The Stakes are "Usually Low and Locally Focused"

The Pittsburgh City Paper has a nice write-up of the history of friendly political wagers in their town. They include a terrific couple of lines that nicely sum up our coverage her at Our Civic Pride.

But no tradition is more routine -- or routinely strange -- than the mayoral wager, when otherwise (presumably) busy officials push aside their to-do piles to lay down some action with their counterparts in other cities.

The stakes are usually low and locally focused: a particularly popular local delicacy, or an easily identifiable regional product. Even losing, then, is a kind of victory -- an advertisement for the city to people who live elsewhere.

We maintain that there's nothing better than these wagers. As the SuperBowl fades into our memories, we'll be looking even further in the past as we try to cover some of the more unique wagers in our country's history. We've found wagers back to the 1930's and we'll bring some of those wagers right to you, including rating them on the Daley scale!

No Pizza for You. Congressman Wager Jersey Shame Over Superbowl.

We get it. Phoenix has no food that they're wiling to wager. What about Pizzeria Bianco? Where's the politician who knows his pizza? For shame, Phoenix. For shame. You have, by most accounts, some of the BEST pizza anywhere west of Chicago and no one ante'd up?

Anyway...we'll move on. One wager that fell through the cracks here at Friendly Political Wager headquarters was the small wager between 2 Congressmen over the Super Bowl. Republican Rep. Trent Franks of Arizona placed a wager with Democratic Rep. Mike Doyle of Pennsylvania over the big game. The loser would have to wear the other guy's team jersey when the House returned on its first full day in session on Wednesday. That's tomorrow. We'll keep our eyes open for the pictures, but it sounds like Franks is going to go through with it.

Franks accepted his loss Monday, saying he'd be wearing the Steelers jersey –"It's always important to be magnanimous in victory and humbling in defeat."

The humiliation of having to wear a jersey around the Congress is pretty high. I'm sure the Congressman won't be able to get on the floor with the jersey, but there will certainly be some press opportunities back in his office.

Bottomline: We like that these two gentlemen got involved in the big game. No food (on such a big game) means that this wager falls pretty far down on the Daley scale. Not to mention that there is no specified place/time of the jersey wearing. More than the Catholic School Kids, but not by much. 11 Daleys.

Kids in Jerseys As Pawns: Catholic School Kids Wager on Super Bowl

Kids in school are having a lot of fun these days. From the Doodle 4 Google contest to taking part in friendly political wagers on the Super Bowl. That's right, there's a group of Catholic School kids in Glendale setting up a wager with kids in Pittsburgh.

Students from Catholic schools Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Glendale and John F. Kennedy School in Washington, Pa., near Pittsburgh, have agreed that should their team lose, the students have to wear the winning team's colors for a day.

Stacey McCracken, parent of four students attending the Pennsylvania school, got the idea after the Cardinals won the NFC Championship. She said she thought it would be fun to have an Arizona Scho0l enter a bet. After searching on Google for a matching school, she found Our Lady of Perpetual Help and called to set up the wager.

McCracken said that should the Steelers lose to the Cardinals, her school's faculty will wear red Arizona T-shirts and prepare a Cardinals-themed lunch. She added that there may be other "unfortunate events" if Arizona wins.

Buying an entire school new shirts during these trying economic times? I guess those parents who are sending their kids to catholic schools really do have too much money on their hands.

Bottomline: Using kids as pawns to get some press is kinda lame. The lunch is "interesting", but since this doesn't involve politicans, we tend to rate this wager pretty low. 9 Daleys.

Major Wager Letdown: US Airways Wagers on Games, Runs out of Money Before the Big One

These wagers aren't only for elected officials, you know. Apparently, some airline employees have some time on their hands and have been getting down and dirty with other terminals throughout the NFL Playoffs. The bad new? The budget's spent and they can't play ball over the Super Bowl.

Chuck Kostelic, US Airways’ station director at Pittsburgh International Airport, is still enjoying the fruits — or, in this case, the crab chips — of the Steelers’ win over the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Championship game.

“I’m eating some right now. They’re good,” Kostelic said Tuesday afternoon.

US Airways’ Baltimore station sent 500 bags of crab chips, a local delicacy, to Pittsburgh after the Steelers knocked the Ravens out of the playoffs on Jan. 18. A week prior, the San Diego station sent boxes of clementines, pistachios and avocados to Pittsburgh after the Steelers gave the Chargers an early playoff exit.

