For those of you who have ever read one of my sports stories, you might have noticed an odd similarity — the Vikings always won. That is until the boys’ varsity basketball team lost to Cupertino Friday night, ending my streak at 29 games, spanning two sports, three seasons and over 13 months.

I quickly developed a style for these winning stories, always wondering what would happen if the team lost. I often wrote part of the story before the game under the assumption that the team would win and no matter how close the team came to losing, they always pulled through, bailing me out.

It began with last years’ boys’ basketball team winning 58-38 over Woodside on Dec. 13, 2005. Of course, that team would only lose one game all year, but I was there for 13 more wins, including the final two thrilling games at Arco Arena, culminating with the state championship win.

Since the first team I covered won it all, I figured I could make it two in a row with this year’s football team. Sure enough, the team kept winning, and as fate would have it. I wasn’t there for the first Oak Grove game, which they lost.

Some of the players soon learned of my streak and appeared relieved when I walked onto the sideline to cover a game. I informed that just because my presence has correlated to a win every time does not mean the reciprocal is true. I soon became the good luck charm, meaning I was not supposed to miss any games, home or away. When I told the team that I would be on vacation during the CCS semifinals, I was told to cancel my trip with some hints of seriousness.

Proving that I do not have to be there for the team to win, the Vikings pulled out the 41-38 win over Palma in quadruple overtime. Still, the team, coaches, and parents believed in the power of the "Schwartz" since my replacement for the game was rookie writer Dan Schwartz – no relation.

The CCS finals win over Oak Grove was the 25th straight in my streak and it sent the Vikings to the state title. It seemed my luck had no end, until I realized I would not be able to attend the state championship. Again, I was told to cancel, but I compromised, giving a member of the team a magnified picture of myself in hopes that I would be there in spirit. The team never had a chance and lost in the finals, and I turned my attention to this year’s basketball team.

With all six seniors from last year’s team graduated, another state title run seemed unlikely, but the team won the first four games I covered, pushing the streak to 29 games.

I had written 40 stories thus far, only one of which wasn’t about sports, and 29 of which had the same outcome; Vikings win. All I knew was winning. I never even witnessed another team celebrate, only the Vikings.

That all changed Friday night when the Cupertino Pioneers beat the basketball team, 44-41. I thought the Vikings could pull off the comeback, as they had so many times during my streak, but they came up short. The Cupertino fans celebrated as I walked over to the Vikings to get interviews.

Previously, I never had any problems getting quotes because the team had always won, so they were always happy to talk. Now, the team was disappointed, frustrated and I didn’t know how to approach them. I felt exactly as I had 13 months ago when I approached the 2005-2006 Vikings after that win over Woodside, nervous and inexperienced.

I got over it, wrote the story and it was no big deal. It was a relief to have the streak finally end.

In no way do I consider myself the reason the Vikings won all 29 games. I was fortunate enough to cover two of the best Paly sports teams ever and I was just along for the ride. My streak may be over, but it was never about that. It was always about the writing, the thrill of reliving every moment, every win and every title. Besides 29-1 is still a pretty solid record. Now if only I could cover the baseball team, which I pitch for, maybe we could win a championship too.