Is Mayor Daley a compulsive gambler when it comes to Chicago sports teams?

When it comes to political people placing bets on their hometown professional sports teams, Mayor Richard M. Daley is a master.

Perhaps it was all those years in the 1990s when the Chicago Bulls were dominant in the National Basketball Association. Daley would contact his counterpart in whatever city the Bulls were taking on, and place a bet for delivery of some sort of food item indigenous to that particular burg.

THE BULLS’ SUCCESS (six NBA titles in eight seasons) meant he got a lot of good eats.

So naturally, Daley is carrying on his bets now that the 2008 Major League Baseball season has turned out to be so unique for Chicago.

Our mayor actually has bets going with Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, and with three officials in the St. Petersburg/Tampa, Fla., metropolitan area.

Now as this is written, both the White Sox and Cubs have managed to start off their performance in the 2008 playoffs by losing all their games thus far. Javier Vazquez just seemed determined Thursday to give the Tampa Bay Rays a lead, even after the Sox recovered from his initial outburst of negativity. And the Cubs showed what the franchise's character is all about, losing by scores of 7-2 and 10-3.

SO THERE’S A chance that Daley will be making double payments.

In the case of the White Sox (the baseball team that Hizzoner Jr. actually takes an interest in), he’s offering up sausages made in Chicago, along with lots of baseball equipment that the park districts in those cities could use for their youth league baseball programs.

Should the Sox manage to rebound and beat the Devil Rays (I’m sorry, but I think that’s a better sounding name than this generic-sounding moniker they came up with beginning this season), Daley will get seafood and cigars.

When it comes to supporting the Cubs, his bet is more a symbolic gag.

L.A. WILL GET a gesture supporting that city for the 2016 summer Olympics if the Dodgers win, while a Cubs victory would result in Tribune Co. owner Sam Zell being “returned” to Chicago (the company owns both the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times), although some food products apparently also will transfer hands.

Daley has the routine down pat.

In cases where actual goods are exchanged, Daley gets sponsors to pay for the items, which means the local providers wind up getting some free publicity if they have to cough up the goods. So Daley doesn’t pay for anything.

And even if Daley “wins,” the mayor is usually good about plugging the companies that would have provided the stuff.

SO EVERYBODY GETS a feel-good movement, and our political people get to feel like they connect with “the fans,” who also are “the voters.”

I just have one question.

What happens if my dream of a World Series for this year comes true, and we actually get the first all-Chicago World Series for the first time in 102 years?

Does Daley bet against himself? Does he get lame and do nothing? Or will we have to settle for Gov. Rod Blagojevich filling in for a political surrogate for the Cubs, with Daley taking up the cause of the White Sox?

WHAT COULD THEY bet that would represent the image of the North and Sout' sides? How about some of those gooey, sticky-sweet cinnamon rolls from Ann Sather restaurant, up against some sausages and other meat products provided by the Calumet Meat Co. (the home of Moo and Oink)?

In a separate matter, Daley is not the only politico who sees the need to try to connect with sports fans.

Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., who also is running a campaign to be the first Chicagoan to get to live at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., told ESPN Radio that a City Series would be reason for him to take some time off from the campaign trail – so he could be at the ballpark to cheer for the White Sox.

“I’ll tell America, I’m sorry guys, but I’ve got my priorities straight,” Obama said during a radio interview earlier this week. The scary thing is that there is a certain segment of the U.S. population that would agree with Obama on that view.

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EDITOR’S NOTES: Is there a bet that Richard M. Daley can resist when it comes to Chicago’s (http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=31264) professional (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/30/daley-bets-local-eats-on_n_130686.html) athletic teams? Or does he know how to play along with a good gag (http://laist.com/2008/10/01/mayor_villaraigosa_bets_chicago_may.php) when he hears one?

Barack Obama would want to be at the World Series if any of the games wind up getting played (http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2008/10/02/obama-jokes-hell-skip-campaigning-for-a-chicago-world-series/) in Chicago.