Another year in the books

On March 30, 2006, a blog was launched called The Hot Dog Guy. Three years later, we’re still here.

What a better way to celebrate a birthday than by looking back at the last year of memorable writing. Here are some samples of the best posts I wrote (and videos I posted) over the past 365 days, as well as the links so you can re-read the entire posts again. Enjoy and get ready for another year (hopefully) of blogging.

-From April 24, 2008 "Cubs early surprise"

But by far the most impressive player has been Fukudome. Not only with his statistics, which have been outstanding (.351 average, 17 walks, 17 runs scored), but more so in the way he plays the game. It seems that he never swings at the first pitch, always works the count and makes the pitcher get him out. Plus he runs the bases hard and has a great arm in the outfield. #1 has already become #1 to the right field bleacher faithful, and amazingly, Ron Santo has yet to curse on the air attempting to say his name. If Fukudome, and the other 24 guys on the squad, keep playing at the level they’ve been at the past three and a half weeks, this hot start might translate to a completely hot season.

- From May 15, 2008 "Is the Hot Dog Guy posting again? Yep"

Bears running back Cedric Benson was arrested a few weekend ago, apparently operating a boat while intoxicated on a lake in Texas. Another charge was for resisting arrest, leading to all sorts of jokes around town of ‘How come Benson runs away from the cops faster than he runs away from linebackers.’ But now the question is: Do the Bears keep the big bust running back or let him follow Ricky Williams (who apparently was invited to go on the boat) into former UT Longhorns running back obscurity?

-From September 14, 2008 "Zambrano-no"

Zambrano was not only good on Sunday night, he was great. As in no-hitter great. As in, the first Cubs no-no since 1972. His fastball was perfect, painting the edge of the strike zone and blowing by helpless Houston hitters. His breaking ball wasn't any worse, making many Houston hitters look foolish in their attempts. Z finished with 110 pitches, ten strikeouts, one walk, one hit batter and one double play. Houston hitters grounded-out 13 times, struck out ten and only had four fly outs. That's how good Zambrano was---only four hitters actually got the ball out of the infield. Add to that the offense was good, Soriano's leadoff home run was great, and it was just a beautiful evening to be a Cubs fan.-

- From October 3, 2008 "Funeral for a friend"

The thing that separates baseball from the other sports in America is the time. A hardcore fan of a baseball team will watch as many games as he possibly can, lets say 150 of the 162. Three hours a game, and that’s 450 hours a season. Add to that about an hour a day, every day of the season, either thinking about, talking about, reading about or analyzing the team or their opponents. That’s another 180 hours. Totaled, that comes out to about 630 hours a year with your baseball team, or 26.25 days, or to go even more in depth, one full day every two weeks of the year. I’m guessing outside of sleep and working, following a baseball team is the most time-consuming thing many Americans do. And for us Cubs fans, the whole year is done in a span of 28 hours.

-From October 13, 2008 "Welcome to Atlanta where the Bears collapse"


This is one of those games that will only be put into perspective at the end of the year. If the Bears collapse and miss the playoffs, fans will look back on this loss as the turning point. Ten seconds away from 4-2, and the Bears give it away. On the other hand, if they turn it up, win the NFC North and make a post-season run, maybe we’ll see this game as what sparked the team to play a full 60 minutes, considering all of their losses have been in the come-from-behind variety. Whatever happens though, its unlikely that for the rest of the year, the Bears will be involved in a crazier game than what took place in Atlanta on Sunday.

-From December December 23, 2008 "Are they a team of f*%ing destiny?"

None of last night’s game made any sense, from why there would be fans that would go to a game in negative-five degree temperatures with their shirts off to how a team with a playoff birth on the line could come out so flat. The Bears were so bad in the first two quarters, it really seemed like the Packers were up 20 at the half. Yet it was only an 11-point lead, which was made up when Ron Turner finally realized that Matt Forte is the Bears only offensive option. But talk about luck. If a punt doesn’t bounce off a Packers blocker or Forte doesn’t get a first down by a half of a chain length or Alex Brown doesn’t block the Green Bay field goal at the end of regulation or the OT coin flip doesn’t bounce off of Brian Urlacher’s head or Robbie Gould doesn’t have ice in his veins, the Bears lose the game. Just an unbelievable ending, yet one that made no sense whatsoever.

- From January 9, 2009 "Gator Chomped"

The Florida Gators won the 2009 BCS Title 24-14 not because they had superior coaching and excessive speed, which were both true, but because they played much better D. Florida’s defense had a big fourth down stop of OU on the goal line, had a pick another time the Sooners were approaching the end zone, blocked a field goal, had a more consistent pass rush on Sam Bradford than anybody else Oklahoma played this year and a made a HUGE interception with 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter to protect the win. Tim Tebow and Percy Harvin will get much of the credit for the win, and they deserve it, because they played great. But there is no doubt it’s the defense that’s the reason UF is champs for the second time in three years.

Thanks again for supporting The Hot Dog Guy, and check back later in the week for Final Four and 2009 baseball previews.