With Indianapolis in the Super Bowl, you knew there had to be the obligatory "Indiana is just a bunch of backward hicks" playground taunt. Here it is, from a Chicago Sun-Times columnist who apparently made someone laugh back in high school and has never gotten over it:
It has become one of the great American sports traditions, the political bet. A major game gets people all worked up and happy at the same time, not worrying about snow removal, potholes or taxes. And that makes it safe for a governor or mayor to get in on it.
So rival politicians bet something that screams out the identity of their hometowns. Two weeks ago the Bears beat the Seattle Seahawks, and Mayor Daley took Seattle Mayor Greg Nickles for beer, coffee and salmon. (Too bad that when the stuff arrived, the beer bottles had broken and drenched the coffee-flavored chocolates.) Last week the Bears beat the New Orleans Saints, and Mayor Daley won beignets.
But with the Bears about to play the Indianapolis Colts in the Super Bowl, we have a problem:
What could Indiana possibly have to bet that we would want?
I mean, Chicago can offer Indiana pizza, ribs, beef sandwiches and dental work. But do we really need ballcaps with farm company names on them?
He's probably right. What could Indiana possibly offer a city so advanced it is able to make the dead vote? (This is known as sophomoric humor, should the gentleman from Chicago ever set his sights so high.)
