The Opening Line:

Sleep: A luxury most can’t afford on super bowl trip

Monday, Jan. 7, 2008 | 2 a.m.

It sounded like a good idea at the time. A journalist friend was going to be in Arizona the first weekend of February to cover the Super Bowl and he invited me to join him in Chandler for the “festivities.”

Although I didn’t have ready access to a ticket, I considered his invitation. I figured I could take my chances and maybe get a good deal from a scalper shortly after kickoff or, at worst, watch the game at a nearby sports bar.

Then I went online and checked out rates for hotel rooms.

My first choice was Marriott, to beef up my rewards points. A quick search on the Web site revealed no rooms in the entire Phoenix area for the two nights before the Big Game. Hmmmm.

Undaunted, I decided to check Comfort Inn’s site. Again, no room at the Inn for the two nights before the game at the hotel in Chandler. Having been to several major sporting events in my day, I decided to add another night to the search in case the local innkeepers had established a three-night minimum stay.

Bingo! The figure $779.99 didn’t sound completely outrageous until I realized that was per night and not for the three-night stay. I was beginning to sympathize with NASCAR fans who have complained to me for years about hotels quadrupling their room rates during race weekends.

OK, I reasoned, I don’t have to stay near the stadium, so I expanded my search to include any Comfort Inn in the Valley. I found one in Mesa, about 25 miles away, for what would turn out to be a steal: $399.99 a night again, with a three-night minimum.

Back to Marriott.com. A new search, adding a third night, turned up two available hotels one in Mesa for $399.99 a night and another in downtown Phoenix for $650 a night.

By this time, three things had dawned on me:

• First, I just saw this friend a year ago, so it’s not like there’s a big a rush to reestablish some long-lost friendship.

• Second, I have been to a couple of Super Bowls, so the novelty factor is gone.

• Finally, Fox usually does a pretty good job in its NFL coverage.

Needless to say, I’ll be watching this year’s Super Bowl from the comfort of my living room.

THIS WEEK’S BEST BET

UNLV Lady Rebels vs. Colorado State,7 p.m. Wednesday, Cox Pavilion

The Lady Rebels struggled to a 4-9 record to open the season but get a clean slate when Mountain West Conference play opens Wednesday. UNLV was 8-8 and finished sixth in the conference last season.

TICKETS: $5 and $7

ON THE WEB: unlvtickets.com

ALSO WORTH A LOOK

Kaspars Kambala vs. Alvaro Morales,7 p.m. Friday, The Orleans

Former UNLV basketball player Kaspars Kambala makes his professional boxing debut against fellow heavyweight Alvaro Morales (1-0-2) in the Mardi Gras Ballroom.

TICKETS: $25 and $50

ON THE WEB: www.crown-boxing-inc.com

Brian Hilderbrand can be reached at 259-4089 or at bh@lasvegassun.com.