I’m sitting in a Chipotle, staring down at a burrito bowl, which is a fairly acquainted place for me to be in. The primary thought that crosses my thoughts, nevertheless, is one thing I don’t usually assume as a proud Chipotle Rewards member.
“This seems to be gross.”
I traded in my typical order for the “Coach Cignetti’s ‘I Win’ Bowl,” a particular bowl patterned after Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti’s go-to Chipotle order. Within the days main as much as Indiana’s conflict with Miami within the School Soccer Playoff championship on Monday, a Wall Avenue Journal story revealed that Cignetti, like me, is a Chipotle connoisseur.
However that’s the place the similarities finish. In any case, I’m not a Pittsburgh-born 64-year-old who simply accomplished one of many biggest turnarounds in sports activities historical past.
The title of the Cignetti-themed Chipotle bowl comes from Cignetti’s now-famous known as shot at his introductory information convention at Indiana two years in the past, when he informed followers of what was then school soccer’s losingest program that they need to imagine in him as a result of, “I win. Google me.”
On Monday, Cignetti validated that discuss by main the Hoosiers to a dramatic 27-21 win over Miami to cap off one of the inconceivable nationwide championship runs school soccer has ever seen. Which takes us again to the bowl — no, not the Rose Bowl and Peach Bowl that Cignetti’s Indiana crew additionally received in blowout trend, however the particular bowl that Chipotle commissioned based mostly on Cignetti’s order outlined within the Journal.
Very like his 16-0 Hoosiers, Cignetti’s bowl is straightforward and workmanlike in its execution — brown rice, black beans and rooster, with a aspect of guacamole (which Cignetti reportedly doesn’t all the time embrace in his order). That’s it.
A have a look at the “I Win” bowl named in honor of Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti. (Austin Inexperienced / The Athletic)
As I stared down on the bowl, I couldn’t assist however consider a unique view I had three weeks earlier, once I watched from the Rose Bowl press field as Charlie Becker caught an enormous downfield throw from Fernando Mendoza proper in entrance of Cignetti within the first quarter of Indiana’s eventual win over Alabama. The coach calmly pointed ahead as Indiana’s sideline and the throngs of followers behind it erupted in celebration. It could have been essentially the most emotion he confirmed all recreation.
Again to this bowl. It’s priced at $12.50, loaded with 750 energy and 35 grams of protein, and, as I can now attest, could be very, very bland. My most important takeaway is that I didn’t notice how spicy Chipotle rooster was with out the array of lettuce, corn and fajita-style greens that always accompany my go-to order. I cheated slightly, utilizing a promotion from my very own Chipotle Rewards account so as to add a free bag of chips, which got here in useful to blunt the spiciness from the rooster.
Of all of the unbelievable issues Cignetti has completed in his two years at Indiana, the truth that he claims to have this bowl practically each day he’s on campus in Bloomington is someway much more mind-boggling. There’s no means he’s had this roughly 500 instances in his two years there, as he claimed to the Journal, proper?
Because it seems, Cignetti could have really undersold his connection to the meals chain large. Chipotle not solely provided his namesake bowl nationwide, but in addition a buy-one-get-one-free deal at taking part places on Thursday. Followers rocking Hoosiers gear scored a free entrée with the acquisition of any often priced one. In asserting the promotion, Chipotle revealed that Cignetti’s order is normally positioned by way of the Indiana assistant director of soccer operations’ Chipotle Rewards account — an account that ranks within the high 1% within the state of Indiana for many rewards factors earned.
Chipotle is just not the one model to capitalize on its connection to the Hoosiers’ head coach.
As of Thursday, customers who Google “Curt Cignetti” will see a small notice seem on the high of the search outcomes that reads merely: “Yup, he received.”
