Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest, which is a lot of capital letters to ascribe to an event in which men and women choke down mountains of tube steaks on national television, yes, but indeed an event you should attend to if you consider yourself a…

Every morning, the fine folks at Sports Radio Interviews sift through the a.m. drive-time chatter to bring you the best interviews with coaches, players, and personalities across the sports landscape. Today: "The first 30 hot dogs are fun." Gross.

The Nathan's Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest is a lot of things—patriotic, promotional, repellant—but above all, the contest is a study in misdirection. Like so many of Coney Island's storied card sharks and freak shows, the contest succeeds by distracting its audience, plying them with…

Joey Chestnut retained the mustard-yellow belt at Coney Island today with a command performance, consuming 68 hot dogs (and buns) in ten minutes and falling just shy of setting a new "official" record.

Well that was gross. Joey Chestnut just wrapped up his sixth straight championship at the world's most popular eating contest by mashing 68 hot dogs down his gullet in ten minutes. Chestnut had the contest in hand from start to finish, and gets to go on being called the world's best competitive eater for another year.

Originally published July 3, 2011.

Tell Me When It's Over is an interview series in which we ask former athletes about the moment they knew their playing days were over. Today: Ed "Cookie" Jarvis, a 46-year-old real estate agent, married father of two, cancer survivor, and retired competitive eater.

"Feed the turtle" is the motto of Maryland's competitive eating club, which gained university recognition last week. We're just shocked it wasn't a Big Ten school.

It wasn't your typical eating contest last night at Eastlake Stadium, home of the Indians' single-A club. No, it spanned nine innings, with nine different courses (that's Spam in the photo), and ended in vomit, vomit everywhere.

Three years ago, the former proprietor hereabouts immersed himself in the world of moist sausage and watched as a proud America reclaimed what is rightfully hers: the world championship for cramming hot dogs in one's distended mouth.