The Power Of Pasta
May 29th, 2012
Wow, not sure if anyone besides Joe got a chance to read cricket-watching, scone-loathing Peter King’s must-read “Monday Morning Quarterback” column over the holiday weekend, but, um, somebody sure needs a vacation.
A number of things jumped out at Joe while reading King’s latest piece. First was King’s Grandpa Simpson-like tirade over NFL fans who fork over hundreds if not thousands of dollars a year to attend NFL games.
Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross is trying to get the NFL to approve a small DirecTV-like personal device for use to all season ticket holders in the NFL so that during breaks in play, fans can watch NFL Sunday Ticket or NFL Red Zone channel.
This seemed to appall King, who believes America is too distracted of a nation and that the peasants that attend games should sit in their seats and be content with the scant scores and highlights offered during games, and fans should leave their smart phones at home for the dog to chew on.
Mind you that while fans sweat/shiver at NFL games, King is basking in the warmth of the lavish NBC studios in New York City where every game is displayed on a wall of HDTVs. Plus King gets to nibble on a generous spread of munchies provided by the network (though not likely containing doughy scones or salty oatmeal).
But this wasn’t the lone item that King was irritated by this week. It seems new Bucs coach Greg Schiano is another irritant for King, before he has coached a single game for the Bucs.
Last week King mocked Schiano and called him a “control freak” for demanding meeting rooms be a specific room temperature. Now it seems King is bothered by Schiano’s choice of pasta.
I mentioned the other day on SI.com that Greg Schiano was a — shall we say — quirky and very particular head coach at Rutgers, and that during team meetings at road hotels, the temperature in the meeting rooms had to be at a precise number.
Come to find out now that once, at a Scarlet Knights team dinner, the food service people got upbraided by a Rutgers staffer because the pasta being served was the wrong noodle.
God forbid Schiano order rotoni pasta and have penne pasta delivered instead, much to his dismay. Sure sign of a control freak!
How often has King lambasted Amtrak officials in his column for the swill disguised as coffee they serve on trips between Boston and Washington? That doesn’t make King a lunatic, does it? No, certainly not.
Joe’s of the mind that a little attention to detail at One Buc Palace is or at least should be a welcome addition, including the pasta. Al dente, of course.
May 29th, 2012 at 8:39 am
King’s is often hypocritical, which he often is with NFL labor issues. The guy’s interesting and insightful most of the time, but he turns out some real clunker opinions and perspective sometimes. Can’t figure out why he’s got it in for Schiano. Must be a jersey thing.
May 29th, 2012 at 8:40 am
This doesn’t suprise me at all. The Bucs have never gotten love from the national media because they’re not one of the NFL’S “darling” teams. Even when they won the Super Bowl we weren’t lavished with the same kind if attention and praise usually reserved for the Steelers or Cowboys. Belichick is “quirky” as well but its over looked because he has won. I believe Schiano will also be successful in the NFL but I’m sure be won’t be adored for it because he coaches the Bucs and not the Packets or Giants.
May 29th, 2012 at 8:42 am
being persnickety is the least of KIng’s issues, the terms homer and hack usually come to mind when someone mentions his name, not exactly the two words you want to be associated with when you’re supposed to be an unbiased national columnist for a major news service.
May 29th, 2012 at 8:47 am
Damn, Joe really hates this guy..I cant blame him. King is a slug
May 29th, 2012 at 8:51 am
Joe here,
@Jarret — Joe has lots of respect for King and typically interviews King at the Super Bowl or when he comes to One Buc. However, Joe won’t hesitate to point out what Joe perceives to be wacky Bucs takes or angles by King. Don’t worry. King can take a little criticism without freaking out.
May 29th, 2012 at 9:01 am
I would imagine he was upset about the pasta being enriched white flour instead being whole wheat. Seems more applicable that Schiano would fuss over the nutritional value of the noodle.
May 29th, 2012 at 9:02 am
Wow NFL news must be slow for King to bring up such trivial nonsense. Who really cares Peter???? It seems like King has it out for Schiano early. There may be something more to this story, did Schiano snub King at the Senior Bowl or something???
May 29th, 2012 at 9:07 am
With the Bucs in the midst of a 10-game losing streak, Buc fans can’t be too whiny when it comes to any national recognition. Hopefully by Oct/Nov, the pundits will be talking about the great play of Martin, Freeman, V-Jax rather than the room temps/pasta preferences Schiano has.
May 29th, 2012 at 9:40 am
DETAILS. Schiano did not say it was the wrong noodle. A Rutgers Staffer did… everything else is an assumption on King’s part according to his own recount of the event.
And FWIW – yeah, I’m all about getting the right pasta noodle. But that’s how I roll.
May 29th, 2012 at 9:58 am
Who REALLY has paid any attention to anyone from SI in years? They are the print/digital version of ESPN! Some pasta dishes can be ruined if served with the wrong noodle! Sounds like PK got denied an interview, get a life dude!
May 29th, 2012 at 10:26 am
the guy is from jersey! king must be from the mid-west… he has no clue of the importance of a good noodle.
May 29th, 2012 at 10:30 am
As a man who surely doesn’t miss many meals, Peter King is a pasta snob too.
