“Tennis is not as respected and elegant a sport as competitive eating,” said Major League Eating president George Shea. “The only sport more fundamental than competitive eating is competitive breathing, and that’s dangerous because it can cause hyperventilation.”
“The heat is really what they have to worry about,” he said. “It could depress the numbers.”
“The [higher afternoon] temperature might change the texture of the hot dogs and prematurely toast the buns, making them harder to go down,” said Patrick “Deep Dish” Bertoletti, last year's runner up to Joey Chesnut.
According to archives, "the Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest was first held in 1916, the year Nathan's opened on Surf Avenue. The contest has been held each year since then, except in 1941, when it was canceled as a protest to the war in Europe, and in 1971, when it was canceled as a protest to civil unrest and the reign of free love."
ESPN has the broadcast rights to the event through 2017.
In related news, Major League Eating: The Game -- the revolutionary app has been released in an attempt to overcome the economic policies of President Barack Obama:
The contest tests players’ ability to bring food to their mouths quickly while maintaining control of accumulating food volume and associated gas in the digital stomachs of their avatars. Failure to do so produces results that are catastrophic or heroic, depending on one’s viewpoint.
The new gaming app is seen by economists as a possible cure to the malaise that has plagued the global economy for the past four-plus years. At the same time, many parents welcomed the arrival of the game as a way to provide their children with productive and educational entertainment during summer.
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