BALTIMORE -- The Bears have plans to travel here tonight for their Sunday afternoon game against the Ravens, a team official just told the Tribune.
The team is expected to leave O'Hare on a United Airlines charter flight around 8 p.m. and arrive in Baltimore about two hours later, or 11 p.m. Baltimore time. The Baltimore area is under a blizzard warning now, and Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley has declared a state of emergency. The region is expected to wind up with 20 to 30 inches of snow before the storm ends late tonight. The record for a snowstorm in Baltimore is 28.2 inches from Feb. 15-18, 2003.
Right now, the Bears expect to play the Ravens at 3:15 Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium.
A man walks down a snow covered street in Baltimore on Saturday. (AP / Rob Carr)
The Bears' arrival isn't the only logistical matter.
There is already at least six inches on the ground and that presents a huge task for the Ravens to clear M&T Bank Stadium. About 700 workers stayed in the stadium Friday night to begin snow removal operations today. The snow, to this point, has been light. If it turns wet, it will be more difficult to remove.
The field is covered and the workers are pushing snow from the top of the stadium down to the field where it is then being hauled out of the building. Ravens senior vice president Kevin Byrne said it is then dumped in the nearby Chesapeake Bay. If the stadium isn't fully ready to host a game, and if already unpassable residential streets are not cleared, will the NFL hold a game even if the Bears do arrive in time for a Sunday kickoff?
But the snow has not fouled up pre-game preparations by the Ravens. The Baltimore Sun says they're operating on a normal schedule.
The Bears were not scheduled to leave O'Hare Friday night on their United Airlines charter flight until 10:30 p.m. The team sat on the plane for two hours before the flight was cancelled. According to a passenger, an announcement was made that there was a mechanical issue, and the team would need to change planes. Before that could happen, the window of opportunity to leave closed and the Bears arrived back at Halas Hall on buses at about 1:15 a.m.
Typically, the Bears leave for road games early on Saturday afternoons. Why the team didn't try to leave earlier on Friday is unknown. It did not begin snowing until after 9 p.m. and there wasn't any accumulation on roads until around midnight Eastern.
The start time for the game has already been pushed back to 3:15 Sunday, a move made by city officials with the blessing of the NFL. The league also decided today to switch the starting time of the San Francisco 49ers game Sunday against the Eagles in Philadelphia to 3:15 p.m.
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The snow is so thick,I don't think so if I can afford to live in that kind of place,but I do love white xmas and i always dreamed to experience it! but if the snow is like that It's a tragedy.
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But the snow has not fouled up pre-game preparations by the Ravens. The Baltimore Sun says they're operating on a normal schedule.
Yeah, Ray Lewis has already killed a couple guys.
BigGordy, perhaps tongue in cheek, wrote, "In these conditions the Bears running game should dominate more than usual."
If I were a Bears fan, every week, under any conditions, I would be hoping that their running game dominates more than usual - or rises from the dead, even.
Dulles is over 2 hours away from Baltimore in ideal conditions. With the roads out there it would probably be 5+ hours Regardless, as of around 8 pm the snow moved out of the Baltimore area and the Bears are reported to be at O'Hare
Good luck with them leaving tonight, BWI and Dulles are both closed, Dulles is not reopening until 6AM tomorrow and they don't even know when BWI will open. Reagan National is technically open, but all flights headed there are canceled, and the roads from there to Baltimore are probably not passable.
They should just stay home and forfeit, the game is gonna be a joke anyway.
With all the planes United has at OHare and there is no replacement available for hours? At least the Bears, jay and lovie will have an excuse.
Excuse me Tribune but I think you have mistaken me for someone who gives a F$#@
This is on the 'front page' of the Trib online? The Bears suck, and guess what? Not many people care about this stupid story!
I can't believe that this is actually important news. WHO CARES!!
Rockville Jake, you're really splitting hairs differentiating between the Patapsco River and the Chesapeake at the harbor. For that stretch, there is zero downward river flow and it is a tidal estuary with equal salt content to the bay. It isn't actually a river there. It's actually a finger of the Chesapeake.
Does it really matter if the Bears make it to Baltimore? Save the fuel, save the time, etc. - just forfeit the game. What a pathetic organization the Bears have become. Utterly inept in every way, shape and form possible.
And it's all over the news here in Baltimore that the Bears were not yet able to get here and what would happen if they don't make it in time...
Hey people, they left yesterday! They are already in Baltimore. Don't believe everything you read!
The snow is not being dumped into the Chesapeake, which is about 20 miles down the Patapsco River from Baltimore. The snow is being dumped into the river...
