Wing Bowl 18
Written by B-Dub, Friday February 05 2010
Gluttony and Girls. What more do you need?
If your answer is nothing, then you were probably at Wing Bowl 18 in Philadelphia. What is Wing Bowl and why is this number 18 you ask? Oh where to begin.
Wing Bowl is a wing-eating competition created by a local Philadelphia radio station, WIP (610 AM). As you can tell by the title, this year was the 18th year of Wing Bowl. I know what you're thinking: How lame is Philly if they celebrate fat guys eating wings? My answer is that it's not so much about the wings anymore. It's a bit more about thighs and breasts now.
For the last few years, Wing Bowl has been held in the Wachovia Center, which is the home to the NHL's Philadelphia Flyers and NBA's Philadelphia 76ers. That's because it's gotten so big that they needed a place to accommodate the crowds. Every year over 20,000 people cram into the Wachovia Center to watch this spectacle. Yes, I said 20 THOUSAND. That's about double the average attendance at a 76ers game. As a matter of fact, demand is so great that they started selling tickets to the event (all proceeds benefit the Police Survivor's Fund), because they can't get a big enough venue to hold all the people who want to attend.
Who would show up you ask? Well mostly it's young men who enjoy drinking and "entertainment". The entertainment at Wing Bowl isn't so much the 29 fat guys eating wings this year. It's more about the "Wingettes".
A "Wingette" is a young lady who stands behind her eater, encouraging him, clearing plates of eaten wings and even getting water. Oh yeah, did I mention that these young ladies are all smoking hot babes, who wear next to nothing? You're starting to get the picture here aren't you?
Your average Wingette has a job as a stripper. Shocking, I know. All of the local Gentleman's clubs are represented nicely and this year there were even a few porn stars like Mary Carey and HBO's Katie Morgan among the skanks and Hos. In other words, this place was Tiger Wood's dream.
Each contestant has to assemble an entourage of slacker friends and a few of these Wingettes that are assigned to them by the radio station. They must then design costumes and floats and participate in a parade. One eater named "Tiger Wings" dressed in a green jacket and drove an Escalade while a blond Ho hit it with a golf club. One eater is named "The Hungry Hungry Hebrew" and one of his Wingettes is a woman who was arrested for offering sex to undercover cops for 2009 World Series tickets. One float was a replica football field and honored the late Eagles defensive coordinator, Jim Johnson. You get the idea. Each eater enters the Wachovia Center with their entourage and they basically try to stay out of the way of the Wingettes that everybody comes to see. There is then some boring eating of wings for two rounds and 30 minutes later a winner is crowned. Yawn.
This year a skinny 24-year old guy from Winslow, New Jersey named Jonathan "Super" Squibb won for the second year in a row by eating 238 wings. For his efforts he won a Ford F-150. Five eaters were disqualified under the competition's "You heave, you leave" rule. But the biggest cheers were saved for the Wingettes. And let me just say that the cameras weren't the only things that were "flashing". There is even a contest for the Wingette of the Year and the winner gets a Harley Davidson motorcycle.
This being Philadelphia, there were also Boos. And that made me very, very proud. The moron who runs this thing, Angelo Cataldi of WIP, thought it would be a great idea to have that Snooki thing from MTV's The Jersey Shore at the event. I'm not sure why anybody would want to see that short, fat, ugly, obnoxious, stupid, drunken train-wreck of a whore, but he did. Thankfully my faith in Philadelphia fans was rewarded when she got Booed mercilessly. She responded by imitating Jets coach Rex Ryan in Miami. Classy. Stripping would be a major step up for Snooki from Reality Show Whore.
Wing Bowl is a cultural phenomenon these days. It even makes the pages of Sports Illustrated every year. The Flyers public address announcer is the announcer for the event. Former Eagle Hank Fraley was the "commissioner" and former commissioners include ex-major league umpire Eric Gregg and former 76ers owner Pat Croce. It's hard to believe it had such humble beginnings.
Back in 1993 WIP morning show co-host Al Morganti decided that since the Eagles were never going to make it to the Super Bowl (1980 and 2004 are their only SB appearances), that Philly should do something unique on the Friday before the Super Bowl. Well, at that time in 1993, the Buffalo Bills were in the middle of losing repeated Super Bowls. Morganti decided that they should have an eating contest with Buffalo Wings, to honor the Buffalo Bills. The original Wing Bowl consisted of two guys eating wings, that Morganti cooked himself at home, in the lobby of the Wyndam Franklin Plaza hotel in Philly. There weren't even any Wingettes. The winner got a hibachi. Oh how the times have changed.
From its humble beginnings Wing Bowl has morphed into a Philadelphia tradition that keeps getting bigger every year. People start tailgating before midnight the night before the event and all the local Gentleman's clubs are open early for the "Wing Bowl After Parties". Hey maybe this is the answer to that pesky recession thing I've heard so much about. Seems to me this event is pumping tons of money into the local economy. If the Philadelphia Eagles weren't so damn uptight, they would hold this thing in Lincoln Financial Field and sell 70,000 tickets each year. Then they would really generate some "economic stimulus".
Hopefully by next year Playerpress.com is a household name and I can get a press pass to cover the event up close and personal. My wife will understand if it's for work right?
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9 comments
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I am, of course, referring to those cheating fraud Bastards, the New York Steroidees, who stole a World Series. And please feel free to give me some of these arguments that refute my claim that Philly fans are the best. Passionate, loyal, knowledgable. Philly fans have it all my friend, including Wing Bowl.
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I'm confused, what, exactly, do you mean by "... having the best team in baseball not filled with steroid cheating mercenaries?" Can you specify a little more please? Who are you comparing them to? When I said Philly fans are a bit delusional, I simply meant they sometimes think they are better than they really are. They, you included, are willing to tell anyone who will listen about how great the fanbase is, but when someone comes up with a few solid arguments to refute that claim, you dismiss them as if they are not worthy. It is an argument that no one can win, but keep puffing your chests and trying, it gives the rest of us some amusement.
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You're right that no fan base is more passionate than the Philly fans. But what's "delusional" about having the best team in baseball not filled with steroid cheating mercenaries?
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If by best you mean passionate and a little delusional, then yes Dub, they are the 'best'.
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Is there any more proof needed that Philly fans are the best on the planet? Where else would 20,000 people show up to watch fat guys eat wings.
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I don't care what they say about you Nolan, you're alright.
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Your welcome Dubster, and there you go MC! :)
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Good stuff Dub. I've never even heard of this competition. My only suggestion is with so much talk about the wingettes, I wanted to see pictures. Maybe next year. Good reporting Dubbers.
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Thank you to my buddy Nolan Thomas for getting the pictures in the article. Of course now it's like the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue, where nobody bothers to read any of the words.