Dogs keep Dodgers in the hunt

Good news, Dodgers fans: The team’s beloved hot dog hasn’t yet opted out of any contract to bolt for shinier grills in Boston or Texas.

In fact, the Dodger Dog, one of the few remaining links to the days when the team relished World Series titles, has been nominated by AOL CityGuide for its City’s Best Hot Dogs 2007 honor in Los Angeles.

The Dodger Dog faces some formidable competition, including such grizzled veterans as Carney’s, Hot Dog on a Stick, Jack’s Diner & Billiard Club, Jody Maroni’s Sausage Kingdom, Nathan’s Famous, Skooby’s Hot Dogs, Wiener Factory, the Stand and Pink’s.

Fans can vote online at www.aolcityguide.com/losangeles/best through Jan. 12. Last year, more than 2.6 million votes were cast. The Dodgers drew more than 3.7 million fans in 2006, so this competition is very winnable.

If local baseball fans get out the vote, the Dodgers can finally claim their first championship since 1988.

Trivia time

What do former Super Bowl quarterbacks Joe Namath,

Ron Jaworski, Vince Ferragamo and Kurt Warner have in

common?

Six of one ...

While wondering how Tyrone Willingham really feels about Jim Mora’s lobbying for Willingham’s job, Briefing lobbies for some good football for a change today:

* Indianapolis over Houston: Texans’ top two rushers, Wali Lundy and Ron Dayne, have combined for 932 yards -- or about 60 fewer than Michael Vick. But they didn’t need Reggie Bush.

* Atlanta over Carolina: Holiday dreams of Falcons fans -- Mr. Mora goes to Washington; Mr. Vick learns the forward pass.

* Buffalo over Tennessee: Each quarterback has his team at 7-7. One has passed for seven more touchdowns and has 22 more passer-rating points than the other. His name is J.P. Losman. The other’s is Vince Young.

* Cleveland over Tampa Bay: So far this month, Jon Gruden has opted to kick a last-second field goal while trailing, 20-0, and change quarterbacks with two games left in a 3-11 season. Evidently, Al Davis isn’t the only one who has lost it.

* Chicago over Detroit: Some Detroit fans are planning a second-quarter walkout to protest the inept state of the franchise. So there you have it: Both the Lions and their fans are revolting.

* New England over Jacksonville: News of Tom Brady’s Pro Bowl snub comes at a very bad time for the Jaguars.

... Half a dozen of the other

As we wait to see which team next backs into the playoffs, Briefing backs up the following picks:

* New Orleans over New York Giants: After losing to the Redskins last Sunday, the Saints were greeted by “NFC South Champions” hats in their lockers. All things considered, the Saints would have preferred winning the game and remaining men without hats.

* Pittsburgh over Baltimore: Steelers are “the team no one wants to face in the playoffs.” And no one will.

* St. Louis over Washington: Two seasons ago, the Rams finished 8-8, got a wild card and actually won a playoff game. Or as Scott Linehan shouts in today’s pregame speech, “Remember 2004!”

* San Francisco over Arizona: How bad do you have to be to be out of the race in the hapless NFC West? Answer: The Arizona Cardinals.

* Denver over Cincinnati: In the newly minted Cincinnati Bengals edition Monopoly game, every square you land on says, “Go to jail.”

* San Diego over Seattle: You can’t spell “Seattle lost” without LT.

Trivia answer

All played for the Rams.

Namath won the 1969 Super Bowl with the New York Jets and played one season with the Rams, 1977. The same year, Jaworski was traded by the Rams to the Philadelphia Eagles, going on to lose the 1981 Super Bowl to Oakland. Ferragamo led the Rams to the 1980 Super Bowl, where they lost to Pittsburgh. Warner made two Super Bowl appearances with the St. Louis Rams, going 1-1 against Tennessee and New England.

And finally

Agent Drew Rosenhaus, talking about baseball’s big off-season spenders, on Fox Sports Radio: “Geez, I wish there was a Boston Red Sox in the National Football League.”

*

mike.penner@latimes.com