Will Daley Win Some Hamburger Helper?
By Benjy Lipsman in News on Jan 29, 2007 4:30PM
As with the previous two playoff games, Mayor Daley will make a food-related wager with his counterpart in Indianapolis on the upcoming Super Bowl that'll see our Bears and their Colts face off in Miami.
Chicago, with our great gastronomic traditions, always offers up a smorgasbord of culinary delights — deep dish pizza, Eli's cheesecake, Vienna hot dogs, Ann Sather cinnamon rolls, Italian beef, Mexican foods, etc. But typically Chicago gets the short end of the deal when the opposing city just can't stack up in its offering. Seattle's offering was more worthy of a Ravinia basket, let alone that it arrived damaged!
New Orleans seemed like just about the only city whose wager could stand up to ours. But then Ray Nagin offered up "beignets, pralines, root beer, Zulu coconut, gift baskets and tickets to watch the Mardi Gras Parade from the official viewing stand." Ray, why'd you hold out on the good stuff? Where's the gumbo? The jambalaya? The crawfish? Some oyster po' boys or mufaletta? And while Daley's staffers say that some of the winnings get nibbled in the office, most is donated to charity — what'll the homeless do with Mardi Gras parade tickets?
Having already collected his first winnings, and awaiting the next shipment, Daley is now preparing to lay down his wager with Indianapolis' mayor, Bart Peterson. If ever there were a one-sided bet, this would be it! While Daley will likely offer up some Lou Malnati's and Eli's once again, what can Indy offer? Do they even have any home-grown delicacy? We imagine them offering up a sampling of Hamburger Helper, Wonder Bread and Hi-C juice boxes.
OK, so we do hear that St. Elmo's Steak House is pretty good, but last time we checked Chicago is basically ground zero for top-notch steaks. They seem to claim the pork tenderloin sandwich as their own — as does half the midwest. Maybe Indianapolis-native Jared personally delivering some Subway is the most unique food they can come up with.
Maybe Matthew Tully is right that rather than the ususal trading of food, the bet between Daley and Peterson should be a wager of work. He suggests:
If the Bears win, Peterson has to go to Chicago next time it snows and shovel sidewalks in the Loop. But if the Colts win, Daley has to travel to Indianapolis and spend a day cleaning up the starling droppings on Monument Circle.
We liked this train of thought ... but then Tully had to start insulting us.
Say if the Bears win, Peterson can teach Daley how to keep his City Hall cronies out of jail. Or he could show Daley how to guard the cemeteries on Election Day. Or he could hire a tutor to teach Chicagoans how to pronounce the word "the."
Clearly, the people of Indy are just jealous of our great city and future Super Bowl Champion Chicago Bears!