Super Bowl fever takes toll on the workplace, before and after game

Our obsession with the Steelers and the Super Bowl could be costing us.As water Sittsburgh Steelers Jerseys cooler chat continues throughout the day, Chicago-based outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. puts the loss to American employers at more than $780 million during the week leading up to Super Bowl XL.But that doesn't mean employers should try to stop football fever -- even if they could."In fact, the benefits of the Super Bowl XL on the workplace far outweigh the negatives. Common interest in one of the teams might bring together two employees who might never have interacted otherwise," John A. Challenger, chief executive officer, said in a press release......But the distractions don't stop when the game ends."Employers should also count on losing another $156 million in unproductive wages on the Monday following the game, as workers discuss the game, the commercials and the half-time show," Mr. Challenger added."They may even see a surge in unplanned absences that day from employees who may have partied a little too hard on Sunday."-- Brian HyslopHere, let me helpPolite, yet intense, Ben Roethlisberger Jersey customers have been stalking the daily deliveries of new Super Bowl-related goods at Dick's Sporting Goods stores around the region, demonstrating an interesting mix of Steeler fanaticism and helpfulness.On Tuesday, the 250-plus store retailer based in Findlay was amazed to learn that between 40 and 50 customers waited until the UPS truck arrived at the chain's Cranberry store. Then they apparently pitched in, helping to unload the merchandise."They kind of helped the guy and store people carry things in," said Dick's spokesman Jeff Hennion.He's not sure what specifically the fans were looking for, but demand has been high for jerseys, particularly youth-size Polamalu in home-field black, and Terrible Towels.Dick's is doing its part to feed the demand for all things Steelers. It even has a game plan for the big game night. If the Steelers win, the stores will reopen and stay open as long as there are customers. If the Seahawks triumph, well, expect traditional retail hours.-- Teresa F. LindemanTerrible importThat Terrible Towel you've been waving has international origins -- and an Arlington, Va., man whose company helps raise awareness of companies making American goods doesn't like it one bit.Tags on the Heath Miller Jersey Terrible Towels reveal that they are made in China and printed in this country -- with cleaning instructions in both Spanish and English."I think it's a shame that a traditional blue collar town like Pittsburgh has to have even its sports emblems, which are marked up in price enormously, by the way, woven in China for a few pennies apiece," said Jim Schollaert, executive director of Made In USA Strategies.Noting that the firm that originally produced the towel, McArthur Co. in Wisconsin, was bought out by a firm that itself was bought out, Mr. Schollaert added, "If you follow the trail of the Terrible Towel, you will get a window on exactly how the manufacturing base of this country is being eroded."Whatever the origin, Terrible Towels are moving quickly wherever they are sold."We just started selling it yesterday and we expect the several hundred that we have in to be sold out by the end of the week," said Brian Lemmey, executive director of www.footballfanatics.com.-- Don HammondsCivic pride on the lineThe Seattle Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Greater Pittsburgh Convention and Visitor's Bureau have placed a "friendly" bet on Sunday's Super Bowl showdown between the Steelers and the Seattle Seahawks.The loser, the groups agreed, "will pay a heavy price." Among other humiliations, the losing city's mayor will issue a proclamation for a day in honor of the winning city's convention bureau, the losing city's convention bureau's CEO and other top executives will visit the winning city dressed in the winning team's jersey, and the losing city's bureau will fly the flag of the winning team for one week in its office.