eatingalot.com

College football starts this weekend.  The NCAA trying to stop college players from getting paid is sort of like the ATF trying to stop underage college students from drinking.  No matter what it’s going to happen.  They don’t have to endorse it, but why waste so many resources trying to stop it?

Similarly: Finding head coaches who adhere to recruitment and eligibility rules is like trying to find professors who take the job because they love teaching, not because they love the summers off.  Neither of those things are going to happen either

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Valarie Adams won shotput at the World Championships, just under 70′.  She’s listed at 260-pounds and isn’t fat.  Best throw since 2000, when the drug testing couldn’t even catch Marion Jones

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Second hotdog run of the summer earlier today.  The fat-free hotdogs are like $3 per package.  The merely “low-fat” can be found for $1.  I went with the cheaper ones, not even too many of them — only 2 000 grams of meat and bread — yet that is not even close to “low-fat.”  Trading  the couple of dollars per package for the 150g of fat or so is not a tradeoff I’ll be making again

Went down fairly quick, felt completely comfortable

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For 2011, pretty hard to think of a better holiday than Labor Day.  Much better than Fourth of July (one love America, it wasn’t you who did anything wrong).  Does make me wonder why every work place isn’t union.  No matter what a persons ideology, a union simply means labor is going to negotiate as a single entity, rather than every worker as an individual.  That’s in the best interest of virtually every single person in the workforce.  If the union proves to be weak, the workers are already united and can simply agree to lower the dues they have to pay

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From ESPN Magazine: In 2009 Michael Vick paid $2 098.05 per month in union dues.  That’s one of the best and safest investment is the entire world.  It has allowed him to exceed $100 million in lifetime earnings.  He then went bankrupt, but he’s now back to the similar earnings and most likely better living conditions.  Wal-Mart employees are free to make similar investments at less than $20 per month, yet refuse to do so

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Also From ESPN Magazine: How Thrify Are Players In Your “Sport?”

“We’re cheap,” Joey Chestnut

“At dinner we’ll go out as a group, and the tab will be a few grand,” Brandon Beachy

The cool thing is that no matter how a person does at an eating contest and no matter what the prize money, being able to have a meal out as a group is worth a few grand (if it wasn’t, those guys wouldn’t be paying that much for their meal).  That’s what I’ve come to realize

. . . It’s Worth Doing Every Day

A paradigm shift.  Over the past two years I have averaged over one All-You-Can-Eat Buffet trip per week.  Over 100 times since Summer of 2009

Over those two years I have come up with two definitive rules:

1. Go Often
2. Eat A Lot

The problem: If I am willing to say it is such a good meal, once a week isn’t often enough.  My mindset was never right.  I always treated each trip as if it was a huge event.  In my mind it made sense because it may have been the highlight of my week.  But if that was the correct approach, why weren’t other daily highlights treated made to be such a huge celebration?  Like getting jittery off megadoses of caffeine or feeling loopy on a ambien and xanax cocktail

The problem: Once or even twice per week caused that feeling of trying to fit too much into each buffet meal.  At the end there would be a hint of sadness knowing the next time was now days away.  Sometimes even more than a hint of discomfort as my stomach was so stuffed.  From now on I am going to treat All-You-Can-Eat meals the same way as any other daily mundane tasks like getting high on drugs.  Pay the $10, enjoy it while it lasts, then move on.  No need to keep taking extra doses until it hurts; no need to feel hurt because we are so far apart.  The next trip will come soon enough

What is a comfortable salary? Twice what you earn now

What is the best job in the world?  There is no such thing as a good job.  If it was good, you should be willing to do it without compensation.  And if a business is willing to pay so much for something they could have without paying, they will never be able to earn enough of a profit to stay in business.  Some are simply less bad than others

What is the most addictive thing?  A while ago the Freakonomics guys said it was people.  I don’t know if that is true, but I do know that no illegal drug is very addictive at all.  If anyone thinks differently than please explain why so many people have absolutely zero desire to use any of them.  Making drugs illegal is almost as illogical as eating contest.  Either you don’t want to use them, in which case you don’t care at all about how accessable they are.  Or you do want to use them and you do want them easily accessible.  I don’t care.  Whether they stay illegal or become legal would make zero difference to me.  I would like to see tax evasion legalized, because then I could have more money

What is the best lie in the world? From Winnie the Pooh: “you are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.”  If anyone cannot figure out the limits of their own mind, it must not work very well.  Most of us prove everyday we’re pretty damn weak and stupid.  Some people are even foolish enough to think they might be bright.  But the line is poetic

Winnie the Pooh or The Giving Tree? The Giving Tree.  Apples have a lot of good nutrition.  Honey doesn’t

The best way to prepare to eat a lot of hotdogs, is to … eat a lot of hotdogs … and do so frequently

My personal choice is to only do so occasionally, even if that means eating slightly less at the contest.  The 10 000 Calories, the salt, the discomfort … I’ll pass.  But last week I did eat a lot of hotdogs.  Low fat ones, at least

First time I entered the hotdog contest estimate meat and bread together to be 150 to 180g.  I ate 23.5 in 30 minutes.  Second time it was different, each one only 100 to 120g and I ate 29.5 in 10 minutes

Cannot know for sure what this year will bring, but I had over 2 900g of meat and bread.  Decent size — equal to about 18 from two years ago or 26 from last year — but not a huge amount by any standard; not completely filling, taking almost a full 10 minutes.  That sort of effort will be worth third place at best.  Have to make more tries at this and hopefully when they shoot the starter’s pistol everything goes well

Only 4 760 Calories in everything because they were low-fat
21 800mg sodium
Good news is 363g protein
Disgusting part is how much I was sweating even inside with nice air conditioning simply from eating

Would have pictures if I could figure out how to use the camera. Being a complete idiot that not be happening

14 Hebrew National 97% Fat-Free Beef Franks (45g each)
8 Oscar Mayer 98% Fat-Free Wieners (50g)
6 Hillshire Farms Turkey Sausage (64g)
5 Jumbo Smart Dogs (76g)
three packages hotdog rolls (eight 43g; eight 46g; eight 53g)

Eating anything at the vast majority of restaurants always seems to have as much logic as thinking a rock keeps tigers away because you don’t see any tigers around.  Just because you pay 10-times more than you would pay in a grocery store, doesn’t mean it is any better.  It costs more time and has less nutrition
But there are a few exceptions.  Fast food in certain surgical strikes can be ok.

