Baskin's Blog: What is wrong with us? We watch a grown man shove hot dogs down his throat

CLEVELAND - Sure, early July is one of the slowest times of the year for sports. Basketball and hockey are over, football is still three weeks away, the colleges and high schools are out for the summer. I guess I should be saying "thanks baseball!"

So what is our infatuation with watching a grown man shove 68 hot dogs down his throat in a 10-minute period? Boredom? Sideshow freakdom? Sport? I can't put my finger on it.

All I know is that when I watched Joey Chestnut down 68 hot dogs in less time than the last two minutes of your typical NBA game, I wanted to do what he was doing -- gag.

What is crazier than Chestnut making $10,000 for the feat? The man is in a league named Major League Eating. They have a logo and everything .

Have we lost our minds?

Really, have we stooped that low for entertainment? I watched hundreds cheer him on at Coney Island on July 4. All I could think about was the blueberry pie eater from the movie, "Stand By Me." The end result of that I'm sure was something we would not see televised. Unless it's Chris Perez closing for the Indians in St. Louis.

I'm wondering what will be next. Competitive team eating in a trough, and the all-you-can-eat buffet? Monday night eat an entire cow?

I've watched the hot eating contest before and I'll admit I thought it was funny. But watching Chestnut down 68 really made me ill. It's not exactly the great American image on the Fourth of July for the rest of the world.

It's gross. But the sponsors are making money. We all want to see who wins. We need something to fill out time. It's not going to go away.

Andy Griffith passed away earlier this week. His passing reminds us all of an unrealistic earlier time, where things were much simpler and the only person who wasn't a straight arrow was Gomer Pyle. I've seen a bunch of posts on Facebook this week about how we need a little more of life in a simple time.

As long as we have 24-hour sports channels, and they need programming, we will have an eating contest or two. The world is not a perfect place, but I think I would be better off without watching another hot dog eating contest anytime soon.

I wonder if the "Stand by Me" pie eating kid is in the Mayberry Blueberry contest in Mayberry? I bet we could get ESPN to televise it. I'm sure we could get Jim Gray to produce it. He needs a follow-up to 'The Decision."