FTC gets spicy at ‘Hot Ones’ event
By Isabella Escobar
Photos by Isabella Escobar
The Downbeat was buzzing with energy as RA Buddy Pace hosted a Hot Ones event, bringing Sean Evan’s thrilling and iconic show to life at Five Towns on Tuesday evening.
The night kicked off with Pace and Michael Cavalli, Assistant Dean for Campus Life, taking center stage to tackle questions and trivia from the Hot Ones card game. If either got a question wrong or skipped it altogether, they faced a fiery bite from a chicken wing coated in hot sauce. The sauces got progressively hotter with each increasing Scoville unit, the measurement scale for spiciness or heat. The last of the sauces, appropriately called “The Last Dab, ” measured at a hefty 2,693,000 Scoville units. Just how spicy is that? A regular jalapeño pepper measures around 5,000 Scoville units, which would be about 539 jalapeños.
Students enjoyed the drama surrounding the contest between Cavalli and Pace. “It was really fun and had many memorable moments. It’s rare when something gets the attention of the entire crowd,” said Mass Comm senior Jose Rojas.
Students ate chicken wings and sampled the variety of sauces as the event came to a close. Cavalli provided the hot sauces from his personal collection and enjoyed watching students put their spice tolerances to the test. “I love this event from its inception and concept. I’m a huge fan of Hot Ones. Big ups to Sean Evans for the inspiration to put this event together. Growing up, I always loved hot foods, taking shots of hot sauce, eating balls of wasabi, everything with it. I love the energy and the excitement around trying the different hot food.”
Pace emphasized that he was proud of his classmates for trying spicy sauces and the event’s success. “I think it went better than I expected at the end because it’s funny seeing everyone’s reaction to the different sauces. My friends are crying over ‘Da Bomb.’ It was a little rocky at the start. This [Hot Ones] was my last event as an RA, so that’s awesome, and I think it went out with ‘da bomb.'”