May 29th, 2012 at 11:17 am
Hey Peter, Shut yer yap! Peter King to me sounds like this:
“And I said, I don’t care if they lay me off either, because I told, I told Bill that if they move my desk one more time, then, then I’m, I’m quitting, I’m going to quit. And, and I told Don too, because they’ve moved my desk four times already this year, and I used to be over by the window, and I could see the squirrels, and they were married, but then, they switched from the Swingline to the Boston stapler, but I kept my Swingline stapler because it didn’t bind up as much, and I kept the staples for the Swingline stapler and it’s not okay because if they take my stapler then I’ll set the building on fire…”
May 29th, 2012 at 11:36 am
Just to clarify for Joe and others (especially Peter King), there are many varieties of Pasta, ranging from white flour-based pasta, to vegetable-based, to low carbohydrate pasta (Dreamfields in case anyone is wondering) and wheat-based pasta.
The affects of each also vary greatly.
For example, if you wish to lose weight, but do not wish to give up pasta (which is normally very high in carbs) you would eat the Dreamfields low carb pasta.
If you have liver or other health issues, you would eat the wheat pasta or veggie pasta.
So, if a specific order was placed because of health or diet limitations, I can understand why a player or coach would raise a stink. It would mean that person (or several) had to do without part of the meal…the most filling part.
May 29th, 2012 at 11:37 am
Big Picture Guy
I just watched that movie this past week, lol.
May 29th, 2012 at 11:39 am
Morgan
The Bucs are not in the midst of a 10 game losing streak. New season. New start.
May 29th, 2012 at 12:14 pm
Mr. King is a classic northeastern elitist snob. I quit following him on Twitter because I got tired of his Obama-praising socialist rants against anyone who’s not of his political orientation. Furthermore, he seems to have it in for Schiano who’s obviously not even coached his first NFL game. So much for journalistic objectivity. Peter King has become a caricature of modern MSM journalism: reporters who use their position to publish their personal biases under the cloak of ‘news’. What a joke. Go Bucs!!!!
May 29th, 2012 at 12:22 pm
I disagree Pete. The Bucs are in a 10 game losing streak. They lost their last 10 games, and I’m not going to rationalize it away. It’s fine to see it as a new start, but that doesn’t change the reality of where this team stands in its record. As a player that would gnaw at me and get me focused on stepping up my game.
On another subject, requiring the temperature to be set in meeting rooms at a certain degree is not being a control freak. Requiring the temperature to be set at a certain degree in the players personal rooms – that would be having control issues.
May 29th, 2012 at 12:44 pm
To be fair, King writes what is called a “Column”. He is paid to give his opinion, not report news. He is not a reporter.
May 29th, 2012 at 12:46 pm
Surprised no one (including Joe) has mentioned the part about Dallas Clark in King’s column….
May 29th, 2012 at 12:53 pm
Joe here,
@Snook – Of course Joe saw it and will get to it. No hurry.
May 29th, 2012 at 1:14 pm
Correct me if Im wrong, but werent the Bucs team snubbed by the White House after winning the super bowl? Also they had to open on the road the following season when other super bowl winners are rewarded with a home opener.
May 29th, 2012 at 1:24 pm
As a matter of fact, the Bucs are the only super bowl winning team to not be invited to the white house.
May 29th, 2012 at 1:55 pm
Damn Liberals not inviting the Bucs to the White House.
May 29th, 2012 at 2:01 pm
@Heath 2003 was Bush….Maybe he was an Oakland fan?
May 29th, 2012 at 2:07 pm
The Bucs didn’t get invited to the White House because, at the time, W was too busy prepping for his phony war in Iraq.
May 29th, 2012 at 2:19 pm
rhenry:
A little thing called “Iraqi Freedom” got in the way.
May 29th, 2012 at 3:12 pm
This guy has turned into a pretty crotchety old man. Half of his article seems to come off as him complaining nowadays.
May 29th, 2012 at 3:29 pm
So many politically incorrect things to say right here, right now, but my best bet is keep my mouth in check and say “Go Bucs!!!”
May 29th, 2012 at 4:23 pm
@big bear yeah I know just poking a little fun at the blame everything on the liberal media faction
May 29th, 2012 at 6:18 pm
@ Pete Dutcher…..sorry, it doesn’t work like that. Losing streak belongs to the franchise. I’m sure the 1977 Bucs teams didn’t want any part of that previous season’s losing streak, but they adopted it.
May 29th, 2012 at 9:06 pm
Having the temperature set lower in a room that is about to be Full of people shows Intelligence, not control.
It is called being aware of heat load.
May 29th, 2012 at 11:44 pm
I agree Chris Apple.
I am ready to give Coach Schiano my full support and money for tickets to back it up. The guy hasn’t even made it to camp yet, much less coach his first game, and @$$holes are taking potshots at him already. That makes NO sense to me. If he goes out on the field and bombs his first 4 games, making bonehead calls, then by all means, start throwing stones, but that ain’t gonna happen. The man is working his butt off and the team is working hard for him too. So many negative people just want to be able to say “I told you so”, and most of us don’t care what they said to begin with.
May 30th, 2012 at 1:21 am
Preach. King is, and always has been, a pretentious douche who is full of himself and thinks he can say whatever he wants. His comments should always be taken with a grain of salt.