With the off-day in the Tigers' schedule, we usually like to go with the Open Thread, but what more is there to rant about?  All that's left to think about is next season, really.  So I figured we could a little bit of humor, something of a mental break.  And with the Tigers set to play the Kansas City Royals again this weekend, I thought we'd look at something that took place last weekend when the Tigers visited Kauffman Stadium. 

If you didn't already see this at Big League Stew, baseball writers Jeff Passan from Yahoo! Sports and Sam Mellinger of the KC Star (who we consider something of a friend here at BYB) took part in the hugely popular Hot Dog Derby last Friday night (I believe), providing more entertainment for the crowd in attendance than the team wearing the home whites.  Fortunately for us, both Passan and Mellinger provided first-hand accounts of their competition, giving us readers the sort of inside (the costume) access that was lacking in all of that Olympic stuff we saw from Beijing.  Passan even toted a camcorder with him during the race, a decision that cost him a chance at glory.

Just remember - these are professional journalists.

Ketchup and relish beating mustard?  On what planet? 

Unfortunately, virtually no competition can take place without some controversy these days and this particular Hot Dog Derby was no exception.  Mellinger "lost" the cumbersome, clownish shoes that come with the hot dog outfits as the runners came down the stretch, which appears to have given him a significant advantage over his rivals.  Or were the shoes, in fact, kicked off at a pivotal moment in the race?  You make the call.