You win some, you lose some... Winkler Mayor delivers on bet with Steinbach Mayor

You win some and you lose some, and a lost bet between Winkler Mayor Henry Siemens and Steinbach Mayor Earl Funk led to a rare sight in Winkler council chambers Tuesday night... a Steinbach Pistons jersey making an appearance!

Last week the Steinbach Pistons beat the Winkler Flyers in a thrilling seven game series, moving onto the second round of the MJHL playoffs. Ahead of the finale concluding, Steinbach's Mayor made a playful wager with Siemens. The wager was if the Pistons won, Siemens would wear Funk's Pistons jersey at his next council meeting, and if Winkler won, Funk would wear Siemens' Flyers jersey at his next council meeting. The next Winkler city council meeting was last night (April 11th), and it was time for Siemens to pay up.

"We were at the Association of Manitoba Municipalities Spring Convention, and I ran into Mayor Earl Funk, and we were both talking about how proud we were of our teams," explained Siemens before the council meeting began. "The fact  it had gone to game seven, and one of us was going to win, and I was poking at him, and he was poking back at me. One thing led to another and Earl said, 'If you win, I'll wear your jersey, and if we win, I'll wear your jersey?' And I thought maybe we could do that, and it sounded fun."

Both Siemens and Funk were at Game 7 at the T.G. Smith Centre in Steinbach, each wearing their respective community's team jersey. Tuesday night, though, Siemens was still wearing a jersey, but it had Steinbach Pistons on the front.

"I would very much like to watch a Council meeting in Steinbach, seeing the Orange and Black on their mayor," said Siemens with a chuckle. "That's not to say we might not revisit this next year, if we're back in the same place again."

Ahead of debuting his new Pistons wardrobe, Siemens tried to make the best of it with some humour.

"The blue is my colour, so that's a good thing as well, but ultimately this is not the end," he said. "Our boys, and the Orange and Black, are going to come back, and they're going to exact some revenge in the future, and their mayor will get to wear our jersey. Yes, next year will be Orange and Black in Steinbach Chambers."

- With files from Pam Fedack -