Should Takeru Kobayashi hang up his buns?

Takeru Kobayashi ate 89 Krystal hamburgers in eight minutes Saturday prior to the Alabama-Birmingham/Alabama State football game. It was in 2006 when Kobayashi ate 97 Krystal hamburgers in eight minutes. Kobayashi lost his hot-dog eating crown to Joey Chestnut, who has won the past two Nathan's hot-dog eating contests. Through an interpreter, Kobayashi told the Alabama Birmingham News, "I'm just going to try to eat as many as possible as fast as possible."

My question: Is Kobayashi becoming the Brett Favre of hot dogs and hamburgers? He has dropped eight hamburgers in two years. That's more than a 10 percent drop in performance. Is it time for Kobayashi to exit stage right?

No pressure, but Kobayashi has one last chance to gain our respect. The fifth annual hamburger eating championship is slated for Sept. 28 in Chattanooga. Joey Chestnut will be there. So will Kobayashi. Maybe it's time for the Tokyo native to hang up his buns.

Stay tuned. Fox Sports Network is slated to televise the event.

Interesting fact of the day: Krystal made 1,000 of its square hamburgers for the competition and there will be 1,500 prepared for the Sept. 28 event.