Obsessed with "sports," Americans turn every known challenge into a contest worthy of coverage on the jock cable channels.
What used to be sweatless recreation now is an athletic event with strutting bikini-clad babes carrying cards announcing the next round.
Poker, checkers, horseshoes, chess and table tennis already have been seduced by media exposure and commercial sponsorships.
Now welcome Major League Eating to the fan base of millions of couch potatos vegetating 24-7 in front of plasma screens.
Salute competitive-eating champ Joey Chestnut, who scarfed 68 hot dogs in 10 minutes to take the international title on Independence Day at Coney Island.
What is more pornographic than shoving three score and eight wieners in your mouth as a "chew-view" cam provides close-ups of your gluttony?
And all that occurred in a city that bans use of artery-clogging trans fats in restaurants. (18 JULY 2010)
