# I don't care how long I live, I will never understand the appeal of competitive eating. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 28, 2018, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-how-long-i-live-i-will-never-understand-the-appeal-of-competitive-eating/815005 "2018-05-28T23:14:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2018, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-how-long-i-live-i-will-never-understand-the-appeal-of-competitive-eating/815005/1 "2018-05-28T23:14:08Z")
It is so disgusting to watch. I will never understand it. Seriously, it’s so gross. It makes me ill to even think about. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2018, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-how-long-i-live-i-will-never-understand-the-appeal-of-competitive-eating/815005/2 "2018-05-28T23:31:12Z")
I have watched, and regretted having watched, the Nathan’s deal. What a mess. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2018, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-how-long-i-live-i-will-never-understand-the-appeal-of-competitive-eating/815005/3 "2018-05-28T23:31:59Z")
Agreed. It’s not a sport, it’s a freak show. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2018, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-how-long-i-live-i-will-never-understand-the-appeal-of-competitive-eating/815005/4 "2018-05-28T23:48:32Z")
Must be in honour of Loki vs Logi in Útgardr. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2018, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-how-long-i-live-i-will-never-understand-the-appeal-of-competitive-eating/815005/5 "2018-05-28T23:55:02Z")
I hate the timed events - eat X number of pies in twenty minutes - but I also hate the ones that grade by volume. You know - the kind that has an 18 pound hamburger topped with a full chicken and seven layer bean dip and a watermelon stuffed with olives on a teeny plastic sword. It’s just gross. The audience is just waiting to see if the guy will need an ambulance. Freak show is right. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2018, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-how-long-i-live-i-will-never-understand-the-appeal-of-competitive-eating/815005/6 "2018-05-29T00:10:49Z")
I don’t understand the appeal either, but there are all sorts of ways that people compete that are nonsensical or counter-productive. ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2018, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-how-long-i-live-i-will-never-understand-the-appeal-of-competitive-eating/815005/7 "2018-05-29T02:43:28Z")
I think I can count on the fingers of one hand the competitions that are sensible and useful. And I can do it faster than you can, too. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2018, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-how-long-i-live-i-will-never-understand-the-appeal-of-competitive-eating/815005/8 "2018-05-29T03:37:21Z")
Yeah, turns my stomach, too. I don’t even enjoy watching old fashioned, county fair style pie eating contests. ---
**Author:** ![K2500](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f6c823/32.png) [@K2500](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K2500)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2018, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-how-long-i-live-i-will-never-understand-the-appeal-of-competitive-eating/815005/9 "2018-05-29T03:48:54Z")
72oz steak and all the trimmings in under an hour and it’s free. I can see free as a significant motivator. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2018, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-how-long-i-live-i-will-never-understand-the-appeal-of-competitive-eating/815005/10 "2018-05-29T04:00:42Z")
When I was a kid, my Girl Scout leader’s husband said that when he was much younger, he won a contest by eating 22 jumbo shrimp, “and then I upchucked about 22 times!” Just the thought of that turned me off anything like it. I agree, it’s disgusting. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2018, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-how-long-i-live-i-will-never-understand-the-appeal-of-competitive-eating/815005/11 "2018-05-29T11:52:30Z")
Makes me yearn to bring back the old sins, with Gluttony being top of the list. One of my nephews loved watching “challenge” programs where the host would show up at one of those restaurants (almost always a sports bar) that had a challenge like eat a five-pound hamburger with two pounds of pulled pork and three fried eggs on top along with a pound of fries in 45-minutes. I’d leave the room. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2018, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-how-long-i-live-i-will-never-understand-the-appeal-of-competitive-eating/815005/12 "2018-05-29T12:02:02Z")
Idiocy, pure and simple. Why would anyone want accolades for stuffing themselves? How is that an accomplishment? Running faster than anyone else can save your life. Throwing a ball/rock/spear faster and more accurately can save your life. Cramming hot dogs down your gullet serves no purpose at all. I never understood it… ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2018, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-how-long-i-live-i-will-never-understand-the-appeal-of-competitive-eating/815005/13 "2018-05-29T19:42:30Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > Idiocy, pure and simple. Why would anyone want accolades for stuffing themselves? How is that an accomplishment? > > Running faster than anyone else can save your life. Throwing a ball/rock/spear faster and more accurately can save your life. Cramming hot dogs down your gullet serves no purpose at all. I never understood it… Many famous people receive accolades for no better. Ski jumping is no more useful. Visual art (for its own sake, not commercial art) is no more useful. Neither is music. Neither is pro baseball or figure skating or a lot of other things. I don’t like eating contests, but the reason I don’t like them is they make me feel bad. The uselessness argument is a red herring IMO. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2018, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-how-long-i-live-i-will-never-understand-the-appeal-of-competitive-eating/815005/14 "2018-05-29T20:44:23Z")
Eh, still better than baseball. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2018, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-how-long-i-live-i-will-never-understand-the-appeal-of-competitive-eating/815005/15 "2018-05-29T20:44:24Z")
How about insect eating contests? blech ---
**Author:** ![lingyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@lingyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lingyi)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2018, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-how-long-i-live-i-will-never-understand-the-appeal-of-competitive-eating/815005/16 "2018-05-29T20:51:34Z")
It’s like Nascar. People say they watch it for the competition, but they’re really waiting for the crash and burn! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2018, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-how-long-i-live-i-will-never-understand-the-appeal-of-competitive-eating/815005/17 "2018-05-30T00:10:55Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > Eh, still better than baseball. > > 😉 Bite. Your. Tongue. (skritches) ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2018, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-how-long-i-live-i-will-never-understand-the-appeal-of-competitive-eating/815005/18 "2018-05-30T00:20:38Z")
It’s a celebration of who we are as Americans, right on the Fourth of July too. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2018, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-how-long-i-live-i-will-never-understand-the-appeal-of-competitive-eating/815005/19 "2018-05-30T15:42:51Z")
Offensive and disgusting and I have no interest in it. But I do understand the human need for competition. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2018, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-how-long-i-live-i-will-never-understand-the-appeal-of-competitive-eating/815005/20 "2018-05-30T17:42:58Z")
Agreed, it’s disgusting. Except when Tiny Hamster is a competitor. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/XPHlHuhBVFI/hqdefault.jpg "Ep. 3 - Tiny Hamster vs Kobayashi - The Ultimate Competitive Eating Battle") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPHlHuhBVFI) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-how-long-i-live-i-will-never-understand-the-appeal-of-competitive-eating/815005.md?page=2)