A stationwide bet involving local delicacies is out the window for this week’s game, because US Airways wanted to throw Super Bowl parties for its Pittsburgh and Phoenix stations instead.

They blew the budget on the Championship games?!?! What happened to the fiscal discipline that made this country great. Oh yeah...these are the airlines we're talking about. They're not afraid of a bailout here or there.

Here at Our Civic Pride, we're hoping that a Senator or two will find it in their heart to help the airline out in this time of economic struggles. Maybe slip something into the Stimulus Bill this week?

With no wagers coming up, we're not able to rate the bets, but we're kinda bummed out that we missed covering the previous wagers. We're also surprised that we've only seen a wager from the Mayor's of the two Superbowl towns and not Governors, Senators, etc. We did get a hint of the reason for the delay in this little taunt from the Pittsburgh folks:

No wagers had been set between the Allegheny County and Maricopa County, Ariz., governments as of Tuesday afternoon, said Kevin Evanto, spokesman for Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato.

“We’re still waiting for our dear friends in Maricopa County to get their acts together. They’ve never had to make a wager like this before because their team has never gone this far, so they’re trying to figure out what to do,” Evanto said in a little pre-Super Bowl trash-talking.

If you see something that we haven't covered, send us a note at OurCivicPride (at) gmail (dot) com and get on it.

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!

Jersey Boys: 2 Locals Wager Embarrassment

Two local Mayors around Philadelphia came up with an "embarrassment" wager a few weeks back. Apparently one of the Mayors is a New Jersey transplant and bleeds NY Giants Red and Blue. In the Jan. 11 divisional play-off game, the Eagles beat the Giants. They mayors settled up this week.

When Howell Mayor Robert Walsh ran Tuesday's Township Council meeting while wearing a Philadelphia Eagles football jersey, he finished paying off a bet to Upper Freehold Mayor Steve Alexander.

The bet was on the Jan. 11 Eagles-Giants divisional play-off game.

Alexander, a Philadelphia native, is a die-hard Eagles fan; Walsh grew up in Jersey City as a die-hard Giants fan. The "Iggles" beat "Big Blue," 23 to 11, so Walsh had to pay off the bet.

First, Walsh brought coffee and pastries to the Jan. 15 Upper Freehold Township Committee meeting. The two mayors, who had never met before, wore Eagles jerseys — Alexander as a fan, Walsh as part of paying off the bet.

Walsh's bringing the coffee and pastries, along with wearing the Eagles jersey, were part of the payoff.

"I'm feeling a little shameful," said Walsh, 50, as he was heading out the Upper Freehold meeting. "I just saw myself in the mirror with an Eagles jersey on. But I'll suck it up."

The jersey wearing portion of the bet has become commonplace for local city council members or mayors. Because the Mayors both hail from the same region, while betting on different teams, it was difficult to pick "regional" foods.

Bottomline: This run of the mill bet includes folks who don't even live where the teams are based. Because of those factors, we put this wager down at the bottom of the scale. 9 Daleys.

Canadian Junior League Hockey: Meat Pies and vs. French Fries

Here at Our Civic Pride, we don't claim to be Canadian, nor do we claim to really follow hockey (though we do appreciate an all "Original Six" game on tv if/when we can find it. That's why we're uncertain of the gravity behind this wager. For background, we should tell you that the Penetag Kings are a Canadian Junior ice hockey team based in Penetanguishene, Ontario. They play in the Georgian Mid-Ontario Junior C Hockey League of the Ontario Hockey Association. The Midland Flyers are based in Midland, Onario and are also members of the same league.

Saturday’s victory by the Penetang Kings over the Midland Flyers meant Penetanguishene Mayor Anita Dubeau won a bet with her Midland counterpart. We shouldn't be surprised that the ante's are quite particular based on the fact that this friendly political wager was made over a junior hockey game, right?

Under the terms of the wager, Jim Downer will attend a Penetanguishene council meeting wearing a Kings jersey – and bring along some of his famous meat pies for councillors to enjoy. If Downer had won the bet, Dubeau – wearing a Flyers jersey – would have brought some Dock Lunch poutine to an upcoming Midland council meeting.

Meat pies? Famous meat pies? I think that Mayor Downer **makes** his meat pies. In that regard, they're truly a "local" food product. The Dock Lunch, is a famous place in Midland that serves poutine: a Canadian fast food speciality. What's poutine, you ask? Well, it sounds delicious. From Wikipedia: Poutine is a dish consisting of French fries topped with fresh cheese curds, covered with brown gravy and sometimes additional ingredients.

