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8/8/2007
Brats and Healthy Wisconsin
Does it make me a Wisconsinite-non-grata if I’m repulsed by brat-eating contests?
19 brats in ten minutes. What the heck, what’s a few brats among friends? I love those brats, just like a good little Wisconsin girl is supposed to. (Though I have taken to eating the turkey brats that some folks think are sacrilege in these parts.)
Sheboygan held it’s 55th Brat Days last weekend. According to the Sheboygan Press, Mike Fitzgerald from Menasha won the amateur brat-eating contest stuffing down 19 brats to take home the trophy.
With all apologies to Johnsonville for being a stick-in-the-mud, this is more Wisconsin lore than I want to see. It was a mixed bag of reaction in Sheboygan, as you’d guess. Enjoyable, gross, not gross, tradition, local people just doing their thing, major gluttony, fun, awesome, a spectacle. Repulsed.
I go with the “repulsed” descriptor. More stick-in-the-mud stuff: 19 Sheboygan bratwurst equals 5,130 calories - in ten minutes! To a 1,500 calorie a day postmenopausal like me, that’s a lot of food. And a lot of fat. And a lot of calories. Yuk.
The thing of it is that on literally hundreds of newspaper pages throughout the state, we’re debating Healthy Wisconsin, wellness programs, prevention programs, chronic disease management – how to keep Wisconsinites healthier to lower the cost of health care. Just doesn’t seem to jive.
COMMENTS
I am in the repulsed category with you Jo. I can't see anything to be proud of here; in fact it it totally disgusting. Why people choose to abuse their bodies in this fashion is beyond me!
Barbara Boudry (Wed Aug 08 14:20:14 2007)
Any activity done in excess is repulsive. That goes for exercise and politics as well as eating brats.
Would it be any less repulsive to eat 19 Broca Brats in 10 minutes?
I had a couple at a July 4th cookout, and they were tasty without being meaty or fatty.
But eating 19 of anything, except maybe peanuts, in 10 minutes is kinda gross.
So? Wisconsin is the cheesehead state. Let's face it, some folks who live here are kinda gross. Let them be. It's nothing to get your undies in a bundle about.
Rich Eggleston (Thu Aug 09 09:51:27 2007)
Anything in excess can be bad for you. I am sure a lot of people looking down on this competition have smoked, drunk alcohol, eaten too much, not exercised enough, ran a yellow light, or mouthed off to an unbalanced individual. We have all done things that were not in our best interest.
I am a 5'10" 195 pound male with 10% body fat who exercises regularly. Hardly gross. It is easy to dismiss the competitive spirit from an armchair as to be something frivolous or unworthy of one's time. I on the other hand see the value of setting your sight on some goal and working hard to achieve it.
This competition hardly will crack the top 20 of my accomplishments but the spirit involved in standing in front of 1000 people and striving to do the very best I can to do (in whatever I do) is the common strain that I will never let go.
I dare anyone to say this attitude I possess is gross or frivolous: I will strive to be the best in whatever I take on. Most competitors possess this spirit. Most people fearful of competition take the other stance.
Well Mike, different strokes for different folks I guess. Interesting. How can you apply your competitive spirit to benefit the world (however you define that)? How are you applying your competitive spirit to better yourself and/or your family or community? JE
Mike Fitzgerald (The Brat Champion) (Mon Sep 03 21:23:22 2007)
Great question...how does my spirit benefit my family and community? Well I am a high school science teacher and football coach and I also work with autistic kids providing in-home therapy after school. I strive to be the best and do the best for all of those I serve. Family? Obviously a subjective point of view but my wife would back me up 100% as to the devotion and love I give to her as her husband. But that is getting away from my point...I just didn't agree with the implication that I am repulsive or gross for engaging in this competition. Far from it. I am a hard working average joe that will never settle for second place in anything that I do. I only attempt to offer a perspective shift to those with negative comments and perhaps in turn create more open-minded accepting individuals.
Good stuff Mike. Thank you for taking the time to share your perspective. Good stuff. JE
Mike Fitzgerald (The Brat Champion) (Thu Sep 06 21:54:40 2007)
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