Pittsburgh is sick and its merchants are ecstatic. Afflicted with a staggering case of… Pittsburgh is sick and its merchants are ecstatic. Afflicted with a staggering case of Steelers fever, Pittsburghers have taken to the shops. Desperately snatching merchandise off shelves, feverish sports fans are gathering the goods they need to cheer the Black and Gold to victory Sunday.

After all, before manic fans in Ben Roethlisberger jerseys can rush Oakland’s streets, waving Terrible Towels and crooning sports anthems through mouthfuls of chips, they must first go out and purchase the jerseys, towels and chips.

“Pretty much all the vendors are at least picking up some of the Steelers stuff,” said Craig Kacillo, assistant manager of Got Used Bookstore.

“We’ve got shirts, hats, jerseys. As far as jerseys go, Roethlisberger and [Troy] Polamalu are probably our most popular. It’s all who you like, but in terms of whose is going the most I’d say it’s those two.”

“Roethlisberger’s bound to be most popular,” sophomore Jordan Paley said. “He’s the quarterback, and people always love the leader.”

Last season Roethlisberger became the first rookie to top NFL jersey sales, according to a Dec. 29, 2004, USA Today article.

Some vendors are less than thrilled with the side effects of Steelers mania.

“Our [Pitt] basketball stuff should be doing better than it is since the team is doing so well,” Pitt Shop cashier John Li said, “but because of the Steelers, I think that’s overshadowing it.”

Concerning the two Steelers-themed items the store does offer, Li has good reports.

“We have a Steelers T-shirt and a Terrible Towel. The towel is doing well. It’s definitely doing better,” he said.

Terrible Towels have been around since 1975 when sports broadcaster Myron Cope came up with the concept. A Jan. 9 article from the Pittsburgh Business Times stated that the Terrible Towel more than doubled in sales between 2004 and 2005.

Towels and jerseys aren’t the only thing expected to sell well this weekend.

The Snack Food Association stated that on average, Americans consume 8.2 million pounds of tortilla chips, 11 million pounds of potato chips and 2.5 million pounds of snack nuts each Super Bowl. That’s a lot to chew on.

“Absolutely anyone who sells food is going to be impacted by the Super Bowl – because of all the parties going on,” Paley said. “I personally haven’t made a change in my purchasing habits, though I did think about buying a Terrible Towel from a tent set up at the gas station.”

Asked what food item he expected would see the biggest sales increase, Paley answered without missing a beat, “Beer, beer, beer, beer – and maybe chips.”