Is it a Sport: Hot Dog Eating?

Takeru Kobayashi has put competitive hot dog eating on the map (and on television), making the annual 4th of July contest something that many people look forward to.

Kobayashi's career best is 53 3/4 hot dogs eaten in 12 minutes. The fact that he does it every year while maintaining a figure Lindsey Lohan would envy is beyond impressive.

But it brings us to the all-important question: is hot dog eating a sport?

Why Hot Dog Eating might be considered a sport

While the importance of fitness to hot dog eating can be debated (see below), no one can question the competitive nature of the activity. Once that whistle blows, it's a dog eat hot dog mentality. (Sorry, couldn't resist.)

So important is defending his six consecutive titles that Kobayashi will be eating his way through a painful jaw injury in this year's competition. Now that's dedication.

Also in hot dog eating's favor is the following that the activity has gained in recent years. Given the fact that another great masticater has recently surpassed Kobayashi's record in a tune-up competition, you can expect this year's ratings to soar.

Why Hot Dog Eating might not be considered a sport

Somehow, competitive hot dog eating and America just seem to go together. We have a weakness for gluttony, so why not glorify it by making it a sport?

Not so fast, I say.

Kobayashi has a great digestive system -- probably one of the best in the world -- but that doesn't make him an athlete. A mutant is more like it.

Final Ruling: Not a sport
Certainty: I'd be willing to wager a Costco dog.

A Few Thoughts on Draft Day Trades

"Can [Jason Richardson] be a Michael Jordan? We're not expecting him to be," said Michael Jordan, whose Charlotte Bobcats traded for Richardson yesterday.

Apparently using Michael Jordan as the standard for greatness has become so commonplace that even His Airness has taken to the habit. I don't know about you, but I find Jordan's third person reference to himself to be pretty awkward.


Danny Ainge was clearly a better athlete than he is a general manager. The Sonics fleeced the Celtics in the Ray Allen trade yesterday, and Ainge must be the only guy on the planet that doesn't know it.

If having a player of Allen's ilk is good enough to win a championship, then having two of them -- Antoine Walker and Paul Pierce -- should have been good for several.


If you're a Sonics fan, you have to be thrilled with yesterday's proceedings. You dump a large salary and an aging superstar for a solid shooter, an up and coming point guard, and the fifth pick in the draft. Oh yeah, Seattle also nabbed a Future Hall of Famer with the second pick.


And finally, the Knicks continue to baffle me. While it was certainly time to show Steve Francis the door, why would you want a guy like Zach Randolph in return? The guy has had more than his share of on and off-court problems. New York has had its struggles recently, but I'd like to give Isiah Thomas a little hint: it's not talent you're lacking. Always remember, character counts.

Who Cares about Frank Thomas's 500th HR?

This post is going to take some research, so I hope you enjoy it.

Frank Thomas hit his 500th career home run today. That's the easy part. The hard part is determining, now that the steroid era has dawned, what is the significance of that accomplishment.

And cue statistics.

Thomas became the 21st man in the history of baseball to reach the milestone, but it looks like three more players -- Alex Rodriguez, Jim Thome, and Manny Ramirez -- will join that group later this season. Of the 21, five have over 600 career home runs.

Back when the Babe retired with 714 home runs, Lou Gehrig became the active home run leader with 427 dingers (a 287 differential), and that was with only four season left in his career.

At the end of this season, Barry Bonds will retire with 760-something home runs. (Just for the fun of it, I'll guess 766. Call me Nostradamus.) By that time, A-Rod will have surpassed 500 home runs, resulting in a deficit similar to that faced by Gehrig. The big difference, though, is that Rodriguez probably has six or seven very productive seasons remaining, and reaching 800 home runs is not out of the question.

So how does all this affect Frank Thomas? It doesn't, really.

The takeaway from this post is that the significance of a home run has changed over the years, just like the value of a dollar. You used to be able to buy a house for $14,000, but now that amount would get you only a Kia. Likewise, 50 home runs in a season used to be a huge deal, and now it's only a big deal.

But you know what? A million dollars is still an awful lot of money, and 500 home runs makes for a pretty darn good career. And if I have a Hall of Fame vote five or six years from now, I'll cast it in favor of Frank Thomas.

Six Reasons We Love Mock Drafts

It didn't used to be this way.

