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?!?