For firefighters, first-degree heartburn at wing-eating showdown

Two teams of Long Island firefighters vied Wednesday for a charity check and the bragging rights that come with consuming the most Buffalo wings in five minutes. It was, to say the least, not a pretty sight.

Putting the eating in competing, the men gathered at the Stop & Shop in Lake Ronkonkoma, which offered the winning team $1,000 for their favorite charity, and the runner-up $250.

This was the first time these men — two from the Centereach department and two from Ronkonkoma — had stepped up, loosened their belts and participated in the extreme sport of competitive eating.

They sure were game. Centereach firefighter Ed Davidson said he had a practice session the other day wolfing down wings and realized a flaw in his technique.

"I had a habit of eating the bones, too," said Davidson, 24. "I'm trying not to do that."

Before the big chow-down, Davidson stuffed a bottle of antacid tablets in his jacket pocket, in case the ingestion turned to indigestion.

Ronkonkoma firefighter Steven Carlo, 24, took a more Zen approach: "I'm just going to see how much I can eat."

With their fellow firefighters urging them on, and some curious shoppers staring in wonder, the men dived in with both hands. The competition brought out the best among these men accustomed to accomplishing courageous feats.

A minute into the bout, Centereach firefighter Matt Gehm, 31, was a study in concentration, the dedication written all over his sauce-slimed face.

Ronkonkoma's Vinny Diaz, 26, was going hard at the flat sections of the wings, pulling out the two bones before sloppily shoving the meat into his mouth. The technique was dubbed the "bone wedge pullout."

On the sidelines, Centereach's mascot, Capri the Wonder Dog, a dachshund-pug mutt with a pronounced underbite, looked on with a growing sense of mystification.

When time was up, the Centereach men stood proud and victorious, their mouths stained with red-orange remnants of their labors. They consumed a total of 52 wings, compared with their Ronkonkoma counterparts, who finished 35.

Posing with the giant cardboard check, Gehm said he felt like a Publishers Clearing House winner. His team dedicated the money to the Joey D Foundation, which provides fire departments with training and safety equipment.

The Ronkonkoma firefighters, for their part, said their winnings would go to the Suffolk County Volunteer Firefighters Burn Center.

Looking forward, Davidson said he felt happy but planned to retire from competition undefeated.

Diaz, for his part, said he felt "a little nauseous."

By Craig Schneider

craig.schneider@newsday.comScraigo

Craig Schneider is a Long Island native and Stony Brook University alumnus. He joined Newsday as a general assignment reporter in January 2018 after 20 years at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.