| Cardinals win pizza-eating contest by a swallow |
|
|
| Tuesday, 12 February 2008 | ||
|
The Anoka Tornado football team took on their arch rivals, the Coon Rapids Cardinals, at dinnertime Monday evening. This contest wasn't on the gridiron, but rather at the dinner table at Boston's Gourmet Pizza, located on the sidelines dividing the cities of Anoka and Coon Rapids. The pizza-eating contest – won by the Cardinals with nothing more than a bite and a swallow – was staged as part of Boston's annual Valentine fundraiser to benefit Children's Miracle Network (CMN). Boston's general manager, Marc Zimmerman, said 5 percent of the day's proceeds go to CMN, 5 percent to Anoka High School, and 5 percent to Coon Rapids High School. The Cardinals' winning spoils include a pizza party for the entire varsity football team. (Photo by Sue Austreng) This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view itStaff writer The Anoka Tornadoes and the Coon Rapids Cardinals routinely rival each other on the football field, the basketball court, the wrestling mat, the baseball diamond, the hockey rink... Coon Rapids footballers took the prize, winning the contest by nothing more than a bite and a swallow. Both eight-man teams chewed and swallowed to the boisterous cheers of fans and family on the sidelines. The Anoka versus Coon Rapids pizza eating contest was part of Boston’s annual Valentine fundraiser benefiting Children’s Miracle Network (CMN), a national non-profit organization comprising 170 children’s hospitals. The contest benefited Gillette Children’s Specialty Healthcare with 5 percent of the day’s profits donated to CMN, said Marc Zimmerman, Boston’s general manager. Another 5 percent of the proceeds went to Anoka’s football team and another 5 percent benefited Coon Rapids’ football team. Not only that, Boston’s pledged a pizza party for the entire Cardinal varsity football team as a reward for their pizza-eating strategy and speed. “These guys are great. They’re really big supporters of the community,” said Kim Lehman, co-president of the Coon Rapids Football Sideliners Booster Club. According to Lehman, during the football season Boston’s supplies spaghetti dinners to the Coon Rapids football team for its weekly pre-game meals. “Helps ’em do their carbo loading,” said Bill Lehman, Coon Rapids booster club co-president. Stoking the Cardinal-Tornado rivalry, Anoka booster Sandy Laidlaw piped up, laughing, “Hey, Boston’s is right on the border between Anoka and Coon Rapids. They better step up for the Tornadoes, too.” Boston’s certainly stepped up, pitting historic rivals against each other at the dinner plate and awarding three winners: the Cardinals, the Tornadoes and children hospitalized at Gillette. Sue Austreng is at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it |
||
| Last Updated ( Wednesday, 20 February 2008 ) | ||
The Anoka Tornadoes and the Coon Rapids Cardinals routinely rival each
other on the football field, the basketball court, the wrestling mat,
the baseball diamond, the hockey rink...
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|