Game 13: Thomas Bonk - Quiche Sombrero
A modern professional sports team is hermetically sealed off to outsiders. The team’s public relations staff works in tandem with the security team to ensure that players give rehearsed, inoffensive answers and that the friends, family, and hangers-on in their inner circle don’t leak trade secrets. But in past decades -- before everyone had a recording device in their pocket and before private equity ransacked newspapers of value -- sportswriters had incredible access to professional athletes. This was especially true of your local paper’s beat writer.
One of those beat writers was Thomas Bonk, who worked the Lakers beat for the Los Angeles Times for several years during the Showtime era. On Nov. 6th when the Lakers were 6-1, I gave Thomas a call to talk about his hatred for Boston Celtics fans, how Pat Riley restricted his players’ availability to sportswriters, and the blurred lines between journalist and subject during his early years as a beat writer.
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Pablo: In 1985, what was your position at the LA Times?
Thomas: I was the Lakers beat writer. I covered Showtime for three years starting in ‘85, which was when they beat the Celtics, so a couple of years before that. But I came from Houston. They hired me to cover the Lakers, so I moved to Marina Del Rey and they backed my car off the truck and I drove to Palm Springs and did training camp. Because that's where they trained at, the College of the Desert. so it was kind of an abrupt beginning.
I didn't know they trained at Palm Springs.
It was actually fun. The NBA was different then. I started covering the NBA in Houston in the seventies and it was kind of like a little traveling circus. It's better once Magic and Bird came along and changed everything. But we stayed at Jerry Buss' hotel, the Ocotillo Lodge, and we reporters before practice would shoot hoops, play little games with ourselves and stuff. So it was pretty relaxed and pretty laid back.
Would you say that back then that the reporters, maybe not so much hung out with the players, but had more access to them?
No question. This is before the time of charters. And the trainer would call us and give us our wake up call. We didn't handle our luggage. We traveled with the players on the bus, on the airplane. It was a whole different world. And it was much better. Pat Riley was one of the guys who changed everything. He started closing practices and no longer were we on the flights. Stuff like that. It was easier to do your job because you could get your off-day stories just by talking to a guy while he's waiting for his luggage at the airport. But it's probably better because it separated everybody and put us in our distinct silos for reporting. The journalist and subject were separated after that.
Since those lines were a little more blurred... I know it was obviously more fun traveling with the team and getting all those perks, but as an objective journalist do you think those changes were better in the long run?
Probably was, the way things were trending. Although I didn't consider them perks. I just considered it greater access. The Lakers were such a great team with extreme personalities, especially Magic and Michael Cooper. Those were the guys you could always go to for quotes. But I always thought they were a great team to cover because of the personalities. And I think one of the reasons was that they understood that it was Showtime, it was entertainment. And Jerry Buss went out of his way to make sure everybody knew that. They were competing with amusement parks and movies and the beach and theater and stuff like that. And he wanted to make sure that the Lakers were in the conversation. And they certainly were.
I think part of the reason they were so good at the media is that all of them either came from big schools or great basketball programs. Worthy at North Carolina, Bob MacAdoo at North Carolina. Kareem and Jamal Wilkes were UCLA. Magic was Michigan State. I guess the only one who didn't come from a big basketball factory was Rambis at Santa Clara. Cooper was from New Mexico when they were really good then. So they all knew how to deal with the media and they were also the best player on their high school and college teams. Maybe Worthy wasn't because he played with Michael Jordan.
You mentioned you were at Houston before the LA Times. How did you get into sportswriting?
I actually put myself through college by working full time at the newspaper in Denton, TX. I went to North Texas at the same time that Joe Greene went, Mean Joe Greene, so I just worked. By the time I got out of school, I had three years full time experience, so I went to Houston and I worked on the copy desk for a while and then they asked if I wanted to cover the Houston Rockets. And I said yeah, I sure do. So that was a lot of fun.
And what paper was this?
The Houston Post, which no longer exists. I don't think I'm responsible for that. It folded.
To get back to the recipe, have you thought about the cookbook in years?
No, but it did jog my mind when you sent me that page. I don't even remember who organized it. I have a feeling it was Linda Rambis, but I'm not sure.
I actually made the recipe on Monday. I was wondering where your recipe for the Quiche Sombrero come from?
