These Steelers sure have character.

Ben Roethlisberger, with his hair flying everywhere and that, er, stuff growing on his face, looks like he has just escaped from a prison chain gang to quarterback the Super Bowl.

Hines Ward, who doesn't have an ACL in one of his knees, would rather knock someone's head off than catch a touchdown pass.

And Jerome Bettis, basking in the glory of his hometown, is wearing any stick of clothing that has "Detroit" on it.

I'm half expecting him to slip on a Detroit Shock WNBA jersey. Or a Detroit Rockers NPSL soccer team head band.

Detroit gave The Bus the key to the city. The last key the Motor City doled out was to Saddam Hussein.

Yes, the Steelers are living it up in Detroit this week. They are the cool team. The chic team, the squad that has it going on.

They are the media darlings, the sixth seed favored to win the whole ball of wax.

And the Seahawks? Are they even in Detroit?

No one cares a lick about the Seahawks. Their mascot is an animal that doesn't even exist and in the minds of sports fans looking on Detroit these last two weeks, neither do they.

That's because Seattle has no characters.

Shaun Alexander? He's the MVP of the league. He set the NFL single-season touchdown record and no one would stop him on the street. He has Carte blanch to walk around like you or me.

Matt Hasselbeck? His claim to fame is calling a coin flip in the playoffs against Green Bay two years ago and proclaiming his Seahawks would take the ball and score.

Then, he threw a pick-six to lose the game.

Seattle can't even come up with its own gimmick. The Steelers have the "Terrible Towel." The Seahawks pilfered their "12th man" from Texas A&M and about eight billion, zillion teams before them.

Pittsburgh has Primanti Brothers. Seattle has Starbucks. What would you prefer?

The only reason to hope the Seahawks win is because Paul Allen, of Microsoft fame, is the team owner. If the 'Hawks lose, kiss your computer goodbye as the "2K6" virus hits.

Yes, the character is firmly on the Steelers' ledger.

And what we have learned about the Super Bowl is the teams with the characters usually win.

Think Joe Namath in Super Bowl III. Think the Bears' shuffle in Super Bowl XX. Think Ray Lewis in Super Bowl XXXV.

That's why there are so many darn Steelers fans out there.

Count me one of them.

I've been traditionally neutral when it comes to the Steelers. Sure, I like them. Growing up a Browns hater, it was a prerequisite to at least kind of like the Black and Gold.

But now my Dad, perhaps the biggest Browns fan of them all in the 1980s when Cleveland was blowing games against the Broncos, is rooting for the Steelers.

What's next? Frogs falling from the sky? Rivers turning blood red? Pete Rose getting into the baseball Hall of Fame?

It's the Steelers Syndrome at its best.

Ford Field in Detroit will become Heinz Field with a roof Sunday when the two teams clash. Terrible Towels will be waving. A ketchup bottle might as well be installed in the South end zone.

In a way, you have to feel for Seattle. The Seahawks are isolated up there in the Northwest. It rains there 264 days a year. At least in Pittsburgh it can be 70 degrees and sunny one day and 28 degrees and snowing the next.

Even the weather in Pittsburgh has more character.

And character wins the Super Bowl these days.

Mike Kilroy is a staff writer for the Butler Eagle.