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Governors place sweet-and-salty bet on Eagles-Vikings game

At stake for the governors of Pennsylvania and Minnesota in the NFC Championship Sunday night: five pounds of food.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, left, and Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton have a snack bet on the NFC Championship game Sunday between the Eagles and the Vikings.
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, left, and Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton have a snack bet on the NFC Championship game Sunday between the Eagles and the Vikings.Read moreAssociated Press
    by Liz Navratil, HARRISBURG BUREAU, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
    Published 

HARRISBURG —  At stake when the Eagles play the Minnesota Vikings this weekend are bragging rights, a Super Bowl trip and, for the governors of Pennsylvania and Minnesota, a large pile of junk food.

If the Eagles win, Gov. Wolf will receive a five-pound Pearson's Salted Nut Roll from Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton, a fellow Democrat. If they lose, Wolf has to send five pounds of Tastykake Butterscotch Krimpets to the governor's mansion in St. Paul.

In an ecological twist on the civic tradition of the sports wager, the Philadelphia Zoo and its counterparts, the Como Zoo in St. Paul and the Minnesota Zoo in Apple Valley, agreed that the loser or losers  each will plant 52 trees in spring (honoring Super Bowl LII).

"Our Philadelphia Eagles have overcome adversity and displayed true Pennsylvania grit to put themselves one game away from the Super Bowl," Wolf said in a statement Friday. "While I wanted an all-Pennsylvania Super Bowl, I am proud of the Eagles and look forward to cheering them on this weekend. Go Birds!"

The Pittsburgh Steelers lost last week when they played the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Wolf will attend the Eagles game at Lincoln Financial Field this weekend. And the Capitol, where he works, will be lit green from Friday night through the game on Sunday in support of the Birds.

Dayton has ordered the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis to be bathed in Viking-purple light from Friday night through the game. "Skol!" Dayton said in his statement, using a word that roughly means "cheers" in several Scandinavian languages and has become a rallying cry for Minnesota fans.

Mayor Kenney, who doesn't mind dressing up as Buddy the Elf around the holidays, decided he didn't want to do anything as silly as make a wager with his Minneapolis counterpart, saying he did not want to jinx the Eagles.