Losers prove they're good sports

Stakes were high with the Steelers in the big game.
By GUY D'ASTOLFO
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
The Super Bowl had come and gone. The parties were over and the wild celebrations had become a fuzzy memory.
The Pittsburgh Steelers were the champs.
There was only one thing left to do: Humiliate the people who bet against the black and gold.
It happens every year -- fans get a little too overconfident over their team's chances and make crazy bets that they don't plan on losing. And with the Steelers in the big game this year, well, the stakes were higher.
Seahawks fan
Take the case of Jimmy Scerba.
The McDonald resident is that rarest of things -- a lifelong Seattle Seahawks fan who was born and reared in the Youngstown area.
How did that happen?
"When the Seahawks first entered the league in 1976, I was just a kid. Seahawks jackets were popular, and my mom bought me one that year. That's how it started," explained Scerba. "I wasn't into football that much at the time, but I started to follow the Seahawks and stuck with them as I got older."
He noted that he can say he's been a fan of an NFL team for its entire existence -- something few others around here can claim.
Scerba stuck with his Seahawks for 29 seasons without a Super Bowl appearance ... until this year.
He made a bet with his pool league teammate, Jeff Fitzhenry, a Pittsburgh native and Steelers fan who now lives in Poland. The loser had to wear a dress to the next pool tournament at Youngstown Sports Grille, and sing karaoke at Salty Grog's afterward.
The punishment was carried out last Wednesday, with Scerba showing up at the bar in a backless, light-blue dress.
Oddly enough, Scerba said wearing a dress earned him respect.
"A couple of guys bought me drinks," he said. "They respected the fact that I went through with it."
After the tournament, Scerba and Fitzhenry went to Salty Grog's, where Scerba had to sing two appropriate songs: "I'm Just a Girl" by No Doubt and Madonna's "Material Girl."
Despite the humiliation, Scerba said he has no regrets. "Having the Steelers and the Seahawks in the Super Bowl isn't something that's going to happen again anytime soon," he said. "And it made for a fun game and a fun night out of what would've been just another Wednesday night."
Browns backer
Then there's the case of Shawn Zarconi of Youngstown, a DJ at Rock 104.
He, too, bet against the Steelers, but unlike Scerba, he didn't do it out of love for the Seahawks. He did it out of love for the Cleveland Browns. Like many people in Northeast Ohio, Zarconi roots for two teams: the Browns and whoever's playing the Steelers.
Zarconi's bet was actually more of a promise to his listeners.
"I said on the air that if the Steelers won, I'd stand on the corner of [U.S. Route] 224 and Market Street dressed head-to-toe in Steelers gear, carrying a bright-orange, oversized sign that said, 'I am a Browns fan.'"
Zarconi made good on his word last Wednesday from 4 to 6 p.m. -- right about the time Scerba was trying on dresses.
Zarconi stood in the Circuit City parking lot, near the busy Boardman intersection, where he turned a lot of heads.
"A lot of people rolled down their windows and yelled stuff," he said. "At least 10 people asked me if I had lost a bet. A lot of Browns fans even pulled over to show support."