As it stands, Joey Chestnut is not permitted to compete in the 2024 Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest.

The 16-time winner of the event recently signed a brand partnership with Impossible Foods, a rival of Nathan’s. Major League Eating ruled he may not compete due to that deal.

While attending Thursday’s Indiana Fever-Atlanta Dream WNBA contest, Chestnut said he had “no regrets,” saying it was “unfortunate” how “contract negotiations became public.”

Chestnut is hoping the two sides can come to an agreement so he can compete in Coney Island on the Fourth of July.

“I’m very hopeful that things can be worked out. I’ll be ready if we can get anything worked out. I’ll be hungry,” Chestnut said.

In the meantime, it was announced Chestnut will face Takeru Kobayashi, who was the king of the sport before Chestnut captured the crown, in a Netflix-streamed event Sept. 2.

“I’m really excited about the Netflix contest. Me and Kobayashi. He’s been my biggest rival forever. I’m just really excited to be able to eat against him again,” Chestnut said.

Former champion Takeru Kobayashi, right, and reigning champion Joey Chestnut at the Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest official weigh-in ceremony July 2, 2009, in New York City. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Although Chestnut is best known for his performance with the wieners, his website says he travels 200 days out of the year competing. So, he holds numerous other records, including his 32 Bic Macs in 38 minutes, 44 Raising Cane’s chicken fingers in five minutes and 61½ four-ounce pork roll sandwiches in 10 minutes.

Chestnut took down a protester at the 2022 event via chokehold, which didn’t faze him one bit. He still downed 63 dogs and buns.

Chestnut’s 76 dogs and buns from the 2021 contest also remain a world record.

Joey Chestnut, left, of San Jose, Calif., holds up the American flag and his champion belt after defeating Takeru Kobayashi of Nagano, Japan, and Patrick “Deep Dish” Bertoletti in the Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest July 4, 2009, in Coney Island. (Yana Paskova/Getty Images)

The 40-year-old, widely regarded as the GOAT in his sport, has won the contest every year but one since 2007. He was upset by Matt Stonie in the 2015 competition but has since rattled off eight straight victories.

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Yet, just because the Celtics are at home does not automatically equate playing better or the Mavericks succumbing to make this a neat and convenient story line. Boston will have to earn this win with perhaps its best performance of the season.

The Mavericks have little to lose because they are expected to lose.

No prognosticator picked Dallas to win the championship when the season began. The Mavericks are the underdogs. They are loose, knowing every victory they steal puts more pressure on the favored Celtics. This indeed has turned into a mind game.

Boston wants a title, it needs a title. The city can taste it.

“I don’t look at it as pressure,” Tatum said Sunday before practice. “I do notice, especially this time of the season, playoff time and obviously being in the Finals for the second time, when you drive around and go to the gas station, or I wanted to go get some ice cream yesterday, it’s Celtics gear everywhere and everybody is super excited about this team and what we have accomplished and what we have the chance to accomplish. You really just feel the love and support from everybody in the city of Boston, and how bad they want us to win, how much they have been cheering for us.

“So I don’t look at it as pressure. Just unconditional support, and that we have an amazing fan base here.”

The hunger is there, the players say, although it didn’t appear that way Friday. After saying they had to play like the more desperate team in Game 4 even though they weren’t, the Celtics played about six good minutes before they relented to the team that was really desperate.

There’s something to playing with zero expectations and the Mavericks have embraced that role. They are highly unlikely to come back from a 3-0 deficit. No team has done that in 156 tries, but that doesn’t mean they can’t cause angst and discomfort for their opponent in the process.

“Sometimes when you do play an opponent over and over, you get used to the tendencies and you start to capitalize on that on both ends, defensively and offensively,” Dallas coach Jason Kidd said. “Hopefully our group has seen enough of Boston to understand what they are good at, and hopefully we can take that away (Monday) night.”

Monday will be the most difficult game of the Celtics’ careers because it’s the most significant. But it’s also important to remember they still hold the advantage. A team that hasn’t lost more than two games in a row all season would have to lose four consecutive games to lose this series. But there has to be a better sense of urgency than in Game 4. The Celtics have to feed into the crowd’s enthusiasm, play a more disciplined and passionate game, and let their talents and coaching take over.

