Us, Canadadian Wager: Climbing Mountains

Here in the States, our leaders and dignitaries are usually wagering food, drink, or embarrassment. That's clearly not the case in some parts of Canada where the Premier of New Brunswick, Shawn Graham and the Governor of Maine, John Baldacci (both pictured here) have agreed to climb the highest mountain peaks in Maine and New Brunswick - Mount Katahdin and Mount Carleton, respectively - together next summer.

They bill it as a "wager" and as such, we here at Our Civic Pride feel compelled to cover it, but there isn't so much noted about what one of them will get if the other chickens out. However, in the grand tradition of Friendly Political Wagers, they are trying to promote themselves and their home - in this case the international Appalachian Trail.

Bottomline: Because of the risk of injury and death that accompany such a climb, we're willing to give them some points. The lack of clear stakes for the loser, however bring this wager down. We're willing to give it 1.5 Daleys.

Governor's Cup (Missouri): No Official Wagers?!?!?

While most elected officials are stumbling over each other to get out a press release or hold a press conference about their Friendly Political Wagers, sometimes opportunities go by with no such wager. That appears to be the case with the Missouri Governor's Cup. It is just a preseason game in the NFL, but it still seems like a prime opportunity for the Mayor of St. Louis and the Mayor of Kansas City to line up a a wager. BBQ vs. Budweiser. Now...that would earn quite a few Daleys!

The Missouri Governor's Cup is the trophy awarded to the winner between the NFL's Kansas City Chiefs and St. Louis Rams' annual meetings in the preseason and occasional contests in the regular season.

The contest has been a staple of Missourian's football teams from 1968 to 1987 (between the Chiefs and St. Louis' first football team, the Cardinals) and 1996 to the present (featuring the Chiefs and newly-relocated Rams). The local press occasionally refer to the game as The Battle of Missouri, or the I-70 Series. The Chiefs and Rams meet every year in the pre-season but have only met four times in the regular season.

While the Mayors aren't wagering anything, a couple of bloggers have taken up the slack. Highway 61 and Chimpotle are wagering their blog template colors on the game. Loser has to run the winners colors on his blog.

High Flying Wager: Fly the Winners Flag Over State Capitol

The 2007 Little League World Series is getting a lot of action. I mean A LOT. This is the 2nd Friendly Political Wager that we've chronicled this year alone. Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue, a Warner Robins American Little League alum has participated in both wagers. The first one was an interesting "for spite" Friendly Political Wager with Governor Bob Riley of Alabama. Perdue had offered a gallon of "North Georgia's finest, 100 percent locally mountain-grown headwaters" to Riley if the Alabama team won. In his most recent wager, Perdue went for "state pride" against Texas Governor Rick Perry. The U.S. Championship of the Little League World Series pits the team from Georgia against a squad from Texas. The winner gets to fly their state flag over the Capitol of the loser. That's a big wager on a bunch of kids!

In a news release Friday, Perdue, who plans to attend this afternoon's game in Pennsylvania, said, "The Texas team has played great so far. But I am confident our boys from Warner Robins American will play hard and represent Georgia well."

The Texas governor said, "When Texans go for something they make it their business to go big or go home. . . . And we look forward to seeing the Lone Star flag shine bright at the Georgia capitol."

The two state leaders made their wagers Friday afternoon, but the bet apparently required some wrangling.

Perdue's press secretary Bert Brantley said he didn't get the impression that Gov. Perry was following the Lubbock team as closely as Perdue has followed the Warner Robins boys.

I'm sure it will go over well with the legislators at both Capitols. Imagine the delight of Texas legislators when they see their flag flying high above Atlanta. This wager will have the intended consequence of getting the Governors on camera for the news. Win or lose, the media will cover this story. Nice bet, guys!

Aurora Superintendents Wager over Cross-Town Football Game, Loser Wears a Helmet

The administrators (pictured here at right) at the public schools in Aurora, Illinois are doing their best to fire up the kids and getting them worked up to come back to school. The 2 public schools held a rally for the students that featured their superintendent and the superintendent from the other school. At the rally, each Superintendent entered into a wager with the other.

The two schools are set to face each other in the opening game of the Football season this week:

The wager was well received by the students:

Perhaps because polo shirts with small logos can be a little too discreet, especially with a cleverly placed name tag, the superintendents of the East and West Aurora school districts decided to fatten their annual bet.

At Monday's welcome back rallies -- West Aurora's "Staff Kickoff" and East Aurora's "Red and Black Pride Day" -- West Superintendent Jim Rydland and East counterpart Jerome Roberts shook hands, validating a friendly wager that hinges on the outcome of Friday's East-West football game at the Tomcats' Roy E. Davis Field.

