Daily Dirt: Steve misses Hawk Harrelson … and asks if you’re a hot dog or a hamburger person

Daily Dirt for Saturday, April 9, 2022

I sure do wish Hawk Harrelson was still broadcasting Chicago Sox games … Welcome to Vol. 254 of The Daily Dirt and today’s three thoughts.

1. Here are my three favorite calls from baseball broadcasters. These medal winners are from those who are retired and/or no longer with us. Later this season we’ll examine some of the modern-day calls that are also medal worthy.

• Gold medal: “You can put it on the booooooard … yes!” — Ken Harrelson, who was as flamboyant behind the microphone as we has on the field as a player.
• Silver medal: “He stood there like a house on the side of the road.” — the late, great Ernie Harwell, longtime announcer for the Detroit Tigers.
• Bronze medal: “It might be, it could be, it is … a home run!” — the late and also great Harry Caray, most notably a broadcaster for the Chicago Cubs.
• Honorable mention: “You can almost taste the pressure now.” — Vin Scully, who in his long tenure calling games for the Los Angeles Dodgers painted a baseball picture like no other.

2. Are you a hamburger or hot dog person? If push comes to shove in the lunch line, which one are you reaching for?

According to a Walmart-sponsored survey in only 10 states, mostly confined to the West Coast, most prefer hot dogs over burgers. 

Americans consume 20 billion hot dogs a year. That works out to about 70 hot dogs per person each year. Hot dogs are served in 95 percent of homes in the United States. Los Angeles leads the nation by eating 95 million hot dogs each calendar year.

Turning to hamburgers, Americans devour nearly 50 billion of those each year. With approximately 325 million people in this country, that means that the average American consumes 154 burgers each year, or three every week.

From a calorie standpoint, the hot dog is the winner. From an overall perspective, the hamburger is a better option. A four-ounce hamburger has about six times the amount of protein as a hot dog, with about a quarter of the sodium. Nutritionally, that’s a better balance, or so I am told.

3. Not to beat a dead horse — or dog, if you will — but according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), here’s what those hot dogs we love consist of: “The raw meat materials used for precooked-cooked (hot dogs) are lower-grade muscle trimmings, fatty tissues, head meat, animal feet, animal skin, blood, liver and other edible slaughter by-products.” 

Wait a minute … head meat?

Steve Thought O’ The Day
Steve is really having trouble getting past the phrase “and other edible slaughter by-products.”

Steve Eighinger writes daily for Muddy River News. He is a hamburger AND hot dog person.