Giants, Steelers power up in Sandy’s wake

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Instead of shoes at the bottom of his locker, New York Giants safety Stevie Brown had a couple of power cords.

One carried a charge into his cellphone and the other into his laptop in somewhat of a crossing pattern. A flashlight was plugged into a nearby outlet.

While the Giants (6-2) prepare for Sunday’s home game against the Pittsburgh Steelers (3-4), the electronic equipment at the bottom of the locker of the NFC defensive player of the week was a sign of another opponent the Giants are facing this week — the aftermath of Sandy.

The superstorm devastated areas of New York City and New Jersey and it has left a number of Giants without power at home, something an NFL player needs to review videotape of upcoming opponents as well as to stay warm and comfortable.

Only some players and coaches said they had power on Wednesday. Receiver Victor Cruz got it back after losing it for a couple of hours on Monday. Guard Kevin Boothe never lost power so he hosted tight end Martellus Bennett and his wife on Tuesday. Coach Tom Coughlin believes he never lost his electricity, but said he hasn’t been home much since the team returned from Dallas early Monday following a win over the Cowboys. Coughlin has been busy working on preparations for Pittsburgh.

Sandy struck Monday evening and left a wake of destruction not seen in decades or ever.

“It’s definitely shocking,” said Cruz, who grew up 20 minutes from MetLife Stadium. “I mean, you’ve seen it with a couple of hurricanes in the past, when I was younger. I used to see all of that stuff. It never directly affected me. The past couple of years, a couple of hurricanes ... when you see a couple having to evacuate their home and stuff, it definitely hits ... home.”

This storm destroyed towns and beaches, swamped cars, knocked down trees and left more than a million people without power.

Quarterback Eli Manning was one of them, and he moved out of his Hoboken residence and into a hotel after his lobby flooded.

“Just some terrible stories, and obviously you send out prayers to those families,” Manning said.