Bottomline: Our eyes have been opened to poutine! If only Mayor Downer would have come a bit stronger with his ante of homemade meat pies, this wager would be a great one. We love a good wager of a very low-profile local sporting event as much as the next guy, so we rate this wager pretty high based on having one really great ante. 41 Daleys.

Chilly Willy Mayor - San Diego Mayor Pays Up, Rubs it in

San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders is a man of his word. After his Chargers lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers last weekend, Mayor Sanders had to pay up by donning some Steelers gear and heading to the coldest place in San Diego - the Penguin Exhibit at SeaWorld. The ground rules for this friendly political wager was that the loser had to wear the opponents jersey and head to the place that most resembles the winner's hometown.

It was a friendly wager Mayor Jerry Sanders, a week ago, was sure he would win. Unfortunately, the Chargers couldn't come through last Sunday against the Steelers. Now it's time for Mayor Jerry Sanders to honor his bet with Pittsburgh's mayor. That means donning a Steelers jersey while hanging out with the penguins at Sea World.

Sanders was photographed inside the Penguin Encounter exhibit at SeaWorld, wearing a Pittsburgh Steelers hat and jersey, holding a "terrible towel," in salute of the black and gold defense, and standing next to a pair of skis.

That was the bet Sanders made with Ravenstahl before the game.

Had the unthinkable happened and the Chargers won, Ravenstahl would have had to return a photo of himself in Chargers swim trunks, standing with a surfboard donated by Bob's Mission Surf Shop in front of one of Pittsburgh's three rivers.

Turns out, the good folks in San Diego aren't the best losers. They couldn't help themselves. While much of the country is in a deep freeze, they had to point out how good it is to live in San Diego.

"It was 20 degrees in the Penguin Encounter -- a lot like Pittsburgh, in fact. When I walked outside, it was a perfect San Diego day -- sunny and 75. In San Diego, even when we lose, we win," Sanders said.

Thanks for reminding us, Mayor. Full Video below:

Deadspin Takes on the Friendly Politcical Wager

The guys over at Deadspin, one of the top sports blogs on the web, have decided to jump in on the friendly political wagers. While they're not politicians, its still worth noting. Founding Editor (and Illini guy) Will Leitch has covered the friendly political wagers in the past, but this time he's an active participant. Taking a look at the ante's so far, we think that this isn't your ususal political wager. Leitch is backing his Cardinals and putting up:

1. Take A.J. Daulerio out for a dinner that involves eating as many tacos as he can handle.

2. Take a cookie sheet to the face. Mr. Daulerio will be allowed to swing a cookie sheet as hard as he wants directly at my face. This will be filmed.

3. Shave my head.

For his part, AJ Daulerio is putting up:

1. I will take Will Leitch out for a sushi dinner.

2. I will also take a cookie sheet to the face.

3. I will get a tattoo of a buzzsaw on the top side of my right buttock.

Food, injury, and embarrassment. Two of those we see all the time (food and embarrassment), but the injury changes things.

Bottomline: We're going to rank this wager, simply because it's from the guys @ Deadspin. They're not politicians, the food wagered here has no tie to the team's home towns, and frankly, the tattoo vs. haircut aren't even close. The cookie sheet will lead to a lot of laughs, though. We'll give it 30 Daleys.

Pittsburgh Mayor Changes Name, Fails to Bet

The NFL really is our biggest sporting league. If the action on these Playoff games are any indication, that is. While this isn't so much a bet, but more of a political "stunt", we here at Our Civic Pride feel compelled to cover it. What are we talking about? Luke Ravenstahl the 28 year old mayor of Pittsburgh has officially changed his name for this week to "Luke Steelerstahl".

The Pittsburgh Steelers compete for the AFC Championship this Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens. Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl has "upped the ante" for wacky political stunts by changing his name to Luke Steelerstahl until the game is over. After all, he can't have his constituents thinking that he is a secret Ravens fan.

Bravo, Luke. At 28, this guy clearly knows his way around the political world. We're guessing that he went this route because he had no opponent to wager against - as the Mayor of Baltimore has a few more things on her mind than friendly political wagers.

Mayor Sheila Dixon has been accused of secretly accepting more than $20,000 worth of gifts from developers doing business with the city, sometimes masking it as charity to needy Baltimore families, according to a 12-count indictment handed up Friday.

Besides....with her history, she probably would have just kept both ante's and went home!

Bottomline: No wager, no Daleys. Sorry, Mayor Steelerstahl!