Sunday’s Bears home opener against the Minnesota Vikings at Soldier Field will feature enhanced security measures in light of last week’s terrorist attacks on the East Coast.
“You’ll see a number of things that will be different for the rest of the season,” said Bob Glazebrook, general manager of Soldier Field. “I think some of the key things that you have to look for are coolers, bags, fannypacks, large purses . . . those will not be allowed in the stadium. We will have signs placed at key points, not only at the stadium, but at some peripheral parking locations and on some of the transportation buses that will be coming in to help the fans identify these [banned] items, and hopefully not bring them with them to the stadium.”
Tailgating will be allowed before the games, but Glazebrook was cryptic about restrictions that might be placed on that activity.
“We want to communicate to people to get in the building early,” he said. “Because we have so many security enhancements, it may back up the lines a little bit.
“About 70 percent of the guards you see on the [Soldier Field] premises are off-duty police officers on game day. These are the people we use extensively for crowd control. We have requested additional support and that is currently being evaluated.”
No-fly zone: If Glazebrook has his way, the days of small planes bearing commercial banners flying over Soldier Field will be forbidden.
“That is a concern that I know the NFL is addressing,” he said. “I know we have discussed the [no-fly zone] issue on both the national level and the local level. We would like to not have flights over the stadium, given what happened this last week.”
Good cause: Several former Bears, including Steve McMichael, Tom Thayer, Jay Hilgenberg, Jim Morrissey, James Thornton, Bob Avelleni and Brian Glasgow. will play in the Rob Komosa Charity Flag Football Game against the Rolling Meadows Police Dept. at 7 p.m. Oct. 10 at the Rolling Meadows High School football field.
Komosa sustained a spinal-cord injury at Rolling Meadows’ football practice in 1999 and is paralyzed from the neck down. Tickets for the event are $8 and can be purchased by sending a check or money order to the Rolling Meadows Police Association, P.O. Box 8072, Rolling Meadows, Ill. 60008. Tickets are also available at the Rolling Meadows Police Neighborhood Resource Center on Plum Grove Road. For more info, call 847-991-9772.
Picks to click: Vikings over the Bears; Baltimore over Cincinnati; Indianapolis over Buffalo; Atlanta over Carolina; Detroit over Cleveland; Kansas City over New York Giants; Oakland over Miami; Dallas over San Diego; Tennessee over Jacksonville; New York Jets over New England; Seattle over Philadelphia; San Francisco over St. Louis; Denver over Arizona, and Green Bay over Washington. Week 1 record: 9-6.
The good word: Syracuse volleyball player Noreen Carroll, who attended Lyons Township, was named Big East Player of the Week. The senior co-captain was named MVP of the War Eagle Tournament last weekend, leading Syracuse to a 2-1 record.
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fmitchell@tribune.com
