ANAHEIM — It was all smiles Wednesday for the Big West Conference basketball coaches at the Second Annual Southern California Basketball Coaches Cooking Challenge at the ESPN Zone in Downtown Disney.
Dan Monson and Jody Wynn (Long Beach State), Bob Burton and Marcia Foster (Cal State Fullerton), Bobby Braswell and Jason Flowers (Cal State Northridge), Jim Wooldridge and John Margaritis (UC Riverside) and Russell Turner and Molly Goodenbour (UC Irvine) squared off in the kitchen in a shrimp dish challenge with mixed results.
The Beach team of Monson and Wynn put together a shrimp taco entrée that didn’t hit home with the judges: former NBA power forward and current Fox Sports Net analyst Michael Cage, Orange County Register sports columnist Marcia Smith, incumbent Associate Justice of the California Court of Appeal William Bedsworth and general manager Brett Barnes of Duke’s Restaurant in Huntington Beach.
The LBSU duo didn’t express as much confidence in the kitchen compared to the basketball hardwood.
“It’s like how you are with your own team,” Monson said. “If you have low expectations coming in, then it’s hard to be disappointed.”
Wynn told the crowd that a macaroni and cheese dish would have produced better results.
“I don’t know what I’m doing,” she said while cooking. “I just don’t want to burn myself.”
CSUF attempted to repeat as champions after taking home the “Best Chefs” award last year, and came close this year, but had to settle for “Best Taste.” In a surprising upset, CSUN took both the “Best Presentation” and “Best Chefs” awards to dethrone the reigning champs.
“This might be the only thing we win all year, so I’m happy,” Braswell said.
For a second consecutive year, the UCR tandem of Margaritis and Wooldridge took home the “Kitchen Nightmare” award.
“I’m not coming back [next year],” Wooldridge joked. “I’m not sure. Commissioner, do you get fined for boycotting?”
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