Wing Bowl XIII

[Laughing-Man]

Well in other news to kill time before the superbowl, in Superbowl tradition the annual Philadelphia Wing Bowl XIII was held this morning: Link #1<- With Video, Link #2. And yes, professional eating is a sport.

Sonya "The Black Widow" lost to El Wingador. If you don't know who she is, she is the light 100 pound asian woman who schooled everyone last year.

http://www.sonyatheblackwidow.com/

Wing Bowl 13 came down to a photo finish, and Bill "El Wingador" Simmons came out on top.

Simmons, now a five-time champ, was tied with defending champ Sonya "The Black Widow" Thomas after regulation time for the second straight year. Both had eaten 147 chicken wings.

Simmons ate 15 wings in the ensuing two-minute period, Thomas 14.

"I want to thank all my fans," Simmons said. "Now we've got to bring home a Super Bowl."

Thomas hugged Simmons after the decision was announced, and left without speaking.

Despite the grueling nature of the event, Simmons said, ""I could have kept going."

And his overtime strategy: "My game was to get through the drumsticks. They're quicker."

Simmons and Thomas were joined in a stirring, to-the-wire battle by nationally ranked eater Ed "Cookie" Jarvis, of New York.

Simmons and Thomas ate 147 wings each in regulation. Jarvis finished with 140 wings eaten.

Eric "Badlands" Booker, of New York, was the first-half leader, but was disqualified by referee Eric Gregg in the second half when he overfilled his mouth and couldn't clear it.

In the first half, Booker ate 78 chicken wings, four more than Simmons. Thomas was in fifth place, with 71 wings eaten.

The rest of the Top 10 at the half: 3. The Godfather (73); 4. Mo Green (72); 6. Uncle Buck (68); 6. Damaging Doug (68); 8. Ed "Cookie" Jarvis (66); 9. Sledgehammer (64); 10. Berminator (62).

It was a wild scene at the Wachovia Center, which proved a huge draw for Philly fans. The event was half frat party, half Eagles rally.

The eating contest, hosted by 610-AM WIP, drew an overflow crowd of more than 20,000 to the Wachovia Center early this morning.

The crowd was raucous from the start, cheering its favorites (local eaters, especially Simmons, and the Wingettes) and pelting the villains (Thomas, out-of-town eaters) with beer cups and invective.

The show included video greetings from the Eagles on the arena video screen. St. Joe's coach Phil Martelli received a big ovation when he predicted the Eagles would win the Super Bowl, 20-13. At halftime, "Mize" completed his annual ritual of opening beer cans by pounding them on his head.

The station had announced that doors would open for the free event at 5 a.m., but the size of the crowd in the lots led the arena to open after 3 a.m. Radio personality Keith Jones said the lower bowl of the arena was filled by 3:30 a.m.

The arena closed its doors before 6 a.m., leaving thousands of fans outside. Road signs along I-76 were warning fans to avoid the Wachovia Center at 5:30 a.m.

The competition, in which 29 eaters try to eat as many chicken wings as possible in the allotted time.

Rufino "Fino" Cachola, 36, known to fans as Chili Dog, was honored before the event. Cachola, a longtime contestant, died Dec. 26. His family was present for the moment of silence.

Edited February 4, 2005 by jmole

[devBrian]

lol I wish they had televised it. I got a chance to catch one a few years ago, was quite entertaining.