Philly.com and MyFoxPhilly have articles about the IFOCE prohibiting its members from competing in Wing Bowl 19 even though the restriction on “pro” eaters has been lifted. An agreement in the near future does not appear likely. Wing Bowl founder Al Morganti has the following quote: “George Shea can kiss my Boston a–“.

Philly.com reports that Kobayashi is prohibited from competing because his IFOCE contract is still in effect, but will attend as a spectator. (It would be interesting to learn when it expires).

Some of the prizes are also listed: the overall winner will receive $20,000 and the top local will get a new Dodge Ram pickup.

Brian Subich reports that Dave “US Male” qualified for Wing Bowl this morning: “Congrats to US Male completing his Wing Bowl stunt, your reward….the axe and losing to Wingador” No report on his stunt is currently available on the Wing Bowl website.

Bill “El Wingador” Simmons has decided to come out of retirement for Wing Bowl 19 to attempt to win his sixth title.

update A gallery of US Male’s stunt is available.

Bill “El Wingador” Simmons says his four year old son is responsible for his return to competition.

update Dec 8 http://www.youtube.com/user/BSchultz267 has videos of qualification stunts

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The Philadelphia City Paper has an interview with Bill “El Wingador” Simmons who will attend Monday’s screening of the Wing Bowl documentary “Swallow Your Pride” at National Mechanics in Philadelphia. Simmons believes he should have defeated Sonya Thomas in the 2004 Wing Bowl.

A youtube page has been set up with clips from Swallow Your Pride

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The commercial for Kentucky Fried Chicken’s new grilled wings has been uploaded to youtube by foodfan263. Ian Hickman, winner of the 2007 Delaware suicide wings contest, is billed as the 2007 wing eating champion and Lucy Bauer is listed as the 2008 champion, apparently based on this video. 2009 Wing Bowl winner John Squibb’s appearance was cut.

update I have heard the ad was televised during halftime of tonight’s exhibition NFL game on NBC, I am not sure if the entire country received it.

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Philly.com has an article about yesterday’s press conference to promote tonight’s match between Jose Canseco and Bill “El Wingador” Simmons, who expressed dissatisfaction with his remuneration:

Only Canseco – because he’s the “name” – is paid a “celebrity appearance fee” upfront. That ticked off Simmons.

“[Feldman] is giving Canseco $10,000,” Simmons told me. “I’m only getting $2,000. That’s disrespectful.”

Simmons said he wanted $5,000 for tonight’s fight and threatened to withhold the $4,400 he claimed he raised from selling tickets.

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NJ.com has information about the July 24 bout between Bill “El Wingador” Simmons and Jose Canseco sanctioned by the Celebrity Boxing Federation. The fight will take place at the Ice Works in Ashton, PA. Sugar Ray Leonard Jr. will fight on the undercard. Tickets are $45 ringside / $30 general admission and the fight will consist of three one minute rounds. The official website for Celebrity Boxing has yet to be updated with any new information.

NJ.com also reports that El Wingador will star in a Kentucky Fried Chicken commercial with 4 other unnamed competitive eaters. Documentarian Errol Morris, who has produced other commercials for KFC, posted about meeting El Wingador on his twitter. The advertisement is expected to debut on the west coast on July 26.

update It will be interesting to see who are the other four eaters appearing with “El Wingador”. The date of the filming in Los Angeles was apparently July 2, same as the Nathan’s weigh-in.

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The Wing Bowl 13 documentary “Swallow Your Pride” will be screened in Philadelphia during the First Person Arts Festival on November 14. El Wingador will attend and serve wings with his wing sauce.

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In a profile on NJ.com, Bill “El” Wingador” Simmons describes how he is preparing to make a comeback in Wing Bowl 16:

Wingador insists he competes against himself, not the field, but he knows if he’s going to make it six Wing Bowls he probably will have to out-eat Californian Joe Chestnut, who won in 2006 and 2007 and is considered the Tiger Woods of eating as the world’s No. 1 competitive chow-hound.

