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By GARY REMAL
Staff Writer 11/22/2007

enlarge Staff photo by Gary Hawkins

CONY GARDINER BET: Gardiner mayor Andrew MacLean, left and Augusta mayor Roger Katz have a bet on the Cony-Gardiner football game. The loser pledges to wear a shirt emblazoned with the colors of the winner at his own City Council’s next meeting.

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Staff Writer

The rookie mayors of Gardiner and Augusta are calling each other out.

For the first time in the 13 decades the Gardiner Tigers and Cony Rams have taken to the gridiron, the two new mayors have added a new element to the rivalry -- a competition of their own.

Gardiner Mayor Andrew MacLean says he and Augusta Mayor Roger Katz not only attended one another's inaugurations last January, but the two lawyers have established new ties of cooperation between their municipalities.

Still, the 130-year Augusta-Gardiner football rivalry has the two seeing red -- or orange.

This week Katz, a 1967 Cony High graduate who stood out on the basketball court in his time, issued a good-natured challenge to MacLean, who agreed to place a friendly wager on the outcome of Friday's game.

Rather than bet a holiday turkey or other item of value, the two leaders decided to make it a wager of honor -- the loser pledges to wear a shirt emblazoned with the colors of the winner at the next meeting of his own City Council.

Katz has a bright red Cony Rams T-shirt he hopes is destined to be worn by MacLean at Gardiner's City Hall. MacLean wants Katz to be forced to wear an orange Gardiner Tigers game jersey at Augusta's City Center.

"If Gardiner wins, I've got to wear a Gardiner shirt presiding over the Augusta City Council," Katz said, explaining the rules of his challenge.

The Augusta mayor acknowledged that his Cony High School team may be underdogs in some pundits' eyes.

Cony finished the season with four wins and five losses, while Gardiner won the Class B title last weekend.

But he said the Gardiner-Cony game is so emotional for the players, upsets are not an uncommon event.

"I'm very confident," Katz said. "They've had a month to get ready and there are many upsets in the 130 years of this rivalry. I'm feeling so good I didn't even ask Mayor MacLean for points."

The Augusta mayor said he never donned a Cony football uniform himself.

"But I played (trumpet) in the marching band at many Cony-Gardiner games," Katz said.

MacLean, a graduate of Lake Region High School in Naples, which did not have a traditional rival, said he is well aware of the intensity felt on both sides since his wife, Michele, is a 1985 Gardiner alumna.

"She says it's the oldest rivalry in Maine football," MacLean quoted his wife. "And, not to be unduly optimistic, but I do strongly believe it will be Mayor Katz that will have to perform, one way or the other. We've got a pretty good team, to be sure."

On a more serious note, MacLean said the two mayors have worked well together on a range of municipal issues and continue to look for more regional areas of cooperation.

But on this one, he admits, they are clearly on opposite sides.

The idea for the wager came from Katz, he said.

"I've been out of town. He left me a message late last week and then he called again this week to present the challenge," MacLean said. "I readily accepted."

Katz said the mayoral wager came to him relatively late in the season.

He said he was inspired by tales of the Cony football team told by Augusta City Councilor Mark O'Brien, proud father of Cony Captain Cam O'Brien, in casual conversations before council meetings.

Katz said he knows the Cony Rams this year may face an uphill battle. But he said anything can happen in a game like this.

"If you look at this rivalry, you can throw the records away," the Augusta mayor said. "It's a stand-alone season."

Once the two mayors decided they wanted to start the wager, they had a little difficulty figuring out what the bet should be for.

"We talked about the loser having to eat a meal in the opposite community, but we decided the jersey or shirt thing would be a little more fun and a little more public," MacLean said.

Katz might have been seen to be at a disadvantage in the embarrassment game since most Augusta City Council meetings are televised and Gardiner's meetings are not. That could mean he would suffer his humiliation in front of more eyes should his Cony Rams lose compared with MacLean.

But he's already thought of that.

"If you notice, our next meeting is a nontelevised informational meeting," Katz retorts. "Already the stars are aligning."

Gary Remal -- 621-5642

gremal@centralmaine.com

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