Jan. 26, 2011

ANAHEIM, Calif. - Click Here for a Photo Gallery of the Event

The third annual Southern California Baseball Coaches Media Day/ESPN Zone Anaheim Cooking Challenge took place today at the ESPN Zone in Downtown Disney, and it featured 11 collegiate coaches, including LMU Head Coach Jason Gill. Showing off their culinary skills from the Big West Conference were Larry Lee (Cal Poly), Matt Curtis (Cal State Northridge), Troy Buckley (Long Beach State), Mike Gillespie (UC Irvine), Doug Smith (UC Riverside) and Bob Brontsema (UC Santa Barbara). Also in attendance were PAC-10 coaches John Savage (UCLA) and Doyle Wilson (USC), and joining Gill from the West Coast Conference were Steve Rodriguez (Pepperdine) and Rich Hill (San Diego). Cal State Fullerton's Dave Serrano was unable to defend his best creativity title due to an illness.

At the annual event, coaches were given a 15-minute time period to prepare an entree and present their creations to a panel of judges. The dishes were graded on presentation, creativity, and most importantly taste. Along with competing for top honors in all three categories, the coveted "top chef" honor was also awarded for the highest overall score.

The coaches were evaluated by a panel of judges, including Brett Barnes, general manager of Duke's Huntington Beach; Rick Mielke, broadcaster; Nancy Milby, Founder and CEO of Laguna Culinary Arts, Inc.; and Marcia Smith, a sports columnist for the Orange County Register.

This year's theme brought the coaches to the ballpark with the slider version of the cookoff. The main ingredients at the coaches' disposal included pork, chicken, hamburgers, cheeses, sauces and condiments. This was definitely a curve ball for the coaches after the previous two events offered up ingredients such as rice, pasta, chicken, shrimp and vegetables.

UCLA's skipper walked away with the best presentation award with his Filet de Gillespie sliders. Savage wowed the judges with his plating, while using the name of his masterpiece as a tribute to UC Irvine's coach Mike Gillespie.

Hill went away from the norm and did a low-carb slider, called the San Diego Paleo slider. Using inspiration from the Paleo Diet, he made a healthy version of the slider by eliminating the bun. His non-traditional approach earned him the best creativity award.

UC Santa Barbara's Brontsema was unsuccessful at a three-peat in the best presentation category but instead captured the best taste honor with his Ole Special. Brontsema said his key to success was" keeping it simple by just adding minimal spices and sauce."

Walking away with the top award of the day for the second straight year, the top chef award, was Rodriguez with his Malibu Mudsliders. The winning masterpiece was a cajun burger topped with sauteed mushrooms, onions and peppers and blue cheese crumble. The four-person panel of judges was genuinely impressed with Rodriguez' cooking skills with one of them stating afterward that it was clear he, "cooks with love."

Wilson, who was filling in for USC head coach Frank Cruz, picked up the second straight kitchen nightmare award for the Trojans. Wilson, who dubbed his sliders the No Good sliders, didn't seem to confident with his cooking abilities and it seems the judges concurred. For his lack of cooking skills, he was awarded a fire extinguisher, a cook book and some freeze-dried food.