“I’m not worried about Chestnut,” Wingador says. “We’re friends, but he talks trash.”

Wingador goes to the gym (Bally’s) almost every morning, then begins eating, insisting he doesn’t have this routine programmed backwards.

A regular at several Gloucester County restaurants, he usually has four eggs over with scrapple and pancakes followed by a cheesesteak for breakfast. Lunch may feature a whole pizza and roast beef hoagie. Dinner could be a combination of chicken, or pork, or ham, or rice and beans, or four slices of pizza, and/or his personal favorite, spaghetti with chicken parm. Or, sometimes, all of the above.

Simmons believes he is capable of 200 to 240 wings at Wing Bowl 16.

PhillyBurbs.com has an article about WIP host / comedian “Big Daddy” Graham.

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Dan Gross’ new Wing Bowl column on philly.com has quotes from George Shea who says:

Bill “El Wingador” Simmons “is the purest wing eater I’ve ever seen. He has complete comfort with the wing, but El Wingador competing against [Joey] Chestnut is like Don Rickles playing golf against Tiger Woods.”

Shea makes the following defense of “El Wingador”: “Wingador has something none of the other IFOCE eaters have. Passion.” and then apparently contradicts himself in the following sentence: “He has a passion for this event like most other eaters, but I don’t think he can beat Joey.”

The claim appears that Joey Chestnut “competes in IFOCE events around the world”, but I believe there are 8 active IFOCE/AICE eaters who have competed outside North America, with Sonya Thomas being the only IFOCE member in that group.

The column describes the relationship between the Wing Bowl and the IFOCE: “The IFOCE grants a provisional sanction to the Wing Bowl, but does not oversee the event and is not involved with its judging.”

Dave “U. S. Male” Goldstein, who will turn 40 the weekend of the Wing Bowl, also appears in the column and will be competing for more than prizes:

Goldstein is taking pledges for Rangerforacure.info, a charity set up by Army ranger Chris Young, who battled thyroid cancer and now raises money to fight childhood cancer. Interested parties may contact Goldstein at USMaleWingBowl@aol.com

PhillyBurbs.com has a report on Michael Sarian’s victory in Saturday’s hoagie eating qualifier which claims that the field for this year’s Wing Bowl is 28, including 10 professional eaters and 18 nonprofessionals.

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PhillyMag’s blog has an entry by Jason Fagone recapping what has happened to Bill “El Wingador” Simmons in the three years since Fagone wrote about his victory in Wing Bowl 13. Simmons will not be receiving an appearance fee as he attempts to claim his sixth crown:

Bill says that Marc Rayfield, WIP’s station manager, told him that it’s against FCC rules to pay Bill for his trouble. (In case you need a quick taxonomy of the powers that be at WIP: Marc Rayfield is the stone businessman with his eye on the numbers. Angelo Cataldi is the cynical, exploitative, mediocre talker. Al Morganti is the cynical, exploitative, funny talker.)

This FCC excuse is a fairly hilarious one, since WIP has already been caught red-handed and fined for not running a fair contest. (link in original article)

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NJ.com reports on Bill “El Wingador” Simmons’ preparations to win his sixth Wing Bowl crown at Wing Bowl 16:

“A lot of people in the Delaware Valley are ticked off somebody from San Jose won Wing Bowl,” says Wingador. “Many have asked me to come back and keep the title local. So I am.”

Simmons is warming to the task by eating 10-15 pounds of food a day, wings three times a week. He feels he balances the scales by working out on a regular basis and drinking three gallons of water daily. He currently weighs 332.

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Philly.com’s Inqlings page has a paragraph about Bill “El Wingador” Simmons’ establishment:

El Wingador’s To-Go – the eatery at Fourth and Girard backed by five-time Wing Bowl winner Bill “El Wingador” Simmons – is dark after only four months. Sign on the door mentions a temporary closing due to “unforeseen circumstances beyond our control” and expresses a hope to “reopen soon, possibly under new management.”

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