Sports

With Christie’s OK, Goodell says ‘Play ball!’

The game between the Super Bowl champion Giants and Steelers will be played tomorrow as scheduled despite transportation and power issues and growing concerns for weary and heartbroken residents displaced and devastated by Hurricane Sandy.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell spoke with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie spoke yesterday and Christie assured him that game would not divert any major resources from relief efforts.

Speaking at news conference in Brick, N.J., at the opening of a FEMA office, Christie said only a few state troopers are assigned to the game and it was really a decision for the NFL to make.

“If they are ready, absent any change in circumstances, that we should go ahead with the game [tomorrow],” Christie said, adding that during a tour of storm damage in nearby Moonachie, no one asked him to postpone the game and a couple of Giants fans urged him not to do that.

There have been more than 50 deaths associated with the storm in New York and New Jersey and more than 2 million people still were without power yesterday. There have been long lines to purchase gas throughout New Jersey and New York and power is still being restored. There will be no rail service to MetLife Stadium, the Giants said.

Giants coach Tom Coughlin said he always felt the game would take place, and believes his team will be ready to lift the spirits of the people of New Jersey and New York.

“I think the mission will be quite clear,” Coughlin said. “Trying to provide a few hours of enjoyment for so many that have been devastated. I think they’ll do a good job of that.”

The Steelers changed travel plans because the hotel they booked in New Jersey did not have power. The team will fly in tomorrow morning and leave after the game.

“When you look at it, it’s a minor inconvenience considering what those people in New York and New Jersey went through,” Steelers offensive tackle Max Starks said.

* The Giants will provide free parking and free shuttle service to and from the stadium at two locations: the parking lot at the Secaucus train station (675 New County Road at Seaview Drive) and at 20 Murray Hill Parkway in Rutherford. Cash parking at MetLife Stadium will be very limited.

Though New Jersey Transit will not provide rail service from Secaucus to the stadium, bus No. 351, the Meadowlands express, will run from Port Authority Bus Terminal before and after the game, for a fare.

The latest parking and transportation information will be available on Giants.com or on Twitter (@giants).

The Giants also announced any ticket holders who lost their tickets as a result of Hurricane Sandy may go to a service window at MetLife Stadium to have the tickets reprinted free of charge. Anyone needing this service must have the name of the subscriber and seat locations.

A map of free satellite parking lots in available at: http://www.giants.com/assets/img/directions-free-parking.jpg.

* The NFL announced the Giants’ Eli Manning and Osi Umenyiora have narrated video messages asking for Red Cross donations and saluting relief workers in the wake of Hurricane Sandy’s damage. The messages will be aired before the weekend’s games.