Super Bowl XLV is only four days away and both states have more on the line than just bringing home the Lombardi trophy
News about the Green Bay Packers Super Bowl XLV matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers has been front and center since both NFC and AFC championship games two weeks ago, at least until the record-setting Snowapocolypse 2011 occurred.
Still, the snow storm was yesterday’s news and the big game is only four days away. Customary to tradition, there is more at stake for both states than bringing home the famed Lombardi Trophy.
Green Bay Mayor Jim Schmitt has wagered an assortment of local products and services following a ‘Pack Wins’ theme, but Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravensthal has committed to community service at a local Food Bank in the event of a Packer win, and will also fly a City of Green Bay flag for a week following the Superbowl.
Ravensthal has also committed to shoveling the driveway of Coach McCarthy’s parents, who still live in Pittsburgh, if the Packers win. Mayor Schmidt will shovel the driveway of Sarah Bosi, a teacher at Aldo Leopold School in Green Bay, and a ‘Titletown’ Steelers fan.
“I am confident the Green Bay Packers will bring home the Lombardi Trophy,” said Schmitt. “It started here and this is where it belongs. Packer fans around the world are rooting for its return.”
Governor Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett and Governor Scott Walker will also participate in the wager with each side providng a made-in-the state product basket to the opponent if they lose. The two Governors have also decided to participate in the "Coke Cheers" promotion which will donate $25,000 to the Boys and Girls Clubs in Green Bay or Pittsburgh depending on which team wins. Each governor will don the winning team’s jersey at the check signing in the winning city.
Other groups have gotten in on the wager including the Technology Council and the Milwaukee Art Museum.
The leaders of the Pittsburgh Technology Council and the Wisconsin Technology council have wagered a mix of products and services that represent the technology leadership of their respective regions.
Audrey Russo, president and chief executive officer of the Pittsburgh Technology Council has put up a Prime-8 Gorilla from Pittsburgh-based Bossa Nova Robotics to represent the city’s expertise in robotics, sensors and advanced technologies. A case of beer as well as a basket of Pittsburgh delicacies was also wagered. Tom Still, president of the Wisconsin Technology Council has countered the wager with a copy of Jam City Rollergirls, a video game produced for Ninetendo Wii users by Green Bay’s Frozen Codebase, an emerging software game company, a gallon of green gasoline, Leinenkugel’s beer and various cheeses.
“Wisconsin’s tech-based economy is as varied as the Packers are dominant,” Still said. “From software to advanced biofuels, from supercomputers to biotech drugs and assays, Wisconsin technology runs the entire length of the field.”
In addition the Milwaukee Art Museum has entered a wager for a temporary loan of its Boating on the Yerres, by Gustave Caillebotte for a similar loan of the Pittsburgh Carnegie Museum of Art’s Bathers with Crab by Pierre-Auguste Renoir.
The winning team’s city will receive a major work on loan, albeit temporarily, from the city that loses the big game.
“I’m confident that we will be enjoying the Renoir from Carnegie Museum of Art very soon. I look forward to displaying it where the public can enjoy it and be reminded of the superiority of the Green Bay Packers,” said Daniel Keegan of the Milwaukee Art Museum.
Super Bowl XLV will be played Sunday, Feb. 6, at 5:30 p.m.
