gustatory athletes, we commend you

today was the world championship of competitive eating. i happened to tune in to espn2 just as the quarter-finals commenced, which, as everyone knows, is the "chopped italian salad" discipline. the competitors go head-to-head, and the winner is determined by the weight of the leftover food on their plates.
oddly enough, i was first introduced to this subculture of eaters while at the gym (yes, i am one of those.) i was a bit surprised at the programming choices for a place where most of it's visitors are painfully aware of every calorie they consume. i guess if you can't eat what you want, what better entertainment than to watch people gorge themselves in 4 minutes flat?
now that i have typed this, i realize that it was a lot funnier and more ironic several hours ago. sorry to waste your time...but, if you're reading blogs, i guess you're pretty used to wasting time. in that case, let me recommend that you check out www.ifoce.com for more information on the international federation of competitive eating.