Throughout the annals of American sports, the champion’s ticker tape parade has been a standard reward for hard-earned victory. The imagery is so thick that when you play the “word-association” game with, say “1990s Yankees”, it’s no surprise if confetti is the first thing you think of.

(Don’t expect to see this again if the Steelers win on Sunday.)

Well, that may all be changing now, with the city of Pittsburgh announcing preemptively that, should the Steelers win an NFL-record sixth Super Bowl, the city will not be hosting a championship parade in their honor.

According to Pittsburgh’s WPXI CHANNEL 11, the city has decided against another title celebration because of the unanticipated budget overruns it would cause, meaning that the Steel City is choosing to defend public services over jubilant Steelers fans.

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A fine tradition of any sports championship series is the friendly wagers between the mayors of the competing cities. And the NBA Finals match-up between the Lakers and Celtics is no different.

Except this time, there will be no friendly swap of regional foodstuffs. No clam chowder vs. Fatburger bets here.

(Sorry - no dice)

Adam Rose of the L.A. TIMES was rummaging through the garbage outside City Hall looking for an evening meal (recent paycuts have been pretty brutal at the Times - damn you, sports blogs!), when he came across a copy of a letter not-so-fresh off the desk of mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

The letter was addressed to Boston mayor Thomas Menino, and it outlined Antonio’s proposal for a high-rolling wager between the two civic servants:

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