"Crazy Legs" Conti poses with cannolis after winning the eighth annual Little Italy Cannoli Eating Competition on September 10, 2009 in New York City. Image via Getty.

I loves me some eating competitions! Especially the official International Federation of Competitive Eating, Inc. (IFOCE) events. They run Nathan's Hot Dog Eating contest on the 4th of July on Coney Island, which I actually got to attend a few years ago. I was in the first couple of rows when Takeru Kobayashi beat his old record by eating 53.5 hotdogs in 12 minutes. Crazy Legs Conti was there, too, as was Sonia "Black Widow" Thomas. Luckily, there were no "reversals" onstage that year (in other words - no one puked on me!). Good times.

On this very sad day, I'm trying to replace horrifying images and experiences with some fond NYC memories. Would love to know what's on your mind today, too.