Superbowl XLIII or Horticulture Bowl XLIII?

It's Super Bowl week! For us here at Our Civic Pride, this week culminates 4 straight weekends of friendly political wagers from Mayors, Governors, Congressman, and Senators from the playoff cities. It all comes down to this: Pittsburgh vs. Glendale/Phoenix/Arizona. As with every Superbowl, the mayors have ante'd up, but this year there's a twist: the loser has to plant a native plant "outside their stadium".

Glendale Mayor Elain Scruggs has thrown down a wager to Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl.

If the Arizona Cardinals beat the Steelers in Super Bowl XLIII on Feb. 1, a cactus must be planted outside Heinz Field to remind Pittsburgh fans of the desert underdog's victory.

If the Steelers win, Glendale officials agree to plant a tree that is native to Pennsylvania, such as a dogwood, elderberry or red oak.

That may be a safe bet with University of Phoenix Stadium's horticultural history. In the dome's first year, about 120 sycamores couldn't survive the Arizona heat, shriveling on the Great Lawn.

But Glendale officials say they can keep such a tree alive, and gardeners assure them a San Pedro cactus can survive a Pittsburgh winter.

They don't specify if there's any signage required - and we think there should be - as a reminder of the team's loss. We might need to remind everyone that this is the same mayor who changed his name a few weeks back. We think the "plant" wager is unique wager, but clearly the Cardinals are in the drivers seat: a cactus in Pittsburgh is funny, while a tree in Arizona is just sad.

Bottomline: Superbowl means some "hot" action. We haven't heard from the Senators or Governors yet, but we like this wager. We're also secretly hoping that the Cardinals win, so we can see a cactus grow up in Pittsburgh. Imagine a kid growing up and heading to Steeler games is going to ask his dad:

Son: "Daddy...why is there a giant cactus outside the Stadium?"

Dad: "That's our badge of shame, son. We lost to the lowly Arizona/Glendale/Phoenix Cardinals in Superbowl XLIII. Our Mayor had to plant that silly thing back in 2009."

One can wish, eh? In reality, we imagine that if planted, this Super Bowl Cactus would last about 30 seconds before a buch of irate Steeler fans destroyed it. We give this bet 46 Daleys and our fingers are firmly crossed!