Steelers hotel without power due to Sandy, must fly to N.J. on game day to play Giants

PITTSBURGH The Pittsburgh Steelers are turning their visit to New York this weekend to face the Giants into a day trip because of Superstorm Sandy.

The Steelers will fly to New York on Sunday morning and fly back that evening. NFL teams are required to travel the day before a game. But, the league has allowed the Steelers to alter their plans because the Jersey City hotel the team had booked was still without power as of this afternoon.

"Before we looked for another one (hotel), we decided we just didn't feel right about asking employees at any of the hotels down there to start making a bunch of extra efforts to accommodate us, when so many of them are having issues themselves," a Steelers official told ESPN.

The superstorm devastated areas of New York City and New Jersey and a number of Giants were among the residents who have lost power.

Receiver Victor Cruz is one of the lucky ones. He got power back after losing it for a couple of hours on Monday. Guard Kevin Boothe never lost power so he hosted tight end Martellus Bennett and his wife on Tuesday.

Coach Tom Coughlin believes he never lost his electricity, but said he hasn't been home much since the team returned from Dallas early Monday following a win over the Cowboys. Coughlin has been busy working on preparations for Pittsburgh.

Sandy struck Monday evening and left a wake of destruction not seen in decades or ever.

"It's definitely shocking," said Cruz, who grew up 20 minutes from MetLife Stadium. "I mean, you've seen it with a couple of hurricanes in the past, when I was younger. I used to see all of that stuff. It never directly affected me. The past couple of years, a couple of hurricanes when you see things, when you see a couple having to evacuate their home and stuff, it definitely hits close to home a little bit."

This storm destroyed towns and beaches, swamped cars, knocked down trees and left more than a million people without power.

"Just some terrible stories, and obviously you send out prayers to those families and those people who are still going through terrible situations right now," said quarterback Eli Manning, who moved out of his Hoboken home and into a hotel after the power went out. "So I guess I feel fortunate that we can come in and come to work and be with our friends and teammates here. My family is safe, so I feel fortunate that we're here today."