Hot dog eating world champ Joey Chestnut to appear during Ole Miss' 'Grove Bowl Games'
Lane Kiffin has coined the phrase ‘Come to the Sip’ as a call for all to come to Oxford and join Ole Miss and take part in the ‘Party in the Sip.’
Well, it seems the best food competitor of the last two decades has taken Kiffin up on that invitation as Joey Chestnut will take part in this Saturday’s ‘Grove Bowl Games,’ according to the Rebels head coach.
This year’s cap to spring practice is taking on a new form as Kiffin is evolving the annual ‘Grove Bowl’ into a more fan interactive and Pro Bowl-esque environment with events and a 7-on-7.
Chestnut, winner of 16 of the last 17 Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest, will put his hall of fame career up against Ole Miss players and staff members in a hot dog eating competition on Saturday.
How did Kiffin get Chestnut to make an appearance?
“Kind of how everybody does nowadays, just DM’d him. Slid in his DMs,” Kiffin said.
Along with the hot dog eating contest there will be a dunk contest, an obstacle course and other events that will have fan involvement. Kiffin noted Ole Miss fraternities and sororities will get involved. This will all take place after a 7-on-7 where the players have already selected teams — Red and Navy.
Going against the conventional format of a true spring game with the Ole Miss roster split in half and a four-quarters scrimmage, Kiffin wanted to re-invent how spring practices conclude and
“I think if you think outside of the box and traditional way of doing things, which I think it’s well known we do, and I think over time the spring game isn’t much value,” Kiffin said. “If you watch people and what they do, unless a coach is on the hot seat and wants to please the fans, very rarely do they run more than a few types of runs and schemes. I don’t know if the traditional spring game gives you very much from an evaluation standpoint. I think it was just kind of done because it jused to be done that way in the book. NFL doesn’t do that way. So we’ll see what this is like.”
Do not look for Kiffin to participate in the hot dog contest but Ole Miss players are already sizing up the challenge.
Red meat has ‘gone away’ from Kiffin with his new diet over the recent years but the Rebels locker room has some contenders in mind to give Chestnut a run for the ‘Grove Bowl Games’ hot dot eating title.
Washington offensive lineman transfer Nate Kalepo has one specific teammate in mind.
“I’d say Deigo Pounds. That’s a big boy,” Kalepo said on Tuesday.
Saturday closes the book on Kiffin’s fourth set of spring drills at Ole Miss and it is shaping up to be an exciting way to usher in the summer and preseason hype of what could be a Top 10 football team entering fall camp come August.
