Only 31 Days Until The Hot Dog Eating Contest, Gotta Toughen Up
Some guys reach the peak of the mountaintop and they say to themselves, "Oh my god, I made it". Other guys reach that peak and say to themselves, "okay, time to keep going higher". It's what separates those who are truly great from those who are just really good.
I'm sure at some point there was someone who had more talent than Wayne Gretzky. I'm sure at some point there was someone who had more talent than Michael Jordan. 198 players were drafted before Tom Brady. But did any of them want it more? Were any of them willing to put in the work to continue getting better even when everybody already says that you're the best?
That's why there will never be another Joey Chestnut. We're a month away from the biggest eating contest of the year. Frankly, the only one that people actually care about. This man needs to shove 70+ hot dogs down his gullet in a month from now. He could be taking it easy right now just resting up for the big one. But Joey Chestnut is allergic to complacency. He's not going to allow the peak to turn into a plateau. The man is in a constant competition to be better than he was the day before. So if that means he needs to slam back a few pints of ice cream at a Toledo Mud Hens game to prepare himself to put on a show at Coney Island, then that's what he's going to do.
And that's why you tune in every 4th of July to watch Joey Chestnut vs everybody else.