Dan,
Even still, where is the margin for error? Not good planning. In fact, stupid planning. The Bears organization is stupid. Plain and simple.
Besides, had the flight gone off as planned they'd still arrive in the wee hours of the morning. Is that really the best for the players? Of course not.
If I'm not mistaken, the bears should be penalized for a "false start" and the RAVENS get the ball on the 50yd. line to start the game.
GO RAVENS!!!
Lovie's idea so when they lose they will have an excuse he his job will be safe!
The Ravens should be able to play Sunday, because the Bears couldn't leave Chicago isn't there concern, they shouldn't have a shorten week because of someones else error!
"GBlivins, if the Bears' plane wouldn't have malfunctioned, they would have gotten to Baltimore before the storm started. If you need to blame something, blame the airplane."
What do you expect? Everything associated with the Bears has malfunctioned this year.
Mike Licht, you realize the link you pointed to actually makes fun of global warming deniers? You can have both global warming AND snowstorms. Global warming is about macro changes in the climate, not whether it can still snow.
GBlivins, if the Bears' plane wouldn't have malfunctioned, they would have gotten to Baltimore before the storm started. If you need to blame something, blame the airplane.
Why bother? They should just forfeit.
From bad to worse... it's bad enough we don't show up mentally for a game, now we won't be there physically.
A large number of Bears fans are rooting against the team, I've seen "laughing-stock" used more than once to describe the Bears, the national NFL announcers are dumbfounded when trying to describe the playcalling and effort... I guess it doesn't get much worse than this.
Can we please just forfeit the game? What's the use in risking a pefectly good plane to fly this team to Baltimore only to have them get annilated by the Ravens?
A few random thoughts....If they forfeit, will they cover the spread? In these conditions the Bears running game should dominate more than usual. The snow should provide a much softer landing for Cutler when he gets sacked. Lovie will be wearing his manly "half hat" that wraps around his head just covering his ears. Does anyone else think that Devin Hester looks like the alien in that Arnold Schwarzenegger movie??? GO BEARS!
Word has it, Lovie scheduled the Friday night flight at 10:30, called timeout and then challenged his own call on Saturday. And lost. So Bears ...
The game MUST take place, as the Ravens are in playoff contention for a wildcard. The NFL will make it work, even if they end up pushing the game to Monday night.
Better head for Union Station. The Amtrak to Baltimore leaves at 6:40 p.m. and get in at 12:10 p.m., from the station in Rockville it's about 25 miles to the stadium. Imagine, the first locker room on the rails, the Bears could get off the train in uniform with plenty of time to get to the stadium and warm-up. What a scene.
You couldn't find Al Gore with a search warrant right now. It's amazing our president is flying all over the world to talk about the hoax that is global warming while we freeze to death in this city for year after year after year. I would love to have global warming, please let it be 60 degrees here in Chicago in Dec, Jan and Feb.
Jay Cutler is Jeff George. All arm, nothing else. No leadership, bad attitude, whiner. Pouting on the bench, alone, is sure to inspire your team mates.
tell those bunch of clowns you call the bears to just stay home and forfeit and do the rest of the Nfl fans a favor.
Just because it's snowing in winter, Jake thinks that the icecaps and glaciers aren't melting LOL
Keep up the great work Jake
Where's your Global Warming now, Mr. Gore?
See:
http://notionscapital.wordpress.com/2009/12/19/snow-in-dc-global-warming-deniers-rejoice/
Just forfeit.
Then your "Pro Bowl" JayBay won't have to get his million dollar tootsies wet, and embarrass the city of Chicago again by throwing INTs, pointing fingers at team mates, and pouting on the bench with his stupid hat down over his ears.
We'll catch his act nationwide next week anyway on the Monday night beatdown.
A little JayBaby goes a long way.
The Chicago Bears and United Airlines are a great partnership in mediocrity. The Bears might as well use this as an excuse to forfeit and save themselves from some more embarrassment on TV.
If the Bears never make it to Baltimore, that would be fine. The results would be the same: Baltimore wins, the Bears never showed up.
Jay Cutler said he'd like to get into a snowball fight before the game, but he's afraid that any snowball he throws will be intercepted before it hits someone.
This is a money making opportunity before Christmas.
Take Baltimore in this game. The Bears are going to be wiped out even BEFORE the Ravens wipe them off the field.
They should have stayed on the bus and road tripped to Baltimore, old school.
They should just hang at the airport and toss a smurf ball around. Would be about as interesting as their recent performances. Wouldn't need the ridiculous gear to protect the big boobies. Me? I watch real football, played by real men dressed in shorts and jerseys, no extra teams or paraphanalia.
I can't remember any professional sports franchise that more than lives up to its label of "salty."
