It is sometimes said that every living Texan has a Cowboys jersey, probably to differentiate from a somewhat smaller percentage of the non-living who happen to be stretched out under white Staubach 12s and Lilly 74s and Waters 41s.

Sounds a little obsessive, a little extreme, maybe a little psychotic, and, of course, it could easily happen in black and gold.

And probably has.

This comes up as prelude to the weekend's imminent meeting of two storied franchises, and while many among the chronically hopeful might regard Steelers-Cowboys at Heinz Field as its own prelude to Super Bowl 43, it already has achieved a certain unparalleled status before the first slice of desperate physical punishment is even dealt.

Sunday's game is the Super Bowl of laundry.

More people own Steelers and Cowboys clothing than any of the other teams in pro football or any of the other allegedly major pro team sports, more even than own New York Yankees laundry or laundry representing the Boston Red Sox or the Green Bay Packers or even of the Altoona Curve.

"I can understand that," said Casey Hampton, the massive Texan who does business in the middle of the Steeler's defensive line. "I think it all goes back to the '70s, all the Super Bowls, and even in Texas there are a lot of Steeler fans. People all over like these two teams, and a lot of times, it's because their parents liked them."

But is it true every living Texas has a Cowboys jersey?

"I never had that stuff," Hampton said. "I was an Oilers fan."

Growing up in Galveston, barely 50 miles from Houston, Hampton said he just felt closer to the doomed pale-blue football team that wasn't 300 miles away. But that's not why the Big Snack didn't care for the Cowboys.

"Everybody in my family was a Cowboys fan," he said.

So why weren't you?

"Because everybody else was."

Despite this most recent empirical presence in psychological data that certain of us want to be different for difference's sake, Cowboys cache allowed the Cowboys to finish first to the Steelers' second in a recent survey by ESPN Sports Polling among a sampling of people who were anxious to talk about their laundry. The rest of the top 10 went Packers, Yanks, Bosox, Bears, Colts, Eagles, Patriots, and Lakers.

As for individuals, Brett Favre jerseys were selling best according to the best available data, but four Cowboys were in the top 10, led by quarterback Tony Romo (2), running back Marion Barber (4), tight end Jason Witten (8), and reclusive wideout Terrell Owens (10). Only three Steelers were in the top 25 in this regard: Ben Roethlisberger (11), Troy Polamalu (17) and Hines Ward (25).

I'd gladly refer to the jerseys as something other than laundry -- merchandise I believe is the correct term -- except that now, about 40 years into the rampaging sports gear phenomenon, (Joe Namath No. 12 T-shirts being the unofficial epoch trigger), teams have begun selling actual laundry.

Tank Johnson's game-used socks are available through the Cowboys' Web site for $59.99.

I know. Ewww.

Pac-Man Jones' game-worn socks also are available at the same price.

Can I get Pac-Man's strip-club worn socks? What about some socks Pac-Man hasn't worn to a strip-club? Can I get 'em for under $100?

On the Steelers' Web site, the price for an authentic Ben Roethlisberger Pro Bowl jersey ($339.99, not game worn) may have surpassed the total spent by Steelers founder Arthur J. Rooney to outfit the entire team in 1933. To be accurate, the Ben Pro Bowl shirt has been reduced to $199.95. In other words, that's right, you can't afford not to have one.

There was no determining what portion of the survey sample's Cowboys inventory included money spent for the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders' Swimsuit Calendar ($16.99), which technically isn't clothing, but rather the absence of clothing. You would suppose, though it's a bit of hysterical notion on its face that if the Steelers had cheerleaders (The Terrible Towelettes, maybe?), Pittsburgh might one day climb over Dallas on such surveys.

There's always a chance, as well, that Dallas and Pittsburgh are at the top of the laundry game simply because people like the fashions constructed from black and gold, and from royal blue and metallic silver.

"I had a [Cowboys] starter jacket, a couple of caps," said Tony Hills, the Steelers' rookie tackle out of the University of Texas. "But as far as the colors, I prefer the black and gold. Those were my middle school colors."

Hampton said the same, strictly on fashion, and that he would say it even if the Steelers weren't paying him his weight in authentic Casey Hampton Pro Bowl jerseys.

"Black and gold, man. No contest."