One of our favorite oddities is coming out of the shadows. Spike TV has struck a deal with Major League Eating to air four competitive events this year. Your first opportunity to catch all the hot gorging action is with “MLE: St. Patrick’s Day Chowdown” on March 17. (Yes, it’s St. Pat’s themed: corned beef, cabbage, green donuts…)

From their press release:

“Guys are hungry for new and exciting sports on television that satisfy their craving for gut-busting action,” notes Kay. “Spike TV is proud to be the new television home of competitive eating.”

“Competitive eating is an increasingly popular sport and entertainment product and we’re thrilled to be part of Spike’s action-packed programming,” said Richard Shea, president of Major League Eating.

Competitive eating events have a variety of sponsors and are often themed. This little lady, Sonya Thomas, has taken multiple lobster-eating titles:

Major League Eating sanctions events in the United States, England, Japan, Germany, Thailand and Canada.

Takeru Kobayashi is competitive eating’s best known face, with a fondness for Nathan’s hot dogs. MLE also sponsors the Nathan’s event, which generally airs on ESPN on July 4th:

With any luck, bodog.com will allow wagering on the aired events. My money will be on Kobayashi, for sure.