Little Caesars with John Ross Bowie

"Little Caesars with John Ross Bowie" is Episode 191 of *Doughboys*, hosted by Mike Mitchell and Nick Wiger. "Little Caesars with John Ross Bowie" was released on February 21, 2019.

## Synopsis

The 'boys are joined by actor and comedian John Ross Bowie (*Speechless*, *Big Bang Theory*) to discuss New England eats before reviewing this week's chain, Little Caesars. Plus, another edition of Pie In This Guy.

## Nick's intro

"*I was not tired physically. No, the only tired I was was tired of giving in.*"

Writing in her autobiography, *My Story*, this is how Rosa Parks characterized her pivotal refusal to surrender her bus seat to a white passenger in 1955.

The daughter of two former slaves, the stand Parks took by refusing to stand tipped over a domino that led to the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the eventual abolition of Jim Crow laws in the American South. While her one-woman sit-in may have been spontaneous, Parks and her husband Raymond, a military barber and organizer in the city's labor movement, had previously spent close to two decades as activists in the fight for racial justice.

And the true sacrifice of Parks' protest is not seen merely in her arrest, but in the lifetime of hardship that followed. Parks and her husband both lost their jobs and, unemployable in Alabama and besieged by death threats, left their home in Montgomery to resettle in Detroit. Parks would work for Congressman John Conyers and at a string of social-justice organizations, making little money in the process. Her husband's life was tragically cut short by throat cancer in 1977. She was brutally attacked in her own in 1994, and subsequently developed dementia. And in the years before her death in 2005, she was destitute and threatened with eviction for non-payment of rent. But that would remain merely a threat due to the efforts of another famous Detroiter who paid Parks' rent out of his own pocket.

Mike Ilitch, who along with his wife, Marian, had opened a pizzeria in nearby Garden City in 1959. Ignoring the delivery trend and focusing on carry-out pizza targeted at the value-conscious consumer, within a decade, the Ilitches had fifty franchise locations. In 1979, they introduced the 2-for-1 deal promoted with the on-the-nose slogan "Pizza! Pizza!" uttered by its animated big-nosed toga-clad mascot who speared pies at the end of his pilum. The chain would grow to over 5,000 locations over the next three decades, enriching Ilitch to where he could purchase both the Detroit Red Wings and the Detroit Tigers, and launch charitable initiatives to feed disaster victims and employ veterans.

Ilitch's financial support of Rosa Parks wasn't revealed until after his own death in 2017: a secret of modesty that sharply contrasts with the egomania and greed of chain-pizza rival, Papa John Schnatter.

Of course, a billionaire donating a tiny fraction of his own income is not equivalent to the actions of a woman who risked ruin to defy segregation. Decency does not compare to heroism. But Ilitch used his status to help a civil-rights trailblazer live out her life with some degree of dignity, and in that small way, as Parks did in her historic way, made the country a fairer place.

This week on *Doughboys*: Little Caesars.

## Fork rating

* Thin Crust Veggie
* Deep!Deep! Dish 3 Meat Treat
* Stuffed Pretzel Crust Pepperoni
* Crazy Bread
	+ Cheezy Jalapeno, Butter Garlic, Buffalo Ranch Dips
	+ Crazy Sauce
* Caesar Wings - Oven Roasted
 Mike Mitchell
 John Ross Bowie

With these scores, Little Caesars makes the Golden Plate Club!

## Pie In This Guy 🥧

In this segment, Nick brings in a mystery slice of pie and Mitch and the guest crack a series of clues to guess what it is. They have the help of a lifeline: smell test or phone-a-friend.

The winner of the contest receives the mystery pie. The loser goes home empty-stomached.

For this episode, the mystery pie was a coconut cream pie.

## Quotes

**Nick:** No, I eat spinach and get diarrhea.

## #hashtags

* #I'mAPopeye vs. #I'mAWimpy
* #EatingOut...side

## Related Episodes

* 146. The Slice is Right: Semifinals Match 2
* DD. The Slice is Right: Fat Chance Kitchen Finals
* DD. Little Caesar, Big Game
* 191. **Little Caesars**
* 317. Little Caesars 2