Left my house at 2 p.m., a full six hours before kickoff, to head to the Runway in anticipation of the traffic apocalypse we were told was inevitable. Experienced no traffic at all, and got to Rentschler at 3, in a downpour, with five hours to kill. I'm sure traffic is worse now, but there sure didn't seem to be a heck of a lot of cars at Cabella's. I would have gone inside to see what the hubbub was all about, but I'm a man of principle. I'm the guy who refuses to even glance out the corner of his eye when passing an accident on the highway because of my disdain of rubber-neckers and, as Montgomery Burns would call them, slack-jawed gawkers. Cabella's forced me to leave my house at least two, maybe three hours, before I would have because of their thirst for publicity. So, I'll buy my bright orange camoflague and night-vision goggles elsewhere.

Apparently, the rest of the media was thinking the same as me. It was a near full house in the press box at 3. With five hours til kickoff, everyone is gorging themselves at the Dunkin' Donuts table. They have their new flatbread sandwiches and individual pizza for us, so, I felt obliged to try both. Surprisingly, the pizza wasn't awful. They skimp a bit on the meat in the flatbread ham and swiss. It's mostly bread. An air sandwich. I recommend passing on it.

Did someone let Joe Morelli into the press box? Mike and the Mad Dog, the televised YES broadcast, is now blaring from the televisions. Not a big fan. I have the iPod on.

Otherwise, it's going to be a really wet one here tonight. Forcast calls for it to get really heavy after sunset. Could cut into offense, or at least slow the Cardinals. I expect it will have a big effect on the crowd, too. Might be lots of empty seats.