Wing Bowl

Wing Bowl was an annual eating contest founded in 1993 by Philadelphia talk-radio hosts Angelo Cataldi and Al Morganti. The contest was first broadcast on WIP.[1]

Wing Bowl
Wing Bowl XV
StatusInactive
GenreCompetitive eating competition
Date(s)Friday before the Super Bowl
FrequencyEnded
VenueWells Fargo Center
Location(s)Philadelphia
CountryUnited States
InauguratedJanuary 29, 1993
FoundersAl Morganti, Angelo Cataldi
Most recentFebruary 2, 2018
Attendance20,000+
LeaderCommissioner - Jon Dorenbos
PeopleLast champion - Molly Schuyler
SponsorWTEL (AM)
Websitewingbowl.cbslocal.com

About 150 people attended Wing Bowl I (held in a hotel) in 1993 to see a competition between two contestants. The event pitted competitive eaters in a Buffalo wing eating contest. The Wing Bowl was traditionally held on the Friday before the Super Bowl. The event, which began as a radio promotion, grew to encompass television, the Internet, and a contest for women who were termed "the Wingettes."[2]

From 2000 to 2018, the event was held at Philadelphia's Wells Fargo Center, where they did live broadcasts on 94-WIP-FM. There were no television deals to broadcast the event live; however, a replay was usually shown on CW 57, Comcast SportsNet, or one of the other local stations within the following week. The Wing Bowl drew crowds of over 20,000.[3]

The final Wing Bowl, Wing Bowl XXVI was held on February 2, 2018, and the winner was Molly Schuyler, who devoured a record 501 wings in a half hour.[4]

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. It is also suggested that Morganti was fed up with the Buffalo Bills going to the Super Bowl and not winning. The first Wing Bowl was held in the lobby of the Wyndham Franklin Plaza Hotel in Center City. Carmen Cordero walked away with the inaugural title, receiving a hibachi as his prize.

Since then, media coverage has grown to the point where every one of the major Philadelphia television stations has covered the event. The ABC 6, CBS Channel 3 and Fox 29 affiliates all aired live reports from the event during their morning news. Features on the event have appeared in the Courier-Post, 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 Real 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," competed in Fox's "Glutton Bowl" in the spring of 2002. The 2007 Wing Bowl was carried on Comcast Cable's On Demand channel.

Then Mayor of Philadelphia and future Governor of Pennsylvania Ed Rendell attended Wing Bowls II, III, IV and VI, where he presented the winner with a "Liberty Bell" trophy. Other celebrities who have appeared include retired heavyweight boxer Randall "Tex" Cobb, former 76ers President Pat Croce, former Phillies 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 5 June 2006. From December 2006 to 2013, Pat Croce was the second commissioner. Jon Dorenbos served as the last commissioner from 2014, and served the final 5 editions.

Qualifications

(As per Wing Bowl Commissioner Jon Dorenbos) 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 94 WIP studios in Center City, Philadelphia, with Al Morganti as judge. Stunts have included eating 20 cups of cooked oatmeal, eating 3.75 pounds (1.70 kg) of creamed spinach with 3.75 pounds (1.70 kg) of hot sauce, and eating five Big Macs. The stunt must be completed within a time limit negotiated between the contestant and Morganti. Morganti, known to be a tough judge, has disallowed stunts that involved what he considers "cheating", such as dipping bread into a beverage to make it easier to swallow, or breaking up a food item into constituent parts for easier chewing (such as separating hot dogs from their buns). He is also tough on contestants who suggest a stunt involving liquid consumption; The Morning Show hosts prefer eating stunts over drinking stunts. If a person offers to perform a drinking stunt, it must be compelling to the hosts, such as Wing Bowl XIV champion Joey Chestnut's offer to drink 1 US gallon (3.8 L) of milk. The hosts deemed it not difficult enough, but, fortunately for Chestnut, former champion Bill "El Wingador" Simmons was present and declared the stunt to have a high level of difficulty, upon which the hosts accepted his offer, with a five-minute time limit to complete the challenge.

The other way to gain entry to Wing Bowl is to win a "Wingoff."[5] A "Wingoff"[6] is a 10-minute eating contest held at a Philadelphia or South Jersey bar hosted by former Philadelphia Eagle and WIP Host Hugh Douglas and WIP Personality Marc Farzetta. The "Wingoffs" began in 2005 when 610 WIP decided to spoof the Big 5 Philadelphia area universities basketball teams. The winner of these "Wingoffs" gain automatic entry into the Wing Bowl.

