Iron Chefs, Double Dare, and the Detroit Red Wings

This post isn't so much about hockey or the Red Wings really, but since this is my very own blog I figured I can write about whatever I want, right? Plus, if you're reading this anyway, it means you clicked the link on Twitter (@RedWingsFeed is awesome, if you're not following yet, do it) or some of the other awesome Wings' blogs out there added me to their blog roll or you like the Brendan Smithsonian Institution so much that it's now bookmarked on your web browser. Regardless, thank you for reading.

So today the Food Network of all people decided to drop by good old Emerson College here in Boston...

(NOTE: Emerson is the most dangerous school in America according to this website. But no worries Wings fans, your favorite new blogger is in no real danger. Emerson is in the heart of Boston across the street from the Common and around the corner from Chinatown. Thus, every single crime reported in those two areas must officially be counted by Emerson in statistical data because it's considered "our campus." This really isn't relevant to this post, I just like to share the fact with people because they're like "wow. oh my god. really?!??" Boston is a really cool place. Come visit. I'll give you a tour. We'll go to Fenway Pahk.) 

...okay back to the post.

The Food Network came to my school to tape a segment for one of their new shoes this fall called 'Food Feuds.'  I found out about this on Twitter.  The crew was looking for like 10 students to eat some pizza and meet Iron Chef Michael Symon.  I figured what the heck, it's free pizza, I'm in. And that was that.

The show takes two local food establishments in a select city and pits them against each other.  Symon told us he toured both pizza places and went into the kitchen for some behind the scenes goodness and they filmed some other stuff too.  But at Emerson, it was our job to blindly taste each pizza and pick the best slice. Because, you know, who knows pizza better than college kids, right?

I was told to wear 'normal attire' so I decided to wear my Red Wings shirt to the taping.  Figured I'd represent some Hockeytown: No Limits.  I should send a thanks to Petrella for the heads up after he tweeted (after I had already left and was on the subway headed to school so I couldn't change) that they'd blur out the shirt as it's deemed a corporation of sorts or something.  So I get there and I'm sitting in the student lounge as the crew arrived to begin and who else walks into the room than Marc Summers, the former host of one of my favorite childhood shows, Nickelodeon's Double Dare.  Summers says hello to everyone, looks at me and says, "Guy in the Red Wings shirt, nice, but we need you to turn that inside out, please."  So maybe Marc Summers is a Red Wings fan? Who knows? He's from Indiana and they don't have an NHL team last I checked (Let's get on that Gary. It's almost a sunbelt state. Maybe? No? Okay never mind.)

The Iron Chef Michael Symon is awesome.  He was such a nice, cool, down-to-Earth type of guy.  He seemed just genuinely happy to be there and talking to us. He seemed like the kind of guy you'd like to go grab a beer with.  They asked everyone where we were from and most were from Boston.  He asked me, I said, "Michigan."  He responded with "MICHIGAN?!?!??? Really?  Nice. We're good old Midwestern boys together then."  Throughout the taping, on camera, he continued to just refer to me as 'Michigan' during the segments..."Hey Michigan! Which pizza did you like better and why?"  Between takes he was cracking on me for being a Lions fan.  I asked him where he was from, he said Cleveland.  All I could do was apologize and tell him I was sorry.  I hate Cleveland and the rest of Ohio as much as the next Michigander (Michiganian? Michiganite?), but I didn't have the heart to rag on him for LeBron leaving.  I actually feel a bit bad for that city.  LeBron was a huge part of that economy too.  Man, can you imagine Stevie leaving pre-1997 on live TV and going to play with like Joe Sakic and Jeremy Roenick down in Phoenix? That would suck.

Nonetheless, the taping was awesome. I continued to get ragged on by Summers and Symon for have my shirt on inside out.  The show will be on in October and, no worries, I will certainly be informing everyone of the exact air date and time.  You could still kind of see the backwards Winged Wheel and SGNIW DER YEKCOH. It just looked like one of the purposely faded 'vintage' shirts.  So it's all good Hockeytown!  The Red Wings will be very well represented on the Food Network come this fall!

Lets Go Red Wings