KIRKLAND, Wash. -- A couple of miles from Seattle Seahawks'
headquarters, a Pittsburgh Steelers flag proudly flies in front of
the Time Out Sports Bar.
Inside, a Terrible Towel hangs neatly above the bar, and a
Steelers' pennant is posted over the front door.
Blasphemous? Hardly.
"We talked about what if the Seahawks and Steelers play," said
Chris Stoneberg, co-owner of the bar. "We never thought it would
happen."
An unlikely pairing as the playoffs began, the Seahawks and
Steelers matchup in Sunday's Super Bowl will create a large
division in the friendship, and business partnership of Stoneberg
and the bar's co-owner, Brent Nerby.
Stoneberg is a Pittsburgh native, a Steelers fan who wears his
emotion on his sleeve. Conversely, Nerby is a born and raised
Seahawks backer.
Sunday's game will be the culmination of two weeks filled with
petty bickering and arguments over who has the advantage and who is
going to win.
But no aspect of the Super Bowl is too petty. Stoneberg believes
Pittsburgh is sure to win, because Jerome Bettis wears No. 36 and
the game is being played on the 36th day of the year.
"See the crap I have to listen too?" Nerby said.
Both Steelers and Seahawks fans are expected to converge on the
small, dimly lit bar a couple of blocks from the Lake Washington
shore that has its fair share of Seahawks flags and towels
prominently displayed.
There will be no demilitarized zone, or separation of Seahawks
and Steelers -- all fans will be allowed to mingle freely and watch
the game.
Anticipating a robust crowd, the owners are bringing in
bleachers to seat more fans and added two more TVs to the 15
various-sized sets already surrounding the bar. Pool tables are
being moved out of the way and extra everything has been ordered.
Most importantly, all employees are working -- that is, except
the owners.
"The first playoff game I didn't have enough people working and
I had to work," Nerby said. "That's not happening again."
Stoneberg took a job transfer to Seattle about 10 years ago. The
first friend he made was Nerby, who worked part time at the bar
when it was still a "biker bar," he said.
Nerby continued his part-time work for years, through a few
owners, and when the previous owner decided to sell about 18 months
ago, the two friends joined together and purchased the bar.
"I thought, 'well might as well do it,' even though I don't
know how to run it," Nerby said. "We were good buddies and
figured we'd do it together. It's easier to do it with two
people."
Stoneberg has history with the Seahawks and Steelers. The first
pro football game he ever went to was with his grandfather at Three
Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. The opponent, the Seahawks.
For the record, the Steelers won, 21-10.
Stoneberg won't make a score prediction -- believing it's bad
luck -- but holds a firm belief the Steelers will win. Nerby
unabashedly says the Seahawks will win -- 27-17.
Sunday could be quite the scene.
"It's going to be overwhelmed by Steelers and he's going to
hate it," Stoneberg said to his business partner.
"And I'm going to kick everyone out," Nerby replied.