Winning Isn't Everything...or is it?

Last night was the first game of the season!
At home. We walked to the game.
One of the many things we loved about our house when we first saw it last Fall.

("S-A-I-L-O-R-S!")

Yesterday also marked the 154th time I made a cheesecake for the Newport Harbor High School football coaches on Gameday.
It began as a fluke.
Matt and I were newly married and I made a cheesecake on a whim.
Midweek. Late Night.
Cause I like cheesecake better than almost any other dessert out there.
By the time it was cooled and ready to eat, it was a Friday morning.
Being the sweet, martyrish, newlywed that I was...I suggested Matt take the cheesecake to work.
To share with the coaches on the first gameday of the season.
1999.

(in the endzone, cheering Daddy, as the team takes the field!)

Yeah, well. They WON that night.
And my husband is super superstitious.
Like...put his sock on the same foot first for the past 30 years, superstitious.
So guess who requested {needed} a cheesecake every game day that season ever after?!
And guess who kept winning?
Like, win the whole shebang, winning. Win the CIF Championship, winning?!
Yep. NHHS.

(Giving the boys high fives as they leave for the lockeroom at halftime)

And so it began.
So it was set in stone.
So it means yesterday I baked my 154th cheesecake.

But for the first time, in 154 times...I broke the rules!
I did NOT bake my traditional cheesecake.
I did not follow my tried and true recipe.
Instead, I got crazy...risked jinxing the whole season...
and made an Oreo variation of my Championship Cheesecake.

I will admit, I was a little nervous to tell Matt that I had thrown a wrench in his machine that is Gameday Uniformity.
But, I knew he wouldn't flinch...wouldn't admit trepidation.
I also knew, however, that if they lost that night...
It would totally be my Oreo fault!

(Matt running into the huddle to pump up the boys before the second half)

Thankfully, they WON!
Matt even texted me saying all the coaches loved the "new" recipe!

Everything turned out so well...I just might have to make a "new" flavor each week this season...
Cause I love cheesecake. All flavors.
And I also love winning.
Cause it means we get to celebrate with Daddy on the field at the end of the game.

And be famous for TV interviews

And pretend we're Olympic Gymnasts in the varsity weight room.

And find Daddy's picture on the wall from when he played college ball.

Yes.

Winning is great.

Not everything...but definitely FUN.

And made even better by Cheesecake.

(Daddy always saves us a piece to eat after the game!)