Nothing More American

EAU CLAIRE, Mich. (AP) - A husband and wife took top honors for the second straight year at the annual cherry pit spitting competition in southwestern Michigan.

Rick "Pellet Gun" Krause, of Tuba City, Ariz., spit a pit 51 feet, 3 inches Saturday for his 16th win at the International Cherry Pit Spitting Championship. Organizers say Krause entered on a motorcycle, dropped to his knees in the spitter's box and ejected the winning pit.

His wife, Marlene, took first place in the women's contest, spitting a pit 34 feet, 6 inches. It was her seventh win.

The Tree-Mendus Fruit Farm, just north of the Indiana border, hosts the event. Orchard owner Herb Teichman launched the competition as a lark 37 years ago, but it now attracts competitors from the U.S. and beyond.

Happy Fourth of July everyone. It's time for barbecues, fireworks, watching Chesnut slam down some dogs and Kobayashi get arrested (Check it out), and of course cherry pit spitting (say that 3x fast). How cool is this couple? Both of them taking home the gold for the second year in a row. And Rick is such a badass, cruising in on his hog, jumping off with reckless abandon, sliding in on his knees (slow motion, of course), and spitting out that competition winning pit. It's too bad "Pellet Gun" is living in the shadow of people like Kobe Bryant and Tiger Woods. They don't even know what it's like to be a real champion. Plus these two are the perfect couple. Wining side by side. Rick isn't bangin' roadies and Marlene won't be smashing his car with his pits because of some infidelity. I wonder if they met while they were spitting pits. Love at first pit spit. Classic.

By the way, 51 and 34 feet, holy shit. I can barely throw that far. Bravo Krause's.