 |
| |
|
 |
 |
||
 |
 |
||
 |
|||
EVENTS
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE
|
Wanna bet? Politicians support hometown teams with friendly wagers
BALTIMORE (AP) -- A bushel of Maryland crabs will head west to California or a case of Napa Valley's finest red wine will be shipped east, depending on who wins the AFC Championship. The winner of Sunday's game between the Baltimore Ravens and the Oakland Raiders heads to the Super Bowl in Tampa, Fla. And, as is the tradition, politicians from competing states have placed a few friendly wagers. Maryland Gov. Parris Glendening is wagering his state's crabs on a Ravens win against California Gov. Gray Davis' offer of his state's best wine. "I look forward to traveling to Tampa to toast a Ravens Super Bowl victory with a glass of vintage California wine," Glendening said Friday. To the victor go the spoils, and perhaps a little indigestion. It's Mexican food vs. crabs for Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley and Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown. Brown will treat O'Malley to a Mexican dinner in Oakland and a couple of cases of local beer if the Ravens win. If Oakland prevails, Brown will get a bushel of Chesapeake Bay blue crabs and DeGroen's beer. Maryland has caught a bad case of playoff fever. O'Malley and other local politicians parade around in their purple Ravens jerseys. City Hall and Baltimore's Washington Monument are aglow with purple lights at night. Officials at Baltimore-Washington International Airport are urging fans to stay away and when the team returns early Monday from Oakland. Fans mobbed the airport after Baltimore beat the Tennessee Titans Jan. 7 in Nashville. It's been more than 23 years since a Baltimore team was in the playoffs. The Colts lost to the Raiders in 1977 in the second overtime. After the Colts left for Indianapolis in 1984, Baltimore was without a team until 1996 when Art Modell brought his team to town. The Raiders are making a bid at their first Super Bowl appearance since 1983.
Minnesota, New York senators bet on NFC title gameWASHINGTON (AP) -- Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., is backing the New York Giants in Sunday's NFC championship game with some cheesecake and maple syrup on them. Clinton and Sen. Mark Dayton, D-Minn., have made the traditional political wager on the game between the Giants and Minnesota Vikings. Dayton is betting two pounds of Minnesota wild rice, two pounds of Minnesota cheese and the book "How to Talk Minnesotan" by Howard Mohr. Clinton is putting up New York cheesecake, upstate maple syrup and the Toni Morrison book "Jazz." "Her team's got the home-field advantage, but as someone who is 100th in seniority in the Senate, I'm not going to be afraid of being an underdog," said Dayton. Actually, the Vikings are 2 1/2-point favorites.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