The loser must wear his rival team's helmet to work for a day next week -- a proclamation that drew thunderous applause and laughter from staff and faculty assembled in each high school's auditorium.

In years past, the losing superintendent simply wore his opposition's polo shirt.

We here at OurCivicPride love that they have upped the ante on the wager. It's also really nice that they're using this as a vehicle to get kids excited about school.

Bottomline: Based on the shame factor of making someone sit in a school office and wear a helmet all day, and that factor alone, we rate this wager high. If this was between Mayors or even Congressmen - where the office in which the loser was sitting was a bit more significant, we'd think this might be one of the best bets of all time. We give this wager: 47 Daleys.

2007 College World Series Wager: To the Loser Go the Spoils?

We're just getting caught up with the Friendly Political Wager over the College World Series that took place this summer. Oregon State was going for a repeat against last year's second place finishers, the North Carolina Tarheels. As expected, Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski and North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley make a friendly political wager on the outcome of the championship series.

Governor Easley wagered one pound of barbecue, one bottle of barbecue sauce and one pint of slaw from both Wilber’s Barbecue of Goldsboro and the Barbecue Center Inc. of Lexington and a case of Cheerwine if the Beavers win. Governor Kulongoski wagered a basket of products made in Oregon including a sampling of Pacific seafood, local cheeses, craft beer and hazelnuts – perfect snack foods for an afternoon of baseball.

In the end, the Oregon State Beavers came out on top and Easley will have to pay up. Suprinsingly, some members of the agriculture community in Oregon have urged the winner - Governor Easley - to send his ante anyway:

There's some tasty North Carolina barbecue grub coming out West, thanks to the Oregon State Beavers' repeat drubbing of the University of North Carolina Tar Heels for the NCAA baseball championship.

Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski and North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley make a friendly wager on the outcome of the championship series late last week.

But, perhaps Kulongoski ought to send the package he wagered anyway. Those folks in Carolina have seen what Oregon has to offer on the baseball diamond in the College World Series for two consecutive years now. Maybe they should also get a taste of the agriculture and food products we have out West too.

That's a novel approach. Win and send it anyway. I'm not sure it's one that will catch on, but it's a nice thought from the folks up in Oregon. Governor Kulongoski will certainly enjoy the BBQ, I bet. To the victor go the spoils.

Link: Blogriculture: Beavers serve up tasty win for Oregon's governor

Mayor Wears Peyton Manning Jersey, Hold Up His Side of the Wager

It took almost 8 months, but Lake Forest (IL) Mayor Michael Rummel (pictured here) paid off his "FPW" with Terre Haute (IN) mayor Kevin Burke. See, Lake Forest is the regular season home of the Chicago Bears and the Mayor decided to bet not food or drink, but rather a uniform.

The Colts won 29-17 in February, and Saturday was payday. Along with Rummel providing Burke with various "goodies'' from Lake Forest, Rummel had to show up at training camp wearing a Colts jersey. If the Bears had prevailed, Burke would have donned a Bears jersey and served as grand marshal at the recent "Dog Day'' parade in Lake Forest.

I like this bet. In addition to delivering these so called "goodies", there's the shame aspect. That's a nice touch, guys. I wonder what the "goodies" were? One of their notable exports is Vince Vaughn!

Welcome to Civic Pride

If you've had a sports team in your town that's done reasonably well, the you've seen these wagers. We love them. They're funny. They're local. And...most importantly, they usually involve food.

What's "Civic Pride"? It's a way to root for your team while wagering products such as food and drink on your hometown team. Oftentimes it's the Mayors or Governors doing this "wagering" and we'll be there the chronicle all that's going down. The good (Chicago), the bad (Seattle) and the interesting (we'll find out!).

Have you seen a Mayor betting on something that we missed? Send it in to ourcivicpride@gmail.com.

NY Governor Spitzer Finally Pays up on Stanley Cup Wager

Nobody likes a welcher and that extends up north to Canada as evidenced by Dalton McGuinty, Ontario's Premier. Just this past week, he told the Canadian press that New York Governor Elliot Spitzer never paid up. Back in May, Spitzer and McGuinty wagered over the Buffalo Sabers and Ottawa Senators matchup in the Eastern Conference Finals in the NHL. New York's Spitzer offered up authentic Buffalo Chicken Wings with McGuinty ponying up a month's supply of Tim Horton's coffee. Spitzer welched.

As the story hit, someone noticed and Spitzer finally paid it off.

Premier Dalton McGuinty has declared a truce with New York State Governor Eliot Spitzer, ending what the premier jokingly called a "major international incident."

McGuinty's happy because he finally got his wings - even if they weren't the authentic Buffalo variety. The premier and his son Connor enjoyed some chicken wings Wednesday night courtesy of Spitzer, who was on the losing end of a Stanley Cup bet.

