Wing Bowl
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Wing Bowl is an annual event founded by Philadelphia talk-radio hosts Al Morganti and Angelo Cataldi as a celebration of gluttony in 1993. About 150 people attended Wing Bowl I to see a competition between two contestants. The event pits competitive eaters in a buffalo-style chicken wing eating contest. The Wing Bowl is traditionally held on the Friday preceding the Super Bowl. The event, which began as a radio promotion, has grown to encompass television, the Internet, and a contest for women who are termed "the Wingettes." It is currently held at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia while the event is broadcast live on WIP (AM). There are currently no television deals to broadcast video of the event live; however, a replay of the event is usually broadcast on WPSG, Comcast SportsNet, or one of the other local Philadelphia outlets, as well as ESPN or ESPN 2, within the following month. The Wing Bowl now routinely draws crowds of 20,000 or more.
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[edit] Background
Wing Bowl was the brainchild of WIP radio host Al Morganti, who came up with the idea when it became apparent the Philadelphia Eagles were not going to make the Super Bowl anytime soon. The first Wing Bowl was held in the lobby of the Wyndham Franklin Plaza Hotel in Center City. Carmen Codero walked away with the inaugural title, receiving a wok as his prize.
Since its inception, media coverage has grown to the point where every one of the major Philadelphia television stations has covered the event. The ABC, CBS and Fox affiliates all aired live reports from the event during their morning news. Features on the event have appeared in The Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News as well as a host of newspapers in the surrounding counties. The event has been featured on ESPN and the syndicated television shows Reel TV and The Montel Williams Show. Segments on Wing Bowl have appeared on TV newscasts in cities throughout the country. Several Wing Bowl contestants, including "El Wingador," even competed in Fox's "Glutton Bowl" in the spring of 2002. This year's Wing Bowl was carried on Comcast Cable's IN DEMAND channel.
Former Philadelphia Mayor and current Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell has attended and presented the winner with a "Liberty Bell" trophy at Wing Bowls II, III, IV and VI. Other dignitaries who have appeared include former heavyweight boxer Randall "Tex" Cobb, former 76ers President Pat Croce, former Philles manager Larry Bowa, U.S. Senator Arlen Specter and others. Major league umpire Eric Gregg served as the "Commissioner" of Wing Bowl from its second year until his death from a stroke on June 5, 2006. On December 4, 2006, it was announced that Pat Croce will be the new commissioner, replacing the deceased Gregg.
[edit] Qualifications for Wing Bowl
Entry into Wing Bowl can be gained in two ways, the first of which is successfully performing an "eating stunt" on air during The Morning Show at the 610 WIP studios in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, with Al Morganti judging the stunt. Previous eating stunts include eating 20 cups of cooked oatmeal, eating 60 ounces of creamed spinach and 60 ounces of hot sauce, or eating five Big Macs, among other things. All stunts must be completed within a time limit negotiated by the contestant and Mr. Morganti. Mr. Morganti is known to be a tough judge, and will disallow stunts that involve "cheating", such as dipping bread into liquid to make it easier to swallow, or breaking a food item down into constituent parts for easier chewing (for example, removing buns from hot dogs and eating the meat and bun separately). He is also very tough on contestants who suggest a stunt involving liquid consumption. The Morning Show hosts are preferential towards contestants performing "eating" stunts, not "drinking" stunts. So if a person decides to perform a "drinking" stunt, it must be compelling to the hosts, like Wing Bowl XIV champion Joey Chestnut's drinking stunt. He asked to drink a gallon of milk. The hosts did not think that was a hard enough stunt, but fortunately for Mr. Chestnut, Bill "El Wingador" Simmons was present at WIP Studios and believed that this stunt had a high level of difficulty, at which point the hosts granted his request and gave him a five-minute time limit for achieving this stunt.
The other way to gain entry to Wing Bowl is to win a "Wing V" (a spoof on the Big 5 Philadelphia area universities) wing-off in which five contestants eat as many wings in the period of two minutes, with the winner being granted automatic entry into the Wing Bowl as a contestant. "Wing V" wing-offs conducted this year were mainly catered to the college crowd, especially those attending colleges in Philadelphia. All eating stunts performed for entry can be viewed as real video on http://www.philly.com.
[edit] Past Wing Bowls
[edit] 2002
In 2002, Philadelphia native Bill "El Wingador" Simmons became the first competitor to win the Bowl three times; Kevin "Heavy Keavy" O'Donnell had won Wing Bowl II and Wing Bowl III in `94 and `95; in 2003, Simmons became the first man to win the Bowl four times, and the first to win it thrice in a row (again beating O'Donnell's previous `94-`95 record).
[edit] 2004
In 2004, the Wing Bowl was sanctioned by the International Federation of Competitive Eating (IFOCE). Angelo Cataldi, in an effort to boost the compeition brought in professional eaters from outside Philadelphia, including 99-pound Korean-American Sonya "The Black Widow" Thomas from Virginia and Long Island realtor Ed "Cookie" Jarvis. That year, Thomas packed away 167 wings to defeat Jarvis and returning-champ Simmons (who finished with 151) to become the first woman to win the event. She collected a new car for her victory. Both competitors and fans did not want to see an "outsider" win the Wing Bowl. When it became apparent that Thomas could take the title away from a Philadelphian, Simmons gained the support of his fans and long-time competitors. One of the most dramatic moments saw Simmons' long-time rival Damaging Doug get behind him to show his support for Simmons and keeping the Wing Bowl title in Philadelphia.
