The administration here at Middle Tennessee, and paritcularly the Student Government Association have been doing a great job the last few years of
providing students with ways to get involved and show their Blue Raider spirit. One such activity I always look forward to is the annual Road Rally. On Road Rally, a large group of MTSU students (this year there were over 300) board charter buses and hit the road to watch the football team play a fierce rival in another locale.

Of course I wouldn't dream of missing this, so I reluctantly woke at 5:30 am on Friday to pack and meet my friends on campus for departure. This year's
destination? Monroe, Louisiana, with a side trip to New Orleans in between. As challenging as it is to get 300 college students anywhere in a punctual manner, we arrived at our hotel in the French Quarter at around nine on Friday and spent the rest of the night soaking in the legendary culture of "the Big Easy."

The next morning, I fought the urge to turn my alarm off and embarked on a journey for breakfast and sightseeing with my good friends Jon and Janna. We enjoyed beignets and coffee at the famous Cafe' Du Monde, and took a stroll along the Mississippi River. We were greeted by a terrific view and a saxophone player who serenaded Janna and I with a love song, thinking we
were a couple. With this experience behind us, we boarded the bus for a five-hour drive to Monroe.

From the opening kickoff, it was obvious that the clash between the Blue Raiders and the Warhawks would be a classic. Ten lead changes later, MT cornerback Bradley Robinson returned a kickoff 89 yards for a touchdown with less than a minute left, stunning the home crowd and sending us back to Murfreesboro with a huge 43-40 victory. After the game the players came over to our section and celebrated with us as we sang the fight song a cappella. The feeling of winning a close game is something that every fan hopes for, and helped make the trip well worth the time and money it took to put together.