Surely you've heard of it. The "sport" of competitive eating. Whoever eats the most _______ (fill in the blank with any kind of food from ice cream to cake to hot dogs) wins money and a "title."

The annual 4th of July hot-dog eating contest, sponsored by Nathan's (of hot-dog fame), was held at Coney Island, New York. All of the "athletes' were lined up, with mounds of hot dogs in buns, waiting to be chugged down. My daughter, Lauren, called to me, to come watch the "contest" with her, live on ESPN. "ESPN?" I said. "I can't believe this is considered a sport."

The winner, for the third consecutive year was Joey Chestnut, who amazingly broke his own record by eating 68 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes (Congrats?). This was nearly 10 more than his last year's winning number. I guess he's been training harder!

Now, I've had many Nathan's and other hot dogs, as occasional treats, all over the country, and have nothing against hot dogs. Or any other kind of food, in moderation.

Eating as a competitive sport - complete with prize money, trophies and records to beat? Say it ain't so... what do you think?