Cancellation

WIP announced on October 30, 2018, that event was being canceled after 26 years because the time for doing so felt right after the Eagles won Super Bowl LII. According to WIP program director Spike Eskin, "When Wing Bowl started ... a large part of it was the lead-up to the Super Bowl never involved the Eagles. We just wanted to get to the promised land."[7][8]

Champions
Wing
Bowl		 Date Venue Winner Wings Runner-up Wings
I January 1, 1993 Wyndham Franklin Plaza Hotel Carmen "The Beast From the East" Cordero 100
II January 28, 1994 The Main Event Kevin "Heavy Keavy" O'Donnell 127
III January 1, 1995 Club Egypt 133
IV January 26, 1996 Electric Factory Glen "Fluffmaster" Garrison 155
V January 24, 1997 Eric "Gentleman E" Behl 120
VI January 30, 1998 Spectrum Mark "Big Rig" Vogeding 164
VII January 29, 1999 Bill "El Wingador" Simmons 113
VIII January 28, 2000 Wells Fargo Center "Tollman Joe" Paul 90
IX January 26, 2001 Bill "El Wingador" Simmons 137
X February 1, 2002 135
XI January 24, 2003 154 Rich "The Gavone" Sica 129
XII January 30, 2004 Sonya "The Black Widow" Thomas 167 Ed "Cookie" Jarvis 153
XIII February 4, 2005 Bill "El Wingador" Simmons 162 Sonya "The Black Widow" Thomas 161
XIV February 3, 2006 Joey Chestnut 173 Rich "The Locust" LeFevre 151
XV February 2, 2007 182 Patrick Bertoletti 170
XVI February 1, 2008 241 227
XVII January 30, 2009 Jonathan "Super" Squibb 203 "Not Rich" 180
XVIII February 5, 2010 238 145
XIX February 4, 2011 255 Bill "El Wingador" Simmons 254
XX February 3, 2012 Takeru Kobayashi 337 Jonathan "Super" Squibb 271
XXI February 1, 2013 Jamie "The Bear" McDonald 287 282
XXII January 31, 2014 Molly Schuyler[9] 363 Patrick Bertoletti 356
XXIII January 30, 2015 Patrick Bertoletti 444 Molly Schuyler 440
XXIV February 5, 2016 Molly Schuyler 429 Patrick Bertoletti 409
XXV February 3, 2017 Bob "Notorious B.O.B." Shoudt 409 David T. "Wings & Things" Brunelli 386
XXVI February 2, 2018 Molly Schuyler 501 396

Past Wing Bowls

2007 - Wing Bowl XV

Wing Bowl 15[10] is known as "Philadelphia Against The World". Tickets sold out on the first day of sales. Wing Bowl 15 was presented by Philadelphia Park Casino. Pat Croce was this year's Wing Bowl Commissioner. Pat took the helm after the tragic loss of WIP's dear friend Eric Gregg.[11]

2008 - Wing Bowl XVI

Going into Wing Bowl 16[12] WIP Host, Angelo Cataldi, billed it as the greatest Wing Bowl ever. With El Wingador coming out of retirement to square off against the number one eater in the world, Joey Chestnut. Wing Bowl 16[13] also featured a change in chicken wing providers, which contributed to the shattering of the elusive 200 wing mark.

2009 - Wing Bowl XVII

Unlike the past years in which professional eaters were allowed to participate, Wing Bowl 17[14] on January 30, 2009, at the Wachovia Center, was an all Amateur eater event, promoting eaters from the local neighborhoods in and around the Philadelphia area. There are 25 eaters in Wing Bowl 17,[15] with Wing Bowl 8 Champion "Tollman Joe" participating. This marks the first occasion that Wing Bowl creator Al Morganti gave a special dispensation that Tollman Joe did not have to perform an eating stunt to be in the Wing Bowl field, since he has been the only amateur to beat Bill "El Wingador" Simmons.

Jonathan "Super" Squibb[16] of Winslow Twp., NJ, took the Wing Bowl 17 title of Wing Bowl Champion by eating 203 wings.

