If ever a Super Bowl was made to be played in a home stadium, Steelers-Seahawks is it.


Just think: The road warriors against the unvanquished hosts. A dominant sixth seed needing one more away victory, and needing it at the NFL's toughest venue for visitors.


How juicy that would be.


Sorry, folks, but the big game is so BIG it needs to be planned years in advance. And 2006 was reserved for Ford Field in Detroit, where thousands of Pittsburgh fans figure to drive in and paint the city black and gold.


Many, perhaps most of them, won't have tickets, though. So the Seahawks could get something of a fair shake in the stands on Feb. 5.


What the Seahawks (15-3 overall, including 10-0 at Qwest Field) won't have is the ``12th man,'' the boisterous crowd that every player and coach credited with providing that extra impetus to get to the NFL title game. One player even claimed (mischievously and anonymously) that he expected the 12th man flag that sits atop the Seattle Space Needle to somehow fly above Ford Field on Super Sunday.


And what the Steelers (14-5) won't have is the opportunity to shatter yet another opponent's air of invincibility at home after winning at Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Denver in the playoffs.


Too bad.

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