In journalism school, I learned never to be a story.
But I guess when the Cheez-It Bowl is involved, all bets are off.
My time in Orlando culminated last Thursday when I covered the Cheez-It Bowl at Camping World Stadium, where No. 13 Florida State won 35-32 over Oklahoma.
The week leading up to that game was weird for me. And not because the maids at my hotel almost walked in on me before I got in the shower (maybe don’t enter the room after knocking for 0.4 seconds?).
It also tied for the most viral tweet in Cheez-It Twitter history, an accomplishment I’m still trying to describe to my grandparents.
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I figured the highlight of my Cheez-It Bowl trip would be when Seminole offensive coordinator Alex Atkins talked about dogs (Atkins has a love) for 20 minutes during a media session with me and two other FSU reporters, Ira Schoffel and Kurt Weiler. hate relationship with his dog Juco. Emphasis on hatred.).
I also enjoyed hearing from FSU star safety Jammie Robinson, who announced his entry into the 2023 NFL draft on New Year’s Day, about how his mother, Satarius, continues to inspire him.
But I’m sorry, Cuco, and I’m sorry, Jammie’s mom. Nothing felt more awesome than landing in my Cheez-It lore.
It all started on Monday night in the hotel hospitality room. I joined a couple of FSU beat reporters to watch the Chargers beat the Colts (still upset about the Derwin James hit). Before we left, the Cheez-It Bowl representative told me something that seemed absurd.
The next afternoon I thought about that conversation and decided to tweet the following:
“Really valuable information: The Cheez-It Bowl rep told me last night that there is no such thing as Cheez-Its. A Cheez-It’s a Cheez. Two or more Cheez-Its are called “Cheez-It crackers” rather than Cheez-Its. Come on.”
Anyone who follows me on Twitter knows that sometimes I want to be what Jimbo Fisher would call Lane Keefe: a clown. I don’t take myself too seriously. I posted that tweet just to make a few of my followers laugh.
What started as a joke quickly turned into a full-blown Twitter meltdown that lasted several days.
From sports media personalities like Rex Chapman to ESPN analysts like Mina Kimes, people from all over the sports world tweeted or commented. Why? Expressing concerns that Cheez wants to be pluralized.
The tweet now has over 3.7 million views and thousands of funny comments.
And the chaos went beyond Twitter.
Numerous podcasts and television shows have discussed the topic. Huffington Post wrote about it. Awful Announcing wrote about it. Big Lead had a story titled, “Hell No, We Don’t Call Them Cheez-Bu Crackers.”
ESPN analyst Dan Orlowski, who served as the color commentator for the Cheez-It Bowl, commented that note the debate on the show. He did (spoiler alert: he’s Team Cheez-It Crackers). And that night for the ESPN broadcast crew The Valero Alamo Bowl addressed this issue.
Maybe the Empire State Building (which somehow has a Twitter account) is hinting that Cheez-It will light up the New York sky in red and yellow (I reached out to them to see if that would actually happen. Nope. Turns out the Empire State Building is a not-so-good stalker).
The way the Cheez-It Bowl people handled the ad made the experience over the top.
They would not easily ignore it. They could easily block me. Instead, they embraced the Cheez-It crackers debate, publicly doubled down on their position, and spent the rest of the week making self-deprecating jokes about it.
I joined in on the fun, changing my Twitter name to “Carter is his Cheeziest” and photoshopped my picture into the Cheez-It mascot, Prince Chedwar. Very professional, I know.
After the Seminoles won, I thought I had heard the last of this Cheez-It madness. But the Cheez-It Bowl had one last gesture in mind. After the postgame press conference, in front of every member of the media, I was awarded a Hall of Cheez letter jacket (I may or may not have received a standing ovation).
In the left pocket was a note from Prince Chedward:
“Carter: It’s a Cheez-It cracker.” Indeed. Enjoy the game.’”
That was all I needed to be sold on Cheez-It crackers.
Eric Hansen, a longtime Notre Dame beat writer who I consider one of my biggest mentors, probably put it best in a tweet.
“What in the world? I don’t know whether to be proud of you or to call for intervention.”
Why not both?
Contact Carter Karels at ckarels@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter @CarterKarels. You can also follow us on Facebook (NoleSports) and Instagram (tlhnolesports).
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