Edward R. Murrow would be proud

Just in case anyone needed any more proof that EVERY SINGLE ASPECT of the Super Bowl is explored by the media in the days leading up to the big game, we now have stories examining the impact that the Bears-Colts match-up will have on toilets around the country.

What a business.

It's Alive!!

After a short (technology-induced) hiatus, ITC is pleased to be back in service. Greetings from the Miami Beach Convention Center, which has been overrun by several thousand media members this week in search of anything even remotely resembling an original story about either the Colts or Bears.

Along those lines, witness the fascination that Bears RB Thomas Jones' hot car inspired at a media session this morning at the Chicago team hotel. This picture doesn't even do the scene justice; reporters were literally pushing each other to get the smallest of nuggets from Jones about his orange Ferrari (which, by the way, has an orange dashboard and interior paneling, too).

So far, my virgin Super Bowl voyage has been pretty low-key; my biggest complaint is that I'm perpetually cold. At first, I thought maybe it was just me - then I called the front desk of my hotel and was told that there actually is no heat in the hotel at all. "You can push the thermostat all the way up and nothing will happen," the attendant said cheerfully, prompting me to politely tell him that I knew that already, hence my phone call.

Still, I'm not complaining. Last night I stopped by an outdoor party on South Beach which featured several bikini-clad girls playing volleyball in the sand. There didn't seem to be any sort of tournament or anything going - the girls were simply there to look at while we sampled food from several stations.

Who says the NFL isn't a full-service entertainment operation?

Somewhere ...

... Jack Del Rio is wondering how close he is to doing what Tony Dungy and Bill Belichick are doing right now: Preparing for the AFC Championship game.

It's funny how close the Jaguars were to a playoff spot this year - a squib kick away, maybe, or one horrendous day from David Garrard from having enough wins to get in. How differently would the season look right now if either of those things hadn't happened?

A day to remember

When I was at school in Atlanta I always went to The King Center in the week leading up to Martin Luther King Jr. Day. It's a wonderful museum and is near to Dr. King's birth home and the Ebenezer Baptist Church. Sitting in the pews at the church, listening to recordings of Dr. King's speeches was something that resonated with me.

My parents had told me about what it was like to be at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. on Aug. 28, 1963, standing among thousands upon thousands of people. That speech, the famous "I Have A Dream" speech, was a catalyst for the 1964 Civil Rights Act and remains one of the greatest orations in history. Dr. King won the Nobel Prize a year after delivering it.

Here's the text of the speech. It's worth a read.

Back in Town

Take my advice: Don't move.

Like, ever.

Just stay in whatever house or apartment you're in right now. Trust me.

If you don't, you could end up like The Fiancee and I --- which means riddled with paper cuts, smelling like packing paper and living in a dwelling that looks as though a tornado swelled up out of the dishwasher one night.

In other words, I wish I was in Hawaii right now like Reggie Lewis and a few other Gators.

All-in

Since flights were so expensive getting out of Phoenix on Tuesday - and, as it turned out, I needed to be in Arizona for a victory press conference anyway - my flight back to Florida doesn't leave until the morning. That meant I had a free night here this evening so I decided to test out the local poker room.

Poker has been an interest of mine for about six years. I started playing seriously after stumbling upon a tournament in Biloxi when I was on a weekend trip there with The Fiancee (then The Girlfriend) during our senior year at Emory. I managed to finish second and win $500, quickly hooking me to the game.

For about eight months after I graduated, poker was actually my main source of income. I played constantly - traveling casinos to Las Vegas, Mississippi, Connecticut and Atlantic City - and joined an underground club in Manhattan that was similar to ones you might have seen in "Rounders" (minus the scary Russians).

Anyway, since becoming a sports writer I haven't been able to play nearly as often but I still love a good tournament. With some time to kill, I hit up Fort McDowell Casino and played the 7 p.m. no-limit hold 'em tournament. Long story short? I lasted about two hours, finishing somewhere around 30th out of 90 people (no cash, sadly). The atmosphere was nice though, and I'd definitely recommend checking out "The Fort" or Casino Arizona if you get out here.

Sorry Chewy ...

There is no greater morning in a sports fan's life then the one Gators fans wake up to today.

Florida was absolutely dominant last night, battering Ohio State up and down the field with a textbook display of Urban Meyer's offense. The Buckeyes were feeble and helpless; not even Chewbacca cheering for them could turn them back from the Dark Side.

Questions about what comes next - who will go pro and who will stay? - began almost as soon as the game was over, but there is plenty of time to worry about them later. For now, members of Gator Nation should simply revel in the ultimate satisfaction their team has given them.

