Unlike Mike, Kobayashi to Leave at His Peak

BUN SETS ON HOT DOG KING SAY it ain't so, Takeru! Fans of competitive eating are going to find it hard to swallow the news, but the greatest gobbler of all time, Takeru Kobayashi, is pondering his retirement. The man who ate a record 531/2 Nathan's hot dogs and buns in 12 minutes this year told The Post's own Homer of hot dog lore, Gersh Kuntzman, that the bun is setting on his career: "Lately, I have been thinking of retiring," said Kobayashi, who has won the annual Coney Island frank fest four years in a row. "I want to retire before I disappoint my fans. It is not the competition that I fear. It is a decline in my own abilities. I must go out on top." International Federation of Competitive Eating chairman George Shea found a way to put a positive spin on the news. "Look, the kid is a true champion who wants to go out on top," Shea said. "He will always be the greatest. Women want him, men want to be him and all forms of beef and beef by-products fear him."

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