Nathan’s at Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York, is hardly the site of fine dining. But, over the July 4 weekend, it was the home of gluttony – the ultimate exercise in stuffing small and large intestines. To celebrate our nation’s independence, Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest was held and attracted throngs of spectators and a national audience over "sport" television. For years now, ESPN has broadcast the event live so fans could observe the top wiener eaters stuffing themselves silly. Joey Chestnut won his third consecutive title by downing 68 hot dogs in 10 minutes. Takeru Kobayashi finished second behind Chestnut for the third time. His ’09 mark was 64 dogs in 10 minutes. Kobayashi won the event in each year from 2000 to 2006. How the contest qualifies as a "sporting event" escapes me. Yet, ESPN most certainly has viewing data to reinforce the management decision to cover this type of dog race. In a similar vein, the "Marathon Man" will soon attempt to break his own "world record" at Lake Minnetonka. Jeff Kolodzinski will seek to surpass his own Guinness World Record for most fish caught in a 24 hour period by hook and line. I applaud Kolodzinski’s objective to support U.S. military families, and the Fishing for Life organization, but I can’t get excited about the event. I like the motives, not the method. Perhaps not so gross as stuffing oneself with frankfurters, the notion of catching one fish after another as fast as possible for 24 hours, simply does not seem compatible with sport fishing. Kolodzinski’s existing record, set last year at Maynard’s on Lake Minnetonka, is 1,680 fish – mostly panfish and bass, and "the accidental carp." For those folks interested in seeing this type of spectacle, Kolodzinski will again be fishing at Maynard’s. His second assault on the record will begin at 7:30 a.m., Friday, July 31, and will conclude at 7:30 on Saturday morning. Frabill, a manufacturer of fishing equipment, is a sponsor of the event, as are Fishing for Life, and the Twin Cities Chapter of Muskies, Inc. Kolodzinski is vice president of marketing for Frabill. To better comprehend this record, consider this – the actual catching of more than 1,600 fish in a 24-hour time period consists of taking more than one fish per minute for a full day. Simple arithmetic reveals that 60 minutes per hour, for 24 hours, is 1,440 minutes. If he caught one fish per minute, no matter how astounding, he’d fall short of the record by a total of 240 fish. I watched Kolodzinski in his 2008 record breaker on Ron Schara’s "Minnesota Bound" television show. He used highly sophisticated equipment designed for shore fishing. In fact, he’s an accomplished International Shore Fishing competitor, having competed with Team United States. Shore fishing in Europe is highly refined, since very few opportunities exist for working folks to own boats and enjoy access to public water. Thus, ice fishing and shore fishing are far more extensive abroad than in the U.S. However, the emphasis is not put on catching outlandish numbers of fish, but rather the quality, or trophy value of the fish. Kolodzinski’s record has little to do with sport or quality – it’s strictly a numbers effort. Nonetheless, his efforts are directed toward noble causes. "Reel ‘Em In Kids" is a program which provides rods, reels, and tackle to underserved youth. "Fish Fair" is a winter fishing carnival, and "Fish-a-Thon" is a philanthropic program to raise money for organizations serving urban youth. Armed Forces Family Fishing Celebration will also be held at Maynard’s. This Fishing For Life event will be held on Friday, Aug. 21. Details can be found at www.fishingforlife.org. The redeeming qualities are almost enough for me to ignore the excess, both in numbers of fish caught and in mountains of maggots used for bait, in Jeff Kolozinski’s fervor to re-enter the Guinness record book.
Clayton Diskerud, formerly of Lake Augusta and now of Buffalo, is an emeritus professor of social science and criminal justice. which he was program director. He has taught at the University of Minnesota and Carthage College in Kenosha, Wis. He is an occasional contributor to the Advocate and a regular contributor to the Advocate’s editorial page.