With a winter storm warning lining most of the East Coast, players from Syracuse University’s football team are having difficulty traveling to New York City for Pinstripe Bowl preparations.

Syracuse will take on Kansas State in the bowl Thursday at 3:30 p.m. in Yankee Stadium. SU’s first practice is scheduled for Monday at 3:30 p.m. at the Timex Performance Center in East Rutherford, N.J.

A ‘significant’ winter storm is affecting the Mid-Atlantic Coast through New England, according to the National Weather Service. The storm is predicted to last into Monday, according to a message sent out by the weather service at 4 p.m. Sunday. Blizzard warnings are in effect for New York City, eastern New Jersey and some Southern states.

By 11 a.m. on Sunday, at least 1,000 flights to New York City had already been canceled, according to the Associated Press. John F. Kennedy International Airport closed Sunday at 8:17 p.m. due to snow, according to the Federal Aviation Administration’s website. The airport is expected to reopen Monday at 5 a.m.

Players were waiting for flights into New York City, according to Twitter posts by several players. Syracuse head coach Doug Marrone and several other players have already arrived in New York City via train, according to a release sent out by the Syracuse athletic department late Sunday evening. 

Chad Battles and Bud Tribbey were both stuck in the Richmond International Airport in Richmond, Va. waiting for a connecting flight to Philadelphia, according to their Twitter feeds. Keon Lyn is still at home in Miramar, Fla., after his flight was canceled, according to his Twitter feed.

Running back Antwon Bailey, wide receiver Van Chew and defensive end Chandler Jones were among the players who have already arrived in New York, according to their Twitter feeds.

The weather has affected at least one scheduled Syracuse event so far. The Orange was supposed to take part in a clinic Monday at the Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club in the Bronx, but that has been postponed, according to a release from the New York Yankees.

The release from the Yankees also said that the weather was being monitored overnight and further updates on Monday’s scheduled events will come Monday morning.

— Compiled by Brett LoGiurato and Dara McBride, The Daily Orange, bplogiur@syr.edu, dkmcbrid@syr.edu

Published on December 25, 2010 at 12:00 pm