Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
COLUMN: Before exams, an extraordinary night of normalcy
5/1/2022 5:30:00 PM | General
The return of the RCAs from a two-year in-person hiatus capped off a great year in Blue Raider athletics
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — There's a lot of "firsts" one comes across in their first year within an athletic department, as it was for me this school year. The first football camp, the first interview (thanks Jim Toman), the first game at Murphy Center, the first midweek softball matchup, the first time Rick Insell goes off in a tangent in the post-game press conference (usually about something more interesting than what I asked about, for the record!).
Of all the firsts, I think I'm going to remember my first Raiders' Choice Awards above everything else. The lights, the blue carpet, the cool-as-heck spinny camera at the end of the blue carpet, Tucker Theatre's excellent amenities backstage, everything came together to make it a special night.
But mostly, I'll remember it because it was seemingly every athlete's first RCAs in addition to my own!
"It's fun to see everyone dressed up and not in sweatpants how we usually are," soccer goalkeeper Hannah Suder said, at her first RCAs she's been able to attend in-person. "It's fun before finals start and to be able to support each other."
"It's been really cool just to see everybody dressed up and excited to be out," freshman softball player Anyce Harvey said. "Even though some of the sports are already out, we're all here together."
The COVID-19 pandemic challenged us all in so many ways, particularly in the world of college athletics, where so much of everyone's day-to-day routine, from weight lifting to event planning to even just coaches and administrators mentoring students, had to be altered. One casualty of the pandemic was the in-person Raiders' Choice Awards, as the 2020 and 2021 editions were both exclusively shown in a livestream format.
That meant for so many Blue Raiders, Thursday night was the first night they had the chance to dress to the nines, enjoy everyone, their teammates, their coaches, their other athletes, company, and celebrate what's been a tremendous school year in Murfreesboro.
"All I've heard is how good this event is, and how good everyone around here plays a part in how it does," said Fausto Lopez, a redshirt senior for MT baseball who was at his first RCAs after transferring in from the Junior College level. "It's been awesome."
Indeed, with anyone a junior or younger definitely at their first RCAs, and a plethora of upperclassmen that have transferred in over the past three years, it was quite difficult for me to find student athletes that had been the RCAs before to talk to.
With help from Tony Stinnett, I was able to catch up with two: Francisco Rocha and Alexis Whittington.
"I love this," Rocha said of the RCAs. "I remember being recruited and Jimmy told us 'we have this thing at the end of the year, bring your suit, be ready!' It's just a different night, you know? Because the rest of the nights we just get to sleep. Here, we get to hang out with the other athletes."
The Portuguese tennis star is right. The joy of seeing not only your own teammates, but everyone across the department out and dressed up, was evident on everyone's faces. Friendships, even dating relationships, are common across teams in just about every athletic department in the country of course. But at Middle, these athletes really do want to support and celebrate one another.
The opportunity to do that has been limited the past few years, for all the reasons almost everything has been limited in the past few years. Thankfully, that opportunity is not limited now. One saw it so many times throughout the year: a student athlete group in the student section at football, the campus-wide effort to support the women's basketball team in the WNIT, the softball team making their way across campus to catch the end of that night's baseball game.
The awards themselves, of course, are a tremendous honor to both those who won and those who were nominated. But more than everything, for me, beyond all the prep work that went into it, was this fact: Thursday was just the biggest, the most spectacular return to that normalcy we've seen in a bit here in Murfreesboro. And what a blessing it was to be a part of.
"Seeing everybody's best effort, all dressed up, it's amazing," Whittington said. "You look most forward to treating it like you're walking the red carpet, I think that's the most fun."
Of all the firsts, I think I'm going to remember my first Raiders' Choice Awards above everything else. The lights, the blue carpet, the cool-as-heck spinny camera at the end of the blue carpet, Tucker Theatre's excellent amenities backstage, everything came together to make it a special night.
But mostly, I'll remember it because it was seemingly every athlete's first RCAs in addition to my own!
"It's fun to see everyone dressed up and not in sweatpants how we usually are," soccer goalkeeper Hannah Suder said, at her first RCAs she's been able to attend in-person. "It's fun before finals start and to be able to support each other."
"It's been really cool just to see everybody dressed up and excited to be out," freshman softball player Anyce Harvey said. "Even though some of the sports are already out, we're all here together."
The COVID-19 pandemic challenged us all in so many ways, particularly in the world of college athletics, where so much of everyone's day-to-day routine, from weight lifting to event planning to even just coaches and administrators mentoring students, had to be altered. One casualty of the pandemic was the in-person Raiders' Choice Awards, as the 2020 and 2021 editions were both exclusively shown in a livestream format.
That meant for so many Blue Raiders, Thursday night was the first night they had the chance to dress to the nines, enjoy everyone, their teammates, their coaches, their other athletes, company, and celebrate what's been a tremendous school year in Murfreesboro.
"All I've heard is how good this event is, and how good everyone around here plays a part in how it does," said Fausto Lopez, a redshirt senior for MT baseball who was at his first RCAs after transferring in from the Junior College level. "It's been awesome."
Indeed, with anyone a junior or younger definitely at their first RCAs, and a plethora of upperclassmen that have transferred in over the past three years, it was quite difficult for me to find student athletes that had been the RCAs before to talk to.
With help from Tony Stinnett, I was able to catch up with two: Francisco Rocha and Alexis Whittington.
"I love this," Rocha said of the RCAs. "I remember being recruited and Jimmy told us 'we have this thing at the end of the year, bring your suit, be ready!' It's just a different night, you know? Because the rest of the nights we just get to sleep. Here, we get to hang out with the other athletes."
The Portuguese tennis star is right. The joy of seeing not only your own teammates, but everyone across the department out and dressed up, was evident on everyone's faces. Friendships, even dating relationships, are common across teams in just about every athletic department in the country of course. But at Middle, these athletes really do want to support and celebrate one another.
The opportunity to do that has been limited the past few years, for all the reasons almost everything has been limited in the past few years. Thankfully, that opportunity is not limited now. One saw it so many times throughout the year: a student athlete group in the student section at football, the campus-wide effort to support the women's basketball team in the WNIT, the softball team making their way across campus to catch the end of that night's baseball game.
The awards themselves, of course, are a tremendous honor to both those who won and those who were nominated. But more than everything, for me, beyond all the prep work that went into it, was this fact: Thursday was just the biggest, the most spectacular return to that normalcy we've seen in a bit here in Murfreesboro. And what a blessing it was to be a part of.
"Seeing everybody's best effort, all dressed up, it's amazing," Whittington said. "You look most forward to treating it like you're walking the red carpet, I think that's the most fun."
MTSU Football Signing Day Press Conference 1/3/25
Wednesday, December 03
MTSU Men's Basketball Post Game Presser vs UAB 12/1/25
Tuesday, December 02
Blue Raider Notebook Presented by TOA - December 1st
Monday, December 01
MTSU Football at New Mexico State post-game press conference – 11/29/25
Sunday, November 30
