EVERETT – It was a battle of gastronomic proportions.
Bones sat in mounds. Cups were toppled over.
And a row of 11 men, some of them red-faced and sweating from exertion, wiped from their jaws, chins and noses the orange stains of more than 25 pounds of chicken wings.
Burp.
Three novice gorgers from Everett were among the competitors Saturday in the Verizon Voice Wing Battle buffalo-wing eating contest at Sporty’s Beef and Brew, 6503 Evergreen Way. The competition was sanctioned and overseen by the International Federation of Competitive Eating.
The goal: Eat as much chicken as possible in 10 minutes without “a reversal of fortunes,” which would bring automatic disqualification.
On the line: A trip to the finals in Boston, $2,500 in total prize money and the glory of having a belly worth boasting about.
The competition drew some big names, including Eric “Badlands” Booker, a 420-pound western New Yorker and World Buffalo Wing Eating Champion, and Joey Chestnut, a 21-year-old San Jose college student who started eating competitively only this summer and is now ranked No. 3.
Local competitors trained in their own ways for the orgy of poultry.
Construction supply house manager Robert Cochran practiced with some wings the night before. When his three kids saw Booker, “They’re like, ‘You don’t stand a chance,’” he said with a laugh.
Exterior painter Brian McDonald, a Sporty’s regular, had the crowd on his side and prepared his stomach by drinking gallons of water at a time.
“They think I’m crazy,” McDonald said of his friends before putting on a pair of dark sunglasses. “I’m going to win.”
Keith Gerhart, the Silvertips hockey team play-by-play announcer, came with no illusions. “If I have an inspiration, it’s Giacomo, who won the Kentucky Derby last year – a long shot,” he said.
As an International Federation of Competitive Eating master of ceremonies went through the rules, emergency medical technicians stood by, along with a mathematician who would calculate the weight of the masticated meat.
The three Everett men were placed next to each other.
Gerhart flexed his fingers as he looked down at two trays each filled with 3 pounds of wings.
Cochran smiled for his daughters as they snapped photos.
McDonald exuded confidence.
And they were off. McDonald followed the lead of veteran eaters, shredding the meat off with his teeth like a cob of corn.
Cochran methodically went from one wing to another, never hesitating.
After less than two minutes, Gerhart shook his head as if ready to give up.
“Don’t puke!” yelled his wife, Karen, over the noise.
Gnawing waned to nibbling. It wasn’t even close. The trio finished in the bottom three. They were the only ones with clean shirts.
“I’m disappointed in myself,” McDonald said.
But he shouldn’t be, said Booker, who finished second behind Chestnut. His shirt covered in orange stains, Booker said the locals did what he tells anyone who thinks they can do this: “Put your money where your stomach is.”
Gerhart said he hadn’t realized how big a deal the competition was, and now respects those who compete. “These guys are amazing,” he said.
Eating to win money certainly isn’t anything to bite a thumb at, said “Humble” Bob Shoudt of Pennsylvania, who took third place.
Shoudt said people who think they can compete typically do well the first four minutes before their stomachs revolt.
“They eat fast. But they don’t eat competitively,” Shoudt said.
The New York-based federation sanctions more than 75 events every year, from lobster in Maine to onions in Maui, said Ryan Nerz, the group’s play-by-play man.
You don’t have to be big to be competitive.
The world’s top-ranked eater is Takeru Kobayashi, a 132-pound Japanese known for his hot dog feats. The top-ranked American is 105-pound Sonya Thomas of Virginia, who has downed 11 pounds of cheesecake in nine minutes.
Nerz said three things are needed to eat competitively: jaw strength, stomach capacity and hand speed.
Respect seems to be growing for this 8-year-old sport, Nerz added. “It just keeps getting bigger.”
Reporter Melissa Slager: 425-339-3465 or mslager@heraldnet.com.
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