A FRIENDLY WAGER

WMN Sheriff Espo and UMGN Marshall Mike, decked out in the colors of their respective teams, have just one thing in common—stiff middle fingers—as they trash talk shortly before Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals. And yet the two label heads are as tightly arranged in the booth of a Bridgestone-adjacent watering hole as two P’s in a pod—Pens and Preds, that is.

Espo, who’s from western Pennsylvania, has Pittsburgh black and gold running though his veins—his office is a veritable museum of Steelers and Penguins memorabilia.

“Tell you what, Mike,” Espo was overheard suggesting to Dungan. “If the Pens prevail in the series, you have to wear my Sidney Crosby jersey to the office for a week.”

“Deal,” Mike replied. “But if the Preds pull off the upset, you have to spend the week with a Cumberland River catfish in your pants.”

The Warner Nashville staff may be paying lip service to Espo for his Pittsburgh fanaticism, but they’re now quietly rooting harder than ever for the Preds to prevail.

They can breathe easier—for now, at least. Nashville beat Pittsburgh 4-1 to knot up the series 2-2.