It's a feeling that every other fan around the country can only dream about.

Wing Beneath My Wings

It's nice to see a familiar (albeit furry) face here tonight: Challenger, a bald eagle, will be doing his flying thing before tonight's game.

Challenger used to appear at big Yankee games, though it's believed the organization became a little less-interested in having him there after he was spooked by a fighter jet flyover and nearly hit Derek Jeter and Jason Giambi in the head. Challenger's supporters, of course, downplay that episode, saying the players shouldn't have been worried and that the bird would have easily cleared them.

Either way, it's good to see Challenger putting in an honest day's work again.

Keep an eye on ...

... the seams in the field. If my camera phone was any good, I'd be able to show you a picture but the turf that's on the field here - which, by the way, is different than the turf they used last week for the Fiesta Bowl - has visible seams in between the pieces of sod. If someone trips at a crucial point tonight, you'll know why.

Only 210 minutes till kickoff ...

Well, we're here at University of Phoenix Stadium and word is there's actually going to be a live football game played tonight. This is exciting news.

D-Roc emerged from his holding cell - where he's been writing stories non-stop for the past 30 days - to join us on the media shuttle over here. He looked a little pasty and malnourished, but all of us enjoyed the police escort from Scottsdale to Glendale. The motorcycles whizzing by to stop traffic made passerby think there was an important group onboard the buses (maybe even the players!) but alas it was only us lowly journalists. The fans who ran up to the buses as we pulled up at the Stadium were sorely disappointed: they had been hoping to see a regal-looking Troy Smith; instead they saw a wheezing Smitter.

In other news, The Fiancee reports that Comcast Cable Man showed up to fix the issues that our two-day old internet/phone connection was having ... four hours after he was supposed to be there. In an unrelated note, The Fiancee is now studying laws relating to murder for her Florida Bar Exam prep course.

Fearless Predictions

1. The game will not start on time because Fox is doing another promo for their new reality show, "Wait A Minute - You're Not My Wife!"

2. In a tragic choreography accident, the Ohio State Marching Band dots the "H" by mistake.

3. Chris Leak vowed to win multiple national titles when he got to Florida and, unfortunately for him, this is as close as he'll come to even getting one. Florida may play in the best conference in the country, but this time the Gators are up against the best team: Ohio State 17, Florida 7.

Desert Magic

It's been hip to label Florida as this year's version of the 2002 Ohio State team, the one which upset hugely-favored Miami in the Fiesta Bowl to win a national title. I covered that game and it's probably one of the craziest nights I've ever seen live.

Remember what happened? Any 'Canes fans out there surely do. The Buckeyes nearly won in regulation but Miami kicked a field goal with 40 seconds left to send it to OT, then scored to go ahead and thought they'd stopped OSU when a fourth down pass fell incomplete. Fireworks went off and confetti started falling as Miami danced around in celebration.

And then it stopped. The field judge threw a late flag for pass interference and OSU got another chance, scoring to force another OT before winning the game a few moments later.

Was it a late call? No doubt. Was it a bad call? Doesn't look like it. My column today is about the man who threw the flag, Terry Porter, and what's happened to him since that night.

Officials have always intrigued me, mostly because of the level of excellence that fans and coaches seem to expect from them. Errors are part of the game, we're always told, but for some reason that doesn't apply to the refs; they're supposed to be perfect.

In Porter's case, I think he made the right call even if he was crucified afterward for how long he took to do it. But there's no guarantee that Florida (or Ohio State) won't play well enough to win tomorrow night and get hurt by a bad decision from the zebras. "You can't think about stuff like that," Dallas Baker said. "If you do, you're focusing on the wrong thing." Then again, it's also possible that an ref's blunder could help the Gators, too. "Oh yeah," Baker said. "Maybe they could just give us 14 points as soon as we kick off. That'd work fine for me."

All He Does is Catch Touchdowns

Saw Cris Carter (Ohio State 84-86) in the restaurant at the hotel here and I'm sure there will be several more guest star sightings in the next two days. Carter went to eight Pro Bowls, caught 1,101 passes for 13,899 yards and 130 TDs during his NFL career. Even though he's 41, I was this close to going up to him and asking if he might be interested in playing for the Jaguars.

48 Hours

It feels like it's been forever but we're actually getting close to playing some football. Novel concept.

