Chestnut roasting in a right field pavilion

Save the date: On Thursday, Oct. 18 at 11 p.m., Spike TV will carry the Joey Chestnut vs. Kobayashi (plus other gluttons) match in the Major League Eating chicken wing and potato wedge consuption contest that'll happen Tuesday in Las Vegas from the Fremont Street Experience in downtown Las Vegas. How Spike wrestled this from ESPN defies explanation, although Spike did carry the St. Patrick's Day Chowdown last March 17, which featured corn beef and cabbage, green donuts and jalapenos on the menu.
Meanwhile, Rick Reilly’s column in the current (Oct. 8) issue of Sports Illustrated centers around him taking Chestnut to Dodger Stadium to sit in the right-field "All You Can Eat" pavilion. Reilly says Chestnut was able to fire down 25 hot dogs, but he apologized because the day before, he ate 19 pounds of grits in another contest in Louisiana.
Still Chestnut ate what would have amounted to $151 of food had it not been included in the $35 ticket.
The headline on Reilly's column about Chestnut: "The Sinatra of Franks."