NFL Week 4: Gordon Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares

Happy Ryder Cup Sunday! Excited to see the 12 singles matches to day to see if we Americans can create any drama at all by staging a comeback. I've got a lot of opinions on this year's Ryder Cup - mostly expressed on Twitter - I'm pissed at the American captains for allowing this home field advantage (set up by the Euros) to affect us so much. What stupidity.

Anyway, Captain Furyk has front loaded his lineup to try to get off to a great start - and that makes sense. I played in the Iowa City- Cedar Rapids Ryder Cup in 2004 and 2005; in '05, we were down a bit and our captain front-loaded our lineup. Our team completed the comeback and won - the last time Iowa City has won the cup. (It's true! I just checked!)

Oh -by the way? In that front loaded lineup? I was the anchor man, going off 12th. What an experience. In that Cup, there was the biggest pressure putt that I ever saw someone make live - and that's a story for another day.

Anyway, for week 4 of the NFL, we will outline Gordon Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares!

Show: Gordon Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares

Network: Currently on the FYI Network

When: All Day Monday! Monday is Nightmare Marathon on FYI.

Main Characters: Gordon, of course!

Yes, I've started to become a sucker for Gordon's shows. Throughout the spring when I was pretty much confined to my chair, I looked forward to Mondays - that meant the Kitchen Nightmare marathon was going to be on! It started around noon and went into the night - looking back on it, probably should have changed the channel around 4 when Martin got home so he wasn't subjected to the plethora of f-bombs.

Anyway, you all probably know the outline of each show:

- Struggling restaurant needs help, asks Gordon to come in to make it over

- Owners insist food is good, at least a 9 rating out of 10

- Gordon comes, tries the food - and 99% of the time calls it "slop", "dog food", "something the cat could have thrown up", or other such insults

- Gordon talks to the staff to get the real inside story

- A visit to the kitchen fridge to see all the problems in there (uncovered food, blood on the floor, etc.)

- The owners breaking down, admitting to the problems that are at the root cause

- Gordon's team re-doing the décor of the restaurant

- Gordon creating a new limited menu with 5 dishes (always seeming to include fish and chips - to replace the previous menu that had 129 choices

-  A happy ending, with a filled restaurant and rave reviews!

- A note at the end saying that "after 6 weeks of the changes, the sales are up and everybody is still happy".

Well, what else is there to say about the show? Two parts of the show I really love:


1. I do respect Gordon for always trying to corner the wait staff to really get at the problems of the restaurant. "Hey, can I talk to you for a second?" - that's always the start of some confessions. "Yes, all of our shrimp are frozen". "Yes, the soup of the day was made 10 days ago", etc.
That's a good organizational leadership model - talk to the first-level staff to get at the root causes quickly.

2. Why the limited menu? Sometimes, I want to go to a restaurant with 100+ choices! I don't know if I am in the mood for nachos, lasagna or tilapia. Why not go to a place that serves them all?? Maybe that's why I loved the Ground Round back in the day.



(side note- there was (and still is, I think) a Ground Round in Iowa City! I tried to take Janice there many times but she refused. Had to go on my own and eat the free popcorn).

There are websites out there devoted to what happens after Gordon leaves. Does the restaurant survive? Did they go back to making chicken with onions? I wonder what the survival rate of those restaurants are. For instance - does any of our Baltimore readers actually go to the new Café Hon in Baltimore to see the changes?

Why am I bringing this show up this week? Well, it looks like we may have made a critical change in the Browns' menu. Instead of offering up 29 starting quarterbacks - some days I'm in the mood for a Bruce Gradkowski - we may have found our one menu item that works. Baker Mayfield. Chef Dorsey has cleaned out our menu and settled on Mayfield.

The early returns - the first week - has been great. But what will the restaurant look 6 weeks from now? A year from now? Will we go back to the microwaved Tyrod Taylor dish and continue to struggle? Or will we keep the Mayfield dish for years to come? Only time will tell.

And injuries.

On to the games:

Cin 27, Atl 20. I don't get this. Atlanta is all banged up in the secondary - and AJ Green is back. I know it's Marvin Lewis, but won't Dalton throw all day over the Falcons D?

Chi 24, TB 13. Love the idea of the Bear pass rush - at home - vs. Fitzpatrick, or a rusty Winston. Pit's D forced Fitz into multiple turnovers - what are the Bears going to do?

Dal 23, Det 16. Love this spot here for the Cowboys. A team coming off their Super Bowl (Lions) and winning, going on the road to face a desperate team? Garrett better be prepared for this.

GB 24, Buf 20. If we throw out the disaster first week for the Bills, they haven't been too bad. The Packers barely beat the Bears at home, tied the Vikes, and lost to the Skins. They're overrated.

Ind 20, Hou 17. Scared of this game. Indy has played 3 straight games fairly well, and are facing a completely desperate Houston team with Watson getting better each week.

Jax 30, NYJ 16. The Jets have almost no weapons, and the Jags will focus this week to ensure a win. They can't look past another opponent.

NE 26, Mia 23. If you remove the names off the jersey, Miami should actually be favored in this one. What do the Pats do well? I know, they are desperate, but they look horrible.

Phi 23, Ten 16.  I have to give the Titans credit here for being 2-1 even though being 25th or worst in Off and Def. Vrabel will be a great coach. But I trust Wentz here.

Sea 20, Arz 17. Won't watch much of this - interested to see how Rosen fares in his first start (and if Bradford was the cause of the awful start) and how Sea O really is on the road.

LAC 31, SF 17. The Chargers can't be stopped on O - but their D can't stop anyone. I think they will stop Beatherd enough here to have a comfortable win.

NO 27, NYG 24. What a trap game here for the Saints, off the big Atl victory. I just can't trust Eli at all with my money. Should be a close game.

Pit 31, Bal 20. Classic game of matching up strengths/weaknesses. Pit has no pass D - and Baltimore can't take advantage. Pit's O is passing - and this is where missing Jimmy Smith will kill the Ravens.

KC 27, Den 24. Many are calling for the upset here, saying Den's D will stop KC. Den's D let up 24 to Seattle- Seattle!!!- and almost lost to Oakland. Let's not get carried away here.

Best bets: 13 of them. Last week: 10-3; overall: 24-20-1
Cin +3.5
Cin/Atl under 53
Chi -3
TB/Chi under 46.5
Dal -2.5
Buf +9.5
Hou/Ind under 47.5
Jax -7.5
NYJ/Jax over 39.5
Mia +6.5
Phi -3
LAC -10
Pit -3

Supercontest picks: Last week: 4-1; overall: 9-5-1
Cin +5
Chi -3
Dal -3
Buf +9.5
Pit -3