2010 - Wing Bowl XVIII

Wing Bowl 18 took place on February 5, 2010. Jonathan Squibb finished with a total of 238 wings to win his second Wing Bowl in a row. Squibb finished 93 wings ahead of the second-place finisher and won a Ford F-150 truck and a championship ring as prizes.[17][18]

2011 - Wing Bowl XIX

Jonathan Squibb won for the third consecutive year by 255 eating wings to win Wing Bowl 19. Squibb's total broke the record of 241 wings set by Joey Chestnut at Wing Bowl 16 (2008) and was one wing more than second-place finisher Bill "El Wingador" Simmons was able to eat. Squibb won $20,000 in cash and 2011 Dodge Ram truck.[19][20]

2012 - Wing Bowl XX

Takeru Kobayashi set a new competition record by eating 337 wings to win Wing Bowl 20. Kobayashi's total was 82 wings more than the previous competition record set by Jonathan Squibb. Squibb also broke his own record, but finished in second with 271 wings. Kobayashi won $20,000 in cash and a championship ring as prizes.[21][22]

2013 - Wing Bowl XXI

Wing Bowl 21 was won by James McDonald who ate a total of 287 wings. McDonald finished five wings ahead of three-time champion Jonathan Squibb to win $20,000 in cash and a $7,500 championship diamond ring.[23][24]

2014 - Wing Bowl XXII

Molly Schuyler won Wing Bowl 22 by eating a total of 363 wings. Schuyler's total broke the previous record of 337 set at Wing Bowl 20 by Takeru Kobayashi. Patrick Bertoletti finished second with 356 wings.[25] Schuyler received the $22,000 top prize for her win.[26]

2015 - Wing Bowl XXIII

The winner of Wing Bowl 23 was Patrick Bertoletti. Bertoletti ate 444 wings to set a new Wing Bowl record and finished four wings ahead of defending champion Molly Schuyler.[27] Bertoletti received a Harley Davidson Fat Boy motorcycle, $10,000 in cash, and a one-of-a-kind commemorative ring for winning.[28]

2016 - Wing Bowl XXIV

Molly Schuyler won Wing Bowl 24 with a total of 429 wings to finish 21 wings ahead of second-place finisher Patrick Bertoletti. Schuyler won a 2016 Harley Davidson Fat Boy motorcycle, $10,000 in cash, and a custom made Wing Bowl 24 championship ring as prizes.[29]

2017 - Wing Bowl XXV

Bob "Notorious B.O.B." Shoudt won Wing Bowl 25 with a count of 409 wings to finish ahead of David T. "Wings & Things" Brunelli by 23 wings. Celebrity guests included actor/rapper, Coolio and former pro-wrestler, Ric Flair. Shoudt won $10,000 in cash, a Hyundai Santa Fe, a ring and a medal as prizes. In total the $50,000 worth of prizes was the largest amount ever won in an open, qualifying, eating contest.[30][31]

2018 - Wing Bowl XXVI

Molly Schuyler broke her own record and devoured an event-record 501 wings to win the title. She received $5,000, a 2018 Hyundai Sonata, a ring and medal. "Wings & Things" was 2nd, 105 behind her.[32]