Better late than never, right? As it turns out, McGuinty isn't the best at fulfilling the Friendly Political Wager is he. Does he have room to complain? We're not sure. You can judge for yourself.

Of course, Dalton is hardly off the hook. When the Anaheim Ducks beat Ottawa in the Stanley Cup finals a couple of weeks later, the premier was supposed to send California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger a box of Niagara wine and tins of Tim Horton's coffee. The Liberal leader says he did it, but it turns out he cut some corners in the process - like, taking the grinds from his own kitchen cupboard.

"I just gave him half a can," he admitted.

When he wins, he wants the loser to pay up. When he looses, he screws the winner. Premier McGuinty. You've heard of the "glass houses" phrase?

Mayor Wears Peyton Manning Jersey, Hold Up His Side of the Wager

It took almost 8 months, but Lake Forest (IL) Mayor Michael Rummel (pictured here) paid off his "FPW" with Terre Haute (IN) mayor Kevin Burke. See, Lake Forest is the regular season home of the Chicago Bears and the Mayor decided to bet not food or drink, but rather a uniform.

The Colts won 29-17 in February, and Saturday was payday. Along with Rummel providing Burke with various "goodies'' from Lake Forest, Rummel had to show up at training camp wearing a Colts jersey. If the Bears had prevailed, Burke would have donned a Bears jersey and served as grand marshal at the recent "Dog Day'' parade in Lake Forest.

I like this bet. In addition to delivering these so called "goodies", there's the shame aspect. That's a nice touch, guys. I wonder what the "goodies" were? One of their notable exports is Vince Vaughn!

Alabama, Geogia Governors Wager Dirt, Water Respectively

Normally these Friendly Political Wagers are all fun. The participants are surely rooting for their home teams, but for the most part, the wagers are used as an opportunity to mug in front of the local television cameras on an issue that no one can argue against. Win or lose, the Mayor or Governor or Senator usually enjoys either paying up or taking the spoils. That's not the case down in the south where Alabama Governor Bob Riley and Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue (both pictured here) are lashing out at each other through a wager. Seems as if there is a rift between the two states about who has rights to releasing water from Lake Allatoona. Alabama needs the water, Georgia says it can't give it up.

This all came to a head over a Little League Regional Championship Game this past week. Perdue had offered a gallon of "North Georgia's finest, 100 percent locally mountain-grown headwaters" to Riley if the Alabama team won.

Perdue, who played catcher for the Warner Robins team nearly 50 years ago, had started the wager Wednesday with a statement: "I am pulling for our home team just as strongly as I am pulling for our right to protect Georgia's water resources," surely a reference to the ongoing court fights the two states have had over water from north Georgia.

There doesn't seem to be anything offered at first in return. In fact, it appears that the Alabama Governor didn't even know that there was a wager at stake. That didn't stop him from holding up his end of the bargain. His team lost. So, he sent Perdue a bottle of dirt. That's right. Dirt.

Riley said in a letter to Perdue on Friday that he wasn't aware of the bet before the game.

"But since your team won, I am presenting you something in the spirit in which you offered the gallon of water," Riley wrote. "So, I am happy to send you a box of dry, parched Alabama soil. Due to the lack of water in Alabama, this soil can no longer be used for farming, so the farmer I got it from no longer needs it."

Wow. For as long as we here at Our Civic Pride can remember, we've never seen a Friendly Political Wager be used as a way to go after a political opponent - they've always used to hamm it up for the local media. Maybe this is the wave of the future? We'll see Barack Obama send Rudy Giuliani a bushel of Illinois corn when Rudy takes money from the bean lobbyist? Who knows?!?

Seattle Seahawks v. Chicago Bears. No Contest when Chicago is Involved

Although I'm a bit biased being that I live/work/play in Chicago, whenever Chicago or the State of Illinois is involved in the wagering, they always come "ready to play". If you've ever been to Chicago, you know that this is an "eatin' town". Some of the best food around is made, prepared, and consumed in the Windy City. For the NFC Divisional Playoff Game, Chicago's Mayor Daley has put up a bountiful feast against Seattle's Mayor Greg Nickels. Here's the rundown.

What Chicago put up: pork chops, steaks, hot dogs, sausage, stuffed pretzels, potato chips, Mexican food, pizza, gourmet popcorn, Italian beef, beer and soda.

What Seattle has on the line: smoked king salmon, cheese, beer, Washington state wine, espresso chocolates and coffee.

Seattle's ante into the wager is a little light, isn't it? Perfect for a day at the orchestra, eh? Competing with Chicago is very difficult and Seattle fell short.