Old rivalry forces Cleveland fan to root for the Seahawks

Don't listen to him.

He's been saying it all season long in a column very similar to this one. He's saying the Steelers are going to win the Super Bowl.

He's Ashley Brown. He's a diehard Pittsburgh fan, and he's wrong.

Well, I hope so.

Honestly, I don't have a dog in the hunt in this Super Bowl. In fact, as a Cleveland Browns fan, my dog is still back at the starting line sniffing the fire hydrant.

With no direct reason to cheer for either team, I have to go with the Seattle Seahawks because of the Arabs. Not directly because of them, but because of that old Arabian proverb: "The enemy of my enemy is my friend."

Even the most casual of NFL fans knows the Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers are rivals. Yes, even enemies. Although the past few years might have belonged to the Steelers, the Browns still own the series with 55 wins over Pittsburgh and only 51 losses, according to clevelandbrowns.com.

As a result, I can't cheer for the Steelers. They have been, and always will be, the bad guys. It leaves me with but one option, and that happens to be the Super Bowl XL Champion Seattle Seahawks.

But don't take my word for it. Here are the picks from around the office:

Billy Byler, sports writer

Seahawks 24-21

Barry Paschal, publisher

Steelers 24-7

Preston Sparks, bureau chief

Seahawks 24-14

Valerie Rowell, staff writer

Steelers 21-17

Suzanne Liverett, office manager

Seahawks 31-28

Scott Trubey, staff writer

Steelers 20-16

Rob Pavey, Augusta Chronicle outdoors writer

Seahawks 28-24

Donnie Fetter, education writer

Steelers 28-14

Jim Blaylock, photographer

Seahawks 21-14