GREEN BAY – It was going to be a long day. I was headed to Green Bay on assignment to cover the Packers, who were playing the New Orleans Saints to start the official NFL season. And this time, the game counted.

Instead of leaving at 2 p.m. as planned, I thought leaving two hours early was the best logistical idea that I could come up with. It was better to get there sooner than be backed up for miles on Highway 41 late in the afternoon.

When I arrived in Green Bay around 2:30, the streets were lined with green and gold decorations and fans in Packer jerseys. Private parking in residential neighborhoods was at a premium. It was $10 to park in somebody's yard about six blocks from Lambeau Field. The closer you got to the stadium, like two blocks, they charged $10 more.

Usually, as a member of the sports media who covers the Packers for a small weekly paper, getting a parking permit to park in the stadium parking lot is either hit or miss, depending on the visiting team and how many of their media members they bring along with them that need the extra parking spaces. And since I'm at the bottom of the food chain, I don't always get a pass. When I don't get one, I park in a residential neighborhood and walk to Lambeau.

As I walked through the large crowd around the stadium, I stopped to look at an ambulance decked out in green and gold colors. Inside the truck were team photos and other Green Bay memorabilia. The guy said I could go inside and look, but I declined. Then he took me to a navy blue Chevy Suburban, opened up the back doors, and I saw a big pig stretched out on the floor. He told me that it was already cooked. That pig was roasting in 70-degree weather in the back with the doors closed.

The NFL Network did their pregame show from a set on the north side of the stadium. Deion Sanders and Sterling Sharpe (he is still loved and respected here) were front and center. Sharpe looked 50 pounds heavier than in his playing days because he wore a large suit. The talking heads were talking about what was going to happen in the Packers-Saints game, but the outcome would be decided on the field.

In the Lee Remmel Press Box, I sat next to a reporter from Portland, Ore., who was really here to cover the Oregon State football team that played the Badgers on Saturday. He left Green Bay to drive to Madison in the wee hours of Friday morning.

Next to him was a female reporter who came all the way from Holland to see the Packers for the first time. She was on her way to Minnesota to cover the Vikings. I reminded her that they are our rivals around here.

In a friendly way, I asked her how much the plane fare was one way. She said it was 800 Euros. I didn't feel stupid in asking her to convert that figure into American dollars. She said it was about $1,000 U.S. The young, attractive woman used her credit card, so there was no exchange of Euro cash into U.S. dollars.

The first half of the game was exciting. The NFL wanted a high-scoring game and a shootout between Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers. For half a game, it looked pretty good for the Pack when they took a 28-17 lead into the locker room.

There was no way that the Saints' offense would catch up with the Packers as long as defensive coordinator Dom Capers took his dogs off the leash, not with a 42-27 lead in the fourth quarter. Rookie Randall Cobb excited the fans with his two trips to the end zone on a catch and a kick return with an escort down the left sideline.

Then the unthinkable was thinkable. The Saints cut seven points off the Packer lead at 42-34 and was driving for another TD and possible two-point conversion that would've tied the game at 42. Thanks to the "D" for their goal line stand to save the game.

One thing that stood out in the post-game press conference with Rodgers was when he was asked what made him play so well in the game. He joked that if was his offseason workouts. If, according to Rodgers, some of the players would have met and worked out during the lockout, they probably would have scored more points. I guess it didn't matter to him because the team scored enough to win the game. Would you call him a guy who's a little arrogant now? I would.