The ride to Oakland-Alameda County Stadium from the team hotel took about a half-hour this morning. You travel over the San Francisco Bay Bridge and continue on a stretch of highway for about another 15-20 minutes before arriving at the stadium. We arrived a little after 8 AM this morning and there were a few pockets of tailgaters enjoying the pre-game festivities.

Once inside the stadium, you travel down a long hallway before you get to the Oakland A's weight room which serves as the visiting post-game press conference room. You walk inside and all of the exercise equipment is set up as if it's still baseball season. That is not the case, at least in Oakland. Staff members were in shortly after we arrived to move around the equipment to make room for the podium where Andy Reid will speak after the game.

On the field, it will look a little different than normal. The baseball infield was sodded so there is no dirt on the field. From the press box, you can see exactly where the baseball field used to be. The one thing I noticed is that the field was relatively slick this morning. It's 61 degrees and cloudy and is expected to remain that way throughout the game.

It's still three-plus hours until kickoff. The first bus of players and coaches has arrived at the stadium. We'll see if the Black Hole lives up to its rep. The seats are very close to the field and low. If you have front-row season, you can't see the action because it's the same level as the ground.

-- Posted by Chris McPherson, 1:12 p.m., October 18