“I grew up in a family of people who were and still are wild about sports, and I hated sports. I was always the outcast of the family. I don’t know if you know my brother, Skip, a sports writer. He’s on ESPN. Well, my mother is totally into sports and suddenly now I’m OK in my family because I was in a competition and I won. But, see, all the awards I have won are judged my peers and that doesn’t really make a difference to my family. All those James Beard awards — nice, but they don’t care. It’s all, like, so what? They don’t see being in business and being successful is to be competitive. No, now they see the competitive side because it has been acknowledged.

“My mother was thrilled about ‘Top Chef.’ She said, ‘I have gotten calls from all over the country and people can’t believe you won.’ Thanks, Mom. My mother’s neighbor three doors down found out that I was her son and she said, ‘When he comes back to visit, could I meet him?’ And my mother’s husband said to me, ‘You would think you were some kind of sports guy or something!’

“See, that’s the world I come from. The only people who matter in that world are sports people. But now I’m legitimate. I wasn’t legitimate before, no matter what I won. And now I’m legitimate.”

Via [Great Tribune piece written by Christopher Borrelli]

It is funny to read this considering all the successes that Rick Bayless has achieved. That must be a crazy Thanksgiving. I can imagine Rick’s parents: “Ricky, why can’t you be more like Skip and talk about Sports on the TV.”  And  Rick mumbling in the corner “… Stupid ESPN. I own three Restaurants and my own line of Salsa! I won the James Beard Award!!!” Then his parents: “What position does James Beard play?”

PS..
@Rick_Bayless:  17,419 followers
@RealSkipBayless: 31,617 followers!

Even in his own family Rick Bayless does not have the most Twitter followers!!