BETS ARE ON FOR BIG SUPER BOWL GAME BETWEN RAMS AND TITANS

Wes Kinsey offered condolences to the Jacksonville Jaguars team owner Monday after their defeat by the Tennessee Titans. When Kinsey sent a consolation cheesecake from his company, he didn't expect that his product would later be part of a Super Bowl wager between a Missouri and Tennessee senator.

The Jaguars owner is a customer of Kinsey's business, My Daddy's Cheesecake, in downtown Cape Girardeau.

"We keep track of their team since they buy from us at Christmas," he said. "We sent a consolation cheesecake." Days later someone from the team "called to congratulate us."

Kinsey said he had been hoping for a Jaguars-Rams Super Bowl game. Instead, he will settle for a contest between the St. Louis Rams and Tennessee Titans in Super Bowl XXXIV at Atlanta Sunday. Kickoff is at 5:18 p.m.

Kinsey's 5-pound, 9-inch Mississippi Mud cheesecake is on the menu along with a case of Jonathan apples from Pioneer Apple Orchard in Jackson should the Rams lose to Tennessee.

U.S. Sen. John Ashcroft made the wager with Sen. Bill Frist of Tennessee. Ashcroft wagered a beef and pork barbecue, St. Louis barbecue sauce, apples, cheesecake, and black-walnut and oatmeal cookies. He'll only deliver the meal if the Rams lose.

Frist wagered Goo Goo Clusters, a specialty candy made in the Volunteer State.

Gov. Mel Carnahan declared today St. Louis Rams Day and urged state employees to wear blue and gold in support of the team. Carnahan will attend the game Sunday. He also made a wager with Tennessee Gov. Don Sundquist.

Carnahan wagered a case of toasted ravioli from an Italian restaurant in St. Louis against a basket of Tennessee products wagered by Sundquist. St. Louis-based Ralston-Purina Co. will donate 1,000 pounds of pet food to the Humane Society of the winning governor's choice.

Kinsey, whose business is active in the Missouri Agribusiness Program, said, "It's been fun because everybody is projecting the scores." He's hosting a Super Bowl party Sunday afternoon at his home.

"We're going to eat and watch football and eat and watch football," he said.

LaDonia Beggs of Pioneer Orchard said she certainly didn't expect to offer a case of apples, but she was happy to do so. "We'll take extra care to watch the game Sunday," she said. "We'll do everything we can except be there."

The Jonathan apples were chosen because they are a favorite variety among the Beggs family, who owns the Jackson orchard.

Some area football fans won't just be watching the game from their television sets Sunday. A few lucky local fans actually have tickets to the game. They admit that this game is probably the only one they will ever get to attend, so they're ready for a big win.

"I'm glad to have the seats, and I hope to bring home a winner," said Joe Birk of Jackson.

Knowing that his two tickets to the Super Bowl, which cost $325 each, are the only ones he's likely to get has only added to Joe Stahly's excitement. "This all came out of the clear blue," he said.

Stahly said he had to read the letter from the St. Louis Rams franchise twice before he realized his name had been chosen in the Personal Seat License (PSL) lottery. He has two tickets to each regular season game.

"It looked like a form letter, but in the middle it says, We held the lottery and you are a winner,'" he said. Stahly and Birk both had playoff tickets for last week's game and said that helped their chances of getting Super Bowl tickets.

Birk said he has always been a football fan. "I was a fan when the Cardinals were in St. Louis," he said. He has four regular season tickets.

But each person was only allowed two tickets to the Super Bowl game. Seating in the Georgia Dome was assigned before anyone picked up tickets.

Stahly said he had offers from scalpers immediately after picking up his tickets at the Rams office. The offer went as high at $1,300 per seat, he said.

Dan Lynn of Cape Girardeau had already made his hotel reservations in Atlanta regardless of whether the Rams went.

"I knew this was a possibility," he said. "I just didn't think it would come this quickly."

He and his 16-year-old son had been planning a father-son getaway, and the Super Bowl will be just that, Lynn said. "This is a big deal around our house."

His Rams seats are along the 45 yard line in the upper deck, but at the Georgia Dome he'll sit more in the corner of the stadium. Although it's not a prime spot, "I was lucky enough to get tickets," he said.

During a trip to Las Vegas in October, Lynn said he made a $50 wager on the Rams to win the Super Bowl with 45-1 odds. "That pays for the whole trip" to the game if the team wins, Lynn said.

"This is terrific," he said.