ESPN airs Matt Stonie’s (epic?) victory over Joey Chestnut in Nathan’s Hot-Dog Eating Contest

We really don’t think that there is any stranger celebration of American independence than watching someone try to devour as many hot dogs as they can in a short amount of time. Really, it’s rather gross. This is something that ESPN broadcasts still ever year, and this time around it is actually getting a lot of attention for one major reason: The most dominant person in the food-eating game has lost!

This year, Matt Stonie managed to defeat longtime food-eating king Joey Chestnut in an event in the Nathan’s Hot-Dog Eating Contest that has become the biggest of its kind in the competitive eating world. It’s pretty gross and it may not ever make you want to eat hot dogs ever again, but you can still check out the video of this below. Also, we have analysis of “technique” and “discipline,” and at times this does border on self-parody.

Yes, all of this is completely ridiculous, but it is a Fourth of July tradition! Also, let’s be honest here: There is not exactly a whole lot of worthwhile new programming on TV tonight anyway. Probably the biggest event coming is NBC’s annual Macy’s Fourth of July Fireworks Spectacular, and even that is mostly a substitute to something that you can go out and watch outside for yourself.

Ultimately, we imagine that both Stonie and Chestnut are probably going to be spending their rest of their Independence Day in bed. How in the world do you even move after eating so many of these things? Sometimes, we have a hard time down three.

Of course, we’ll have some other stories all about Fourth of July TV traditions and highlights as the day goes on. If you want to get some other TV scoop sent right to you, be sure to sign up right away for our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: ESPN.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=038l6JmdvHs