Most of the news continues to be bad. Oil continues to gush in the Gulf of Mexico, the stock market continues to drop, unemployment remains high and the war in Afghanistan is not going well. One bit of amusing news occurred this weekend at the annual hot dog eating contest at Coney Island.

This year’s winner of the annual Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest at Coney Island was Joey “Jaws” Chestnut of San Jose California. This was his fourth year to be champ and he did it by downing 54 hotdogs in 10 minutes. He won the cherished Mustard Belt for his effort. Japan had been the champ for several years in a row and the belt was proudly displayed in Japan. The contest was disrupted this year by a former Japanese champ, Takenu Kobayahi. There was some dispute regarding Takenu’s contract and he also missed the weigh in. While the contest was going on the former champ went on the stage and disrupted the event. Police had to subdue him. He was handcuffed and arrested.

Joey “Jaws” Chestnut still won and the Mustard Belt remains in the US for another year. He is our hero and is the bright spot in the news for the weekend. Jaws is pictured above and surprisingly doesn’t look all that big. I had trouble getting one hot dog down on the 4th and I am already overweight. It’s just not fair.

Anyway, the whole event at Coney Island was a welcome relief from all the other bad news I hear on the porch. It was so amusing I didn’t even mind the deer playing in the backyard.