Dear Football Gods

The ride home after the big game gets easier with each passing year. It was tough in 04 as a student riding back to Annapolis from Fed Ex nearly blacked out . A few months later in New Orleans, the trip back to the hotel was harder than USC's loss because we were one dropped pass in the endzone from a Sugar bowl win. The next day's 17 or so hour car ride was miserable. The following year I was stuck staying with Bulldogs fans who turned out to be inhospitable and made the 8 hour ride home only slightly less painful than the prior year's big loss. Thank God I wasn't in Baton Rouge for the next national stage meltdown in 07, but I did manage to make it to BOA stadium for the ECU debacle in 08. At least that drive was only 5 hours of misery, but that didn't stop me from traveling back to Atlanta in 09 for what I thought would be vengeance in the Georgia Dome against Alabama. We know how that turned out. By that point in my Hokie traveling career, I began to develop an antibody that made the return to home more tolerable. It was the same antibody that became more effective after the following year's season opener against Boise St, although I didn't travel far for that game. I was well prepared to depart Jacksonville in 2010 in misery, but we finally pulled out the W and it made for the best 9 hour car ride of my life. Fast forward to 2011 and any antibody I had was gone because the trip back to Jacksonville was one of the worst. I still regret not going to New Orleans and only listened to my travel companions talk of the 17 or so hour bus ride they endured back to Virginia...I should have been with them for that. My sincere apologies to you. By the time we played Clemson in 2012, I made the trip to Clemson knowing I would be immune to the loss that followed and the 7 hour ride was actually enjoyable. Last year, I knew full well that my third trip to the Georgia Dome would likely end in a 3 and out effort. The 8 hour ride back was a blast.

Post loss traveling is a difficult thing as it should be. There is no telling how I'll feel on Sunday afternoon based on my experiences, but I have this feeling that I'm in for my second truly enjoyable car ride home. I am 1-8 in games that involve serious mileage and I don't intend to stop showing up.....ever. So I ask you Football Gods...why not this time? On paper it truly is possible. I ask you to please be aware of the Hokie fan's struggles. I ask you to imbibe our coaches and players with poise, confidence, execution and a little luck. The talent is there and the time has never been better to be generous to us....we deserve this win. On behalf of Hokie Nation, please be kind to us this Saturday so we can cherish this victory which will be truly appreciated by us all.