Jacksonville, FL, December 18, 2009 – Bruce Jackson (“Brucci” to his grandmother) takes his pizza and his football seriously. January 9th, 2010 will launch the First Annual Brucci’s Pizza Bowl, a city-wide, pizza pie eating tournament hosted by Brucci’s Pizzeria. Qualifying contestants from each Brucci’s location (Ponte Vedra, Beach Blvd and Hodges and Fruit Cove) will contend to make it to the playoff rounds where they have to compete in the ‘hot sauce’ category. “I wanted to do something special to commemorate the opening of Brucci’s five years ago”, says Jackson, “I love the high school football experience here in Jacksonville and of course I’m rooting for the Jags to make it to the playoffs. I’ve heard of the famous ‘Wing Bowl’ in Philly becoming such a huge contest that they now hold it where the Sixers and Flyers play so I thought we could do something like that here with pizza. I’m challenging all pizza lovers to sign up and see if they can make it to our inaugural ‘Pizza Bowl’ the day before the actual Super Bowl.”
Local celebrity judges and announcers are on hand to give us the play-by-play of all the action. Dan Hicken from First Coast News and 1010 XL Jax Sports Radio is our lead announcer along with our other sports favorite, Brent Martineau from CBS 47/Fox 30. They head up a select group of judges including Sheriff John Rutherford (who will keep us all on the straight and narrow), MG Orender (former President of the PGA and President of Hampton Golf), Mike Hollis (former Jaguar) and many more. The contestants can sign up with “call signs” or nicknames at any of the three locations and can bring as many fans as they want to the event. There will be free appetizers for any team “cheerleader”. Participants will go head to head to see who can eat the most pizza in 25 minutes. Judges are also allowed to add points for “style”. Four top qualifiers from each location will make it to the playoffs where another eating challenge will occur. The top two from each location’s playoffs will be sent to the “Pizza Bowl” to compete for the grand cash prize. There are other cash prizes, several runner-up prizes like dinner at Medure Restaurant, a night and following brunch at the Casa Marina Hotel, executive golf membership and rounds of golf at South Hampton Golf Club, and a variety of give-a-ways. The Pizza Bowl is about having fun after the stress of the holidays and offering a unique competition that combines Jacksonville’s love of sports, pizza, and entertainment. Brucci’s wants to compete with the Wing Bowl up north. “We may not be as big as Philly’s tournament yet, but they started out small and look where they are now,” says Jackson. “I say, let the games begin!”
Schedule of Events:
January 9 – 1st qualifying round at Ponte Vedra Location
January 10 – 2nd Qualifying round held at Beach Blvd./Hodges location and Fruit Cove location
January 16 – First Play Off round held at Beach Blvd./Hodges location
January 17 – 2nd Play Off round at Ponte Vedra location
January 23rd – 3rd Play Off round at Fruit Cove location
February 6 – Brucci’s Championship Pizza Bowl at Ponte Vedra location
Brucci’s Pizzeria
An “old world taste in a new world place”, Brucci’s Pizzeria offers an invitation into the homemade freshness of the old-world pizzerias of New York City where Italian immigrants replicated precision and care of pizza making from the homeland. Coupled with a contemporary atmosphere and world class service, Brucci’s menu is created with diligence and developed in open-air kitchens where family recipes, sauces, meatballs, paninis and hand-tossed pizzas are prepared. Three locations in Ponte Vedra Beach, Beach Blvd./Hodges and Julington Creek/Fruit Cove provide all of Jacksonville with a dining experience that is both modern and time-honored. Our staff welcomes you or call for delivery straight to your door. Brucci’s also caters any event. Please visit our website at www.bruccispizza.com for more details.
