Steels Steal the Show on ESPN Who says chefs can’t jump? They “jump back” from splashing oil, “jump out” of the way of each other in the kitchen, and “jump to” when a customer has a special request. And, it turns out chefs can also jump on the basketball court…at least enough to garner the attention of ESPN’s SportsCenter. Fan correspondent Reese Waters and a production crew spent two days on the Hyde Park campus to tape “Basketball and Beignets”—a feature about the CIA Steels that aired on the network’s flagship program on February 23 and 24. Waters spoke with players, coaches, and fans about the quirky aspects of fielding athletic teams at the CIA—with long class days, students leaving for externship, or graduating in the middle of a season—while dispelling myths about cooks and bakers not being athletic and in shape. He keyed into the unique aspects of Steels spirit by highlighting the team’s fight chant— Mirepoix, mirepoix, roux, roux, roux, dice ’em
up, chop ’em up, put ’em in the stew! And the players revealed their distinctive brand of trash talk. They call other teams “Shoemakers”—an insult that means your food is leathery, tough, and with no flavor. Yup, that’s trash talk from chefs. It might actually insult the other teams if they could figure out what the Steels were shouting at them! During the ESPN visit, one player was followed as he worked the soup station for Saturday lunch service in the American Bounty Restaurant on campus. Scheduling was so tight he had to run to the gym in his chef whites, making it just in time to change into his uniform and join his teammates, who had already begun their warm-up drills for the game. While ESPN was on campus, the Steels won their games against Pratt Institute and The Cooper Union, finishing the season with a 7-8 record. Who says chefs can’t jump! Check out the video of the ESPN feature at http://blog.ciachef.edu/espn-to-feature-the-cia/
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