2008-07-05, 19:59:03: I recently received an e-mail from a political science instructor at a local high school asking me to speak to his students when their term begins after Labor Day. Not only do I consider it an honor, I feel a bit unqualified to speak. I'm just a plain, simple person like everybody else. There's nothing special about me -- not at all. But one thing I do have is a desire to be the best at whatever I do. So that will be the theme of my speech.

2008-07-04, 13:31:30: I want to dually congratulate Joey "Jaws" Chestnut, and the Greatest Eater of All Time, Takeru Kobayashi, on their magnificent performances today. They both ate 59 Hot Dogs and Buns (HDBs) in the allotted 10 minutes, before deciding the winner in a 5-HDB eat-off, won by Joey. Both of those two greats make me proud to be an American. And both of them won, as far as I'm concerned. I've rarely seen a more gallant performance by two competitors in any sport. As for the rest of the field, here are the official results (from www.ifoce.com):

Joey Chestnut: 59
Takeru Kobayashi: 59
Tim Janus: 42
Pat Bertoletti: 38
Sonya Thomas: 34
Hall Hunt: 30
Bob Shoudt: 30
Juliet Lee: 29
Erik Denmark: 28
Juris Shibayama: 28
Tim Brown: 27
Eric Booker: 25.5
Patrick Vandam: 25
Rich LeFevre: 25
Crazy Legs Conti: 24
Allan Goldstein: 21
Pat Philbin: 19
Nathan Biller: 18.5
Pete Davekos: 18
Arturo Rios: 16
Kevin Ross: 14

I don't believe in burning bridges too early, so to speak, but there is a good chance that the 2008 Nathans Finals may have well been my last, but we'll see. I've done this for 6 years in a row, and that's more than enough for anyone. More to follow in the coming months.

2008-06-29, 09:12:03: It's here already, Nathan's Finals time. You can watch it on ESPN Friday, 4 July, at 12:00 PM EST (Please go to my "Sonya's View" page for my take on the contest -- "The Battle Within.")