Another step was taken today towards RUWTbot’s Global Domination Plan™ as the July 16th issue of ESPN the Magazine hits newsstands. Flip to pagina 38 and you’ll see how big time we are. It’s small, yet incomprehensibly awesome.

After sending a post-article bribe to Larry Smith over at SMITH Magazine (naming my first-born after him was the pre-article bribe), I’ll be heading to Barnes & Noble and buying every freakin’ copy they have.

Well. That was a thing.

I hope you watched the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Competition today. I’ve been looking forward to it for weeks now, and it wasn’t the least bit disappointing. As always, the commentary was brutal as they vamp for 48 minutes, but the 12 minutes of professional-level gluttony was worth it.

All eyes were on Chestnut and Kobayashi, and as expected Chestnut jumped out to an early lead. These Willis Reed and Curt Schilling comparisions were wholly ridiculous, but Kobayashi made a really impressive showing, and the two were deadlocked for the last 2:30. They blew past the old record by a full afternoon of dogs, topping out at an impressive 66.

It was a photo finish they said. They might have to go to the video they said. But as the announcer counted down from 10, everyone watching live saw the pivotal moment. We didn’t need replay—Kobayashi had a “reversal”. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to eat a Hot Dog again.

Some of my favorite quotes from the broadcast:
Former bologna champion of the world

Just an emotional win, a great win for America

Well said Mr. Commentator man. Well said.

Did anyone else immediately think of Happy Gilmore when you saw this headline?

One-eyed gator pulls golfer into pond

A man who lost his ball in a golf course pond nearly lost a limb when a nearly 11-foot alligator latched on to his arm and pulled him in the water, authorities said.

The alligator latched on to Burger’s right forearm and pulled him in the pond, said Gary Morse, a spokesman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Burger used his left arm to beat the reptile until it freed him. (more)

What? You’ve never even heard of temporomandibular joint disorder? Yeah, me neither.

Less than two weeks before Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Competition that I was admittedly really looking forward to ever since the seemingly unstoppable Kobayashi’s world record was broken, show-stopping news comes from the King’s camp:

“Kobayashi writes that he can only open his famous hatch as wide as a fingertip without suffering extreme pain and draws a comparison to a baseball pitcher with torn elbow ligaments.

George Shea, a spokesman for Major League Eating — the group that hosts the famous competition — said that Kobayashi’s condition was “day to day,” but as far as the group knew, he would still attend next week’s event.” (more)

We’re just barely into the 82 day stretch of summer that has baseball as pretty much the only show in town—we simply can’t afford to lose stars from our majors. First Lefty and his wrist, now Kobayashi and his jaw? ‘Tis a sad day…

Duke is mounting a major come back against Johns Hopkins (ESPN), in what is turning into a great Lacrosse National Championship game. Lacrosse doesn’t really do it for me, but I swear to God, Johns Hopkins better win or we’ll be hearing about the Duke story on every SportsCenter, Outside the Lines, Behind the Glory, and chinese fortune cookie for the next 50 years.

update: game is now tied with 4 minutes to go…

We released a new version of the RUWT? Sport Toolbar this week (v1.4.1) and it’s flying off the “shelves.” This version has two new features that users have been clamoring for that I’m happy to include.

First, you can customize the location of the toolbar in your browser. Want the toolbar at the top of your browser today? Do it. Tomorrow you want it down at the bottom of your browser? Go for it. We won’t judge.

Second, a feature that I’ve personally wanted for a while, the ability to lock the ticker. If there’s only one game that you care about, just click the lock icon and the toolbar will instantly get a one-track mind. And don’t worry, you’ll still get alerts for other games if something goes down.

Do you use Firefox or Flock? Then what are you waiting for? Get the toolbar now! If you already have the toolbar, help us spread the word by leaving us a review!

Well tonight wasn’t so fun. For the record, even though you may have gotten a text message that said otherwise, no, there weren’t 5 no-hitters going on all at once (believe it or not, related to Twitter), and the Mets vs. Braves game tonight really wasn’t worth 348 roots. Toss in the sports feed going down (believe it or not, related to the new Who You Got? leaderboard) as soon as I got to the supermarket, and you end up with a pretty stressful night.

Building a project to scratch an itch I’ve had for years has been a blast, but nights like these you just have to toss in the trash. Could be worse though—I could be a Celtics fan right now…