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Cubs Fan Has Eaten 150 Hot Dogs With Unique Toppings For Every Team Game

By Kelly Bauer | October 29, 2016 12:21pm
 Brad Tlusty has eaten more than 150 hot dogs — one for each Cubs game this season.
Brad Tlusty has eaten more than 150 hot dogs — one for each Cubs game this season.
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Courtesy Brad Tlusty

WRIGLEYVILLE — Of the 150-plus hot dogs Brad Tlusty has eaten during the Cubs' season, the worst was the "olive dog."

It sounds exactly like what it is: a hot dog smothered in sliced black olives. It's not exactly Tlusty's dog of choice (he prefers ketchup, mustard and hot peppers), but he had to eat it to satisfy a bet with his brother: That he'd eat a hot dog for each Cubs game, and each had to have different toppings.

That means Tlusty ate more than 160 hot dogs during the regular season and 15 during the postseason, with more encased meat to come. Even when he got married and went on his honeymoon in July, he'd go by a hot dog stand to pick up his gameday dog.

"And I'll probably never have another one again after next week," Tlusty said. "Not for a while." He paused for a moment. "Not at least until next season."

Tlusty's brother had participated in part of the bet — he started it by insisting he could never get Cubs season tickets because he'd eat two hot dogs a game — but he dropped out after 20 games.

Tlusty stayed strong, even when he had to endure a ricotta cheese hot dog (in honor of Anthony Rizzo, he said). He posted photos of the hot dogs on Instagram, showing off masterpieces like a sausage with a cinnamon roll for a bun, a hot dog stuffed into deep dish Giordano's pizza and a mayonnaise hot dog (gag).

Surprisingly good was the peanut butter and jelly dog, he said: He prepared the bun like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, dropped in the sausage and enjoyed. Another good pick: a hot dog that used sausage made from alligator.

"There were more bad ones than good ones, for sure," Tlusty said. "My friends made me an Instagram account for it. ... I figured if I went through the trouble of posting pictures I might as well make it through the whole thing."

Tlusty would walk down grocery store aisles looking for inspiration, and toward the end of the season his wife, who he joked was "embarrassed" but "supportive" of the project, started helping him pick toppings. Other people were confused by what he was doing.

"People think it's funny-slash-gross," Tlusty said. They ask him, "Why are you doing this?"

"I think it makes [the game] fun," Tlusty said. "Especially with every day ... thinking about what type of hot dog I was going to make for the Cubs game."

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