The gauntlet has been thrown between the mayors of Calgary and Vancouver.
On Saturday, the Calgary Stampeders and the B.C. Lions play for the opportunity to advance to the CFL Western Final.
“The B.C. Lions are going to beat those stinking rotten, good-for-nothing Stampeders,” said Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim in a video posted on social media Thursday.
Friday on Global News Morning Calgary, Mayor Jyoti Gondek said Sim’s words won’t matter on the field.
“As (Stampeders) Coach (Dave) Dickenson said, we’re at zero-zero right now going into this game and we have more than a good chance. We’re in good shape. We’ve got a Maier (pronounced ‘mayor’) for a quarterback,” Gondek said. “I mean, seriously, it’s not even a competition.
“I’m worried about when the Lions lose. Meow. This is going to happen.”
Sim and Gondek have set a friendly wager for the game.
The mayor of the city whose team loses the CFL Western Semifinal will have to wear the winning team’s jersey at city hall and proclaim that day to be the day of the winning team.
Sim urged Vancouverites and Lions fans to pack BC Place for the game.
“The Lions are going to feed off your energy and we’re going to kick the crap out of the Stampeders,” Sim said.
The Stampeders beat the Lions 41-16 in the final game of the regular season and hope to repeat the feat this weekend.
“It’ll be a completely different game, no doubt,” Dickenson said. “We also went over there earlier in the year and took our worst loss (a 37-9 setback to the Lions on Aug. 12) of the year.”
Lions defensive back Garry Peters said his team has the task of stopping the Stamps’ two-win run.
“It’ll be a good challenge for us,” he said. “Everyone doubted them so they had a chip on their shoulder for a while so you know their confidence is really high.”
Donning a Stampeders jersey during her interview, Gondek said she’s relying on her city’s team to help her keep it on.
“I’ve made bets before that have not gone my way,” she said. “Stamps, I’m really counting on you to help me keep this jersey.”
During the 2022 NHL playoffs, Gondek and her fellow councillors made a bet with Edmonton’s mayor when the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers met in the first round. The Oilers would win that series 4-1.
On June 7, 2022, Gondek showed up to the council meeting in blue and orange face paint with an Oilers jersey on.
“A bet’s a bet,” Gondek said at the time, when commenting on the itchy face paint. “And just to remind everyone, that the biggest point of this bet was to make a contribution to Kids Cancer Care.”
Saturday’s game kicks off at 4:30 p.m. MT / 3:30 p.m. PT, and can be heard on QR Calgary and AM 730 in the lower mainland.
— with files from The Canadian Press
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