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?