There was a time, before blogs and 24/7 ESPN programming, that everyone waited until draft day to find out what would happen.

But as sports and technology has evolved, so have we. All on the Field offers six reasons why we have become a Mock Draft Culture:

1. We all want to be GMs. Every serious sports fan thinks they could easily run their favorite franchise if given the chance. Mock drafts give fans the opportunity -- based on several minutes of in-depth research and that one game we watched that one Saturday last fall -- to make an intelligent decision as to who their franchise should select.
   
   
2. The hypothetical is tantalizing. Everyone loves a good what-if scenario. For instance, what if the Atlanta Hawks, who desperately need a point guard, swapped their 11th pick with the Sonics for Luke Ridnour? Doesn't just reading that get your blood pumping?
   
   
3. List-making feels good. Just ask the guy who took the time to create a fantasy draft of bloggers.
   
   
4. Hope springs eternal. The fact is, if your team has a lottery pick this year, chances are that things aren't going too well for the franchise (or your team swindled some other hapless team in a trade two years ago). But now that you've linked a great college player to your team via the mock draft, things are starting to look up.
   
   
5. Everyone is an expert. In a dream world, we'd all be getting paid for our expert analysis. As it is, we offer it to the world at no charge and then later boldly proclaim that our mock draft was better than Bill Simmons'. Unfortunately, Simmons' mock draft happened to be readable.
   
   
6. The suspense is killing us! We've known about the draft order for almost a full month now, and we still don't know for sure if the Blazers will take Sam Bowier -- err, Greg Oden -- with the first pick. Somehow, putting it down on paper or up on the screen makes us feel better while we wait. Speaking of which, I better finish my mock draft -- less than 24 hours until the real thing!

Is it a Sport: Cheerleading?

Part of me thinks that this picture is all we need to conclude this debate, but I'll use my better judgment and press on.

These days, cheerleading is a year-round activity. Cheerleaders show up at just about every sport there is, except for golf and tennis. Not enough other fans at those sports to lead in cheers, I suppose.

Why Cheerleading might be considered a sport

Some people seem to think that cheerleading is a sport just because it's closely associated with other activities that actually are sports. If you're going to convince me, you'll need a better argument than that.

One reason cheerleading might be a sport is that it does require physical fitness to be a good cheerleader. Sure, there are plenty that throw on the glittery makeup, tie their hair up in a ponytail with a cute ribbon, and call it good. But there are others -- you know, the ones that go to cheerleading camps and stuff -- that demonstrate incredible strength and flexibility.

These days, there is also the competition factor to consider. Apparently, there are all sorts of national competitions taking place these days. What do you suppose the trophies would look like?

Why Cheerleading might not be considered a sport

While cheerleading does technically pass the criteria that physical fitness is required for excellence, it's a bit of a stretch because excellence at cheerleading has been vastly redefined in the past decade.

Believe it or not, the primary aim of cheerleading used to be leading the fans in cheers. But then someone figured out that fans can generally figure out how to cheer on their own, and they changed the rules to make it about style and form.

I also have a hard time buying into the competitiveness of cheerleading. Maybe it's Chris's and David's comments in the original debate about what a sport is, but I think it goes beyond the fact that the determination of a winner is subjective. I suspect, instead, that a cheerleading competition would bear a striking resemblance to a marching band contest.

Final Ruling: Is not a sport.
Certainty: Give me a One! Give me a Zero! Give me another Zero!

Kevin Durant, the Sonics, and Me

Kevin Durant and I hung out together yesterday.

Okay, so there were about thirty other reporters at his post-workout press conference, and we didn't actually talk. But I was there.

You can check out my story for The Olympian here.

If you ask me, the Sonics are in great shape for Thursday's draft. The Portland Trailblazers, who own the #1 pick overall, will be terrified to repeat their Sam Bowie performance in the 1984 draft. They passed up a guy named Jordan that year; ever heard of him?

With that in mind, count on them to take the safe road by choosing Greg Oden. Sure, they might be intrigued by a guy like Durant, and who wouldn't be? But with great privilege comes great responsibility, and the Blazers know they could never live it down if they pass on Oden and Durant flops.

So that leaves the Sonics with the easiest decision in the world. Oden's gone, so... "Welcome to the franchise, Kevin Durant!"