See also

References
  1. Notte, Jason (2018-08-19). "To Reach Men, Advertisers Dial In to Sports Radio". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-07-21.
  2. "Wing Bowl: How 11 national outlets covered Philly's 'gorge-puke-and-boobfest'". Billy Penn. 3 February 2017. Retrieved 2022-07-21.
  3. "Wing Bowl has officially been ended for good". RSN. Retrieved 2022-07-21.
  4. "Molly Schuyler downs record 501 wings to win Wing Bowl". The Seattle Times. 2018-02-01. Retrieved 2022-07-21.
  5. "Wing Bowl Wingoff At PJ Whelihan's In Haddonfield". Portal to gallery of photographs (100) related to Wing Bowl. Courier-Post. January 8, 2010. Accessed January 22, 2010.
  6. "2009 Wing Bowl: Wing-Off In S.J.". Portal to gallery of photographs (45) related to Wing Bowl. Courier-Post. January 15, 2009. Accessed January 22, 2010.
  7. Berkery, Sheri (October 30, 2018). "WIP ends controversial Wing Bowl's long run in Philadelphia". Courier-Post. Retrieved November 8, 2018.
  8. Bryan, Cleve (October 30, 2018). "'I Think It Ran Its Course': 94WIP Ends Wing Bowl After 26 Years". CBS Philly. Retrieved November 8, 2018.
  9. Santoliquito, Joseph (January 31, 2014). "Molly Schuyler Sets A Record, Wins Wing Bowl 22 With 363 Wings Eaten". Sports. CBS Philly. Retrieved July 8, 2015.
  10. "Wing Bowl 2007". Portal to gallery of photographs (78) related to Wing Bowl. Courier-Post. Jan. 23, 2007. Accessed January 22, 2010.
  11. WIP - Philadelphia's Sports Radio - *
  12. "2008 Wing Bowl 16". Portal to gallery of photographs (38) related to Wing Bowl. Courier-Post. Jan. 26, 2008. Accessed January 22, 2010.
  13. "2008- Wing Bowl 16 (Part 2)". Portal to gallery of photographs (50) related to Wing Bowl. Courier-Post. Jan. 26, 2008. Accessed January 22, 2010.
  14. "Wing Bowl 17 Gallery 1". Portal to gallery of photographs (49) related to Wing Bowl. Courier-Post. Jan. 30, 2009. Accessed January 22, 2010.
  15. "Wing Bowl 17 Gallery 2". Portal to gallery of photographs (57) related to Wing Bowl. Courier-Post. Jan. 30, 2009. Accessed January 22, 2010.
  16. "2009 Wing Bowl: S.J. Contestants". Portal to gallery of photographs (10) related to Wing Bowl. Courier-Post. Jan. 26, 2009. Accessed January 22, 2010.
  17. Hurdle, Jon (February 5, 2010). "Wing Bowl celebrates Philadelphia's raucous sports". Reuters. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
  18. White, Bil (February 6, 2010). "Wing Bowl checked off bucket list". The Morning Call. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
  19. Santoliquito, Joseph (February 4, 2011). "Squibb Threepeats As Wing Bowl Champion". WCAU. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
  20. Hurdle, Jon (February 4, 2011). "Philly Wing Bowl produces new record, slim victory". Reuters. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
  21. Davis, Phil (February 4, 2012). "Wing Bowl XX proves historic with Kobayashi victory, end of El Wingador era". South Jersey Times. Retrieved February 8, 2017 – via NJ.com.
  22. Stamm, Dan (February 3, 2012). "Wing Bowl 20: Kobayashi Eats Record 337 Wings". WCAU. Retrieved February 8, 2017.
  23. Green, Joe (February 4, 2012). "Beer, babes and buffalo wings abound at Wing Bowl XXI". South Jersey Times. Retrieved February 8, 2017 – via NJ.com.
  24. Wisniewski, Mike (February 3, 2013). "Skin, breasts 'n wings at WIP's Wing Bowl 21". The Daily Pennsylvanian. Retrieved February 8, 2017.
  25. Santoliquito, Joseph (January 31, 2014). "Molly Schuyler Sets A Record, Wins Wing Bowl 22 With 363 Wings Eaten". KYW-TV. Retrieved February 8, 2017.
  26. "Molly Schuyler Eats 363 Chicken Wings In 30 Minutes, Sets New Wing Bowl Record". Huffington Post. January 31, 2014. Retrieved February 8, 2017.
  27. Santoliquito, Joseph (January 30, 2015). "Pat Bertoletti Upsets Molly Schuyler To Win Wing Bowl 23". KYW-TV. Retrieved February 8, 2017.
  28. Adomaitis, Greg (January 30, 2015). "Wing Bowl 2015 winner Patrick Bertoletti bests Molly Schuyler with 444 to 440". NJ.com. Retrieved February 8, 2017.
  29. O'Neil, Erin (February 5, 2016). "Molly Schuyler regains Wing Bowl crown after downing 429 wings". NJ.com. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
  30. Everett, Rebecca (February 3, 2017). "Wing Bowl 25: Notorious B.O.B. wins it all by eating 409 wings". NJ.com. Retrieved March 4, 2017.
  31. Vadala, Nick; Tornoe, Rob (February 3, 2017). "Notorious B.O.B. wins Wing Bowl 25, Wingette of the Year is a shocker". Philly.com. Retrieved March 4, 2017.
  32. Porter, Andrew (2018-02-02). "Molly Schuyler Sets Record By Eating 501 Wings To Win Wing Bowl XXVI". Philadelphia.CBSLocal.com. Retrieved 2018-02-04.
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