D-Roc has a great story in today's paper about the go-to guys on each team - Dallas Baker and Anthony Gonzalez - who alway seem responsible for moving the chains on a big down. Smitter comes with a piece on everyone's favorite QB, Tim Tebow, while I wrote my column on Chris Hetland's chance for redemption after a difficult season.

Kickers are an unusual breed. As part of the Hetland story I sat and talked with Ohio State kicker Ryan Pretorius, who is actually a 27-year-old sophomore from South Africa. He played rugby all over the world before getting into kicking and is now hoping for a shot in the NFL. In other words, he's lived in Paris, London and all over Europe ... and now lives in Columbus. "Um, well, it's not as pretty," he said, before quickly adding, "but I really do like it."

As for Hetland, everyone with the Gators (not surprisingly) thinks he'll come through if he needs to make a kick in the game. His roommate (and holder) Butch Rowley told me, "I know he will. He's a big game guy and he's been waiting for this chance." The question, of course, is if he'll even get an opportunity. Urban Meyer has said he's not real comfortable sending the kicking unit in unless the ball is inside the 20-yard line, which could make for some interesting third-down calls if Florida is in two-down territory.

The Running of the Bull (otherwise known as Media Day)

First off, let me ask the question that Smitter and I debated on the way back from University of Phoenix Stadium: Has there ever been another stadium or arena named after a university that didn't have a football team? I mean, isn't the University of Phoenix just a bunch of guys sitting in an office park somewhere with a lot of computers?

Anyway, media day was the expected spectacle. Four or five players sat on big risers (as did the coach), then there were another bunch of players (the second-tier stars, I guess) scattered throughout the stands and then everyone else (the proletariat of the team) sat in a clump of seats off to the side. If you wanted one of those players, you had to wade through everyone and ask them to come out and talk.

Most Valuable Player of the media day? The woman who was responsible for sitting and transcribing the head coaches sessions -- each of which lasted a full 60 minutes. I'd never actually watched someone develop carpal tunnel syndrome before, so that was new.

After OSU finished its availability, a pack of reporters waited alongside the stands where the Gators would come in, scouting out a spot for Reggie Nelson, who hasn't spoken publicly since the death of his mother. Nelson didn't show up, however, and Urban Meyer admitted that he wouldn't be surprised if focus was - understandably - a bit of a problem for Nelson on Monday. That said, he expects Nelson to play and play well because, in his words, he's one of the best players Meyer has ever seen.

As for his pregame speech to the players, Meyer said he'll have plenty of material to draw on to fire up the team. Here's something he should point out: the seats in the stadim are painted scarlet and gray!

Travel Day, Part III

The cab ride in from the airport was interesting - the cabbie's trunk was incredibly awkwardly-designed so he actually put my big suitcase in the front seat next to him and belted it in. Six days is one of those amounts of time that's just a little too much for carry-on only bag; if it was four, I probably could have gotten by with just a carry-on.

The media hotel here is out of control. Most of the time I think fans have a glorified idea of what being a sports writer is all about but at these big events it's hard to dispute the notion that we don't get a lot of perks. An hour after I checked in I walked by the front desk and saw the "media hospitality room" that is open all day and has snacks, drinks and couches to lounge around on; then in the room behind that there are video games including (my favorite) Golden Tee. It's not exactly Attica or anything.

Still, there's a lot of work ahead, too. D-Roc and Smitter are out here with me and they've both been grinding, especially D-Roc who does a great job on the Gator beat. As someone who covered the Yankees in the playoffs several times, I know how tough it can be for a beat guy at a big event - mostly, you just want to make sure you cover all the angles.

Of course, at a game like this there are few angles that don't get covered - after all, with a month's worth of lead time makes it hard to miss much. What do you think the most interesting storyline is about this match-up?

Travel Day, Part II

No guest-star appearances in Dallas - only a dry turkey sandwich and a pack of UF fans hustling along with me from Terminal D to Terminal A. All flights to Phoenix are packed, which is hardly surprising. I was able to jump on my e-mail briefly and saw that Chris Leak did a press conference this morning, along with several other Florida players. As usual, Leak wasn't particularly revealing in his answers but Jemalle Cornelius had an interesting response when he was asked how he would defend against the Gators if he were an Ohio State coach. His response:

"I would probably, you know, just blitz. No matter who I was playing, I am the type of guy who would be real aggressive and just blitz and play man-to-man coverage."

Back with more when I get to Phoenix.

Travel Day, Part I (with a special guest star)

Good morning from the Crown Room Club at Jacksonville airport. The first of two flights I'm taking on the way to Arizona doesn't leave until 10:30 a.m. but I got here early because The Fiancee had to drop me off on her way to Bar Review class (she's a lawyer).

