Its July 4. In the big city there were about 8 different places to go see fireworks. In Abilene there's 1. Its great to get the whole city out together and celebrate this wonderful day. Ok, that sounded sappy. But it is neat to know that there were 10,000 people at Nelson Park watching fireworks. The old Wal-mart building finally had people in its parking lot and the police officers on bikes made everyone feel safe.

I myself may have parked illegally but we'll never know.

This July 4th was unforgettable. Why, you ask yourself at home, at work, in the hospital? Is it because I drove by the Beehive four times this week and figured out they were closed for vacation? Or because I played Four Square and broke a sweat?

I think we might not have played by the rules, according to the East Lansing Four Square League Typically I will not put links on this blog that will take you away from Reporternews.com but it's worth a read. Seriously, a four square league?

Or is this July 4th important because I received 1776 mosquito bites while watching/legally shooting fireworks? Nope. This July 4th brought up feelings I experienced one time in my life. I think we all know what I am talking about - September . . . . 8th, 1998.

COMPLETELY SIDE TRACKED:
On my quest to find an article about what happened on September 8, 1998 in the Reporter News archive, I came across this article: McGwire vs. Johnson: power vs. power The reason I found it interesting is because McGwire was 6 for 24 against Johnson but hit his second longest home run of his career off Johnson (530+ feet) in June 1997.

Ok, so I guess you may have figured out that I am a huge McGwire fan. And he hit his 62nd home run on the above date while I was supposed to be in Bill Bryant's Sales class (sorry parents). He gave us a break and I got back in enough time to watch him hit it in the 3rd inning.

So, moving forward, the reason all these emotions were brought up again was because of the Nathan's Annual Hot Dog Eating Contest. There was so much drama going into this event. Kobayashi fell. Does anyone else think of the Usual Suspects whenever you hear his name?

Man, I am picture heavy today.

60+ something hot dogs. The winner ate like 67. It was incredible to watch. For 12 minutes I was glued to the screen. I kept saying, we are watching history, we're watching history. My wife said, "In hot dog eating?" My daughter was bored after 4 hot dogs. I couldn't take my eyes off the screen except when the camera panned to the girls holding up the scorecards in the back. The humor I found in that was that they were about 2 behind what the official score was.

Yeah, we brought the hot dog eating mustard belt back to the United States, whew. Now if we can only get cold fusion to work, all will be saved.

I think in my next post I will talk of the Eating Contest I once witnessed between two friends and two 72oz steaks.

For now you have this: Click here