What It's Like to Be a Champion

What would cause me to blog for a third time in less than a week? A story of sweet victory. Let me set it up for you:

So last summer Collin, Kylie, Kara, and I decided to dine together at Flatbread. On a Tuesday night. Who cares that it was a Tuesday night? Well, everyone should care. Turns out, Tuesday night is a special night at Flatbread. Toss-Up Tuesday. It seems to be somewhat of a secret, which, at first, I was worried about sharing with the world-wide-web, but then I remembered only, like, 15 people read my blog...so I think it's safe. How it works: you order, you eat, you enjoy...then at the end, a manager comes out and does a coin toss. One person at the table calls heads or tails (you know the drill), and if you win the toss, you get a free pizza (buy one get one free)! The luck all started with showing up on a Tuesday, it continued with our server letting us in on the little secret of Toss-Up Tues. Surely our luck had run out...

Not so. It came time to flip, and we decided Kylie was the best (wo)man for the job. The manager tossed, Kylie called, nerves skyrocketed, the coin landed, anxiety set in, and we waited for the reveal. VICTORY! We went quickly from complete silence to hoop-hollerin cheers. Seriously, you would never expect a table of "adults" (we are all adults, so I don't know why that's in quotation marks...but it just seems more accurate) to be so excited about winning a coin toss....and a free pizza! Chello! So it was settled: Kylie was the hero of Toss-Up Tues and we just had to do it again. Winning is addicting, you know. Unfortunately, it was the end of the summer and Collin and I had to return to school...so the world would have us wait.

This summer we decided we needed to try our luck again. We went early in the summer so that we could have multiple Flatbread nights. We set-up a Tuesday and we began to stress. Once you've won, you don't want to experience a heartbreaking loss. We happened to get the same server we had the first time...fate? I think so. We asked if she remembered us, and she tried to pretend for a second that she might, but then told the truth and said she didn't. Bummer. We told her right away that we would be doing Toss-Up Tues, so we would need a tossing manager at the end. Kylie was obviously calling the toss. When you're hot, you're hot...gotta ride out the streak (of one win, I know...but it felt so much bigger than that). So it comes time for the toss and we are even more nervous than the first time. It's hard to win twice! Defending the champ? Could we (Kylie) do it? The toss went up, Ky called it, it landed, and we waited for the reveal. VICTORY! This celebration was even more embarrassing than the first. Our server came back to our table and said, "after that celebration, I definitely remember you guys." We had done it. TWICE!

So this brings me to last night. Our final Toss-Up Tues of the summer. Collin and I must return to school, once again, so our time has run out. The night was marked on our calendars and we felt pretty confident coming off of two wins. Then, the bad news came. Kylie, who is one-half of the talented duo Steady Rush (check out their facebook page by clicking here...they are great...and getting famous), could not get out of band practice to come to dinner. Oh the life of new-found fame and celebrity status. Sigh. So, obviously panic sets in. Who's going to call the toss? I am at home and I start analyzing what I should or shouldn't call, what timing I should use to call (do I call before the toss, while it's at its peak in the air, when it lands and before the reveal?), and what would happen if we lost? Clearly, I can't call the toss. I would be a mess! Collin and I put the burden on Kara. It was her time to shine. We assured her that we wouldn't be mad if she lost, only disappointed (so much better, right?). After discussing the Olympics and how hard it is to win THREE times in a row, Kara decided to look up some stats online about coin-tossing. Thank goodness for smartphones, eh?! We learn that a coin is more likely to land with the same side up as it starts (and lots of other scientific things that didn't seem helpful). Well, that would be great info if we could see the starting side. But our tosser was NOT having it. She secretly wanted us to lose. So Kara made a split-second decision on the toss, shouted TAILS, and we waited. The tosser looked at the coin, shrugged, and said, "oh lucky" in the most monotone, unexcited voice I've ever heard. We didn't know what that meant, since the emotion didn't match the words...so we waited for Kara to take a peek. VICTORY! 3 for 3! Our hands go up, and we do an unplanned, perfectly nailed, three-way high-five as we cheer. Judging by the looks on the faces of the snotty girls at a table next to us, we probably looked like gymnastics moms/dads whose daughter just won the Olympic gold medal....you've seen 'em...you know the celebration I'm talking about. We did it. We join champions like Michael Phelps, who defeat the odds and THREE-PEAT! Do we get medals? Maybe not... But a free pizza for the third time? Sounds pretty golden to me.

Now the question is: can we do it again? Stay tuned.

P.S. I have no idea why there are no action shots of this team in action. Maybe next time.