World's greatest couch potato contest begins
NEW YORK (AP) - January 1, 2008 For many sports fans, New Year's Day means lounging around the
living room and watching college football with a bag of potato
chips.
Four people began putting their laziness to the test Tuesday in
the ESPN Zone Ultimate Couch Potato Competition, which kicked off
at the ESPN Zone restaurant in Times Square.
The participants, sitting in recliners in front of a dozen
42-inch high-definition plasma televisions and a couple of 14-foot
HD projection TVs, will try to watch the most continuous hours of
televised sports. They can order unlimited food and drinks, but
can't sleep or leave their recliners except for restroom breaks
once every eight hours.
They'll be shooting for the Guinness World Records mark for
watching televised sports - 69 hours and 48 minutes straight, ESPN
Zone said.
"The participants will basically be competing at doing
nothing," ESPN Zone regional marketing manager Susan Abramson said
in a statement. "But it'll take extraordinary mental and physical
stamina to endure the conditions of watching TV for that long."
The contest kicked off at 11 a.m., and all four were going
strong by late Tuesday afternoon, an event spokesman said.
To get into the competition, contestants had to write 200-word
essays describing why they had what it took to mash the competition
and be the ultimate couch potato.
The winner will receive a prize package worth $5,000 that
includes - you guessed it - a high-definition TV and a cozy
recliner.
