A6 — BAKER CITY HERALD
TUESDAY, JULY 6, 2021
Thanks, Nathan’s, for making me a burger guy
■ Initial exposure to the Super Bowl of competitive eating
extinguished any appetite for the American icon, the hot dog
T
he Fourth of
July weekend
is easily one of
the highlights of sum-
mer. People get together
with family and friends,
watch some glowing
fi reworks big and small,
and eat some great food,
often straight from a bar-
becue grill. Basking in this
celebration of patriotism
growing up, nothing could
phase me until one year,
while waiting to go to my
cousins’ house, my brother
turned on something that
would change my taste buds
forever.
The Nathan’s Famous Hot
Dog Eating Contest.
Every year on Indepen-
dence Day, thousands gather
at Nathan’s most famous
restaurant in Coney Island,
New York, to watch some of
the top competitive eaters
prove who is the bigger glut-
ton for punishment as they
vie to eat the most hot dogs,
and buns, in 10 minutes to
determine the winner. The
contest dates to 1916, and
in recent memory we have
watched Takeru Kobayashi
and, more recently, Joey
“Jaws” Chestnut accomplish
freeze after taking a sip of
a slushie on a hot summer
COREY
day, Chestnut was able to
scarf down 76 hot dogs and
KIRK
buns in 10 minutes in this
year’s contest, beating his
record — by one dog and
incredible feats of eatery.
bun — from 2020.
(The 2021 contest hap-
While most athletes focus
pened in a minor league
on keeping their body toned
baseball stadium.)
to remain in shape for what
Watching the event, how- they hope is a long career,
ever, is for me like watching professional eaters have to
two trains crash in slow
maintain a workout regimen
motion during a movie.
to keep themselves essen-
These competitors shove
tially alive. While Chestnut
David Dee Delgado-Getty Images/TNS
hot dogs down their throats focuses on running and
Competitive eating champion Joey “Jaws” Chestnut wins the 2021 Nathan’s Famous
with a bare amount of chew- yoga, Kobayashi stuck to a
4th of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest on July 4, 2021, with 76 hot dogs,
ing, and they dip the buns in serious weight lifting regi-
water to make them easier men to remain in top physi- breaking his personal best record of 75, set in 2020.
to go down. After watching
cal shape.
this for 10 minutes straight,
Though I understand that
I lost all desire to pick up
a hot dog is a serious Ameri-
‘Jaws’ wins 14th hot dog eating contest, sets record
a hot dog, immediately ce-
can staple, just like a slice of
NEW YORK (AP) — Chowdown champ
Indiana, said in an ESPN interview after his
menting myself as a burger apple pie, Nathan’s Famous
Joey “Jaws” Chestnut broke his own record win Sunday. “Even if I was uncomfortable,
guy for the rest of my life.
Hot Dog Eating Contest has
to gulp to a 14th win in the men’s Nathan’s
having everybody cheer me and push me, it
Thanks, Nathan’s.
skewed my opinion of hot
Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest on Sun-
made me feel good.”
Competitive eating is
dogs for the rest of my life.
day, July 4, while Michelle Lesco took the
The annual Fourth of July frankfurter
easily the most impressive
I will happily prepare
women’s title.
fest normally happens outside Nathan’s
and scary craft I have ever
my cheeseburger, sit down
Chestnut downed 76 franks and buns in
fl agship shop in Brooklyn’s Coney Island
laid my eyes on. Not only
amongst good company and
10 minutes. That’s one more than he did in
neighborhood. But this year’s planning took
do these people learn to
enjoy the festivities.
setting the men’s record last year, when the
place amid shifting coronavirus restrictions,
train their stomachs, but
So, thanks again, Na-
contest unfolded without fans because of
and the event was held in a nearby minor
they have to teach them-
than’s.
the coronavirus pandemic.
league baseball stadium, Maimonides Park,
selves how to eat in rhythm
“It just felt good,” Chestnut, of Westfi eld,
with 5,000 spectators.
Corey Kirk is the Baker City
to keep pace. While I can
Herald’s sports editor.
barely maintain a brain
RACES
to normalcy in large group settings.
Sunday’s racers started bright and
Continued from Page A3
early at 7:30 a.m., following the same
The sidewalks were packed all
route as Friday but backwards and
day with locals and out-of-towners
with an extra 12 miles at the end. I
eating, chatting and watching the
sat in the passenger seat of a car as a
cyclists zoom around and around the radio operator while the driver’s son
block for hours. For me, it was the
won the race in his category. I fi lmed
fi rst time I felt we were truly coming the last fi ve minutes of the race on
out of this pandemic and returning
the father’s iPhone as he whooped
SURVIVORS
Continued from Page A5
Wyden added, “I have always believed
in the right of law-abiding citizens to own
guns. Domestic abusers are not law-abiding
citizens. They are cruel criminals who the
United States Senate should agree should
not have guns. ... If my legislation had been
in place in 2014, Nicolette might still be alive
and raising her two daughters.”
Blumenthal said the bill, by strengthen-
ing protective orders and ensuring guns are
removed from abusers, will save lives.
“When a gun is available, domestic vio-
lence is fi ve times more likely to turn deadly
for women. Closing this dangerous loophole
and supporting local efforts to keep weap-
ons out of the hands of abusers will protect
domestic violence survivors,” he said in a
statement.
Jackson, 32, the mother of two, fl ed her
home with her children and moved in with
her mother in Oxford. The day before the
hearing was scheduled for a permanent
restraining order, her husband killed her and
injured her mother using a gun he legally
possessed because a permanent protective
order wasn’t yet in place.
“It’s hard to imagine what a family goes
through when something like this happens,”
and cheered for his 16-year-old boy,
who he had been riding with for
the past two years. While this year
was Gabriel Love’s fi rst Baker City
Cycling Classic, it most defi nitely
was not his last.
The panting, triumphant bicyclists
fi nished up their ride near Anthony
Lakes Mountain Resort, where they
were greeted with chili and congrat-
ulations. Photos were taken of the
fi rst, second and third place winners
in each category as people milled
about in the unseasonable heat.
Luckily everyone stayed hydrated
and there were no serious injuries or
signifi cant crashes throughout the
course of the event.
Watching these riders made me
want to get back into spin classes
and push my body to half of the
limit that these athletes did over
the weekend. I feel very fortunate to
have gotten a crash course in long
distance cycling, and to have shared
a special moment with a proud
father that neither of us will ever
forget.
Race results are posted at www.
bakercitycyclingclassic.com/results.
“I have always believed in the right of law-
abiding citizens to own guns. Domestic
abusers are not law-abiding citizens”
— U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore.
said Merry Jackson, Lori Jackson’s mother.
“It never goes away, it’s with you forever. But
if you could save another family and kids
from losing their mom, it would mean the
world to me.”
The bill also would extend protections to
domestic violence survivors who have been
abused by dating partners.
Federal law now fails to protect survivors
from armed dating partners, even though
half of intimate partner homicides are com-
mitted by dating abusers, according to Ruth
Glenn, president of the National Coalition
Against Domestic Violence.
It would direct law enforcement agencies
to ensure abusers subject to restraining
orders surrender or sell any guns or ammu-
nition in their possession, that their permits
or licenses to buy a gun are revoked and that
a background check is done before they get
their guns and ammunition back.
“The most dangerous time with an abusive
partner is when the survivor takes steps to
leave, which steps often include petitioning
for an ex parte protective order,” Glenn said.
#BLFS$JUZ
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THIS SUMMER.
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