by Steven Doyle
There were many celebrations in the past few days as we observed Independence Day around the DFW area. One of our favorite traditions for the past few years has been the corn dog ballyhoo at the Libertine Bar on lowest Greenville Avenue in Dallas. The celebration has since been renamed the Brass Knuckle Corn Dog Beat Down and offers a trophy and $100 for anyone that can stuff the most corn dogs down their gullet in a short 15 minute time frame.
An early favorite for this event was Alex “Moose” Perez who shoveled in 15 battered wieners and came in third place last year. The two heavy weights that took first and second did not return this year to defend their titles and Moose was confident he had this year’s win.
There was a large contingency of pre-teens on the floor hoping to win, or at least eat a few free corn dogs. Near the kid zone sat the masked El Pantero Blanco who said that his identity would not be revealed but that he was a regular and most knew him well.
As the count-down to buzzer hit the contestants crammed the first heat of corn dogs into their mouths easily. It was when the second stick was offered that most of the competitors slowed pace and started glazing over. Fortunately these were baked corn dogs so were not as greasy as they could be had they been fried.
The bar was packed to capacity with everyone cheering their favorite contender, but in the end there would be only one winner. Matt Hanks took the first place trophy, leaving third place to the Moose once again in a tie breaking ceremony that including shots of tequila. We spoke to Hanks after the match was over and he said he was shoving the (14) corn dogs in so fast that he chipped and swallowed his tooth.
There is one photo we chose not to share and that is of the grand loser of the contest who made his way to the men’s room just as the contest ended. He left a trail of corn dog evidence along the way.
