Printer-friendly versionEvery Super Bowl weekend for the past 15 years, Philadelphia has celebrated a Bowl of its own. Wing Bowl began in 1993 as a small, two-man chicken wing-eating competition - a radio promotion designed by 610 WIP talk show hosts Angelo Cataldi and Al Morganti. Since then, it's become one of the premier professional eating competitions in the world and, moreover, a Philly institution. In the early morning of February 2, a crowd of 20,000 fans filled the Wachovia Center to take part in the gastronomical mayhem of Wing Bowl 15: "Philadelphia Against the World."
Reporter Stephen Morse decided to experience it himself, from the qualifiers to the main event, from blind competitors to near-naked Wingettes. Along the way, he learned that Wing Bowl isn't just a competition - it's a way of life.
Wednesday, January 31
11:00 p.m.
30 hours to Wing Bowl
The Gold Club, Center City
The girls begin to eye me as soon as I make it past the bouncer's strict ID check. There are more than a dozen, topless, scattered throughout the dark mirror-clad interior of The Gold Club. A busty Latina rubs her ass against one of the two poles on stage while dancing to Justin Timberlake. But I'm not here for a lap dance. I'm here for the 28-year-old, 325-pound, dark-skinned man sitting in the corner: Jermaine Pressley, a.k.a. Black Death.
Black Death came to The Gold Club tonight because he ate a baby. Sure, the baby was made of pudding cake, but still, the man deserves some credit. There were no hands allowed, so he had one of his female friends feed it to him. Ten minutes later, the baby was gone.
By performing this stunt live in the 610WIP radio studio, he qualified for his second Wing Bowl - arguably Philadelphia's biggest sporting event of the year. Only here can a bunch of macho men (and one 95-pound Asian-American woman) eating chicken wings arouse more excitement on Super Bowl weekend than the main event itself. Out of more than 20 eaters last year, Black Death made it to the top five. This year, he's in it to win.
As "Eye of the Tiger" blasts through the speakers, Black Death gets ready for a quick practice session with his Gold Club sponsor, Chris Weinerman, the establishment's co-proprietor and general manager. Likely about 300 pounds himself, Weinerman is a perfect practice buddy. "I'm just trying to help Black Death try to take it all the way home. We're going at it every night, eating as many wings as I can to push him to go faster and faster. He's eating 25 wings in under 3 « minutes. His biggest competition is probably Joey Chestnut, last year's winner. If Jermaine doesn't win it, he's coming in second. But I think he's gonna win it."
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It is nice to read something entertaining. It was well written and kept my attention to the end. I learned something about Philadelphia and how that community entertained both the young as well as the seniors. It was great to read something other than politics, crime, and hypocrisy. It was a great read and thoroughly enjoyable.
This was a great article. I would have to say that, in my opinion, I have not seen an as well written and interesting 34th Street feature as this in years. Very balanced reporting; objective, unbiased, believable.....
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