“We have a great group, resilient group, and we don’t like to lose,” Brown said. “We do our best to prepare each and every night, each and every game, and we look forward to the next game on the schedule. I think we are ready for Game 5. I think that’s the best answer that I got. I think that we’re ready. We’re at home, and we’re looking forward to it.

“This is what we all work for. We are at the precipice of completing what we set out to do at the beginning of the season. So I think it’s not difficult to get everybody in that locker room on the same page right now. It just needs to remind everybody that it’s just one possession at a time. We do it together and we fight like our lives depends on it, and I think we’ll be all right.”

The Celtics lacked that fight in Game 4 and they can no longer take these games for granted. These chances to clinch are rare and they have to play their hardest, if not their best. That’s all this fan base can request. The Celtics owe their fans their best effort and an increased sense of urgency because they have a chance to achieve a career-defining accomplishment.

“[Coach] Joe [Mazzulla] did a great job today of reminding us that it’s okay to smile during wars,” Tatum said. “It’s OK to have fun during high-pressure moments. That’s what makes our team unique and special. We would love to win (Monday), more than anything. But if it doesn’t happen, it’s not the end of the world. We have more opportunities. So just setting that table of don’t surrender to that idea that we have to win tomorrow. We would love to, absolutely. But Game 5 is the biggest game of the season because it’s the next game on the schedule.

“So going with that mind-set, and just have fun. That’s really what we talked about today. Get back to having fun and being a team and how special we are and the team that got us here.”

Gary Washburn is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at gary.washburn@globe.com. Follow him @GwashburnGlobe.

Five events, all of which will start at 11 a.m., will be held

PUBLISHED ON June 16, 2024

ORONO, Maine — University of Maine Cooperative Extension welcomes local farmers, service providers, and Ag stakeholders to participate in the 2024 Maine Pasture Walk Series.

Five events, all of which will start at 11 a.m., will be held on the following days and farms:

• The Milkhouse, 445 South Monmouth Road in Monmouth, on Jul 10.
• Springside Farm, 577 Anson Valley Road in New Vineyard, on Jul 23.
• Faithful Venture Farm, 17 Borough Road in Searsmont, on Aug 06.
• The Wolfe’s Neck Center, 184 Burnett Road in Freeport, on Aug 13.
• Grace Pond Farm, 530 Main Street in Thomaston, on  Aug 20.

Attendees will learn about dairy production systems, pasture management, forage species identification, climate-smart practices, regenerative grazing, and more from forage producers and Assistant Extension Professor Jaime Garzon.

The 2024 Maine Pasture Walk Series is open and free for all participants. Visit the event webpage for more information and registration. To request a reasonable accommodation, please contact Melissa Babcock at 207.581.2788 or melissa.libby1@maine.edu.

About University of Maine Cooperative Extension: As a trusted resource for over 100 years, Extension has supported UMaine’s land and sea grant public education role by conducting community-driven, research-based programs in every Maine county. UMaine Extension seeks to build thriving communities and grow the food-based economy, focusing on aspects from production and processing to nutrition, food safety and food security. Extension also conducts the most successful out-of-school youth educational program in Maine through 4-H which offers hands-on projects in areas like health, science, agriculture and civic engagement and creates a positive environment where participants are encouraged to take on proactive leadership roles.

About the University of Maine: As Maine’s only public research university and a Carnegie R1 top-tier research institution, the University of Maine advances learning and discovery through excellence and innovation. Founded in 1865 in Orono, UMaine is the state’s land, sea and space grant university with a regional campus at the University of Maine at Machias. Our students come from all over the world and work with faculty conducting fieldwork around the globe — from the North Atlantic to the Antarctic. Located on Marsh Island in the homeland of the Penobscot Nation with UMaine Machias located in the homeland of the Passamaquoddy Nation, UMaine’s statewide mission is to foster an environment that creates tomorrow’s leaders. As the state’s flagship institution, UMaine offers nearly 200 degree programs through which students can earn bachelor’s, master’s, professional master’s and doctoral degrees as well as graduate certificates. For more information about UMaine and UMaine Machias, visit umaine.edu/about/quick-facts/ and machias.edu/about-umm/umm-facts/.

–University of Maine Cooperative Extension