MAYORS WORKING UP A SWEAT OVER THE BIG GAME

The mayors of Cape Girardeau and Jackson bet their images wouldn't be tarnished by a small wager they had on Friday night's football game between the two cities' rival high schools.

The annual game brings out the best in community pride and also just a little betting.

Cape Girardeau Mayor Al Spradling III vowed he would wear a Jackson High School sweatshirt to the next City Council meeting if the Jackson Indians won.

Jackson Mayor Paul Sander said he would wear a Cape Central High School sweatshirt to the next meeting of the Jackson Board of Aldermen if the Tigers won.

Both meetings are scheduled for Nov. 18.

"The only problem is they don't have their council meetings televised," Spradling said.

Cape Girardeau council meetings are shown on the local cable television access channel. Spradling said that if he wins the bet, he wants the Nov. 18 meeting of Jackson's aldermen to be taped so it can be shown on the cable channel.

Spradling took steps to ensure a win for the Cape Central Tigers. He sent a memo to Tigers coach Jerry Dement this week saying he didn't intend to lose his bet.

Spradling said he had thought about arresting the whole Jackson football team. Unfortunately, he lamented, he doesn't have arrest powers.

Sander said prior to the game that he was confident the Jackson Indians were ready to play without any coaching from him.

Sander said he hopes the wager becomes a tradition.

"It certainly is just for fun because Cape and Jackson over the last few years have certainly become close friends and close partners in city government," he said.

Dan and Rose Tallent have divided loyalties when it comes to the big game.

Dan Tallent is superintendent of the Cape Girardeau School District. His wife Rose is an elementary school principal in Jackson.

Rose Tallent said it is a one-night-a-year rivalry. But she said she doesn't get caught up in the football war. "I am not a sports fan," she said.

"I am an elementary principal and I don't think who wins a ball game has any major impact on how I perform my job or how I support the community," she said hours before kickoff.

She acknowledged she did receive some good-natured kidding from some of her Jackson colleagues.

Dan Tallent is a sports fan. A former coach at Cape Central, he served as high school principal before being hired as the district's superintendent earlier this year.

"I get involved," he said. "The two years I was principal, we lost both games."

"We would like to win," he said.

The Tallents didn't have a family bet on this game.

Dan Tallent also didn't have a bet with Howard Jones, Jackson school superintendent.

But the game did get their attention. "We always rib each other, back and forth," Tallent said.

As he and his wife prepared to go to the game, Dan Tallent said he expected they would both be spending a lot of time walking around, handling supervisory duties at the Jackson High School football stadium.

With temperatures in the 40s, Dan Tallent said he was glad he would be walking around instead of sitting in the stands.

The school rivalry is more then just a game. At its best, it champions good sportsmanship and teams playing the best they can, Dan Tallent said.