Liveblogging Nathan's

Ladies and gentlemen, today is the day. The day when all the training and the hard work and the long lonely nights payoff. Today is the Nathan's Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest, a day to remember.

Liz and Krista, who you know from their extensive coverage of eating competitions up to this point, are on the scene at Coney Island giving me live updates on what is happening. We'll be liveblogging for the next two hours.

7:30 - Cookie Jarvis, the number 8th ranked eater in the world, has announced his retirement! For competitive eating, this is like when Michael Jordan left the NBA the first time. Jarvis holds more titles than anyone in the world, a list too long to reprint here now. He has been a rock on which the current face of competitive eating was built, and his retirement is an earthquake shifting the tectonic plates of competitive consumption, which we can't help but think will open a huge gaping opportunity for the next generation of gurgitators.

Last night at the official weigh-in Jarvis was eating dogs for the cameras and playing with the media, causing Crazylegs Conti to remark that Cookie Jarvis has not certainly not retired from the media.

Hungry Charles Hardy and Eric Booker have already arrived and are enjoying the amazing spectacle this morning, which includes a nine foot tall Uncle Sam on stilts walking around with a contrasting midget Uncle Sam. Truly a heartwarming symbol of the variety of peoples that make up our great nation. And what better place to be celebrating on this most patriotic of days that the shores of Coney Island, which for today at least, is the center of the world.

7:57 - The man in the Nathan's Hot Dog has shown up! Always a dramatic moment and reminder to the already record breaking crowd of what they are about to witness today (in a word, HISTORY!). Krista tells me that it's a hot out there, though thankfully overcast. Official weather is 85 degrees, but the humidity and the massive and thick crowds already forming is making it feel much water.

There will be a ceremony for Jarvis, celebrating his career and featuring his long beautiful coat. A coat so wonderful, it's amazing he hasn't been thrown in a well. When announcing his retirement, Jarvis said he needs to lose 200 pounds and Krista asked about his plan to do it. His reply was the simple and stoic, "I'm going to eat a lot less."

8:08 - Liz has her spot on the stage and reports that the already massive crowd has tripled and is easily in the couple of thousands range. It's difficult to even guess how many as it's just people as far as the eye can see. A massive sea of humanity where occasionally you can spot a supporter, like Joey Chestnut's brother in his "My Brother Can Eat More Than Your Brother" t-shirt.

Liz also reports that the stage has been literally built form the ground up to highlight the battle between reigning World Eating Champion Takeru Kobayahi and Joey Chestnut. At the beginning of the competition they will be lifted a hundred feet in the air on separate lifts coming directly out of the stage.

8:18 The band has stopped playing and the Bus of Champions has arrived! THE EATERS ARE HERE!

You may remember from Liz and Krista's coverage that Joey Chestnut qualified with an amazing fifty (50) Hot Dog and Buns (HDBs), which is just shy of Kobayashi's world record 53 1/2 HDBs. The world record WILL be broken this year, and the Coveted Mustard Yellow Belt could finally come home to America!

8:35 - Krista reports that there is ANOTHER bus coming. The first bus arrived and now George Shea (a personal hero of mine) is on the stage. He is saying that today is the day. The day that the he beleives that the Covted Mustard Belt will be won by an American and end the reign of Kobayashi's Hot Dog Tyranny. He has mentioned three names as the possible Saviors of American Eating: Joey Chestnut of course, Sonya Thomas, and Chip Sampson.

8:44 - The eaters get a THUNDEROUS round of applause as they walk from the bus to their dressing rooms beneath the stage. Liz is telling me the names of the eaters she can see, but all I can hear is the amplified and still sooth sounds of George Shea and the manic screaming thunder of the thousands and thousands of fans.

8:49 - Badlands Booker has taken the stage and is now rocking the mic with two kids.

8:50 - George and Shea rapped "Shea A Little Prayer For You" together! OH NO! Booker fell!!! But he is okay. He Is up. Everything is fine.

8:54 - The official retirement ceremony of Cookie Jarvis is happening. It is a sad to see him leave, but with his retirement they also announce the Rookie of Year award to Joey Chestnut. This moment is like the rebirth of the bright phoenix, a moment that heralds the next generation of professional eaters. Think of it as Eaters 2.0.

9:03 - Steve Schroeder reporting from in front of my television where the live TV coverage on ESPN has begun with Paul Page and Rich Shea bringing you all the action. Rich Shea predicts that the world record will fall either to Kobayashi or Joey Chestnut. George Shea reports from the stage that there are 16,000 people on hand.

9:05 - Paul Page says that they do this entire event with their tongue firmly planted in cheek, which I do not appreciate at all. The IFOCE is have a banner year, and is gaining respect by the second. I don't see any advantage to ESPN cutting down the competitive eating at all.

9:09 - Eaters get off the bus! Crazy Legs with crazy hair. Eater X emerges with a Hartford Whalers sign! The ESPN correspondent pulls Joey Chestnut aside and asks him when the last time he ate was. He hasn't eating a full meal in a couple days. They go to a pre produced piece on Joey and his history with IFOCE.

