A Victory of a Lifetime at the Fiesta Bowl

“It doesn’t matter if you win or lose, it’s how you play the game.”

I love that statement...especially if you played well enough to crush your opponent and finish No. 1.

Confession: I love to win, I really hate losing,

and I think that quote is stupid.

To take it a step further...I’m baffled by people who don’t play to win.; I don’t understand why they don’t keep score in peewee sports anymore, and trophies for everyone?

COME ON!

I’m a staunch advocate of this philosophy:

Play to win or don’t play at all.

“Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.”

That’s more like it!

Now, I would like for you to imagine me – and all my competitive juices – sitting at the Fiesta Bowl...clock reads 00:00...and my beloved Horned Frogs on the short end of a 17-10 BCS debacle.

As the Boise State Broncos celebrated with their fans, I sat with my head in my hands....devastated. (I could only imagine what the TCU players and coaches were feeling.)

Well, that disappointment stayed with me all night; I had nightmares about the loss, and on the flight home, I played the entire game back in my head – TWICE!

Did I mention that I hate to lose?

When we finally made it back to Fort Worth....my mentality started to change, though.

I reminded myself how I was going to start measuring success – not by money, fame, or fancy stuff.

I’m definitely not going to measure success by number of touchdowns scored by my favorite college football team. (No offense, Coach P.)

I’m going to measure success by the relationships that form along the way.

In that case....the Fiesta Bowl was a HUGE win.

First place.

Gold medal.

CHAMPIONSHIP.

There were six of us in our travel party and it was such a wonderfully great trip.

Not everyone knew each other, but that quickly changed after spending 10 hours in the El Paso airport. (We flew standby to Phoenix.)

Each person brought something special to the table – whether that was a leadership role, a motherly role, or simply a voice of reason.

We laughed a lot and created great stories. For example:

• Having pizza delivered to the airport and getting it scanned at the security check point;

• Kelly making friends with the courtesy cart driver;

• Meeting other TCU fans on their way to cheer on the Frogs;

• Illegally squeezing six people into one hotel room (and all the smells that go along with that);

• Getting a special 3 a.m. visit from some of our friends who work at TCU;

• Going on two runs (me & Kelly) in some of the most beautiful January weather EVER;

• All going to a nice dinner the night before the game and eating Coldstone right after;

• Everyone receiving a nickname (Some examples: Beano, Mounds, and Klumlover);

• Taking most of our group shots ourselves with an elevated perch and the built-in timer – these all turned out great and was a lot of fun to do. (“Would you like me to take your photo?” “NO! Get out of the way...CHEESE!”);

• Tailgating before the game with hundreds of other Frogs,

• And being a part of TCU Football history.

Travel Team 42, Boise State 6

That's one TD for each of us & two field goals for our Boise State "friends" we tormented at the game.

The pictures do a great job capturing our victory:

Headed to the airport

Acting out...before heading to the airport

Delirious already? Just wait!

Sign speaks for itself

Takeoff! (find Baby Crash)

Ummmm.....

There's that delirium – 10 hrs at airport

Kelly's new friend...BEEP! BEEP!

Our first self portrait in PHX

At the hotel

Our prom shot

Lunch in Scottsdale (with our waitress)

Pre-game (self portrait)

Our Boise State "friends"

Game Time!

Go Frogs!

Nancy, Margo & Klumlove

THE WINNING TEAM! GO FROGS!

(click here to see all the photos)