Man vs Beast

Over the years, FOX has had some great specials. But the one that stands out in my mind above all others has got to be Man vs. Beast. This was probably about 6 years ago. The show pitted humans against animals in physical challenges. Some were pretty evenly matched - 44 little people were strapped to a commercial jet and raced to pull it faster than an elephant. The elephant beat them by a tusk. Others seemed unfairly organized - a gymnast beat an orangutan in a hanging contest on a technicality when the orangutan let go of the bar with one hand. Who makes a rule like that? How is an animal supposed to know that he's not allowed to do that? That's like Michael Phelps swimming against a dolphin and disqualifying the dolphin for an illegal flip turn. Or challenging an aardvark to a staredown where he is not allowed to be awesome.

But the most unfair was without a doubt the hot dog eating contest, which pitted Takeru Kobayashi, then considered the greatest hot dog eater in the world, against a hungry, 1,089 pound Kodiak BEAR. Seriously, how is that anyone thought this was going to be a matchup? I stumbled across the video recently, which I've attached at the bottom. It's still classic. Kobayashi looks on in fear as the bear just chows down dog after dog. The commentary is hilarious, as is the post-match interview. Although, I am still upset they didn't get an interview with the bear himself.

Potential future man vs. beast match-ups:
-Ryan Shannon vs. A sloth in a 40 yard dash (let's hope it's at least a two hour special)
-Jill vs. A screech owl in who can make a higher pitched noise
-Tim vs. A pig in a jello-eating contest. This could be grippingly close.
-DeVon vs. A tiger in a cool-walk contest. For those who don't know, DeVon has the coolest, most laid back walk I have ever seen. After a semester of trying to imitate it, I still can't even come close. I do try though, much to his chagrin. As for the tiger, they slink pretty cool, so could be close...oh, who am I kidding. Simmons in a blowout.

The link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgqbCq_sxmo