TAMPA, Fla. — First road trip of the '11 season, and just like last week's preseason opener at Gillette, the weather down here in Florida is postcard-perfect for a late summer football game. The above photo was taken from my hotel window, a spectacular sunrise view of tonight's venue, Raymond James Stadium, with downtown Tampa to its right and the famous bay even further to the right and out of frame. The sun, to me, looked like a Florida orange dropping into a bowl.
We enjoyed an uneventful flight down here with the team last evening, and it's been a quiet morning so far. Trips are a little different for the PFW crew this year, with Andy and Paul holding down the fort back in New England, and Fred and I representing the paper on the road. Speaking of which, if you missed last week's debut of Andy and Paul's Pre-Game Social broadcast on the Facebook page, tune in tonight from 5:15 Eastern to 7:15. The show isn't quite like PFW in Progress (it's not meant to be), but it's still entertaining and informative. Toward the end of the show, I'll call in live from the Raymond James press box with any breaking news and/or observations from pre-game warmups.