Richard Reyes Sports Editor
Competitive eating is probably one step higher than poker on the sports list. The competitors are fat and lazy individuals who get paid mass sums of money to eat giant portions of food, from hot dogs to aspargus. Sounds un-athletic, but a few faces in the game are changing things around.
Takeru "Tsunami" Kobayashi and Joey Chestnut are the athletes redefining what it means to be a competitive eater. They are slender, fit individuals who consistently put the rest of the competitors to shame.
On an MTV reality show "True Life: I'm a Competitive Eater," cameras followed Kobayashi around as he trained his way to the competition. Not only was eating massive quantities of calories a part of his routine, but he actually exercised, working out his abdominals.
Competitions usually last only a few minutes, like the famous Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest that lasts 12, but athletes still need plenty of endurance. Body control and focus are important in keeping all the food down because regurgitation means disqualification.
Kobayashi is in tremendous shape, sporting six-pack abs to show what a competitive eater will look like in the future. Competitive eating may still be on the fence of sport or not a sport, but with true athletes like Kobayashi and Chestnut leading the way, it wouldn't be surprising to see more competitors slimming down and working out.
Therefore, to quote Round Up sports reporter Anthony Reyes, competitive eating, "which is not subjectively judged, falls into the field of sport."
Anthony Reyes Sports Reporter
The activity of eating in a competitive format is growing rapidly in popularity and has caused some to even deem it as a sport. After competing in the inaugural TRU Hot Dog Eating Contest, I must say it was much more challenging than I previously anticipated.
Although the competitors do decide the outcome, the simple act of eating, which is one all humans must do in order to survive, can never be deemed a sport. If one follows that logic, then basic survival and living could be seen as sports as well.
The participants do train year-round and utilize strategy and skill but they are not athletes who compete in a sport. The act of competitive eating takes away one of the best aspects of food: taste. The different contests feature different foods, and the prize money aspect does classify it as a profession, but the bottom line is eating is not a sport.
The speed and quantity part indeed puts a spin on eating, but one could easily dismiss the activity as a clever marketing ploy to inform consumers of the product being sold. This is the case in arguably the most famous eating contest, Nathan's Annual Hot Dog Eating Contest. The event was created to make consumers aware of their product and one of the first prizes was more hot dogs.
Could one then consider any type of marketing ploy or advertising campaign as a sport because some form of competition is present? If one considers eating a sport, what is next: who can sleep the longest, shower the fastest or even drink the fastest. The basic activities humans do everyday do not fall in the field of sport but into the realm of pure entertainment.
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