Perks

Today consisted of very little of interest (mainly driving to Detroit) but there are two items of note:

1. Swag.

Here in the fantastic Marriot Detroit (located, naturally, in Livonia, Michigan, whose main industry appears to be hotels), there appear to be a number of rooms reserved specifically for Super Bowl media types. Being that my room was booked by the good folks at ESPN the Magazine, I happen to be in one of those rooms. How lovely. Extra lovely, because somebody thought it would be a good idea to welcome us to the room with some weird but no doubt well-meaning free merchandise. As in:

An inventory:
Von Maur fleece blanket.
Von Maur beany fleece pillow.
Strange plastic cloggy shoe things, size 7, women's.
Shoehorn, plastic.
Spanx brand "advanced athletic socks." No, seriously, I couldn't possibly make that up.
A sample of DKNY's "Be Delicious" cologne. Or perfume. I'm not willing to open it and find out.
Wooden paperweight designed to resemble a Von Maur shopping bag.
Von Maur cloth bag (in which to store all of your loot)

Apparent moral of the story: At the Super Bowl, the media are taken care of. Again, how lovely.
Apparent secondary moral of the story: There is a Von Maur around the corner from our hotel.

2. Somebody Else's Expense Account:

My very fine friend Jim, who is responsible for hiring me on for all of this fantastic absurdity, saw it in the kindness of his ESPN the Magazine-funded heart to take his photography crew out to dinner. I would at this point like to express my deepest gratitude to the accountants at the aforementioned Magazine for the excellent meal and several desserts. It is great fun to spend someone else's money.

Tomorrow: Tyler gets his media pass and is promptly banished from Detroit for getting close enough to Joe Theismann to re-break his leg. Sorry, Joe, but you deserved it for your performance as color commentator on ESPN's "Sunday Night Football."