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Gridiron Chef: Garces vs. Vetri

A new Thanksgiving Day rivalry.

You've heard of classic Thanksgiving Day clashes such as Northeast vs Central.

Kids stuff.

How about two chefs, allowing their staffs to blow off a little steam away from the stove.

Marc Vetri's crew will face off against Jose Garces' team on the gridiron Thursday morning in a football game they've dubbed the Vetri-Garces Turkey Bowl I.

They'll be playing in Fairmount behind Eastern State Penitentiary. One chef told The Inquirer's Craig LaBan that they'd play rough touch.

Garces, a high school linebacker in Chicago, told LaBan that he'll probably end up on the offensive line.

Vetri, who says he was too small for sports at Abington High, says he'll play wide receiver and safety. "It's not going to be pretty," he told me.

Update: Vetri's gang defeated Garces' squad, three touchdowns to two. "There were a lot of sore legs," said Vetri, whose sous chef at Osteria, Dave Clark, scored all touchdowns. Clark was a wide receiver in high school in Upstate New York.