There are plenty of annual playoff traditions, but by far the most widespread is that of the friendly wager between two mayors. For example, if the Bears were to play the Cowboys in the Super Bowl, Chicago would send its deep-dish stuffed pizza and a beef sub or two, and Dallas would send steak and silicone breast implants -- the finest each city has to offer. It keeps things fresh. Being a mayor can get pretty boring, after all.
But there is no such bet on Sunday's Steelers-Ravens game. Instead, the mayor of Pittsburgh, Luke Ravenstahll, has one-upped his metropolitan colleagues with his creativity and legal fluency: He's officially changed his name from Ravenstahll to "Steerstahl," because, you know, the Ravens are bad and stuff. Grrr.
Ravenstahll legally changed the name, but he's planning on changing it back after the playoffs are over. In the meantime, he seems to be taking things pretty seriously. He even changed the name on his office door to reflect the new nomenclature. Greater devotion to pointless political pandering is rarely heard of.
As a coincidence, "stahl" is the German word for "steel." Which means the Pittsburgh mayor's name now translates directly to "Steelersteel." Jack Horner loves that name.
