Ted Cruz Goes At JD Vance - College Football Playoff Game

Former Senate Colleagues.  Ohio State Vs. University of Texas. 

Via a tweet: https://x.com/tedcruz/status/1876667373148852351

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!

Candy Bets in NFC Championship Game: Losers Buy

Are city government budget's that bad? In a first (maybe to add insult to the injury for the loser), it seems that in the wager between NFC Title game Mayors, the loser has to "buy" something, instead of "giving" something. Glendale Arizona (home of the Arizona Cardinals) Mayor Elaine Scruggs has challenged Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter to a wager over the NFC Title game. The catch? The loser has to buy a product from the other's hometown confectioner. If the Cardinals win, Nutter has to buy candy from Cerreta Candy Co. in Glendale and distribute the products at the next City Council meeting. If, the Eagles win, however, Mayor Scruggs will distribute Hershey's chocolates, made in Hershey, Pa., during her next meeting.

Bottomline: Hershey's chocolates? Really? We understand that Glendale Arizona is probably not exactly a hotbed of food traditions, so the best they could come up with was some candy from the local candy shop. But Philly went with Hershey's? Does the Mayor of Glendale walk down to the local Walgreens and buy some if they lose? Hershey's = weak sauce. Mayor of Glendale? Who even knew the Cardinals play in Glendale? I give the Mayor a little bit of credit for getting the wager done. The fact that you have to buy something if you loose? Not exactly the right protocol, guys. All those factors add up to the lowest score of the year: 5 Daleys.

Senator Coburn's As "High As A Kite"

Coburn pays up and seems to be a pretty good sport out of it. As far as friendly political wagers go, this one paid off pretty well press-wise. The AP had their video camera's inside the Senator's office yesterday. The coverage is unbelievable. Maybe 28 Daleys was too low?



Turns out this isn't Florida Senator Nelson's first political wager rodeo. Two years ago, he perched on one knee over Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio and counted as Brown tried to do 55 push-ups. The number equaled the total score of that season's BCS title game in which Florida beat Ohio State 41-14.

Brown only made it to 43, and Nelson finished the rest.

Huskers Lose, Coburn to Belt out Elton John Tune

Some elected officials it seems, aren't content with wagering local food products on their sports teams.  More and more today, we're seeing folks step out and wager "embarrassment" - making the looser do "something" that they're not really interested in doing.  We guess that if we were a Senator, singing an Elton John song on the Senate floor might be up there near the top of the embarrassment scale.  That's exactly what Nebraska Senator Tom Coburn is going to have to do because his Sooners lost to the Florida Gators in the BCS Championship game.

Republican Sen. Tom Coburn is slated to serenade Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida with his very own rendition of Elton John's 1970s classic Wednesday afternoon.

Coburn owes Nelson because the Florida Gators defeated the Oklahoma Sooners 24-14 in last week's BCS title game. Nelson chose "Rocket Man" because he is a former astronaut who flew on the space shuttle Columbia in the 1980s.

If Oklahoma had won, Nelson would have had to sing the title song from the musical "Oklahoma!" It also happens to be the official state song.

Coburn spokesman John Hart said his boss won't wear a leisure suit for the performance but would be ready. He acknowledged the vocal range for "Rocket Man" is a "bit more expansive" than for the song Nelson would've had to sing.

Bottomline:

Embarassment is one thing, but we like to see our Senators wagering food.  Sure, oranges can't be shipped lots of places, but we bet they could have gone to Nebraska.  Because it's an Elton John song, we rate this higher than if Coburn would have won and Nelson sang a shotune.  28 Daleys.

All Pennsylvania Superbowl: Who You Gonna Bet?

Friendly political wagers occur between all types of politicians. Governors bet Governors. Senators bet Senators. Mayors bet Mayors. It is all usually pretty straight forward who's going to be involved in one of these wagers. Anne over at the 1490 Newsblog points out that if things go "well", we're going to have an interesting situation in the Superbowl. We might have an "all Pennsylvania" Superbowl. Philadelphia and Pittsburgh are both primed to win their respective Championship Games this weekend.

Normally, the governors of the states represented in the Super Bowl place a friendly wager on the game. But if the Philadelphia Eagles and Pittsburgh Steelers both make it to the big game, who will Governor Ed Rendell make that wager with?

