Mind you, nineteen dogs was well off Hirofumi's record-setting pace

of the year before, when he'd eaten 24 and 1/2 hot dogs in tweleve minutes.

Nathan's spokesman George Shea went so far as to suggest to the Post's

Gersh Kuntzman that the men, "overwhelmed by the worldwide attention this

contest draws...forgot the basics of competitive eating."

 {Forward to 4 of 6}