UMass Amherst Challenges Penn State in 8th Super Bowl Wager

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Ken Toong
Ken Toong

AMHERST, Mass. – With the New England Patriots taking the field against the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LII, Ken Toong, executive director of Auxiliary Enterprises at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, has issued a friendly food wager to his counterparts at Penn State in University Park.

Penn State’s director of residential dining Lisa Wandel officially accepted the challenge this week. Says Wandel, “Penn State campus dining is pleased to accept UMass’s challenge for this year’s Super Bowl championship. Should the New England Patriots ‘scoop’ the Philadelphia Eagles, we will send three containers of our students’ most treasured flavors of our world famous Berkey Creamery ice cream: Death by Chocolate, WPSU Coffee Break and Vanilla Bean.”

If the Eagles win, UMass Dining will send five gallons of its delicious New England seafood chowder to be shared at Penn State.

Toong is in familiar territory, having made bets seven other times when the Patriots made the Super Bowl. In case you’re wondering, Toong’s record is 5-2 in Super Bowl wagers – including a win against Penn State during the 2004 season when the Patriots defeated the Eagles.

With game day approaching, Toong is looking forward to the challenge.

“We are excited to continue the tradition of friendly wagers with our dining colleagues. It will be a tough, hard-fought game, but I believe our Patriots will pull out another close one. May the best team win,” says Toong.

Toong also announced that for the entire week leading up to the Super Bowl, UMass Dining Services will not serve Philadelphia Cream Cheese, but will have other brands available, just for the fun of it. Likewise, the Philly cheese steak grinders served at Berkshire DC Late Night and Deli Delish in the Blue Wall will now be “New England” grinders.

Other campus dining locations will feature New England-inspired dishes throughout the week too, like the Beli-chicken tenders at Greenfields or New England Patriots Clam Chowder at Harvest Market. 

For the record, Toong predicts the Pats will win 24-17.