Happy America Day, everyone! Thanks to the holiday, the Rewind comes a day early this week. But don’t worry, there were enough fireworks to provide me with plenty of ammo.

[1] The immensely disgusting Fourth of July tradition known as the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest takes place again Saturday. And like a car accident or a celebrity sex tape, it grabs my undivided attention each and every time. Joey Chestnut and Takeru Kobayashi, the LeBron and Kobe of competitive eating, are set for another epic showdown. Chestnut, the reigning champ, is the betting favorite (yes, you can wager on this). But my money’s on Kobayashi to win his seventh title and waddle away on top. Another sure bet: I’ll feel really nauseated afterward.

[2] Terrell Suggs, who’s hammering out the final details of a long-term deal with the Ravens, is taking part in a strange workout routine with a few of his NFL peers that includes lugging 75-pound tires up a steep hill, doing push-ups with 90 pounds of chains on their backs and learning mixed martial arts from a pro kickboxer. Meanwhile, Willis McGahee thought about walking outside to get the mail Wednesday before deciding against it.

[3] The O’s pulled off the biggest comeback in team history Tuesday, rallying from nine runs down in the seventh to stun the Red Sox, 11-10. It was a total team effort. Mark Hendrickson stepped in to stop the bleeding. Oscar Salazar hit a three-run homer to start the rally. Felix Pie threw out a runner at the plate. Peter Angelos even chipped in by forcing a junior attorney to wear a rally cap.

[4] O’s Japanese pitcher Koji Uehara is out up to eight weeks with a partially torn flexor tendon in his right elbow. Rookie fireballer David Hernandez will take Uehara’s spot in the rotation for the time being, but no one will be able to fill the void left in the awkward teammate interaction department. We miss you already, Koji …

[5] O’s manager Dave Trembley got bashed by the local media after a recent string of brutal baserunning errors, including two in Sunday’s loss to the Nats. Sure, it’s pretty bad when your players look like beer league softball players on the basepaths, but that’s not why the O’s are in last place. The fact that starters like Rich Hill and Jason Berken have resembled beer league softball players on the mound probably has a lot more to do with it.

[6] Rockets C Yao Ming has a foot injury that could potentially end his career. If that’s the case, he should pull a Gheorghe Muresan and head to Hollywood. I can see it now: Yao Ming and Jason Alexander in “My Giant 2: The Great Wall of China.” Man, tell me again why I’m not in the movie business?

[7] Tennis great Chris Evert made it clear that she’s not a big fan of the shrieking noises made by today’s female players. Call me a purist, but I don’t really mind them, especially when them come from the leggy and lethal Maria Sharapova. OK, fine, maybe you should just call me a pervert instead of a purist.

Matt Vensel is a content creator for b. Contact him at matt@bthesite.com.

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