You always hear it, around sports.

The legs go first.

Uh, no.

The belly goes first.

And I’m not talking about abs here. I’m talking about the stomach. The ability to eat massive amounts of food and … not die.

There was a time when the idea of “competitive eating” might have intrigued me. This whole “Nathan’s Famous International Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest” thing.

But I was maybe 17 at the time. Maybe 21. By the time I was 30 … no way. Now, as an old guy, I watch Joey Chestnut and Takeru Kobayashi … and wonder why they don’t keel over maybe 10 hot dogs into their “competition.”

Here is the news story and video of today’s competition. Which is plain scary to those of us who have, oh, two hamburgers and wonder if they will digest them before Labor Day.

Sad, but true. Well, not really sad. But true, still.

I can remember when my brothers and I talked about “wiping out a smorgasbord.” This was before the advent of eat-yourself-to-death buffets. We were going to go to a smorgasbord … and just clean the place out. It sounded fun.

This was about the same time I went to Angels games and, a few times, had as many as four hot dogs. And I thought that was a big deal. And even then I felt vaguely queasy and waddled out to the car thinking, “Hmm, maybe I shouldn’t have had four. I’m not sure I feel that great.”

Well, of course not.

And then these guys eat 59 (!) hot dogs in 10 minutes … and have to go to an overtime of five extra dogs … a concept that gives new meaning to “sudden death.”

I love that in this Associated Press story they actually found a doctor and asked him about the health ramifications of eating 64 hot dogs in 15 minutes or so. Guess what: It isn’t good for you.

Well, duh. I could have told you 30 years ago that five hot dogs was a really bad idea.

Anyway, this whole concept is kinda scary. Someone is going to die doing this. Rupture something. Or stop their hearts from all the chemicals. This is a bad idea.

I assume the sponsors have scads of insurance here. Waivers galore. Because someday even one of the “pros” like Chestnut or Kobayashi is going to explode on camera.

It’ll happen even sooner if some 40-year-old guy tries to eat 59 hot dogs. His heart will stop before he gets to nine. Because it’s not the legs that go first in competitive eating.