Posted by John Byrne at 5:52 p.m.
Mayor Richard Daley is upping the ante as he bets against his Philadelphia counterpart on the outcome of the Stanley Cup finals.
Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, however, is not. Win or lose, Nutter has pledged to volunteer in a community garden within his office of sustainability. Cheesesteaks, Philly’s signature foodstuff, are not on the line.
Daley likes to be known as a "green mayor" too, but he’s setting that aside and bringing it in his finals bet. At a United Center news conference, Daley announced he’s putting up even more Chicago
products than he did during the conference finals against San Jose.
Surrounded by piles of sausages, beer, pizza, candy and other Chicago delicacies during a news conference at the United Center to announce the bet, Daley said the Hawks have increasingly taken on the character of the city.
"That’s our motto in Chicago: ‘I will.’ We never, ever give up," Daley said as representatives of the companies donating to the wager stood with him. "And I think that’s what the excitement is all about. It’s all about where they come from, how they accomplish it, such a young team, a mature team, and nothing is ever taken for granted. And what we have behind us here is a group of young entrepreneurs and all types of businesses that are proud to be supporting the Chicago Blackhawks."
"It isn’t the big shots or anything, this is all the working metropolitan area of Chicago, and across the country," Daley said. "They look at this team as ‘Hey, this is our team. This is a working team.’"
Among Chicago’s offerings should the Blackhawks lose to the Flyers:
*Three dozen Abundance Bakery red velvet cupcakes
*100 Al’s Beef italian beef sandwiches
*Six boxes of Allen Brothers USDA prime long bone ribeye steaks
*Billy Goat Tavern three dozen double cheeseburgers
*Bobak’s Sausage Co.: 100 Italian sausages and 100 gourmet chicken burgers
*Vienna Beef: 1961 Maxwell Street Polish Sausages and 2010 Chicago style hot dogs
*Terry’s Toffee: 30 pounds of toffee
*The Lyric Opera of Chicago: two tickets to Verdi’s "A Masked Ball," two lyric fleece pullovers and baseball hats
*Chicago Public Library: books by seven Chicago authors, including "The Adventures of Augie March" by Nobel Prize winning author Saul Bellow.
And that’s only a partial list.