Anaheim : Firefighters Lose Shirts After Betting on Rams

Across the nation, Rams’ fans lost many a bet because of the outcome of Sunday’s game against the Chicago Bears. And in Anaheim, home of the Rams, firefighters lost their shirts--literally.

Anaheim’s firefighters bet their counterparts in Chicago 141 T-shirts and 121 hats--bearing the department’s insignia--that the Rams could whip the Bears.

But because of Sunday’s 24-0 loss, firefighter Jim Buskirk said he was on the phone Tuesday talking to “the hat man to order the hats.”

“We had hopes,” Capt. Bill L. VanHorn said, adding that he will “think twice” before making any other such bets.

The bet cost the firefighters $1,431, Buskirk said.

Meanwhile, Mayor Don Roth was working on shipping a crate of oranges to Chicago Mayor Harold Washington--one of two bets involving oranges. Orange County Supervisor Bruce Nestande made a similar wager with a commissioner in Chicago.

Referring to the firefighters’ loss, Roth said: “They gave me an empty orange crate this morning and told me to stop gambling.”