Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle Doesn’t Back Down

Don’t call Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle a wimp. Or…at least don’t call his press flaks wimps. They certainly didn’t back down in their wager over the NFL Playoff game between the Packers andSeahawks. Washington Governor Chris Gregoire came out swinging earlier this week when she went right at the entire State of Wisconsin by staking Washington Cheese against Governor Doyle’s Wisconsin Bratwurst. Doyle, clearly not one to take such a whack lightly went right back at Gregoire byupping the “ante” by agreeing to include some “freshly caught Lake Michigan Coho Salmon” — in addition to the already agreed upon Wisconsin bratwurst — if the Seahawks beat the Packers.

From the press release:

“It seems a little fishy that Governor Gregoire would want to send cheese to the greatest cheese makers in the world, but we will happily accept her gift after the Packers victory,” Governor Doyle said. “Wisconsinites don’t have a lot of occasion to eat canned cheese from the West Coast.”

Nice. The Governors will meet face-to-face this weekend. I’m certain that Governor Gregoire will re-up her ante if she can. We’ll wait to re-evaluate the number of Daleys we’re giving this wager until the final stakes come in.

Oh No they Didn't: Washington State Stakes Cheese Against Wisconsin

When one thinks of food products from Wisconsin, we naturally think of cheese. Bratwurst second, but cheese for the most part first. Look at what the Green Bay Packers label themselves: Cheeseheads. They even wear silly foam cheese wedges on their heads during games. (Note: My Chicago Bears tried to get together a “deep dish pizza” hat to compete with the Packers. It didn’t work out.) So…with the Packers in the NFL Playoffs against the Seattle Seahawks, we naturally figured that all the politcos from Wisconsin would be staking their beloved cheese on the Packers. Turns out, they not the only ones.

Complementing the wager between the Seattle and Green Bay Mayors, this week, the Governors decided to get in on the action. “Washington Governor Chris Gregoire has just laid the smackdown on Wisconsin in the traditional state-to-state football playoff wager.”

Gregoire is betting Wazzu’s famous Cougar Gold cheese because, she said, “The cheese from Washington is so good that we wouldn’t want to waste it by putting it on our heads.”

The Cougar Gold Cheese, made at the Washington State University Creamery under the direction of students and faculty has won numerous international awards for the fairly unique canned product. For his part, Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle has staked Wisconsin Brats.

Gregoire, who will be in Green Bay with Wisconsin’s first couple, would give Doyle’s bratwursts to the Grays Harbor Children’s Advocacy Center, which would in turn give them to flood victims in Montesano.

“It may seem odd to bet cheese against the cheeseheads, but we think Governor Doyle would be impressed with the quality of the Cougar Gold,” Gregoire said.

Bottomline: Awesome bet, Governor Gregoire. She went right at them and was a bit creative. We like the simplicity of this wager. It’s not often that a politico will just limit their wager to one product. 60 Daleys. The high water mark for 2008.

NFL Playoffs: Green Bay, Wisconsin: Home of the Root Beer Bet?!?

The NFL Playoffs are in full swing and that, for us at least, most notably means that the Mayors and Governors are out to represent their hometowns. We’re a bit biased on these food wagers, both for the good wagers (Chicago) and the notable bad antes. One of the traditional “bad” antes has always been Seattle. We’ve always kind of perceived Seattle as a “bad” wager because the products they put up in these wagers were typically a little “light”. “Light” meaning not exactly the things you think of when you think “food wagers”. Maybe it’s our age, maybe we’re softening a bit, but we’re coming around on the Seattle wagers. (It may also be that our hometown Bears’ rivals are playing the Seattle Seahawks this weekend!). In the spirit of the Playoffs, both Green Bay Mayor Jim Schmitt and Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels have put up some local products in a friendly political wager.

Green Bay, Wisconsin is a hearty, midwest, blue-collar town. We expect Mayor Schmitt to wager equally “midwestern” items and he doesn’t let us down. A gift basket on Schmitt’s desk included Schreiber Foods cheese, Maplewood Meats and American Foods Group products, Titletown Brewery Sno-cap root beer, a Green Bay-opoly game and a cheesehead hat.

Nickels, not to be outdone, has staked smoked sockeye salmon, a selection of Washington state wines and green-apple flavored Jones Soda in the event of a Seahawks loss.

During the playful press conference call, both Mayors asked for the stakes to be raised. Schmitt asked for a Starbucks franchise, while Nickels requested Packer quarterback Brett Farve as part of the wager.

“It’s brats, not Brett,” Schmitt replied.

He’s 1-1 so far with his bets on the Packers. Schmitt had to send cheese and sausage to Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert after the Packers lost to the Dallas Cowboys 37-27 on Nov. 29.

He won a collection of Motown music and Motor City memorabilia from Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick after the Packers defeated the Lions 34-13 on Thanksgiving Day.

The mayors aren’t the only ones making friendly wagers on Saturday’s game. The chefs at Lambeau and Qwest fields also have a bet.

If the Packers win, Qwest Field executive chef Jon Sevenson and his culinary team will eat brats and cheese curds in their honor.

If Seattle wins, Lambeau Field executive chef Leo Dominguez and his team will consume salmon BLTs, a Northwest specialty made with grilled salmon, smoked bacon, tomatoes, lettuce and dijonaise and served on a roll.

Both chefs work for Levy Restaurants, which operates the concessions at the Green Bay and Seattle stadiums.

The Green Bay Packers host the Seattle Seahawks at 3:30 p.m. Saturday. We have our money on the NFC North Packers. Hopefully, we’ll be able to get a picture of Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels with the Cheesehead hat on!

Bottomline: Cheese, meats, bratwurst and…root beer?!?!? Huh? Where’s the Miller products? Miller Lite? High Life? Come on, Green Bay. Seattle is sticking to the salmon, but they need to be adding Starbucks, in our opinion. This seems like both Mayors had fun and because of the requests for a Starbucks in Downtown Green Bay and the added request for Brett Farve to move to Seattle, we like this wager.   A nice touch is the chef’s “side bet”.  Imagine those fro-fro chefs in Seattle hossing down Cheese curds!  It falls into the “above average” category and we give it 48 Daleys.