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FOXBOROUGH – Sights and sounds from a raucous Route 1 …

There are certain sporting perks to hauling life out of the city and into the ‘burbs, even in spite of a once-upon-a-time one-mile Brookline-to-Fenway commute. A 15-minute almost-straight-back-roads-shot to Gillette Stadium from the current abode makes up the difference for such previous convenience. I did, however, arrive at Gillette, where the Patriots opened up the 2005 campaign, to some horrid accounts of traffic stemming from a crowd that had been arriving here since nearly 1 p.m. yesterday afternoon. Flipping over to WBZ-1030 on the way up, I got a startle when the traffic copter dude reported a smooth ride coming from the north on Route 1, but a mess backed up to 495 coming from the south. Tabloid traffic reports causing panic? Possibly.

Instead of hitting traffic, though, I was parking my car about six minutes after hearing that report. I’ve seen less traffic at an impromptu Ray Pruitt pumpkin patch concert. Meanwhile, it took the Globe’s Jackie MacMullan 2 1/2 hours from that supposedly free-flowing direction of Route 1, due to the mess that was 95 South. Hey, Arnie Pie, get the compass checked out.

Surprising number of Raiders fans prowling the Route 1 asphalt saloons prior to the game, albeit only a few went all-out with the Kiss makeup and whatnot. Yes, peace appeared to be in order, and in fact I overheard one Raider fan, Sapp jersey in tow, speak the following into a cell phone. “They do it right here.” Aww.

Funny how the Patriots haven’t peddled any glorified Scott’s by-product over the past few years. Think of the profits.

It’s not so much that I can’t believe they’re selling grass over on Yawkey Way, it’s that it costs $150 to purchase an 18” x 9” plot (yes, those are inches). Sweet. Now if I want to cover up that burned spot on my lawn where I inadvertently left my Trapper Keeper, at least I can be moronic about doing it. This is grass, people. Grass. Sod ain’t cheap, but it’s a heck of a lot cheaper than this version. God forbid the Bruins ever win the Stanley Cup, or we’ll all have to have the option of purchasing a Diet Pepsi at the Garden, chilled with a little bit of “history.”

Let it be noted that Kanye West and Maroon 5 were roundly booed by the 80-something percent capacity Gillette crowd during their remote performance in the NFL Kickoff extravaga-something pregame show. That is all.

Even though there is no Tedy Bruschi on the field, his “Full Tilt, Full Time” fan club still resides in its usual spot near the corner of the lighthouse end zone. Some sad offseason news from former Patriots Fan of the Year Randy “Zip” Pierce, though. Not only does he enter this season with the loss of his favorite player, but also the services of his seeing-eyed dog Ostend, who passed away back in May.

So, the Patriots had these mini-versions of the banner they unfurled (their third in case you lost count) waiting for members of the press and the private boxes that make up the circumference of the stadium. That includes Raiders owner Al Davis, who is in a booth right next door. Big Al picked it up, stared at it for a moment, and then calmly laid it back down. Not so sure if he’ll be hanging it in his Bay Area office, but there wasn’t any destruction going on either. Which was too bad. I was kind of hoping to see him do a Clark Griswold upon discovering the wet ham sandwich.

Rumors of an Ozzy Osbourne appearance proved to be true when he popped out to play a Gillette fave “Crazy Train” after the unveiling of the banner. Which of course, went over just awfully well with the Gillette crowd. The only act just as fitting might have been AC/DC, whose “Hell’s Bells” is of course another Foxborough staple. Call it the team’s penance for making its fans have to sit through Maroon 5.

But no Terry Cashman? What gives?

ESPN’s Michael Smith, a New Orleans area native, reports his family escaped harm’s way during last week’s hurricane.

Tonight was the 118th consecutive sellout for the Patriots. Yes kids, there were actually days when young fans growing up just 20 miles to the south couldn’t watch home games on TV because there were plenty of empty seats in the building.

As you might expect, they were whooping it up in Davis’ box during the opening drive, which resulted in a 7-0 Oakland lead. As far as drives to open the season go, it was a damned impressive one for sure. Then again, so was Ben Watson. The Antonio Gates of 2005? He looked that good early on, but let’s not go nuts yet. At the very least, he set career highs tonight. And let’s just say if anyone can build on a Super Bowl MVP performance, Deion Branch seems to be doing it.

Bruschi got a huge ovation when the end zone camera caught him hanging out on the sideline. Obviously.

There’s a shot on the last page of the Patriots’ Gameday program depicting each of Bob Kraft’s championship rings, a photo that the publishers had to get a hold of obviously before the whole Vladimir Putin escapade, a story that will go down as easily the most hysterical New England sports story of 2005. I mean, if there’s a guy you ever wanted to take into a Circuit City with you, it’s the Russian prez, no?

An irate Davis heard screaming through the plexiglass in between the press box and his luxury suite during the two minute warning of the first half: “What the *&^% are you doing?”

Um … so, anyone else in the Randy Moss-is-pretty-damned-good admittance stage yet? Kerry Collins’ 73-yard strike to him almost midway through the second quarter was ridiculous. The Oakland QB could very well live up to the bevy of preseason hype that surrounded him because of Moss’ presence. Meanwhile, Corey Dillon didn’t exactly come out legs a blazing, rushing for three total yards in the first half. And while he continued to struggle in the second half, including coming up empty on a fourth and short in the third, he made up for it when he rambled for an 8-yard touchdown run soon after, making it 23-14, Pats. In the fourth, he ran in for his second score of the game, and suddenly the stat sheet didn’t look so shabby after all.

First of all, how much smaller do I need my iPod to be? Nano? Do we really need Mork from Ork to take the Gorillaz’ marketing place? Second of all, why do I need to see the ad repeatedly as ABC backlogs all its commercials, delaying the pace and flow of the game, and pushing the fourth quarter off until 11:30 p.m.? On that note, at 11:10, it is interesting to note there’s a lot of red in the nosebleed section of Gillette, presumably those who couldn’t make it a second consecutive long weekend.

That Tom Brady character might have something going in this town. The 300-plus yards off his arm in the opener was the ninth time in his career the Patriots’ quarterback has tossed for 300.

Shame. Santana on hand and we have to get “Smooth” instead of “Oye Como Va.”