[edit] 2005
In 2005, Simmons would regain the Wing Bowl title by defeating Thomas by a single chicken wing. This Wing Bowl coincided with the Philadelphia Eagles Super Bowl run.
Prior to the event, many fans were denied admission to the Wachovia Center despite waiting in line throughout the night. Admission to Wing Bowl had been on a first come, first serve general admission basis. At 5am, when many fans were told to go home, some minor rioting started and police were called in. Following this, WIP and Wing Bowl organizers instituted ticketing for Wing Bowl to prevent another incident like this.
[edit] 2006
For the 2006 Wing Bowl, only two IFOCE eaters competed, with one, Joey Chestnut of San Jose, California, winning the event. Prior to the event, a banner was raised to the rafters of the Wachovia Center in honor of Simmons' Wing Bowl accomplishments.
Wing Bowl XIV, touted as "The Virgin Wing Bowl," since no past Wing Bowl winners were allowed to participate, featured the induction of "El Wingador" as the first member of the new Wing Bowl Hall-Of-Fame. He was elected by a poll conducted on the 610 WIP website. Wing Bowl XIV was also the first Wing Bowl in which tickets had to be purchased for entry. This decision was mainly due to problems in the past where nearly 50,000 people would line up outside of the Wachovia Center for entry to a venue that can only hold 20,000 people. All ticket sales went to charity, so this decision to make Wing Bowl require purchased tickets was not for gaining profit.
[edit] Wing Bowl Champions:
- Wing Bowl I, 29 January 1993 - Wyndham Franklin Plaza Hotel; Winner - Carmen "The Beast From the East" Cordero (100 Wings)
- Wing Bowl II, 1994 - The Main Event; Winner - Kevin "Heavy Keavy" O'Donnell (127 Wings)
- Wing Bowl III, 1995 - Club Egypt; Winner - Kevin "Heavy Keavy" O'Donnell (133 Wings)
- Wing Bowl IV, 1996 - The Electric Factory; Winner - Glen "Fluffmaster" Garrison (155 Wings)
- Wing Bowl V, 1997 - The Electric Factory; Winner - Eric "Gentleman E" Biehl (120 Wings)
- Wing Bowl VI, 1998 - The Spectrum; Winner - Mark "Big Rig" Vogeding (164 Wings)
- Wing Bowl VII, 1999 - The Spectrum; Winner - Bill "El Wingador" Simmons (113 Wings)
- Wing Bowl VIII, 2000 - The First Union Center; Winner - "Tollman Joe" Paul (90 Wings)
- Wing Bowl IX, 2001 - The First Union Center; Winner - Bill "El Wingador" Simmons (137 Wings)
- Wing Bowl X, 2002 - The First Union Center; Winner - Bill "El Wingador" Simmons (135 Wings)
- Wing Bowl XI, 24 January 2003 - The First Union Center; Winner - Bill "El Wingador" Simmons (154 Wings)
- Wing Bowl XII, 30 January 2004 - The Wachovia Center; Winner - Sonya "The Black Widow" Thomas (167 Wings); Runner-up - Ed "Cookie" Jarvis (153 Wings); Second-runner-up - Bill "El Wingador" Simmons (151 Wings)
- Wing Bowl XIII, 4 February 2005 - The Wachovia Center; Winner - Bill "El Wingador" Simmons (162 Wings); Runner-up - Sonya "The Black Widow" Thomas (161 Wings)
- Wing Bowl XIV, 3 February 2006 - The Wachovia Center; Winner - Joey Chestnut (173 Wings--NEW RECORD); Runner-up - Rich "The Locust" LeFevre (151 Wings)
[edit] Wing Bowl Hall-Of-Famers
- Bill "El Wingador" Simmons (2006)
[edit] Miscellaneous
- Seats located in sections 114 to 124 (lower bowl) and 214 to 224 (upper bowl) offer the best viewing as that half the arena is where the stage, seating all 25 contestants and all the WIP Morning Show hosts, is set up.
- The event usually starts around 6:15 to 6:30AM, which is a little after The Morning Show on WIP starts.
- The event usually ends around 9:30 to 10:00AM, which coincides with the end time of The Morning Show.
- This event is not appropriate for children under the age of 18. The event is known for the excessive number of intoxicated fans in attendance, the increasing number of adult women exposing themselves (both above the waist and below), and the excessive amount of profanity from fans. Besides the fact that the hosts promote younger women to sign up as "Wingettes" who dress up in lingerie or bikinis while escorting the Wing Bowl contestants to the stage.
- If you are planning on having a seat in the lower bowl it is suggested you bring a rain jacket or a poncho, as there is tendency for fans to throw objects at the contestants as they are following through their procession around the rink. Objects include, but are not limited to, full, un-opened cans of beer, half-full, opened cans of beer, cups of soda or beer purchased from the concessions, and food.
