Vikings-Giants game moved to Monday night

KANSAS CITY, Mo., Dec. 11 (UPI) -- A big snow storm in Minnesota caused the NFL to bump Sunday's scheduled game between the Vikings and New York Giants to Monday night.

An NFL spokesman told the New York Daily News the shift was made because the snowstorm -- one of the biggest in Twin Cities history -- left a dangerous amount of snow on the roof of Metrodome in Minneapolis, where the game will be played.

The delay also came after a crazy day of travel for the Giants, whose flight to the Twin Cities was diverted to Kansas City Saturday when the blizzard forced the closure of Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

The Giants were scheduled to play the Minnesota Vikings Sunday at noon CST.

With the storm still raging Saturday afternoon, it became apparent the Giants would have to wait until Sunday morning to fly into the Twin Cities and then go from the airport directly to the Metrodome in downtown Minneapolis.

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello had indicated the league was ready to force the Giants to play at noon, assuming they could get to the city by early Sunday.

"Right now we are still planning for a noon CT kickoff," Aiello told the Daily News. "We're not ruling out noon tomorrow under any scenario yet."

The Giants had left New Jersey earlier than planned due to the storm, hoping to beat its punch to the Twin Cities, but didn't make it, the newspaper said.