Pittsburgh Company Has a Canny Idea

Some Pittsburgh Steeler fans will feel right at home in Tempe, Ariz., because their favorite beer, Iron City, is going to the Super Bowl.

The company has issued a commemorative can, according to Cristina Rouvalis of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

“That will enable traveling Steeler fans to swill Iron in Arizona or in parties at home before the game,” Rouvalis wrote. “About 45,000 cases of the commemorative beer will be sent out.

“More than anything else made in Pittsburgh, a cold can of Iron is an emblem of Steeler fanaticism.”

*

Trivia time: Not counting the expansion Jacksonville Jaguars, what three AFC teams haven’t made a Super Bowl appearance?

*

Couch coach: Former NHL coach Tom McVie, who would like to get back in hockey, passes time by watching games on his satellite dish. Said McVie: “I make the Maytag repairman look like a workaholic.”

*

Tender greeting: A 5-by-10-foot watercolor painting in the window of Pittsburgh’s Bell Atlantic headquarters shows Steeler linebacker Greg Lloyd with the message: “Reach Out and Sack Someone.”

*

A real bargain: Want to get a reasonable room rate in Tempe during Super Bowl week? Forget it. For example, a basic double room that ordinarily costs $66-$99 at the Econo Lodge has been boosted to $249.95.

“We’re about the same price as everybody else,” said a hotel desk clerk who declined to give her name.

*

Fan mail: A postmark on a letter from Pittsburgh now carries the message: “Go Steelers.” Haven’t checked out mail from Dallas yet.

*

We’re waiting: Remember the item about the East Texas community of Pittsburg changing its name to Cowboys, Texas, for one week? Well, no word has come from Dallas, Pa.--population 2,679--on temporarily changing its name to Steelers.

*

His hang-up: Actor Jack Palance, explaining why he let a stand-in lasso a rock formation in a truck commercial that will air during the Super Bowl:

“I used to do some rope work. I almost hung myself a couple of times, so I stopped.”

*

FYI: Timmy Smith holds the Super Bowl record for most rushing yards in a game, 204, for the Washington Redskins against the Denver Broncos in 1988.

*

Looking back: On this day in 1986, the Chicago Bears defeated the New England Patriots, 46-10, in Super Bowl XX in New Orleans.

*

Trivia answer: Cleveland, Houston and Seattle.

*

Quotebook: Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants on the team’s new pitcher, Cuban Osvaldo Fernandez: “I told him, if you keep us within two runs I’ll win it by myself. Four or five, you’re on your own.”