Weather forces cancellation of 49ers' noon flight to Massachusetts

AMHERST, Mass. - I have safely arrived in western Massachusetts for Saturday's game between the Charlotte 49ers and Massachusetts Minutemen, but the team is a different story.

I had an early morning flight from Charlotte to Hartford, Conn., on Friday, which went off without a hitch, even though this area was hit with snow and some ice early this morning.

Hours before the 49ers' scheduled flight at noon, they were notified their flight was canceled because of a missing flight crew (delayed somewhere else with weather problems) and will not be able to leave Charlotte until at least 8:15 p.m.

That's not exactly the best scenario for the team, which plays at 4 p.m. Saturday. There will be no practice today at UMass' Mullins Center. The team will instead practice in Charlotte before departing on its flight this evening.

Also, the scheduled 9 a.m. shoot-around on Saturday doesn't bode well for Charlotte, since the team will not arrive at his hotel near Springfield, Mass., until probably close to 11 p.m. Team officials hope they can reschedule the shoot-around for late morning.

All in all, not a good sign heading into Charlotte's first Atlantic 10 road game of the season.