Will Pittsburgh Mayor Tom Murphy finally get even with Boston Mayor Thomas Menino. Murphy lost a huge bet to Menino the last time the Steelers lost to the Pats for the right to advance to the Super Bowl.



Will Pittsburgh Mayor Tom Murphy finally get even with Boston Mayor Thomas Menino. Murphy lost a huge bet to Menino the last time the Steelers lost to the Pats for the right to advance to the Super Bowl.

Murphy's revenge: Steelers victory

By Eric Heyl
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Friday, January 21, 2005

All eyes Sunday will be on Heinz Field to see whether vengeance finally can be exacted.

You undoubtedly believe that I mean the Steelers getting revenge for the New England Patriots' upset win in the 2002 AFC Championship game. Nope, although that was a good guess.

I'm referring to Pittsburgh Mayor Tom Murphy finally getting even with Boston Mayor Thomas Menino. I'm talking about Murphy finally getting people to stop discussing the huge bet that Murphy lost to Menino the last time the Steelers lost to the Pats for the right to advance to the Super Bowl.

There was no word Thursday on what the mayors might wager this time, if anything.

Murphy's office had no comment. Menino's office wouldn't rule out a bet, but his staff was too busy yesterday dismissing reports that terrorists might be targeting Boston to think much about it. That's certainly understandable.

Thankfully, plenty of time remains before kickoff for Murphy to seize the opportunity to repay Menino for the hurting that he put on him in '02. Murphy is retiring at the end of the year, so this represents the aging veteran's last chance at redemption.

Three days before the Steelers and Patriots clashed in 2002, Murphy and Menino were attending a mayors' conference in Washington, D.C. Before a cheering, emotional crowd of peers, Menino showed his faith in the Patriots by pledging to buy his counterpart a lobster dinner if the Steelers won.

Murphy was confident -- too confident, some have suggested -- that the Steelers would pummel the Patriots. He had his reasons. The Black and Gold were 10-point favorites at home.

So Murphy showed up Menino by wagering far more than lobster -- even a fine one cooked to order and served hard-shell at Captain Higgins, a restaurant across from Boston's Wellfleet Town Pier. Yum.

Murphy bet Menino a basket of locally produced Heinz products and pierogies, which was nothing out of the ordinary.

Then he threw in a large Sony TV manufactured in Western Pennsylvania.

Murphy had more reason than most of us to wince when the Steelers lost. Shipping that sucker to Boston probably cost considerably more than the lobster dinner that Menino skated on with the upset. Plus, Murphy still had to get the pierogies and Heinz products up there.

So humbling was the defeat that many believe Murphy has not fully recovered. The evidence to substantiate that claim rests with the rather pedestrian wagers he has made since with other mayors.

Take last week, when the bet Murphy made on the Steelers-Jets playoff with New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg consisted of nothing more than some Iron City and -- once again -- Heinz products. Yawn.

Here's hoping circumstances allow Murphy and Menino to make a final friendly wager before watching the Steelers beat the Patriots.

Vengeance for all concerned would be exacted on a snowy, frozen field, which couldn't be more appropriate. Revenge, after all, is a dish best served cold.

Eric Heyl is a Pittsburgh Tribune-Review staff writer. He can be reached at eheyl@tribweb.com or (412) 320-7857.

When this story was posted in January 2005, this was on the front page of PCOL:

January 22, 2005: This Week's Top Stories Spread Freedom — but not at gunpoint 22 Jan Dodd has ring side seat at Inauguration 21 Jan Peace Corps works in Georgia 21 Jan Trey Aven monitored Ukraine elections 21 Jan RPCV group makes quiet indie-pop 21 Jan Anthony Shriver considers race for Florida Governor 20 Jan Thomas Tighe says internet brought funds to DRI 20 Jan Stacy Jupiter researches Australia ecosystems 20 Jan Libby Garvey is education activist 20 Jan David McIntyre captures medals on land and in water 19 Jan Carol Bellamy new president of World Learning 18 Jan Reed Hastings crossed "Latino Caucus'' 18 Jan RPCVs sponsor Freeze for Food to aid Colombia farmers 18 Jan RPCVs urge Bush to aid Democracy in Ukraine 17 Jan Tom Petri proposes changes in student loan program 17 Jan Golden Globe Win for Jamie Foxx in RPCV's "Ray" 17 Jan Stephen Smith is new consul-general in Australia 17 Jan

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