Dennis Evanosky

A hooded Dino Stevens, looks over at Joe Hart (foreground), while packing in three Rocky Balboa Cheesesteaks to claim this year's championship.

At the end of Yo! Philly's First Annual Cheesesteak Eating Competition Jan. 31, the indomitable spirit of Rocky Balboa prevailed. The meaty and delicious Rocky Balboa cheesesteak sandwich — one pound of grilled steak, onions, peppers and Cheese Wiz — eaten in mass quantities for 45 minutes, reduced seven brave men to quivering, queasy, quaky hunks of over-stuffed man-flesh.

The competition was a study in the ineffable nature of the human spirit. At the beginning of the event, all of the competitors shared the attitude of contestant Derek Wilde; a cool, wary confidence tempered by Internet research of competitive eating, with the styles of world champion super-snarfer Joey Chestnut carefully examined and emulated.

That cool, confident swagger of Wilde's and the other contestants lasted until the end of the eating of their first gigantic sandwiches. As their second sandwiches were being consumed, human nature was in full display on the faces of all seven contestants.

With the enormity of trying to eat five Rocky Balboa cheesesteaks and the contest's 45 minute continuous eating time requirement looming over them, their confidence turned to doubt, doubt turned to fear, fear turned to resignation, resignation turned to panic, and panic turned to flight and defeat. One contestant simply gave up and left, another just quit eating, while a third suffered instant disqualification by utilizing the barf-bag on the back of his chair.

Although whimpering in agony, the other four brave glutton- warriors persevered until the end of the time limit, when Dino Stevens was awarded the cheese steak eating championship trophy with a total of three huge Rocky Balboas consumed.

Wilde and the other cheese-steak gastronauts staggered off in various stages of defeat and dyspepsia, but vowed to return to fight the Rocky Balboa again next year

Tom Stanley, the owner of Yo! Philly's, will donate all proceeds from this year's event to Lum Elementary School.