Their hearts are pure. Their bodies are tough.
But the question is are their stomachs big enough to handle 9 pounds worth of sandwiches plus 32 slices of pizza?
Before they start pounding the stuffing out of each other on the gridiron for the first time in 27 years, Oxford and Lake Orion will face off at the dinner table in a good old-fashioned eating contest.
Dubbed ‘Men vs. Men. vs. Food,? the gastronomic bout will take place 1 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 21 at ‘Wiches, located at 40 N. Washington St. in downtown Oxford.
‘I just wanted to do something fun with the community ? get people downtown and involved,? said ‘Wiches owner Patrick Hingst, noting the public’s welcome to attend and watch the spectacle.
Eight Oxford High School football players will pit their manly digestive systems against those of eight assorted athletes from Lake Orion High School.
‘Coach Bud’s already committed the Oxford team to it, so they’re going to be there,? Hingst said.
The object of the competition is to see which team can be the first to devour two Wicked ‘Wich sandwiches, each weighing a staggering 4.5 pounds, plus two extra-large pizzas.
If you’re planning to buy stock in either Rolaids or Pepto-Bismol, do it now.
Participants on the winning team will each receive gift cards while their respective athletic booster organizations will earn a portion of ‘Wiches sales this weekend.
Originally, Hingst wanted members of the Lake Orion football team to compete in the eat-a-thon, but unfortunately it didn’t work out.
‘The coach from Lake Orion had some issues,? he said. ‘He wanted the team to be focused on football and he thought, even though it’s the week before, it might distract them too much.?
A likely story. What’s that smell? Could it be fear?
Might there be a streak of yellow in that green and white?
Anyway, Hingst got the idea for the competition from watching one of his favorite television shows ‘Man v. Food? on the Travel Channel.
Each week host Adam Richman travels to eateries around the country to take on various food-related challenges.
Hingst is eager to host more challenges in the future such as pitting local fire departments against each other.
‘Hopefully, once we get enough publicity from it, people will start approaching me with ideas,? he said. ‘If it goes well, we’d like to make it a staple of what we do around here. We’d like to turn it into something we do every month or every other month.?