Winter storm pounds region

A fierce winter storm hit the Vikings-Eagles game like a blitzing linebacker, forcing a postponement in Philadelphia that upset Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell and disrupted travel plans elsewhere in sports.

But, overwhelmingly, the games went on.

The New York Jets were forced to spend the night in Chicago, where they could mull their 38-34 loss to the Bears. The New England Patriots routed the Bills 34-3 in Buffalo, but victory came at a cost. They were unable to travel home immediately afterward. And the New York Giants returned to their team hotel in Appleton, Wis., after a 45-17 loss to Green Bay.

"Depressing. It would've been a lot easier with a win. Nothing we can do about it though," Giants tight end Kevin Boss said. "(Usually) you go home to your family and kind of lick your wounds, but you're stuck here by yourself and it's not going to be the greatest time."Unlike last week's coastal storm that dropped a foot of snow on Cape Cod and other parts of eastern Massachusetts, the wrath of today's storm is being felt throughout the state and well into eastern New York.

"This one for a change is a little further west and tracked closer to the coast than last week's storm," said Brian Frugis, meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Albany, N.Y.

Blizzard warnings were posted for Springfield to Boston and as far north as the Litchfield Hills in Connecticut across the border from Sheffield, as heavy snow coupled with sustained winds or wind gusts of 35 mph or more were expected during the height of the storm.

Frugis expected the Berkshires to also experience "near blizzard conditions at times," even though the county was technically under a winter storm warning until noon today.