elephants won by > 400
friday’s elephant vs. man hot dog eating contest, held near the boom-a-ring circus tents, was rather anti-climactic. not nearly the attendance as the real deal on saturday – elephants had a decent showing and of course a handful of protesters screaming that ringling beats their animals. because the majestic creatures are herbivores, the match was buns only – and quite naturally they beat the homo sapien contestants by a landslide <but did start early – cheaters>. i was impressed by the commitment of all 3 human contenders – scarfing those wet vacant rolls down despite competing the following day as well. unfortunately the sound system was changed last minute + therefore the generally enthusiastic announcer was left moderately frustrated: his voice kept disappearing into the black hole of speakers. i’m sure he had great commentary – we just couldn’t hear it. ok we heard every – other – word.
Coney Island - Stillwell Avenue
saturday’s nathan’s famous hot dog eating contest was unsurprisingly chaotic. crowds gathered as early as 9am <if not before> to secure decent visability of kobayashi + chestnut <mostly press blocked any semblance of a view>. a trampoline was positioned directly center of the stillwell/surf intersection for pre-show entertainment. because street watching afforded a view of the jumbotron + backs of heads – we relocated to rooftop: bleacher seats. from there, we could still see the giant screen, still hear the wonderul announcer <same from elephants> – only now enjoy a lovely breeze and loads of personal space. strangely, the crowd seem to favor underdog kobayashi. i expected more nationalism from new yorkers. but when joey managed to keep 68 HDB down in just 10 minutes – the hordes went wild. and then quickly dispersed. where do competitors go afterward? how do they fell the next day? curious – but not really.
