Earlier this morning at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, a new king was crowned. All hail King ‘Chestnut’, new King of the Wing(nuts)!! He was coronated today at the Fourteenth Annual ‘Wing Bowl’.

Essentially, the Wing Bowl is an eating contest sponsored by a local radio station, and sanctioned by the IFOCE (International Federation of Competitive Eating… yes, there really is such an entity…) Through the years it has grown from a contest with an audience of 150 into a festival of the bizarre with over 20,000 in attendance, held at a major arena. The Wing has become the definition of ‘Morning Zoo’.

Qualifying heats are held at the radio station. Chestnut qualified by drinking a gallon of milk in 42 seconds. Other contestants qualified in a similar manner, a pound of chopped liver in two minutes, a whole large pizza in one minute, and my personal favorite, a pound of cod tongues (I know… I didn’t realize that cods even had tongues, much less where you would go to buy a whole pound of them… Imagine eating a food that could taste you back!)

The doors to the Wachovia Center open at six AM for this annual Pre-Super Bowl kickoff party. Fans prepare for the event by spending the night drinking beer in the parking lot.

After the parade where the eaters enter on home made floats, the contest begins. There are two ten minute rounds, then a two minute “Lightning Round.” Evidently, the “you heave, you leave” rule was enforced in the second round, keeping Chestnut comfortably (or uncomfortably…) in the lead.

He won by consuming 173 chicken wings in 22 minutes. For that feat of gluttony, Chestnut won a brand new SUV.

I don’t think I have eaten 173 chicken wings in my entire life.

This is the second time there has been an ESPN NBA game scheduled on Wing Bowl day. The Wing Bowl is over by 10 AM, and the basketball game starts at 7 PM. That gives the arena crew time to clean up all the unappetizing “remnants” of the contest.

Last time, things started getting a little rowdy towards the end. The ESPN crew showed up at 9 AM. We were warned by worried looking security guards, “Whatever you do, do NOT go in the arena. They’ve started throwing bottles at each other!”

Yup, its that fun.

And tonight on the menu for our post game meal…. Wings.

Author: frenchy