Oct. 10--St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay turned down the traditional friendly bet on the playoff series between the Cubs and Cardinals, according to Mayor Rahm Emanuel's office.
Emanuel proffered the usual assortment of Chicago beers, deep-dish pizza and Eli's cheesecake, plus tickets to Chicago tours and a donation to charity as the city's offering if the Cubs lose to their hated rivals from Missouri in the National League Division Series. But Emanuel spokeswoman Kelley Quinn said Slay declined to reciprocate.
Slay earned some notoriety last year when he submitted an essay in response to a Wall Street Journal article calling the Cardinals "hate-worthy." In his piece, Slay noted, "Anchorman" Ron Burgundy-style, that St. Louis is "kind of a big deal come October in Major League Baseball." He went on to apologize to America, not just for the Cardinals' success, but for the overall greatness of St. Louis.
Among the attributes for which Slay apologized was the fact that St. Louis produces "one of the world's best-selling batteries (Energizer) and two of the 10 best-selling beers in the world -- Budweiser and Bud Light."
He did not, however, apologize for the taste of those macrobrews, nor for the production of toasted ravioli, the local delicacy.
A Slay spokesman could not immediately be reached for comment.
