It's an eating contest that has grown so big that they now fill the Wachovia Center (where the Sixers, and Flyers play) which holds over 20,000 people. It was started because we never wre in the Super Bowl. It will be this Friday and it is going to be the biggest pep rally known to man. A female Sonya Thomas won it last year and she only weighs 100 lbs. She ate something like 167 wings.

If you want to check out some of the eating stunts and the wingettes here is a link http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/sports/special_packages/wingbow/

they don't have anything like that here in Boston. The Patriots are too busy playing / winning Super Bowls. Not a big market for wing bowls in this area, interest is relatively low.

If only it weren't so early in the morning, I'd go.


Annual wing-eating contest braces for huge crowd as prelude to Sunday's game

HALF-NAKED WOMEN, putrid chicken wings strewn everywhere and 28 contestants close to retching.

Yes, it's time once again for Wing Bowl.

Thousands of Philadelphians have made this annual homegrown heave-fest a must-attend, almost cultlike event. But this year, something curious has happened that promises to make it larger than ever.

With the media and the world's attention focused on the Philadelphia Eagles for the Super Bowl, Friday's Wing Bowl 13 may have the largest attendance yet. The event is getting mentioned on national sports news shows, on sports Web blogs - and among Philadelphians who are planning to attend just to start partying early for Super Bowl weekend.

"I believe it will be the world's largest pep rally," said 610 WIP-AM morning host Angelo Cataldi. WIP is sponsoring the free event.

"We led the Wing Bowl in this direction all year. We kept twisting it, as the Eagles did better and better, to be a totally Eagles pep rally event. People are excited. They are going to take off Friday and make it a party weekend."

Organizers expect that more than 25,000 people - about 5,000 more than last year - will witness the event at the Wachovia Center, storming the doors, which will open earlier than usual at 5 a.m., for a seat close to the yack-tion.

While "Wingettes" in bikinis prance around and contestants chow wings, spectators will also watch videos of their favorite Eagles players on a big screen as they chant Eagles fight songs.

"It's going to be an unbelievable day," said Philadelphian and longtime Wing Bowl attendee Dave Martin, who plans to be there by 4 a.m. "It will be three days of heartfelt emotion, especially with the Eagles going to the Super Bowl two days later."

"It's going to be a big party," added Wing Bowl contestant Matt "Sloth" Dutton. "This is the pinnacle for us. This is the reason Wing Bowl was invented."

Spawned in a hotel lobby with just a couple of dozen spectators 13 years ago as an answer to the Eagles' annual failed Super Bowl runs, the contest has always been a local favorite because it provided fans with a post-season "Bowl" replacement.

But it took on a new life as the Eagles kept winning. When the Eagles made the Super Bowl, the station was flooded with calls for free passes to get the party started at Wing Bowl. Organizers also received more contestant entries than usual, holding weeks' worth of qualifying rounds with dozens of Philadelphians who've gotten really serious about competitive eating.

Hard to swallow

Because so many contestants were trying to qualify, they had to get creative to stand out. A pound-plus candle. Mealworms. A 36-egg omelet. A pound of raw meat. If contestants could swallow it - and keep it down - it was fair game.

And only the strong of stomach survived.

Like Eugene Rawlings. The hulking, 6-foot-4, 230-pound contractor got his nickname, "Uncle Buck," after eating 10 deer testicles in a qualifying round last year, so he knew he could eat just about anything.

This year, he downed a 1 ½-pound, baby-powder-scented candle in a few minutes.

"I just took the candle, cut it up with a little saw and ate it. It was nasty," the Delaware County native waxed of his experience. "I had cleared it with my doctor to do it. But I was incredibly sick afterward. All kinds of sick.

"I think for about 75 percent of us, it's about getting the laughs for actually doing it," said Rawlings. "I like getting the laughs. I've always been that way."

Rawlings made the finals, as did Don "Moses" Lerman, who tackled three pounds of baked beans, and "Wolfman" who ate two pounds of shrimp - with mealworms.

Four-time champ Bill Simmons, aka El Wingador, will be there, as will 99-pound woman and human vacuum Sonya Thomas, who startled last year's crowd by winning first place.

"This time is bigger because the Eagles are going to the Super Bowl," said Thomas, who lives in Alexandria, Va. "Lots of people are paying attention to it this year."

So what's the big payoff? Contestants will brave intestinal failure and possible hospitalization to win a Suzuki Verona truck valued at $17,000. And the pride of not vomiting in front of a crowd.

Only in Philadelphia.

Kind of like the interest in your football team. Only 1 month till pitchers and catchers report

That doesn't even make sense. There is a huge interest in the Patriots. There is NOT a huge interest in a chicken eating contest.

The Pats have grown in interest over the years just as the NFL has but everyone knows the Sox rule the town

I know I can't wait it's actually:

15 days 44 minutes 31 seconds (approximately of course)

That's just it - the town. It is the Boston Red Sox. It is the New England Patriots. Gillette Stadium isn't even in Boston.

and correct you are sir....
survey says!

http://www.boston.com/sports/football/p ... rfootball/

I think El Wingador will win with 177 wings, and the Eagles will win 20-17

Doors open at 5:00 am, and I'm going to be there.

I want to go

I wonder why this isn't held in Buffalo though. Duff's could sponsor.

i hope the chick from last year wins

I still haven't quite figured out how an entire region gets a football team named after it . . .

I never was a fan of that or naming teams after a state.
Golden State Warriors? Huh?

Yeah it's pretty cool. Pretty much the only reason why they get 20,000 people to go is because they sell beer and there are tons of hot chicks. I think at last count there are 85 wingettes wearing pretty much underwear. the wing eating contest is secondary in most peoples minds

So you weren't a big fan of the Michigan Panthers?

Ah, 1984 . . . what a good time for sports fans in Michigan . . .

A lot of those Wingettes are actually strippers.

el wingador did it!!!!!! he won by 1 wing over sonya thomas in OT. the title is back in philly baby!!! 25,000 people in attendence another 20,000 outside the building that didn't get in....including myself.