Well at least they won't lose if they can't get to Baltimore ~~
GO PACK!!!!
hope they miss the trip. this way Da Bears can avoid embarrassing the city again. And maybe they can blame God for their poor organization management.
Best news Jay Cutler could receive would be that the game is canceled due to the weather. With the Ravens defense, four more picks should he expected.
This is just mind boggling. As someone who flies for a living, the posters here may be the most ignorant people ever to grace the internet.
Look here ratty... you try landing a 195,000 pounds of aircraft, fuel, and humanity on a wet, icy runway and then get back to me. As someone who knows, let me tell you it is anything but fun. And God forbid, what would people say if something happened? We will never know but I would be a bottle of Jeremiah Weed you would be leading the hoards asking why United and Da Bears were so stupid as to try to land in a frigging blizzard...
Additionally, when was the call put out to rally up at the airport? Was it at 1pm or was it at 6pm? I don't know. What I do know that it is a logistical nightmare to move a football team. It takes a lot of coordination to make sure that not only the players get there, but all the gear as well. You know, pads, jerseys ect ect ect. Then add this little thing we have in Chicago... traffic.
Yes United has the charter agreement with Da Bears to fly. That agreement specifically states that the Bears fly out on Saturday. Well they tried to fly out Friday. There may or may not have been a plane available for Team Lovie to escape Chicago from. You just can't snap your fingers, whistle Dixie, and have a Boeing 757 ready to go my friends.
I am neither an employee of United, hater, or supporter. What I do know is that people complaining about not taking off to Baltimore in the biggest blizzard of the decade (I blame Global Warming BTW /sarcasm) have no common sense.
That is all.
Uncle Meatball
www.bearfansunited.org
Just another example of the ineptitude that permeates throughout Halas Hall.Can't draft, can't coach, can't make travel plans, can't figure out who's responsable for all this crap, ect..... But hey, look on the bright side, we're bringing Lovie back for an encore preformance next year ! LIE DOWN, CHICAGO BEARS
Virgie McCaskey just got wind of this and she went ballistic. She started yelling at Michael she wants him to send Lindberg and Glenn Curtis a telegram asking them for their help. Looks like she wants several mail planes diverted to take the lads to Baltimore.
(I hope she doesn't try to contact President Chester A. Arthur).
Can you root for weather?
United has been trying hard to return to the old United Airlines. Only time will tell, but they do have a new attitude or turning the airline around. I'll tell you this, they're all about the same in my book and I've used pretty much all the domestics. The pilots and the airline would rather error on the side of safety. While delays can be very frustrating you have to agree you'd rather have them do that, then have a problem and be criticized for flying into a storm. Having said that, I did fly from LAX to ORD 1999 New Year's with Chicago having about 21 inches on the ground when we arrived, one of 5 flights that made it in - I was on UNITED. By the way, they've delayed the game start until something like 4:30 p.m.
Yeah I agree with people - just forfeit the game, they'll lose anyway. And I'll defend United to a degree, I usually have good experiences with them. Anyway, the Bears do have a charter, but it's run by United, as far as I understand.
Has United EVER gotten a flight off on time? What a pathetic, miserable airline. Truly one of THE most disgusting experiences ever is to be on a United flight.
If they don't make it will the forfiet? Then the score will be Baltimore 28 Bears 0 anyway?
i find it interesting they leave the Saturday afternoon before a Sunday game regardless of weather. No wonder they have been getting their asses kicked.
What? Did the Bears read the Skilling's weather forecast? They should have used the weather service and got it right! If the Chicago area sports writers can't screw up the Bears, they get help from the weathermen!
If they can't get to Baltimore, then we don't have to watch them get their asses kicked. Let's go, snow!
Just plain stupid. Why did they wait until 10:30 to leave.I can see why the bears are in the position they are in.
just plain stupid.
Does this mean the Bears may not show up for this game or that the Bears may not show up for this game?
Seriously? Who waits until 10:30 pm to leave right before an epic snowstorm is about to hit. What... couldn't get a flight out at 5:00 pm? What a major bunch of idiots.
Wow, first the Bears spent the majority of the week btching about their teammates and coaches, now this. Could a team possibly be any less focused on the game enough to earn their insane pay? Yes, I see a game similar to Baltimore's butt kicking of Detroit last week.
Enjoy.
Just hop on the bus, Gus. Rent several luxury buses and hit the road now.
Or try Amtrak. Pay to add four sleeper cars to the Capitol Limited.
Good old United. I don't know why anyone flies that airline. They have to be the worst in the nation. I can't believe that the Bears organization cannot afford a charter. What a bunch of cheapskates.
Really?
Why bother?