McDonald’s is tops.  Dollar Menu is cool.  The others, Wendy’s and Burger King, have the same quality burgers for the same price, but fall short in one area: Refills on Diet Coke.  Just leave a cup in the car and go in to anyone anytime and load up on caffeine.  It could be done, but McDonald’s locations outnumber any other choice, it makes it so much easier to do.  It’s only stealing if you feel bad about it.  If you don’t feel bad about taking something without paying, it cannot be stealing.  Otherwise I might consider not watching UFC pay-per-view events online

Coffee is like all other groceries.  You can have a few Liters at home for pennies.  Or you can buy it already made for a lot more.  The major difference is it has drugs that make me feel good, so I am much more likely to pay a higher price to get some right away

Starbucks is cool.  Better than Dunkin Donuts.  Starbucks has more comfortable seating, often has complimentary newspapers and makes it easy to add your own milk and sugar.  I don’t want the 19-year-old who spends their entire paycheck on weed to be the one flavoring my coffee.  Despite those stupid jokes from 1995 about sizes and varieties, if you ask for a large hot coffee, that’s what you get.  It’s actually Dunkin Donuts where if you ask for a large you only get their medium size

Gas station is even better because you even pour it yourself.  It might not be fresh, but pour a cup, drink it down, then pour another one and then pay.  Remember: It’s only stealing if you feel bad about it

Subway is OK in times of absolute desperation.  Large roasted chicken breast with double meat comes close to two pounds with at least some protein.  But for $8?  At least the Diet Coke can be be refilled as much as you can handle, should be at least three or four Liters or else why bother?

For $4 I bought a 16-pound watermelon, though zero protein and even after throwing away the green stuff, that’s a lot cheaper than any 16-pound meal at the vast majority of restaurants.  But it was rotten.  Brought the receipt to the store and they gave me $4 and an apology.  I should be able to do that after buying any produce even when it’s perfectly fine.  But I would feel bad, so that would be stealing

There should be no question Randy Moss is the very best receiver in history after Jerry Rice

Dante Culpepper looked like a very good quarterback with Moss; didn’t even deserve to start without him.  Same for the old and slow version of Randall Cunningham

Tom Brady was a great QB without Moss; with him, he passed for more yards and TDs than anyone else every

The Raider Years: Moss was the very best offensive player on the team both years

Dennis Green: 41-23 with Moss, 72-71 without him
(although they looked very different on a superficial level, both Brady and Culpepper had the same talent the years they had great recievers and the years they had poor ones.  Despite all the records in 1998, Brady was equally as superb in 97, just with different teammates)

(Peyton Manning would have looked just as good whether he had Harrison or not)

I guess maybe if someone refuses to believe athletes have improved over the past 60 years, perhaps Don Hutson could be seen as the second best ever.  I wonder how Moss would have looked playing against teams that tried a pass rush with 180-pound defensive lineman

Moss retired this week.  There is talk Brett Favre may still play again this year.

Somehow I hope it happens.  Like an idiot who tells the same joke over and over.  It’s funny the first time.  By the eighth time it’s just annoying.  But there is again some humor hearing it for the 50th time.  Maybe Moss will take that same path

Favre became one of the best quarterbacks in history because of what he did while winning three MVPs in the 1 990s.  After the turn of the century he started to slip, instead of being the very best in the world, he was merely close to the very best; he continued the slow decline until completely falling apart with the Jets.  Then he he had one of the best years of his career a full 16-years after he emerged as a top-level QB

I could accept an arguement as Favre as the best ever.  If an NFL team was given a choice to have one player for the entirety of that guys career, very hard to see them do any better than 300-games from Favre

I could also see him as below Unitas and Starr (With Starr there is the “Steve Young Dilemma:” How much creidt should we give Young for being a great player while not being allowed on the field.  Starr was a very good player early in his career despite only being allowed to start 33 games before age 27).  (With Unitas and Starr there is also the issue of how much credit do they deserve for completing passes against small and slow defenses)

Like those two from the 50s and 60s I could also see Favre below Montana, Elway and Brady because of those extra wins at the end of January/beginning of February … and it is clear Manning has been better than Brady

It’s been hard
the eating lately
it just all comes in one meal per day
like a trip to the buffet.  Very filling
but the tape worm keeps crawling in my stomach. . .

Looks very cool: tacocontest.com Fish tacos and hot sauce.  Sent an email asking for more details, but never heard back.  The notice says they are looking for youtube videos.  But the only thing youtube is worth is for watching TV theme songs from the 1980s.  So perhaps next year I’ll have a video of myself singing about the path I’ve taken and the path not taken

Until then, it gives me a full 12 months to practice.  And even if singing the theme to Who’s the Boss isn’t good enough for them, eating fish tacos and drinking a bottle of hot sauce every day is still a great path to take