NFL Action Sports

It's the Fourth of July, which for many Americans, is a wonderful excuse to get drunk and stuff your face, all under the guise of celebrating freedom.

And if you're a competitive eater, you can actually make a few bucks in the process. It's not exactly glamorous, but, hey, everybody's good at something, and for Joey Chestnut and Takeru Kobayashi, it's all about chugging hot dogs (video proof here).

Ah, yes, the ol' "cannonball technique." (Actually, what I know about competitive eating consists of the few seconds each year I tune into the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest, before puking and changing the channel. Maybe the cannonball technique is banned in many states.)

By the way, I love how ESPN has an on-scene reporter quizzing the contestants after the Chestnut pulls out the overtime victory (this seems like an event tailor-made for Heidi Watney; I'm guessing Jerry Remy agrees), and even better, Kobayashi has his own interpreter.

In case you're wondering, Kobayashi says he wasn't quick enough in the five-dog overtime eat-off, but he plans on being back in '09. Oh, and with the victory, Chestnut is still the No. 1 ranked eater. Don King would be proud.

Previously on FanHouse
Joey Chestnut Beats Takeru Kobayashi at Coney Island Hot Dog Eating Contest
Kobayashi vs. Chestnut Hot Dog Live Blog

Here's Arizona Cardinals safety Adrian Wilson pulling off one of the most impressive athletic feats you'll ever see, taking a couple of steps and then jumping 66 inches vertically:

That jump has become the stuff of YouTube legend, and it was nominated in the sports category at the YouTube Awards. But it lost out to a video in which a skateboarder pops a lot of balloons. In my view, the skateboarding video is obviously inferior, although maybe that says more about me than it does about the videos in question. The skateboarding video is after the jump.

The Professional Bull Riding tour is much more popular than the American media make it seem. I once talked to a Versus executive who told me that the network considers PBR a more valuable property than the NHL. But it's mostly a southern, western and rural sport. Can PBR make it in America's biggest city? They're giving it a shot:

I could see PBR becoming a hot ticket at Madison Square Garden some day. And if PBR makes it in New York, the mainstream media won't ignore it anymore.

Buried in a long Advertising Age piece about the plans of new NBC Universal Entertainment Co-Chairman Ben Silverman is this little nugget:

One show that's changing the definition of the word "future" as it relates to Mr. Silverman is "American Gladiators," the Reveille-owned cavalcade of well-oiled, padded combatants that might soon reappear on NBC after NFL football.

Seriously? There's actually a chance that they're going to bring back "American Gladiators" and put it on after Sunday Night Football? I'm not sure what kind of ratings that would get -- we're talking a start time of about midnight Eastern, and most people have to go to work on Monday morning -- but I can think of few things more awesome. I'd watch.

Hat tip: Pro Football Talk.