Rick and Skip

What do PBS and ESPN have in common? One word— Bayless.

I've been watching a great PBS cooking series the last several years on Saturday mornings called "Mexico: One Plate at a Time". It features traditional, native Mexican dishes as opposed to popular Tex-Mex fare. Rick Bayless, the show's host and a nationally recognized chef, describes and explains the history and recipes of authentic Mexican cooking. (You may remember seeing Rick on a former Burger King commercial advertising Santa Fe Chicken Baguette Sandwiches.) His show is very successful because it is so informative and entertaining. It is my second favorite cooking show after "Cooking Sicilia" by the hilarious family duo of Johnny Carrabba and Damian Mandola. (Those two know how to have fun in the kitchen!)

Now, if you've seen or read ESPN lately then you've probably noticed a familiar face at the sports network that used to work in the DFW area. Skip Bayless is the newest addition to Cold Pizza and a contributing columnist to ESPN.com's Page2. He also subs for Jim Rome occasionally. Skip used to write back in the '80s for the now defunct Dallas Times Herald. I can remember reading his columns there and in the Dallas Morning News up until the time when he left the metroplex. I even caught his one-page sports column with Skipshots that was faxed three times a week in the early '90s when I worked at Humperdink's. Our manager there was a subscriber and made copies to pass out at the bar.

Besides being well-known in each of their respective fields I've discovered that Rick and Skip are actually brothers. Skip even wrote in Chicago for a while where Rick's famed restaurant, Frontera Grill, is located. I've been a fan of both for many years, so I found it interesting to learn that they were related.

Now you know.