Mayors pledge their shovels in Super Bowl bet

With any luck, a Steelers victory in the Super Bowl on Sunday will be followed by a blizzard in Green Bay.

Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl this morning announced the terms of his Super Bowl wager with Green Bay Mayor Jim Schmitt.

If the Steelers win, Mr. Schmitt will shovel snow from the walkway of a Steelers fan in Green Bay, while clad in Steelers attire. He'll also fly the Pittsburgh city flag at Green Bay's city hall for a day and send Mr. Ravenstahl a package of local food products.

If the Packers win, Mr. Ravenstahl will shovel the walkway at St. Rosalia in Greenfield. That's the family church of Pittsburgh-born Packers head coach Mike McCarthy. Mr. Ravenstahl also will fly Green Bay's flag at the City-County Building and donate Pittsburgh food to a Wisconsin food bank.

"Make no mistake about it. On Sunday, our Steelers are bringing home number seven and showing the Packers what it means to be the City of Champions," Mr. Ravenstahl said.

Governor Tom Corbett has also joined in with a wager on the game. He and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker will participate in a promotional campaign to donate $25,000 to the Boys and Girls Clubs in Green Bay and Pittsburgh.

Fans can vote for their favorite team at cokecheers.com. Each city needs 10,000 cheers to qualify for the $25,000.

The losing governor will present the check while wearing the winning team's gear.

In New York City today, Mayor Michael Bloomberg followed through with his end of the mayors' wager on the AFC Championship game between the Steelers and the Jets.

Mr. Bloomberg placed a Terrible Towel on the New York Public Library this morning, a video of which will be available on the Mayor's YouTube channel, youtube.com/mayorbloomberg. He then donned a Steelers jersey while assembling care packages for members of the military returning to Pittsburgh.

First published on February 3, 2011 at 12:33 pm