This April, 64 of Pagliacci’s best tossers tested their mettle against one another.

The early rounds saw some great performances – especially in the North Bracket where Mike Baxley from 145th, Kyu Han from 85th, Brian Youngdahl from Ballinger and John Bassage from 145^th put up not only the best 4 scores of their region, but the best 4 scores of the first round.

Cumulative scores helped the North 4 in the Sweet 16 where they moved on to the finals – along with Josh Frost of Miller and Paul Williams of Crossroads (due to very tight scoring, the final group was expanded).

The finals were held Thursday at Lake City Way. Paul Williams was the lone holdover from the finals last year and proved that having been through the gauntlet before made him more battle-tested. His nearly perfect pie went into the oven in 34 seconds and held off Kyu from 85^th who took 2^nd place, a mere 3 points away from the title. Tossing to “Octopus’ Garden” by the Beatles, Mike Baxley hacked his way into 3^rd place.

Congratulations to Paul who now owns the title of Best Cook in Pagliacci!

For the last couple of years we have had a best cook competition that has become our version of March Madness. Each cook is tasked with making the best possible cheese pizza in less than 60 seconds. This year we got off to a late start, renaming the event April Madness. We started off with 64 contenders and have narrowed the field to the final 4… well, really 6. With some very tight scores at the top we are taking the top 6 to the finals this Thursday. So who made the cut?

Josh Frost from Miller. Frosty returned to Pagliacci last fall after a few years’ hiatus and is ready to prove whatever skill he lost in Spokane, he more than regained through a busy fall at Miller. Newly married and expecting his first child he says this one’s for the family.

Paul Williams from Crossroads. The only competitor from last year’s final 4 to reach the finals again. His second round pizza was one of the best performances of the tournament thus far and he aims to show that the Eastside is for real.

John Bassage from 145th. John is one of Pagliacci’s newest Shift Leaders and one of two people competing from 145th. He intends to show that the student has indeed surpassed the master.

Mike Baxley from 145th. His first round score remains the best of the contest. Baxley looks to atone for an early exit last year and show both his new Shift Leader and his roommate who is boss.

Brian Youngdahl from Ballinger. Brian not only possesses one of the best golf swings in Pagliacci, but his tossing form is picture perfect as well. Having won the GM contest years ago, Brian looks to add one more trophy to his mantel – right where Baxley has to look at it every day.

Kyu Han from 85th. Kyu has posted the best cumulative score and proves that 85th not only makes a fast pie, but a beautiful one. While 85th often gets narrowly beat by Miller for top sales, Kyu looks to take down Mr. Frost and give a victory for 85th in the heated rivalry.

On Saturday afternoon all of our finalists and several managers gathered at our Lake City location for the final round of our March Madness competition. Tension mounted as traffic on I-5 delayed the start of the tossing. Some competitors isolated themselves and some fretted over dough.

When it came time to compete, all were ready to step up and go. Paul Williams of Crossroads went first and got his pie in the oven in 39 seconds – his third consecutive sub-forty second pizza. Alex Henderson of the Commissary and Cameron Jackson from Stone Way followed next with 41 and 40 seconds respectively. Mike Young, the Shift Leader at Lake City, was last and showed that he had clearly been practicing the night before.

Mike tossed and must have laid down his dough in 8 seconds (the fastest cooks take between 15-20 seconds, typically). He picked it up, re-stretched it, and still made it in the oven in a blistering 32 seconds. When the pies came out and were sized it came down to Cameron and Mike – former co-workers at Sand Point, Miller and Lake City.

Cameron had a nearly perfect pie – just a little bit of a red ring and a flat portion of the crust. Mike’s pie was just about the same.  However, his 8-second advantage held up for a 6-point victory.

Mr. Young, the youngest and least tenured competitor (though he’s on his 8^th year with Pagliacci), showed that he made a better pie faster than anyone else in Pagliacci. The home crowd cheered him afterwards as he toured the store with his victory peel. It might not have been Greg Gumbel and “One Shining Moment” but it was very Mike Young.

A big “Congratulations!” goes out to Mike. And to all the cooks who didn’t make it this year – or those burgeoning cooks hoping to step up their game – there is always next year.

Today’s competition may not have been as tight as Syracuse and UConn’s 6 OT battle nor as classic as Hoosiers, but it made me think of both.

I always remember Shooter (Dennis Hopper) moving from a spectator to a coach – and then getting his shot when Coach Norman Dale (Gene Hackman) gets himself ejected. It didn’t come to a technical foul, but when PSC’s Crystal Leahy (a former Sand Pointer) didn’t show and runner up Tim Ihlenfeld (a current Sand Pointer) came to root on his current and former co-workers we pulled him from spectator to participant.

Time – thus far the most important factor in placement – quickly became a non-issue. If you like tuning into nail-biters check out these times: 43, 42, 42, 42, and 41. Even after timing and pre-grading (dough temperature and size of pizza) only 1 dropped out – the top 4 all went into grading with 45, 45, 46, and 47 points ensuring that the final 2 spots would be ultimately decided on the quality of the pizza.

