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National Corndog Day brings together the great American pleasures of basketball, dogs-on-sticks, Tater Tots and beer

By LAURA MOYER

Date published: 3/21/2008

By LAURA MOYER

Over the past few years, Adam and Caroline Oblack of Stafford County have carefully observed people's corn-dog eating habits.

Corn dog No. 1 is consumed with great ceremony, they say, doctored not only with ketchup or mustard but with dollops of ranch dressing, barbecue sauce, honey mustard, horseradish or Tabasco.

Tomorrow will be the Oblacks' third annual observation of a 15-year-old phenomenon called National Corndog Day. The event began in the Pacific Northwest and has spread to all 50 states with the simplest premise:

Take the second round of the men's NCAA basketball tournament. Add vast quantities of corn dogs, Tater Tots, beer and soda. Invite some friends over. And revel.

It started small--a couple of high school friends in Oregon were watching basketball, and the dad of one boy made up a batch of corn dogs and Tater Tots for the teen-agers' sustenance.

The infusion of fatty foods allowed the boys to watch four basketball games back to back, and they thought it such a perfect combination that they spread the word.

At first there were just a few dozen parties, but as word spread via the Internet the event grew to include sponsors (a corn dog company and a beer company) and more and bigger parties.

The Oblacks' 2008 Corndog Day celebration will be among 4,900 nationally and 139 in Virginia this year, according to the event's Web site.

The Oblacks--who live in a Stafford neighborhood that shall not be named so as not to tempt corn-dog crashers--expect about 120 friends and neighbors to come and go during their all-day private party.

It's a family-friendly, low-key affair to which the Oblacks have shrewdly invited their closest neighbors. For those who live farther away, carpools and designated drivers are protocol.

Six televisions will capture all available games, and friends are free to come and go according to when their favorites are playing.

The hardiest of the bunch will attempt a magnificent feat of consumption called the "triple-double."

That is, they'll try to put away 10 corn dogs, 100 Tater Tots and 10 beers or sodas between the beginning of the first ballgame and the end of the last.

It's an ambitious and slightly disgusting undertaking.

The first guest to complete a "triple-double" gets bragging rights and temporary custody of a custom-made corn-dog trophy.

Those with more competitive spirit than capacity can attempt the lesser feat of a "double-double," consuming the full measure of any two elements: just dogs and Tots, for example, or just dogs and beers.

Neither of the Oblacks has ever managed even a double-double. Caroline, 29, said she can eat a corn dog or two and be done for the year; Adam, 31, once managed to consume six before quitting.

"The Tater Tots are what really get you," Adam Oblack said, because they hit the stomach and seem to swell up. "It's one of the great mysteries of Corndog Day."

Last year, two guys managed to complete a "triple-double," and at least 10 of Adam's co-workers and friends have told him they're planning to try this year.

Even though most guests stop after just a few oven-fried compressed potato nuggets or corn-dipped processed meat on sticks, it's still a lot of food. Adam Oblack estimated that the party will require 20 big bags of Tots (about 2,500 Tots total) and 1,000 corn dogs.

"We'll keep the oven going--pull a tray out and put a tray in during the first couple of hours," Adam Oblack said.

After a while, though, the emphasis shifts from eating to socializing and, of course, watching the games.

"It's a great, great event," Adam Oblack said. "People look forward to it."

Laura Moyer: 540/374-5417
Email: lmoyer@freelancestar.com

For more information on corndog day visit: corndogday.com

Date published: 3/21/2008