At least the mayor is a man who honors his bets. Bill de Blasio appeared last night on Jimmy Kimmel Live to settle with Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti following the L.A. Kings Stanley Cup victory over the Rangers on Friday. As he promised to do in the event of a New York defeat, Mayor de Blasio sang Randy Newman’s “I Love L.A.” It’s hard to say which was more uncomfortable, the singing or the dancing, but he wisely balanced out the embarrassment with adorable children.
De Blasio, joined by the kids from the 52nd Street Project in Manhattan, pantomimed the lyrics while struggling to find the right key — think about your dad doing karaoke and then add a few inches of awkwardness. The NYC mayor, however, was a good enough sport to not mention that Newman’s song is at least partly satirical. (They skipped the lines, “Look at that bum over there, man. He’s down on his knees.”)
“Mayor de Blasio, you look like a counselor at the worst camp ever.,” said Kimmel. Garcetti, meanwhile, refused to eat the Gray’s Papaya hot dog that made up the rest of the pot, comparing it to “a steaming bag of New York garbage.”
De Blasio, in an “I Heart L.A.” shirt, warned Garcetti, “This ain’t over. This ain’t over. You better practice your Sinatra for next year.” Or we could just do away with these absurd politician sports bets. On the governors’ side, California’s Jerry Brown will score a “commemorative hockey puck from the 2013 ‘Hat Trick’ of three on-time budgets in a row” from Andrew Cuomo. No one really wins.