When all the grading was done Cameron Jackson and Alex Henderson moved on to the Final 4. Cameron’s flawless crust offset his cold dough and Alex’s cheese coverage and clean cook held off Luis Bibiano-Lopez. Luis, long-regarded to be the “Best Tosser in Pagliacci” now has to trade that title in for “Best Tosser to Never Make the Final Four.”

So like the North/East side of the bracket, the two competitors with the longest tenure staved off all the (relative) newcomers and move on to the Championship on Saturday afternoon. The four tossers have a combined 37 years with Pagliacci – so they have made their fair share of cheese pizzas. 

We completed half of our Final Four Wednesday afternoon but not without throwing a big curveball to the cooks. But I’ll get to that in a bit.

After one cook dropped out due to injury, Tony Schaffer from Bellevue stepped back into the mix. It seemed that there were some nerves judging by lack of conversation in the kitchen. The grading was ratcheted up a bit – the same criteria but just a little more stringent. Everyone knew that crusts had to be better, cheese coverage more complete and the size of the pizza had to be spot on. It never ceases to amaze me that our cooks can get a pizza to be the right size so quickly and so thoughtlessly. That is these cooks can just toss the pie out of routine, lay it on the board, top it, launch it and it comes out within half-an-inch of ideal.

But let’s get back to that curveball. I appreciate that we are a company that cares about the environment and pushes to lessen our impact in any way we can. Today this manifested itself in our Commissary delivery driver noticing that the ovens, which I had turned on early that morning for the competition, were ablaze much earlier than normal. Not wanting to waste any more gas, he turned them all off. Normally this would have been perfect, but it left us testing our cooks’ ability to make a pizza in a lukewarm oven. Everyone adapted and given that it was a level playing field no one complained.

It happened that the two most tenured competitors moved on. Paul Williams of Crossroads went first and once again set the lowest time of the day with a 33 second cheese. His daughter, Winter, looked on but wondered why he couldn’t have saved his 30-second effort for her spring break. Second place was tightly contested with Sam Kosola, Tony Schaffer, Bert Trotter and Amanda Johnson all coming close. But it was Lake City Way’s Shift Leader Mike Young who edged everyone out. His secret? Plopping his chosen dough ball on his heated leather car seat for the ride in. That’s not yeast you smell, Mr. Young, that’s victory. Enjoy the ride.

The other half of the Sweet 16 features the “Sand Point 4”. Two years ago Crystal Leahy, Cameron Jackson, Luis Bibiano-Lopez and Jason Legaspi were all co-workers at Sand Point. Reputed to have the best looking pizzas in the company, Sand Point built a stable of good tossers. Jason, Cameron and Crystal have all moved elsewhere to spread the knowledge but reunite as 2 look to move on to the Final 4. They will be challenged by Luke Sumpter of Magnolia, newcomer Romael Jacobs of Miller, Lisa Rossiter of Queen Anne and Alex Henderson of the Commissary. 

Ever wonder what we look for when grading pies? Some of the things we worry about so you don’t have to include:

• Size – We hand toss every single dough ball and want consistency in your crust.
• Sauce distribution – Puddles of sauce are unwanted – as is an unsightly red ring going around the edge of your pizza.
• Crust definition – Does the pizza look round? Is the crust defined? Does the pizza hold up when you go to eat it? We look for a consistent, well-defined crust that “pops” up from the rest of the pizza.
• Topping consistency – We want the cheese all the way to the crust and the toppings should be evenly distributed – not all loaded into the center. Half-and-half pies should be even.
• Color on the top and bottom of the pizza – We look for a perfect golden brown on both top and bottom. Using brick ovens lets us get that crispy, flavorful bottom that just can’t be replicated in most ovens.

Of course these are all just side components to the one grading that is the easiest – taste testing! 

Each day saw a new low toss time for the competition and 145th’s Mike Baxley’s 28-second pie was smoking fast. Unfortunately for him it wasn’t pretty enough to move him on to the next round. That wasn’t the case for Sam Kosola and Amanda Johnson. The two former fellow crewmembers hired 5 days apart tied for first. It seems that those extra 5 days have made Sam 1 second faster – and he blames the ovens for the one point keeping him from the outright 1st place finish. Mike Young, an 8-year Pagliacci veteran, moves on as does Trevor Takara of Edmonds.

Lake City Way GM Steve Crotts tried using home store advantage by rearranging the kitchen for his attempt. He was practically tossing in the oven and the other competitors cried foul. The majority of the trash talk was saved for Lake City Way’s Galen Lundquist ostensibly because he’s too nice.

Here is your Sweet 16 to update your bracket (listed in order of finish, ties going to the faster time):

• East Division: Paul Williams, Bert Trotter and Khalil Mardini from Crossroads along with Terry Hang from Bridle Trails
• Southwest Division: Alex Henderson from Commissary, Lisa Rossiter from Queen Anne, Crystal Leahy from PSC (the office), Luke Sumpter from Magnolia
• Central Division: Romael Jacobs from Miller, Jason Legaspi from HUB, Cameron Jackson from Stone Way, Luis Bibiano-Lopez from Sand Point
• North Division: Sam Kosola from Ballinger, Amanda Johnson from Miller (formerly from Edmonds), Mike Young from Lake City Way, Trevor Takara from Edmonds

Competition resumes Wednesday as the eight from the North and East compete to fill the first 2 spots in the Final 4. Thursday the Central and North have their go.

