TORONTO - After losing a friendly hockey bet with satirical late-night pundit Stephen Colbert, the mayor of Oshawa, Ont. sheepishly conceded defeat on the show Monday night via telephone.
The punishment? John Gray's birthday on March 20 will be declared "Stephen Colbert Day" in his city, just east of Toronto. "Mr. Mayor, let me ask you something: How are you planning to spend your 'Stephen Colbert Day,' " the host asked Gray, as a graphic of a moose wearing a "mayor" sash appeared in lieu of a headshot.
"Oh that's right, it's your birthday. How old are you going to be? Old enough to know better than to take on Stephen Colbert?"
The mayor genially responded: "Hopefully in future, yes."
In recent months, Colbert - who portrays a know-it-all right-winger on his show - has been rooting for the Ontario Hockey League's Saginaw Spirit after finding out the Michigan team had named its mascot Steagle Colbeagle the Eagle, as a tribute to him.
On Friday night, The Spirit beat the Oshawa Generals 5-4. Gray was among the 5,527 fans who attended the sold-out game.
Before his brief interview with Gray, Colbert reminded his viewers about the terms of the wager.
"If Oshawa wins, I will wear an Oshawa jersey on my show. But when the Spirit kicks Oshawa's moose haunches, I don't want to declare Stephen Colbert day on my birthday, I want to declare it on your birthday," said Colbert to cheers and applause.
Gray issued his challenge on a local radio station after Colbert urged Spirit fans to toss General Motors earnings reports onto the ice during Friday's game - an apparent jab at the auto-maker's plant that employs hundreds of Oshawa residents.
"Mayor Gray was there to watch his dreams crash to the ice like a sub-par GM financial report," Colbert said.
The financial reports were apparent retaliation for the Generals feting an earlier win against the Spirit by holding a teddy bear toss for charity.
A running joke on "The Colbert Report" is the host's inexplicable fear and hatred of bears. He called Oshawa's stunt an "obvious attempt to taunt me."
On Monday's show, Gray accepted his teams' loss graciously and promised to uphold his end of the bargain.
"I've already got a coffee shop downtown threatening to name a coffee after you and whatever the blend is, he promises that the spoon will lean to the right," Gray chuckled.
Colbert played the good-natured winner, too, saying he'd don a General's jersey on his show anyway.
With that, he stood up, untucked his dress shirt, pulled down his suit pants and flashed the Oshawa jersey, wrapped around his bottom like underpants.
