Editor’s note: On Thursday the Northern Star sent a reporter to journal about his experience on the student buses destined for the Mac Championship game in Detroit.

It’s 8 a.m. Thursday, and 100 students stand outside of the NIU Convocation Center as an early morning chill sweeps through the area, bringing with it a steady, thick snow. Good thing then, with this weather, that everyone was on the wrong side of the building, and the bus was idling quietly on the opposite side of the building.

I was with those misguided students for a few moments until I realized we were supposed to meet on the north side of the Convo. A quick loop around brought me to the far side of the lot, where I approached the person who appeared to be in charge. He stood straight, clipboard in hand. I discovered later he was Campus Activities Board President John Acardo.

“Do you know there is a large group of students waiting on the other side of the building?” I asked.

He reacted immediately and proceeded to go corral the wayward students. After all, they had a big game to get to.

Six buses were allotted to take 300 students for $5 a seat, but under 200 students ended up going on four buses.

“A lot more students would have come if it wasn’t the week before finals,” said freshman Rebeca Manjarres. “It was the deal of a lifetime.”

“We tried to get as cheap a price as we could for the students,” said Acardo.

The day after NIU won the MAC West title, he was contacted by the Athletics Department about getting a bus trip together.

Despite the early hour, a grumbling buzz passed throughout the group.

The passengers checked in and I got on my bus. It was uncomfortably full. A few students ate breakfast, and most fans were talkative, beaming with optimism about the game.

A cell phone call alerted some of us the fourth bus had more room. Eight of us switched buses quickly in the interest of comfort.

We waited two minutes, until 8:30, for the last straggling passengers to pile in. It took us three minutes to make the left hand turn onto Lincoln Highway. This is going to take forever, I mused.

The trip began with the mandated four-minute Peoria Charter Safety Video. We all sat there, staring blankly at the TV telling us legal disclaimers we had heard countless times. “Always keep the aisles free,” etc.

I got the feeling many people in this group are not normally awake at this hour. Several yawns were let out and their contagious nature spread through the bus like a line of dominoes falling, one after the other.

I began snoring so loudly, I woke myself up. I must have dozed off, “Wow! It is already 10:15 and we are in Indiana!”

Most of the fans on the trip were easy-going underclassman. The conscious ones played games while others listened to music on headphones.

At the back of the bus, the rising noise of shenanigans indicated some sort of other entertainment began. They had what appeared to be bottled water but the pungent smell indicated something else.

We stopped in at a rest stop at noon for about 20 minutes. The throng of NIU students overtook the tiny rest stop. The vending machines were pillaged and students took many maps and brochures they would never use.

After we got back on the bus the free T-shirts and lunches were handed out.

The shirts had “2005 MAC West Division Champions” set over an NIU logo. The lunches had a couple of sandwiches, chips, an apple, a cookie and a beverage. The lunch was nothing spectacular, but I appreciated the free, simple meal.

Michigan’s elevated 70 mph speed limit eased the journey across state. At 3:45 EST, we first encountered the stop-and-go portion of Detroit traffic. Ford Field came into view 15 minutes later, and I was thrilled the ride was almost over.

We got off the bus soon after and had more than three hours until game time.

“We had to leave early to give the drivers a rest time of eight hours,” Acardo said. But finally, kick-off neared.

Any championship game is exciting, but the several lead changes made for a certified barn-burner.

The last touchdown was scored by Akron and the NIU fans were appalled. The reaction was either to scream an expletive or be silent in shock. The fact we had to leave immediately for the bus was no longer problematic. It was soothing, and I thought, “Get me out of this forsaken place!”

Almost everyone shook their head in disgust as they got on the bus.

“This ride is going to be so much longer now,” said freshman Amber Jotzat.

As we waited to leave, jubilant Akron fans gloated by cheering loudly as they passed the NIU buses. In accordance with true college fan decorum, one of our passengers mooned those boasting Akron faithful.

Another Akron fan banged on the window, so our driver got out to ensure the perpetrator would not break a window. The apparently intoxicated fan’s reaction to the reprimand was to put up his dukes and throw some mock punches to threaten the older man. Our driver did not flinch and the enemy combatant went away. Amidst the hysteria, we left at 11:45 p.m.

On the bus everyone became hindsight coaches, regardless of football expertise, and nitpicked at what should have been done to win the game.

At 12:15 a.m., a nasty two-car crash brought the return trip to a crawl for 15 minutes. Everyone except the driver slept for some portion of the trip home. There is no real way to get a good night’s rest when on a bus folded up like a joey in a kangaroo pouch.

I woke up at 2:35, back in the central time zone, and passed clumsily through the obstacle course of sleeping students to go to the on-board washroom. As I came out I sighed, realizing we have pulled over at the Michigan City, Ind. rest stop. Glad I used the tiny bathroom on the bus instead.

Loss or not, it was an experience.

“The trip was long, but it was fun and worth going to,” said freshman finance major Vikki Krencius.

When we returned to the Convo Center at 5 a.m. Friday, it was bitterly cold. A few people got in cars, but most took the brisk walk back to the residence halls, faces stinging in the wind. The wind chill was five degrees below zero, entirely appropriate after a devastating loss and a lengthy trip.