48 hours: Sonya and All Blacks gorge on success

There was a moment yesterday when hardcore New Zealand sports fans must have felt a bit like lobster-swallowing champion Sonya Thomas, the Virginian woman who broke her own speed-eating record at the weekend.

At a time when Kiwi couch potatoes were gorging themselves on the opening round of the NPC, the Tri-Nations, the start of the English Premiership and the weather-affected Ashes, Thomas managed to tuck away 44 lobsters in a frenzied 12-minute burst, and retain the title she won a year previously.

By the time the race was over, the 44.5kg woman had gobbled down 5.13kg of lobster meat, and was left at a table littered with brine, splintered shells, and the near-bursting frames of four vanquished rivals.

Bystanders reckoned Thomas was in the form of her life, having scoffed 35 bratwursts in 10 minutes while winning a contest in Wisconsin a week earlier, and 21.5 grilled cheese sandwiches in 10 minutes at San Diego on Friday.

Next weekend she intends competing in a crab-eating contest at Delaware, where she hopes to add to her already extensive list of milestones: 65 hard-boiled eggs in 6m 40s, 167 chicken wings in 32m, 80 chicken nuggets in 5m, and 3.76kg of Vienna sausage in 10m.

Her remarkable achievements would have surely struck a chord with Kiwi sports enthusiasts, who have been forced to endure a similarly choking schedule over the past fortnight, and can see no sign of a light at the end of the tunnel.

So packed was the viewing over the past 48 hours that one more event may well have been the last straw, in much the same way that the after-dinner mint finished off Mr Creosote, in the Meaning of Life.

As Thomas was wading through her mountain of fast-food, New Zealanders were already starting to feel a bit stodgy after three successive NPC matches and another sorry (not to mention season-ending) loss from the Warriors.

It was almost with a sense of relief that the third Ashes test was marred by rain, because it at least allowed time for some of us to catch our breath before the All Blacks rubbed out the Wallabies at Telstra Stadium.

To be fair, this was a delicious dish, served a fraction cold at the start, but containing enough morsels to keep the faithful glued to their sets throughout, and topped off with an exquisite Rokocoko dessert.

There was also the extra flavour provided by halfback Piri Weepu, particularly his rocket-pass to the right, his composure in the tight-loose, and his eye for an opportunity on attack.

So sound was the All Blacks' rookie that it would be no surprise if the injured Byron Kelleher soon found himself warming the bench again, just as he did for several years under Justin Marshall.

And then it was on to the English Premiership, and the sight (from hooded eyes, I must admit) of Manchester United launching their title bid with a win over Everton, following goals from Ruud van Nistelrooy and Wayne Rooney.

It was memorable in particular for Rooney, who made the contest safe for United with a goal immediately after half-time, his first successful strike at Goodison Park since leaving Everton a year ago.

He's probably never heard of Sonya Thomas, but you get the feeling that, when it comes to their chosen careers, they both have an appetite for much more.

Highs and lows

High

Ethiopian teenager Tirunesh Dibaba, after becoming the first woman in athletics history to complete the 5000m/10,000m double at the same world championships.

Low

The glovework of England wicketkeeper Geraint Jones. He only had a short time on the field on Saturday but still managed to blunder twice against Shane Warne, missing a stumping and a regulation catch off Andy Flintoff.