Super Bowl Longshot

Leroy's, the chain of more than 60 Nevada race and sports books that has made such a big splash in its first season, listed a Seattle-Pittsburgh Super Bowl XL matchup at 8/1, the longest shot on its exacta board. The NFC Champion Seahawks will at least have a chance to make it happen Feb. 5 at Detroit's Ford Field. Four to 4 1/2-point favorite Seattle claimed its first-ever NFL title 34-17 Sunday, ousting Carolina from the playoff picture. Meanwhile, 3 to 3 1/2-point underdog Pittsburgh secured its first visit to NFL nirvana in a decade, ousting Denver surprisingly easily 34-17. "Seattle is going to have their hands full," Stardust Race and Sports Director Bob Scucci told the Associated Press. "Seattle was expected to win. "Pittsburgh went through the one, two and three seeds, and a lot of people think the AFC from top-to-bottom was a lot better conference than the NFC." Supermen Shaun Alexander and Brad Hasselbeck versus the Men of Steel, co-starring the Bus and Big Ben. Or, as Fox News said, Heinz Ketchup versus Starbucks Coffee in Motor City USA. Las Vegas sports books, which once had the AFC favored by 10 points in anticipation of an Indianapolis appearance, opened Pittsburgh as a 3 1/2 to 4-point choice in the NFL's mid-winter extravaganza. The Steelers will be playing in their sixth Super Bowl (they're 4-1) while the Seahawks will be making their debut as conference winners. The over/under line was posted between 47 and 49. Last Labor Day, just prior to the NFL opener, bettors could have bought Las Vegas Hilton SuperBook Steelers futures at 14/1 and Seahawks futures for 30/1; a week later they were 12/1 and 30/1 and a month hence they were selling for 12/1 and 18/1. Numbers sort of flip-flopped after Thanksgiving and were 30/1 and 10/1 in mid-December. Just before Christmas, they were 12/1 on Pittsburgh and 4/1 on Seattle, according to online figures. SuperBook boss Jay Kornegay had the Steelers favored by 4 over Seattle, the same number Kenny White and Las Vegas Sports Consultants sent out. While some have suggested Super Bowl XL won't set any betting records because of the lack of a marquee team ("A lot of people don't even know where Seattle is," one bookmaker observed.), Mirage Race and Sports Director Robert Walker told AP he considered the game an "interesting matchup." "It's fun to have a couple of new teams in for a change," Walker said. "Seattle's fun to watch and Pittsburgh was ultra-impressive."