HOT DIGGETY DOG!

Not coincidentally, just as a warm spell hits the northeast and melts away the last of the Valentine's Day snowstorm, registration for the Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest is finally open on NathansFamous.com. Yes, the 2007 eating season is upon us. (And no, the MLE season doesn't start with the New Year. The handful of contests held between January and now are like Spring Training...just a precursor to the real action that happens between April and October.)

I signed up for the Philadelphia qualifier on May 26 and the QVC qualifier on June 28. Registration actually opened sometime yesterday or late Saturday. I checked the site every 12 hours or so for the last three weeks, so it figures that they'd start it during the day-and-a-half that I wasn't online. Hopefully I can get into at least one of them. If I get into the QVC qualifier, I really have to bring it. That's traditionally the last qualifier of the season and I don't want to take a spot at the table if I can't do AT LEAST the deuce (20 HDBs). Last year it took Seaver Miller 21.5 dogs to win and it's probably going to take 25 to do it this year.

I also hope I find out soon whether or not I got a spot at the table in one or both events. I'd like to start preparing mentally and physically. I should start prepping regardless. Nathan's or no Nathan's, I've got a busy season of eating ahead of me.