Hot dog rivals should get in ring

Forget Manny Pacquiao vs. Floyd Mayweather. The real fight that needs to be made is Chestnut vs. Kobayashi.

In competitive eating, there's no better rivalry than Joey Chestnut and Takeru Kobayashi. But when the annual 4th of July Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest was staged Wednesday at Coney Island, Kobayashi was 14 miles away in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn, N.Y., at a place called Roberta's, taking part in the inaugural Crif Dog Classic.

Because the Japanese eating machine refuses to sign a long-term contract with Major League Eating, which sanctions the Nathan's contest, Kobayashi is unable to go head-to-head against Chestnut, the acknowledged world-record holder with 68 hot dogs eaten who tied his mark Wednesday en route to winning his sixth consecutive Mustard Belt title.

Kobayashi, meanwhile, consumed 68½ dogs in defeating nine others to win the Crif Dog Classic, which he claims is the new record. But since MLE didn't sanction the event, it won't give Kobayashi the record.

And you thought boxing was political?

This has been going on for three years now, and competitive eating fans are getting sick to their stomachs over this. Perhaps promoter Bob Arum can intercede and have Chestnut and Kobayashi meet next spring in Las Vegas and be part of the undercard in the event Mayweather and Pacquiao actually get in the ring - $1 million, winner take all, to the guy who can eat the most hot dogs in 10 minutes.

We have Nathan's in Las Vegas. There's no reason it can't get done. And if Nathan's balks at participating for fear of alienating Major League Eating, perhaps Hebrew National or Farmer John would be willing to pinch hit.

■ SHOOTING BLIND - It stands to reason if you're a world-class archer, it helps to be able to see the target. But in Im Dong-Hyun's case, it doesn't seem to matter.

The 25-year-old archer from South Korea has 20/100 vision in his left eye and 20/200 vision in his right eye, which makes him legally blind. Yet he will compete at the London Games without the aid of corrective lenses.

Im told The Telegraph that while he can't clearly make out the targets, he relies on muscle memory to place his arrows.

Im said he feels the shot with his body, and his muscles are accustomed to knowing how to line up each shot.

Fortunately, shooting apples off the top of one's head is not an Olympic sport, so Im's margin of error is a little broader than William Tell's was.

■ BACK TO WORK - It doesn't take much to ruffle the feathers of the folks at Wimbledon, but the kidnapping of Rufus the Hawk last week was cause for concern before Rufus was returned Sunday.

Hawks have been used at the All England Club for the past 12 years to keep pigeons from interfering with the pristine courts and those who inhabit them during the fortnight. Rufus, a 4½-year-old Harris Hawk, was taken from a car but returned when the bird-napping became a national story.

Rufus reportedly had a sore leg, but after a couple of days off to recover, Rufus was back on the job Tuesday.

There's no truth that the Pigeon Sisters, Gwendolyn and Cecily, were behind the diabolical plot to abduct Rufus. But Scotland Yard was looking into it just to make sure.

COMPILED BY STEVE CARP
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL