Would you do it?

I just don't get it.

Not to sound completely un-American....but what's the deal with the "Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest"?

Ok, so I personally find hot dogs gross.  Gross enough that I've said before I'd rather die than eat a dirty water dog from a street cart in NYC.  I cringe when my kids eat them (but of course, I'm not SO crazy I won't let them ever have any...maybe once a year...)

Yep.  That looks like fun.

Anyway, I just can't imagine cramming in 62 hot dogs with buns (or anything for that matter) and not feeling like I'd want to die...who in their right mind would even consider it?

Apparently back in 1916, a couple immigrants had a contest on Coney Island at Nathan's Famous stand to prove who was more "Patriotic".  So, the more hot dogs you ate, the more you loved your country?  Hot dogs embody the great US of A?  Who knows if this actually happened, or if it's just some good made up-lore to get more publicity for Nathan's...but it worked, and the contest has happened every year since 1972, according to Wikipedia.

Did you know you have to qualify to be able to compete in the annual contest?  I can just see it..."Honey, I think I really have a shot.  I'm going to the Bejing qualifier...I'm gonna do it!"...I wonder if these people "train" for the event?

Ok, all sarcasm aside...I wonder what eating all those dogs does to a person?

Here's what I found:

According to the Code of Federal Regulations, Volume 9, Section 319.180 a hot dog can be:

• Beef or pork
• 15% byproducts; heart, kidney, liver or other organs which must be labeled
• 20% mechanically separated meat; a process whereby bones are forced under pressure through a sieve, removing small amounts of attached meat to create a paste-like product which has qualified as “meat” since 1994 when the definition was officially changed.

Ick. 

Here's a link to nutritional info (if you're interested in looking further) http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/sausages-and-luncheon-meats/1338/2

Essentially, one "frankfurter" is 148 calories & 13g fat.  So, not including the bun, the contest winners took in:

Joey Chestnut  at 62 hot dogs:  9176 calories,  806g fat

Sonya Thomas at 40 hot dogs:  5920 calories, 520g fat

Whew.  That HAS to be one helluva bellyache.  

And so, I still don't get it.