WingBowl arrives

February 4, 2005, Philadelphia, PA, 3:30 AM -- They have drained every spigot in Philadelphia. They have emptied every beer barrell from Wilmington to Cherry Hill. And now they descend upon the Wachovia Center for WingBowl 13 -- a sporting spectacle that has ranked above the SuperBowl itself for Philly sports fans for more than a decade, and which now serves as a launch to the greatest weekend since 1960.

The fans have arrived, the eaters are arriving and history will soon be made. Can Sonya Thomas beat Cookie Jarvis and El Wingador again? Or will The Godfather take top honors, or Eric Booker. What about longshots Don Lerman, Cookie Jarvis, Kevin Lipsitz and Eater X? Is Soultrain as good as they say?

More dispatches from the road as the morning progresses.