Thursday, January 14, 2010

Rick The Manager: Wing Bowl 2010!



He’s baaaaaack!
Rick “The Manager” Russo has qualified again for this year's Wing Bowl! This year, he’s outdone himself, qualifying with a feat that wowed the Wing Bowl sponsors and left others ready to jet-set on their own world tour de cusine. Initially, Rick wasn’t sure about competing this year, but with the announcement that no pros would be allowed in the contest again, he knew what he had to do. It was once again up to Rick to provide his friends with the opportunity to reunite in Philly for the party of the year. “I like the fact that I am able to provide these pros with the opportunity to enjoy an eating contest from a different perspective, the other side of the table so to speak”, stated The Manager on why he wanted to enter the Wing Bowl again this year.

So how exactly did Rick The Manager qualify for this year’s prestigious event? He knew that he had to come up with an over-the-top idea in order to qualify. To play up his idea, he called the radio station stating that “the Wing Bowl was bigger than Philadelphia, it was international”. Knowing that the Wing Bowl is more about flair and glitz as opposed to actually eating a lot of food, Rick proposed his idea to the programmers.

His idea? To eat seven foods from the seven different continents off of seven women. On the day of the qualification, Rick and his ladies showed up at the station in costume, prepared for victory. The women who represented each continent donned attire to match their respective locale (Antarctica=white furry bikini/furry white boots, Africa=tiger print bikini, etc.).
The foods consumed off of these lovely ladies were:
North America: Hot Dog
South America: Banana
Africa: Spicy lamb sausage
Europe: Bratwurst
Asia: Sushi Roll
Antarctica: Popsicle

Accompanied by two other eaters, Steakbellie and Gentleman Jerry, Rick The Manager successfully completed his stunt and made it into the 2010 Wing Bowl. Steakbellie provided color commentary to Rick’ performance and Gentleman Jerry acted as Rick The Manager’s manager. After Rick completed his stunt, he was told by the radio guys that presentation of food is very important in the culinary world. The radio personalities announced, “This was a global eating stunt and Rick had an incredible artistic display with his food presentation!”

Last year, Rick the Manager “officially” ate 69 wings, which was not enough to advance into the second round. This year, he hopes to eat over 80 wings for the first round to hopefully advance further in the contest. If you know anything about the Wing Bowl, though, then you know it really isn’t about the eating. With the Mardi Gras-like atmosphere, it is obvious that being allowed the opportunity to party with friends at 5am in Philadelphia is the major draw to the event.

Being creative and having a strong entourage are really two of the most important aspects of being in the Wing Bowl. Rick the Manager had a packed entourage last year, with members consisting of pro eaters such as Joey Chestnut, Humble Bob, Pat Bertoletti, U.S. Male, Steakbellie, Wing Kong, Crazy Legs Conti, and Badlands Booker. The entourage was appropriately named the Exiled Eaters Tour, as the pros were not allowed to compete. This year, Rick hopes to keep a similar entourage, but complete detail es will not be revealed until the event.

To catch the event on air, you'll have to listen to WIP Sports Radio online EARLY in the morning on Feburary 5th, 2010.