9:12 - Interview with Sonya. She likes the heat. Wants to focus on swallowing very quickly. Can she break her own record and get near Kobayashi and Chestnut??

9:15 - KmikeyM says Watching live on ESPN! The announced that Kobayahi has never lost to a human (only a bear). Will we see a 10 dog minute?

9:18 - Short introduction package on hot rookie eaters Chip Simpson and Pat Bertoletti leads into a live interview with Bertoletti who says he does this for the "fun, camaraderie with other eaters, and to push himself."

9:20 - Three different eating techniques profiled: Solomon Method (break each hot dog in half, eat both halves at once, then the bun), Tokyo Style (eat the hot dogs & buns separately), and Dunking (dip the hot dogs and buns in liquid). New 5 second dunking rule has been introduced to minimize flotsam in the liquid.

9:29 - George Shea now introduces the eaters!
Rookie out of the wing circuit Erik The Red.
Wild Card winner Hall Hunt.
From The Czech Republic Kamil "The Hague" Hamersky. Robert Andersson from Scandanavia got skipped by Shea...whoops.
Kenji Oguni aka DARK WATER looks very tough in a leather jacket.
The Jalapeno Pepper champ, Jed Donahue.
Brian "Yellow Cake" Subich, father of 3, a football coach.
Patrick "Moonachie" Philbin is being goofy as I have ever seen a human. He sorta looks like Chunk from the Goonies. In a good way.
Seaver "The Achiever" Miller is one of the new good looking eaters from the crab cake circuit.
"The Shredder" Allen Goldstein looks seriously pumped. Look out he has the strongest jaw in the sport.
Here comes everyone's favorite Crazy Legs Conti, red goatee and all. "He has leveraged the sport to find worldwide celebrity" says Rich Shea of Conti.
Here comes the 2004 Rookie of the Year, Urbanhonking's favorite, EATER X!!!!!!!!!!
Here comes the man who shows that age isn't a factor in competitive eating..."THE LOCUST" Rich Lefevre.
Next up, the only vegetarian on the circuit "Humble" Bob Shoudt (he strays for competition).
Here comes the man who is most likely the best rapper on the circuit Eric "BADLANDS" Booker.
The Rookie with the mohawk, a culinary student PATRICK BERTOLETTI.
Here comes the Gloria Steinem of the gullot "THE BLACK WIDOW" Sonya Thomas.
Another awesome rookie...CHIP SIMPSON.
Here comes the man who is America's hope today "JAWS" JOEY CHESTNUT!
And then there was one. Never beaten on US soil. The Man. The Myth. The Legend. 5 TIME CHAMPION. TAKERU KOBAYASHI!

9:36 - Kobayashi has mustard colored hair.

9:41 - The competition begins!!! Who will it be? Kobayashi? Chestnut? Sonya? A more unknown like Chip Simpson???

9:43 - Joey Chestnut has a brother overseas in the military who he would like to bring the title home for. 2 minutes in and Chetnut and Kobayashi both have 14 dogs eaten. Simpson has 11 and so does Bertoletti.

9:45 - 4 minutes in and Chestnut is on record pace!! He has 27 down. Kobayashi has 26. Simpson, Bertoletti, and Thomas round out the top five. The pace will obviously slow down a bit as the competition continues but the pace is incredible. The average amount of dogs eaten to qualify this year was 29, up from 24 last year. This is truly a watershed year for the sport.

9:47 - Halfway done! Chestnut 37, Kobayashi 35, Simpson 25, Bertoletti 24, Thomas 24.

9:48 - Chip Simpson is sitting down and listening to music. Chestnut looked like he was rearranging hot dogs in his stomach with his hand.

9:50 - 3 minutes left and Kobayashi has regained the league from Chestnut. Kobayashi is looking much more comfortable than Joey "Jaws" right now. Can I just say that I'm not a big fan of the "helmet cam". I don't think it adds a lot of insight and it looks a little goofy.

9:52 - 1 minutes left. Kobayashi 50, Chestnut 48, Thomas 35, Janus 32, Bertoletti 32. VERY EXCITING!!! Eater X is coming on!

9:54 - Kobayashi wins his 6th in a row!!!!! What a close competition. It went down to the wire. It looks like right now that Kobayashi got 54 hot dogs and bun down. A NEW RECORD! Chestnut ate 52! Kobayashi almost looks like he is crying as he is handed the mustard belt by George Shea.

9:57 - The numbers have been refined slightly. Kobyashi got down 53 3/4 hot dogs and buns. Still a new record. Interview with Joey Chestnut. He says he is really tired and hit a wall around the 9 minute mark. He says he will be back.

9:59 - Kobayashi is interviewed. He says he felt the pressure from Chestnut heavily and that is motivated him. Sonya finished 3rd with 37 hot dogs and buns. I am looking for the final tallies from all the eaters. I am assuming Eater X finished 4th. What a great comeback from him. What a great competition. That's it from me and the TV. I hope we get some more reports from Liz and Krista soon.

10:25 - Looks like the Gothamist was livebloggin' it was well.