Final Four Wings

Game time is wing time. These are Chipotle-Honey-Glazed Chicken Wings with Toasted Sesame Seeds and Green Onion from Grill It! page 79. These were the perfect combination of heat and sweet that produced tangy wings with a kick. I don't especially like super spicy wings that are extra spicy just so they can claim to be the hottest. I don't like them if they are named "three mile island" or "lava flow" wings. These Bobby Flay wings had chipotle, cumin, ancho chili, paprika and coriander, so it had its share of heat, but they also had canola oil, honey and Dijon mustard to balance with sweet. I will stack these wings up against any at any wing joint from coast to coast - they are perfect. I brushed on the glaze after the wings made their last turn on the grill. I did this last because I didn't want the honey to burn. Then when they came off I spooned on more of the glaze. I toasted the sesame seeds and onion in a small sauce pan and sprinkled them on over the glazed wings to finish it off. These wings were worthy of a championship. 


The Final Four. My bracket has only one possible Final Four team left. 

Duke plays later today, and even though this is the 18th anniversary of Laettner's shot to beat Kentucky, they could still lose to Baylor. If that happens, I will have missed the entire Final Four. I don't think that has happened in 25 years. I used to run a NCAA pole back in the late 1980s and early 1990s in North Carolina with my college students. For one dollar, a student would draw a name out of a hat. The names were of the 64 teams in the NCAA tournament that year. That generated $64. These were all pilot students. Back then you could rent an airplane for about $35/hour, so the student who pulled out the team that ultimately won the championship would get one free hour of flight time. The rest of the money went to a scholarship fund. One year we ran three different contests. This method was probably illegal, since technically it was gambling inside a state college - but we called it a "drawing" not a "lottery" and we always got away with it. Flight time for basketball - a pretty good deal. Of course that was also back when college basketball really was college basketball. Now the NCAA is just the junior varsity for the NBA. Kentucky, with its freshman starters bound for this year's NBA draft, lost - so they are one-and done. You can't create a dynasty (and a true following) with players who are on your team only one year. So maybe all these NCAA upsets have been a good thing. It would be nice to see a college basketball player hoist the championship trophy in his senior year. It would be nice to see a real student athlete cut down the nets after working and studying for four years, instead of a kid in his second semester making a cut and run. But on the other hand, college is supposed to prepare students for a productive and profitable career. If a 19 year old, with two semesters under his belt can make $50 million  (more money in one year than a pilot will make in a lifetime of protecting the safety of others), then I guess college did its job. Nevertheless, since all my teams are out, I will support the team with the most seniors and a coach without a multi-million dollar shoe deal. Go Butler?! 


Grilling always puts you in the Final Four - regardless of your year in school or grade point average.
Paul