Sun Belted Day II Part II: It's Laminated

At the semifinals of the Women's Sun Belt Basketball Championship, I'll be among some pretty prestigous company. I'll be rubbing shoulders with seasoned reporters who have been covering this tournament for decades, Sun Belt Conference officials (including the commish, Wright "Big Daddy" Waters), and ESPN comentators and crew.
But even when I'm in the midst of such media heavyweights, I will stand above the rest. I mean, I stand above them anyway, but...well, you know what I mean...
And do you know why?

Because I'll be laminated.

When I asked to receive my media pass at the Sun Belt tournament today, I expected a credential worthy of a mid-major conference tournament. Instead I got a flimsy piece of paper that almost tore in half when I took it out of it's folder.
It didn't have my name on it or what media outlet I was representing. It only had the letters ME on it, which I hoped stood for something like "Mr. Excellent".
This was unprecedented. I went to the WKU-MTSU game a couple weeks ago, and that credential had my name on it. I could have made a better credential with the back of a business card and a shoestring.
Determined not to be subject with a slipshod press pass, me and my fellow Herald representatives decided to do something about it...

But first we had to eat.

So we moseyed over to the Brick Pit, a tar-paper barbeque shack that was all the rage on Hilltopperhaven.com. When we got inside we saw that not only had they allowed every customer ever to write on the walls and ceiling, but the place had been visited by the likes of Michael W. Smith and Franklin Grahm.
And if this place was good enough for some of the holiest men in America, then it was sure as hell good enough for us.
After dinner, we cruised through downtown Mobile, which was suprisingly placcid for 7:30 pm. We even under some river and saw and battleship. I tried to sink it, but I kept guessing the wrong coordinates.

After our little excursion we ate some ice cream at Marble Slab creamery, before heading over to FedEx Kinko's to get legit.
As the only customers in the store, we felt pretty important. We handed the clerk the four media passes, two reporters, two photo. And followed her around like a herd of puppies as she laminated, then cut the passes into neat professional credentials. Now all we had to do was beg the Sun Belt people to give us some nice looking lanyards to match.

After getting back to the hotel, we watched all the videos on Youtube, watched Luke the photog nearly have a heart attack, then went to bed after a nice, full day.

So when you're watching WKU and Arkansas State play in the semifinals, look for me.

I'll be the only one laminated.