O’Brien’s wager hits the airwaves

Mayor Larry O’Brien is still waiting for his Pittsburgh counterpart, Luke Ravenstahl, to wager on the outcome of the Senators-Penguins playoff series.
In the meantime, though, he’s taking on Pittsburgh’s media personalities.
Yesterday, when Ravenstahl failed to join him on a Pittsburgh radio show to make the traditional NHL wager, O’Brien good-naturedly turned his guns on the radio hosts, daring them to accept a bet with him directly.
“It was kind of a one-sided bet,” O’Brien said. “The idea was that if we win the game, they’re going to come up here and do a broadcast from the mayor’s office.”
It all happened when O’Brien called Pittsburgh radio station KDKA, to make a wager with Ravenstahl. But O’Brien was told that Ravenstahl would not be joining them because the Pittsburgh mayor’s press secretary had suddenly resigned amid a controversy involving lavish gifts she received from an advertising company.
O’Brien told the hosts that he had been considering a bet that would see the losing mayor watch a second-round game in the other mayor’s city, while wearing the winning team’s jersey.
When KDKA hosts John Shumway and Larry Richert joked that O’Brien was just trying to get free second-round Penguins tickets, O’Brien bet them directly that Ottawa would win tonight’s game.
While the hosts accepted the bet, KDKA producer Nick Kratsas said the radio station still needs to examine the logistics of moving the show north, should Ottawa win.
The on-air conversation ended without the surprised hosts demanding something from O’Brien in return.