I stopped by the Nathan's hot dog eating contest in Coney Island on Tuesday to squish through 20,000 sweaty fans along the hot and humid corner of Stillwell and Surf. I know a bunch of the crew who competed, so it was particularly exciting. Patrick Bertoletti placed 4th with 34 1/2 dogs in the 12-minute race. Sonya Thomas missed her personal best of 38 by one. Joey Chestnut gave muscle-chicken Takeru Kobayashi some tough competition, but in the end, his 52 was edged out by the Tsunami's record-breaking 54. Though they feign a rivalry, I know those two dudes are cool with each other. In fact, all the competitive eaters I know are pretty awesome people.

The best conversation of the day was the couple mooshing up behind me.
Perspiring dude in tank top: "I wanna see these fat bastards eat some hot dogs."
Amply-chested girlfriend: "They're skinnier than you are."

Anyway, I have pictures from the contest, but no way to download right now. For now, I have this mutant cherry which looks like Keroppi. Wish him a happy birthday on Monday.