Columnist Ron Kantowski: Speed eater dogs his competition

Tuesday, July 9, 2002 | 10:22 a.m.

Ron Kantowski's insider notes column appears Tuesday and his Page One column appears Thursday. He can be reached at ron@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4088.

Move over Oscar Mayer and Pete Rose. There's a new top hot dog to contend with.

For the second straight year, a 24-year-old Japanese professional speed eater (I kid you not) named Takeru "The Tsunami" Kobayashi destroyed the competition at Nathan's Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog eating contest, wolfing down 50 1/2 franks (and buns) in 12 minutes.

Unlike the man himself it was no small feat. Kobayashi weighed just 113 pounds before "lunch" but 120 afterward. He also could relish covering the spread of 20 hot dogs, as set by Internet gamblers (again, I kid you not).

Well, for a short time anyway.

In the final seconds of the competition, ESPN.com reported that Kobayashi's body heaved and his cheeks ballooned with hot dog remnants. Because visible regurgitation results in automatic disqualification, many in the audience waited for the title to be awarded to runner-up Eric "Badlands" Booker, who scarfed down a modest 26 weiners.

If Booker's name sounds familiar, it might be because he tossed his cookies -- or at least a 15-foot sushi roll -- during the Glutton Bowl televised by Fox (who else) in February. He was immediately DQ'd.

But because the other contestants had stopped eating long before Kobayashi had his "incident," the judges upheld his victory.

And here you thought the finish of this year's Indy 500 was controversial.

"My understanding is this not only happened after the contest, but that none of the hot dogs and buns actually hit the table or the floor," said George Shea, whose brother Rich is president of the sanctioning body, the International Federation of Competitive Eating (IFOCE).

"It's the Raiders-Patriots game all over again," cracked Rich Shea.

An ESPN replay of the incident was only slightly less graphic than the Zapruder Film, so I'll spare you the details. Suffice it to say, it was the most disturbing gastronomical episode captured on film since Bluto Blutarski splattered the Faber College cafeteria with "re-mashed" potatoes in "Animal House."

For starters, the remodeled facility, now known as "The Bullring," is a vast improvement over the old one. The restrooms, for instance, are plentiful and more spacious than those at the big track in Phoenix.

And judging from the car counts and quality of racing at last Wednesday's show, the short-track program has never been healthier. A field of 24 sportsman late model stock cars, virtually all with spiffy paint jobs, took the green flag. And there were even more IMCA Modified and Legends cars running in support races.

Even more remarkable was the quality of the competition. Unlike in the past, when racing at the short track resembled auditions for "Days of Thunder II," crashes were virtually nonexistent.

Like the facility itself, the guys who use it seem to have cleaned up their act.

Noting my wisecracks about Springfield, Mo., in this space last week, Springfield native Neal Caton writes that the Federation Cup women's tennis matches, which failed miserably in Las Vegas, already are two-thirds sold out in Springfield. Caton also wants UNLV basketball coach Charlie Spoonhour to know that the "old farts at Burr's" in Springfield (where Spoonhour coached at Southwest Missouri State) miss him, and that beverage sales are way off since he left. ... Former Rancho High basketball coach Jim Allen writes to say the Memphis Grizzlies have to be the only NBA team boasting two assistants who played at the same high school, as Lionel Hollins recently joined John Welch on the Grizzlies' staff. Allen was coach of the Rams when Welch played. ... And finally, you might have needed a compass and a magnifying glass to find out, but local tennis pro Davi d Pate and partner Scott Davis beat England's Jeremy Bates and Nick Fullwood 6-3, 7-6 Sunday to capture the Gentlemen's 35 & Over Doubles Finals at Wimbledon.