Things are getting down to the very end of the first round. Because of scheduling conflicts, not every bracket gets completed right away. There was a lot of cross-division competing in addition to the Central division’s first crack at their best cheese pizza.

The East Division is set – Paul Williams, Bert Trotter, and Khalil Mardini of Crossroads took the top 3 spots in the division. With their final tosser finishing 5^th – one spot out of advancing – Crossroads made their case to be considered the Big East Conference of Pagliacci (fitting as they are the easternmost store). Terry Hang of Bridle Trails rounds out the bracket and will try to play David to Crossroads’ Goliath.

Today’s competition saw some of the first real signs of nerves as a few competitors ripped holes in their dough. The patching cost valuable seconds and time is not on the tosser’s side. Sand Point and McMahon have yet to send their tossers into the kitchen – leaving today’s top finishers in doubt. Romael Jacobs of Miller (Cobra Kai) is the current Cinderella (only being hired 7 months ago). Sitting in first right now he hopes to sweep the legs out from under all those with more tenure.

Amanda Johnson came early for the North Division (who competes Sunday) and served notice with the third best score of the competition. Once dubbed “The Secret Weapon” this 4-1/2 year Pagliacci veteran will have a hard time keeping her secret now. She called out her rivals – former co-workers Sam Kosola, Trevor Takara, Brady Madsen and Noah Stanley.

The North Division is loaded with talented tossers – two of the busiest stores send in their best and Ballinger is home to the reigning GM and Cook competition winners. Brady Madsen, now of 85^th Street, has all the confidence in the world and should earn a spot in the next round – that is if he can toss with that giant chip on his shoulder from coming in second place (by 1 point!) in the AM competition last year. There are also rumors that 145^th Street GM Mike Baxley will use his “Octopus Toss” to kick aside competition like an old hacky sack.

Once tomorrow’s competition is over the Sweet 16 will be set. Competition continues on Wednesday and Thursday as we set the Final Four with a champion crowned next Saturday.

The Commissary laid down the gauntlet. Wow! Alex Henderson, the muscle behind the daytime catering at Pagliacci’s Commissary, strolled into today’s competition, volunteered to toss first and coolly delivered a 36-second cheese pizza. For a few minutes I thought back to the UNLV teams with Larry Johnson, Stacy Augmon, Anderson Hunt, and Greg Anthony – teams that no one wanted to be on the court with because they were so dominant.

While no one was able to catch Alex’s time and score – he has established himself as a heavy favorite – the times dropped as competitors knew the mark to beat. Lisa (Dill) Rossiter returned from a 2-year Pagliacci hiatus to put herself in position to move on (it might have had something to do with her supportive husband watching from the wings). Crystal Leahy – the main office’s entrant – tied Lisa and looks to prove that the “office-folk” can still cook and that she can beat Alex – her former colleague those 10 years ago – in the next round.

Bigger crowds are expected Saturday as the weekend matches commence. Miller Street hosts the Central Division. Miller – dubbed “The Monster” because of its 6 ovens and claim as the busiest Pagliacci – has 4 competitors looking to use the home-store advantage to move on. Jeff “Blue Steel” Maneval runs Miller, and not unlike the sinister head of the Cobra Kai dojo, expects nothing but the best out of his crew and himself. Luis Bibiano-Lopez “The Best Tosser in Pagliacci,” looks to be the Daniel to Miller’s Cobra Kai and crane kick, er, toss, his way to the finals. 

Today was the tip-off for Pagliacci’s March Madness Best Cook Competition. 13 cooks gathered at our Bridle Trails location with their carefully selected dough ball in tote. Each cook tosses, sauces, cheeses, and cooks a cheese pizza.

The pizza is then graded rigorously by the judges – with all competitors looking on. Unlike our other pizza gradings (trust me, we do a lot), this time we add points for any flaw. This score is then added to the time it took to toss, top, and launch the pizza. The cooks with the lowest scores move on to the next round to do it all over again.

Because of scheduling conflicts, 3 competitors could not attend today but will get their chance at another location. For that reason, only one competitor – Associate Manager Khalil Mardini from Crossroads – is assured of moving on. Khalil decided, unlike some other competitors, to let his skills do the talking. Not only did his pizza get the fewest points added for flaws but he also posted the fastest time, putting all other regions on notice that he is a serious contender to take home the trophy when all is said and done. Other highlights included several instances of students surpassing the master: cooks Zach Linder and Terry Hang from Bridle Trails both learned to toss from their GM… and then beat him. Bellevue Square’s Shift Leader Tony Schaeffer edged out his AM, Adrian Aramburu – who has 9 year’s experience on his pupil.

Tomorrow it’s off to Valley Delivery Kitchen, as the Southwest Division kicks off. There are plenty of rivalries, both within stores and between. Three of the favorites are all former fellow crewmembers – over their combined 28 years with Pagliacci they have moved and grown, but remain competitive. Good luck to all tomorrow!