Blogger and NEWSWEEK Contributor Robert Cox continues to file from the Super Bowl:

At the airport, preparing for the long plane ride out to Phoenix (with a layover in frigid Chicago) I loaded up on the local New York papers as well as sports magazines to get up to speed on the media’s narratives for Super Bowl week. Media Day was Tuesday where the main story appeared to be a reporter in a wedding dress proposing to Tom Brady, Eli Manning and even a few second-stringers. Surprisingly, the Giants were not even the lead story in the New York tabloids--The New York Post and New York Daily News both featured the Mets blockbuster trade for Twins ace Johan Santana. Talk about a tough media town.  You can it even make the front page when you go the Super Bowl.

After reading all the New York papers and national magazines on the plane, then reading and watching the local coverage in Arizona, eight primary narratives emerged:

• Can the Patriots go 19-0?
• Is Tom Brady’s ankle OK?
• Tom Brady as all-around stud
• Are the Giants talking too much about winning the game?
• The coming of age of Eli Manning
• The enigma that is Bill Belichick
• Tom Coughlin’s transformation from Taciturn Terror to Teddy Bear
• The Giants road win streak of 10-0   
  

• The Cost – tickets, hotel rooms, rental cars, events
• TV Ratings – expectations are for a ratings bonanza for Fox
• Parties – the celebrities are arriving and the paparazzi are out in full-force

By my count these 11 themes made up about 90% of the stories.

A candidate for a 12th narrative could emerge in the story of Jerry Reese, the Giants General Manager who has proven to be a brilliant draft day GM (all of his draft picks made the team including major contributors like Steve Smith, Ahmad Bradshaw and Kevin Boss) and just happens to be the second African-American GM to make it to the Super Bowl (ironically, the first was Ozzie Newsome whose Baltimore Ravens tattooed the Giants 34-7 in Super Bowl XXXV).  The emergence of Ryan Grant of the Green Bay Packers, traded at the beginning of the season by Reese, might have come back to bite him had Giants Brandon Jacobs and rookie Bradshaw not emerged as one of the most potent 1-2 combinations in the league – the Giants were just that deep at running back and someone had to go.

I am taking pictures while I'm here and set up a flickr account to display my photos from Super Bowl XLII.  I can both send photos from my Apple iPhone directly to flickr (lower quality but more timely photos) and upload them from my Nikon D-80 via my laptop (higher quality but only when I have a chance to get online with my computer.

All of my Super Bowl XLII Photos can be viewed here.