Hotdoggin' it: Ex-champ crashes NYC eating contest

Competitive eater Joey “Jaws” Chestnut gobbled his way to a fourth consecutive championship Sunday. But he was suddenly upstaged by the surprise appearance of his biggest rival — six-time champion Takeru Kobayashi, who did not compete but crashed the stage after Chestnut’s win and wrestled with police.

“Let him eat! Let him eat!” the crowd chanted as police handcuffed the world’s No. 3 professional eater, dubbed “The Tsunami.”

The 32-year-old Kobayashi did not eat this year because he refused to sign a contract with Major League Eating — the fast food equivalent of the NFL. On his Japanese-language blog, he said he wanted to be free to compete in contests sanctioned by other groups.

The Tsunami used to rock the annual hot dog eating contest but has been upstaged by Jaws the past four years. I have always rooted for Tsunami, mostly because I thought it was cool to see a Japanese guy dominate a purely American past-time. It sucks to see him get arrested but I guess that is the price you pay for such jackassery. He should of taken a different tact for his disapproval of MLE and their bid to get him to sign an exclusive contract.