[JetMechZ16]

Originally Posted by Mick

What? I am an amateur golfer, because no one pays me to play golf. Professional golfers get paid to play golf. I am an amateur guitar player, because nobody pays me to play. Professional guitar players get paid to play. No one pays me to eat, so I am amateur. Those who get paid to eat would be professional eaters.

FWIW: I can't imagine how dumb the entrants and/or the organizers have to be to NOT see someone choking on the food in an eating contest as the #1 risk to such an endeavor, so if they really didn't have any medical personnel on hand at all, I can see the plaintiff making a case here. But the whole story doesn't ring very true to me. It takes a few minutes to choke to death, and I would think you wouldn't be continuing to shove food into your mouth if you couldn't breath. So what happened when the guy stopped eating in the middle of the contest? Did the organizers and spectators just shrug, and say "I guess he isn't very hungry."?

But the heights of human stupidity have always amazed me. I can see the possibility that our intrepid wanna be professional maybe knew he couldn't breathe, but just kept shoving tacos in his mouth anyway until he passed out. Once passed out, he may have only had a minute or so to live, and clearing a fully packed mouth/throat/esophagus in a limp unconscious person is probably extremely difficult.

Professionals do something for a living. You eat to live right?