Well, Rendell and Lieutenant Governor Joe Scarnati are from different political parties – and they also have different loyalties when it comes to football.

Scarnati tells WESB and The HERO that, because Rendell is a Philadelphia native, if it's a Steelers-Eagles Super Bowl, there's no doubt in his mind the governor will be rooting for the Eagles.

"I'll be more than glad to take up the banner for the Pittsburgh Steelers," Scarnati says.

"I think we can have some friendly wager," Scarnati says. "I'm not quite sure what that might be yet, but the governor and I will come up with something that I think will be fun for everybody to watch."

Inter-office wager? That's a first for us, but something we'd love to see. I'm hoping that Rendell throws down more cheesesteaks (like Mayor Nutty), while Scarnati has a ton of choices. Klondike bars, Iron City Beer, and Heinz Ketchup!

NYC vs. Philly: Battle of the Big Cheeses in the NFC

Forget the fact that the NY Giants don't actually play in New York. To NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg, the Super Bowl Champion Football Giants are enough of "his" team to place a wager against the Philadelphia Mayor on last weekend's NFC Divisional Playoff game.

In this wager, it's all about cheese. Cheese steaks vs. cheesecakes. If the Giants won, Philly Mayor Nutter was to send a sampling of five cheese steaks from popular shops across Philadelphia. If the Eagles were triumphant, Mayor Bloomberg was to send a giant New York-style cheesecake from the Carnegie Deli in Manhattan.

The Eagles buried the Champion Giants. Mayor Nutter's going to savoring every bit of his cheesecake this week.

At Our Civic Pride, we're wondering if NYC could have done better. Cheesecakes? We guess it works in that this could be billed as the "Battle of the Big Cheeses". The cheesesteaks are a great ante from Philly. Can't be topped. The only qualm we have with the ante is the volume. 5 steaks? From 5 different places? I'll take 5 Pat's and 5 Gino's and call it a day.

Bottomline: 2 great sports towns celebrating the NFC playoff's in true political fashion: with a nice cheese-friendly wager. Philly's really carrying the weight here with the steaks, so we'll give it 25 Daleys.

World Series Wagers: Beef, Lobsters, and Chowder, Oh My…

There’s nothing quite like the Fall Classic to bring out the friendly political wagers. This year’s World Series features the Red Sox from Boston against the Rockies from Colorado. This is the first time the Rockies have made the Series and the interest from politicians in Colorado reflects that fact. While the Rockies have won 21 of 22, the folks from New England are pretty confident that they’ll be bringing back the spoils after the Series. Thus far, we’ve seen the Governor and both sets of Senators get in on the wagering action. That’s already in addition to Congressmen and the Mayors of Denver and Boston. Like we said, nothing brings out the wagers like the World Series!

U.S. Sens. Wayne Allard and Ken Salazar of Colorado are wagering Colorado-raised beef, while Massachusetts Sens. Edward Kennedy and John Kerry are countering with New England clam chowder and lobster rolls.

The senators who lose the bet will donate the grub to a charity chosen by the senators who win.

Reps. Mark Udall, Diana DeGette and John Salazar of Colorado have their own bet against Boston-area Reps. Edward Markey, Stephen Lynch and Michael Capuano.

If the Red Sox win, the Colorado representatives treat their counterparts to a meal of steaks and chili. If the Rockies win, the Massachusetts trio foots the bill for chowder and lobster.

Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper wagered sub sandwiches, herbal tea, tortilla chips, salsa and ice cream against Boston Mayor Thomas Menino’s clam chowder, coffee, doughnuts and ice cream sandwiches. The winning mayor will serve the treats at a charity of his choice.

The Governor’s are also getting in on the action. Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick and Colorado Governor Bill Ritter hosted a conference call today detailing the wager.

Patrick is putting up lobsters and ice cream vs. beef from Ritter.

Bottomline: The sheer volume of “action” on this game raises the stakes considerably for us at OurCivicPride. Using our new “Daley Meter” and rating scale, we’re happy to give this “set” of wagers an above average rating of 48 Daleys. The sheer number of folks anteing up, coupled with the types of food waged equals 48 Daleys. It’s no Chicago spread, but it’s pretty good.

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.