Big Ten Burrito to host eating contest for A2, E.L. fans

 

by ETHAN CONLEY, The State News
Published September 30, 2005
Read the full article at The State News

 

Shortly after Michigan and MSU wage war on the gridiron in Spartan Stadium on Saturday, a second, equally competitive round of battle will take place to determine - once and for all - which university is the true champion of the intrastate rivalry.

Students from the two respective schools will face off in a weekend-long burrito eat-off to coincide with the football game between MSU and Michigan. The festivities will take place at Big Ten Burrito, 403 E. Grand River Ave.

One of the events in the eat-off will be a series of burrito rallies between teams of students from the respective schools.

The first burrito rally will be held at 4 p.m. following the football game. A second rally will be held at 7 p.m. Each rally will consist of a face off between teams of MSU and Michigan students in a relay-style race to see which university can eat ten veggie burritos the fastest.

"It's going to be like flip cup, ten on ten, where you can't start eating your burrito until the person next to you eats theirs," said education sophomore Ali Bostic, who works at Big Ten Burrito.

Aside from the two head-to-head burrito rallies, Big Ten Burrito will keep a running tally of the total number of burritos eaten on Saturday and Sunday by students from each university. A "burrito skills" contest will also take place.

MSU graduate Luke Bostic, who runs the eatery with his father Mike Bostic, expects the contest to lead to a huge number of burritos being sold.

"They did it last year in Ann Arbor, and it was their biggest day of business for the entire year," Luke Bostic said.

Though Luke Bostic expects the burrito rally to be closely contested, he predicts MSU students will reign supreme.

"I'm going with State, but it's going to be a big match, because Big Ten is huge in Ann Arbor," Bostic said.

Supply chain management senior Austin Drost is one of the MSU students signed up to participate in the burrito rally. He said the MSU team will show no mercy for its Wolverine opponents.

"We're going to destroy them," Drost said.

There will be more to the festivities than just burrito eating. Participants from each team will receive free T-shirts and stickers. Food and beverage giveaways will take place all day on Saturday and a mariachi band will perform in the restaurant.

"We're even trying to get a parade from the stadium after the (MSU) victory, but I don't know if that will happen," Ali Bostic said.

Sign-up is still open to students from either school looking to join in the burrito-eating fun. Teams aren't full yet, and an additional three to four students can sign up as alternates once the first ten slots have been filled.

"We'll keep signing people up until the teams are full," Luke Bostic said. "We just have a sign-up sheet with names and phone numbers. Anyone can join."

The State News will announce the winning school for the burrito eat-off on Monday.

"It's the pride for your school," Ali Bostic said. "And you can get a free burrito."