I have to plead the fifth on this one. I don't remember. I don't know where I got it. I honestly don't. I'm sorry, I wish I could be more forthright but I don't know where I got it. It must've been in one of my recipe files. I'm a recipe collector. I'm from Texas so I like to cook and grill. And Mexican food is right up my alley.
I was gonna ask where the Mexican influence in the quiche came from but that makes sense. I have to admit, I'm not a big quiche fan or of eggs in general, but I really liked it. I made it extra spicy, put a lot more jalapenos and chiles and it was great.
You freelance and you're still alive to talk so it must've worked.
Yeah, since I'm doing this all out of my own pocket, I really hope that the things I make taste good. But this definitely filled me up for a couple meals. Do you still have the book? Or if not, did you try any of the other recipes in the book?
I don't even remember seeing the book. I can tell you about games and players, but I don't recall that.
What was your favorite memory of that 1985 championship team that beat the Celtics?
Beating the Boston Celtics. I detested the Boston Celtics basically because of their fans. They were just horrible. At that stage, they hadn't yet moved the media from the courtside. And the year before when the Lakers lost, the fans came out of the stands and jumped on my writing desk and tried to break my computer and hurled insults and were just totally rude. It was not conducive and I hated Boston Garden. I thought it was a dump. The locker room was ridiculous, about the size of a closet. You hung your clothes on a hook. I mean, it was like something from medieval times. So I did not like anything about Boston except for the food. I thought the food was good.
At the stadium or the city?
The city in general. I love seafood and lobster. And I do like the history of Boston too, Revolutionary War type locations. I like history but it’s not my favorite city. And we always seemed to play there. And when the Lakers lost in the Western Conference Finals to the Rockets, I was still covering the playoffs and, lo and behold, the Rockets were playing the Celtics in the Finals. So I'm in Boston again.
Do you still work as a sportswriter?
No I do not. I covered golf at the LA Times for twelve years. And that was my last sportswriting. I did a bunch of magazine stuff but I don't consider that the same thing. No beats.
Do you still keep up with the NBA? And if so, what do you think of the Lakers' hot start so far?
I do follow the NBA quite a bit. I enjoy it. I'm a big Warriors fan since I've lived here (Bay Area) for twenty years. And they've went to five straight Finals. They're all hurt now, but I do follow the NBA and think the Lakers with LeBron and Anthony Davis... I'm anxious to see if Davis actually does declare for free agency at the end of the year. He said he would and I don't know if being in LA makes a difference for him but we're gonna find out. But everything seems to be pretty even in the NBA so far, except that everybody's hurt. But I definitely follow it.
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Quiche Sombrero
5 to 6 eggs
⅓ cup onions, diced
⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
⅓ cup tomatoes, diced
1 ½ ounces shredded jack cheese
1 ½ ounces shredded cheddar cheese
½ teaspoon Worcestershire
¼ teaspoon salt
2 cups heavy cream
⅓ cup chiles, diced
¼ teaspoon Tabasco
1 9-inch unbaked pie crust
In a bowl, combine eggs, salt, Worcestershire, nutmeg, Tabasco, and cream and whip until smooth.
In the pie crust, spread the tomatoes, onions, and chiles. Pour the cream mixture over top and sprinkle with combined cheeses Baked at 375 degrees until knife comes out clean when inserted into center of pie (approximately 65 minutes). Cool for 15 minutes before serving. Garnish with fresh basil.
As you just read in my interview, I am not an egg guy. You know that line from I Am The Walrus? Or track 4 from Paul’s Boutique? Not only am I not the egg man, I’m not an egg man in general. A couple sunny side up eggs is about it for me. The thought of an omelette, all those eggs used as a delivery vehicle for better ingredients, makes me gag.
But I loved this quiche! Never would’ve thought I was an egg pie man.
My experience with quiches was limited to one Trader Joe’s microwavable quiche that a college friend left me after she moved out of her apartment. It was so soggy and bland, I never sought out the real deal. Why would I? It’s, like, two omelettes in pie form.
But Bonk nailed this omelette. I thought it would be shaped like a sombrero, but the name derives from the use of chiles in the recipe. I put in three serrano peppers and two jalapeno peppers with all the seeds, thinking I’d need the spice to counteract the taste of eggs. I guessed right. It perfectly countered the overpowering taste of the eggs. I may not be an egg man, but I’m a proud quiche boy.