Typically the sort of people you see in these clubs ranges from harried families - kids screaming, knocking over the complimentary day-old scone tray - to irritated businessmen, who are usually looking at their Blackberry constantly and appear about two seconds away from committing homicide against the bratty kids.

This morning was different. I walked into the club and it was actually pretty quiet. As soon as I came around the corner to the coffee bar I saw several thick-looking men sitting in the chairs, talking to each other. They looked like football players. And they were football players.

"What's up man?" one of them said and suddenly I realized it was Fred Taylor talking to me. He and a few buddies were waiting for their flight, too, heading west for a few days of vacation. When I asked if he was planning to make it to Phoenix for the game - Taylor was on UF's 1996 national championship team - he laughed and said he wasn't sure but he was thinking about it.

This figures to be an interesting offseason for Taylor, who is looking for a new contract and has said he might demand a trade. He wasn't interested in talking about that this morning though; after a long season, he just wanted to relax.

Double Double

I know that most of you probably don't like Ohio State. That's fine. But how can you not respect a guy who begins his first press conference of the week with this?

Reporter (paraphrasing): Troy, do you think the fact that you guys are familiar with playing Bowl games in Arizona gives you any advantage?

Troy Smith: "The first thing that I am most familiar with is In-and-Out Burger, which is around the corner from our hotel. Probably the height of my day every day getting a chance to go to In-and-Out burger. I love those cheeseburgers."

Smith then goes on, later in the interview, to explain to anyone who doesn't know exactly why the burgers are so good. "For the folks back in Ohio, they need to understand first and foremost, it is a fresh burger," he said. "The lettuce and tomatoes are extremely fresh. And they toast the buns. That's huge. That's key. They toast the buns. They use a special kind of sauce, too. It is an extremely -- the sandwich is incredible after a long night."

Tasty.

Up All Night?

Sorry for the late post today but I was away from my computer all day because the moving people arrived with about 5,000 pounds worth of stuff from our New York apartment. At this moment, there are approximately 200 cardboard boxes in our new place and I'm pretty sure The Fiancee is buried under packing paper somewhere. Hopefully I can locate her at some point.

I'm particularly tired today, too, because I was up till 1 a.m. last night watching the unbelievable Fiesta Bowl game in which Boise State blew a big lead, came back and then upset Oklahoma in overtime on a straight-up old school Statue of Liberty play. Seriously, the only other place I saw that work was on blacktop at Chatsworth Elementary School back in fifth grade, yet Boise pulled it out on the biggest play of their season. Not bad.

Apparently Urban Meyer wasn't able to stay awake for all the drama. At his arrival press conference in Phoenix earlier today, he was asked about the game and said: "I hate to say this, I fell asleep and my wife kept hitting me. She said it was the greatest football game she ever saw. I saw some of the coaches of Coach Petersen and Boise State. I followed them closely when Coach Hawkins was there and what a great game. To go for two at the end, I thought that was great. That's what makes the Bowl games so special."

Would Urban have the guts to pull off a play like that? I'm not so sure. Then again, he did try that fake punt in the Arkansas game, so who knows? Here's what I'm sure of: When a coach like Ohio State's Jim Tressel has almost two months to prepare, a team better show up for the game with some new tricks in its playbook. Maybe the Gators won't be running Statue of Liberty calls, but I'd be shocked if they didn't have something funky ready to go to try and throw the Buckeyes off.

Greetings from Gate A3

Hello from Memphis International Airport, where the stale donuts seem to be leftover from 2006 but the wireless is free.

I'm waiting on a connecting flight from Kansas City, where the Jaguars saw their season end about mid-way through the fourth quarter yesterday. I wrote today about how the Jags season was, basically, a failure because they didn't make the playoffs. So far my email box this morning seems to indicate that many of you agree with me, though some are a little less harsh about the whole thing. To me, the playoffs are what pro sports teams are primarily judged on; fail to play in the postseason and the year wasn't a success.

Anyway, I'm headed back to Jacksonville shortly where I'll be meeting The Fiancee (fans from my old blog may remember her as The Girlfriend). The movers from New York are slated to arrive at our new place tomorrow at 8:30 a.m., so we've got a lot to do, starting with the purchase of a new car. We're thinking mid-size SUV -- decent size, not one of those tanks-with-rims that are the car du jour in the NFL.

For all those shaking off post-New Year's hangovers: My condolences. Try aspirin and orange juice. If that doesn't work, try a Bloody Mary.