Kilroy 'nuts' for Buckeyes

Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy (D-Ohio) went “nuts” for the Ohio State Buckeyes on Wednesday.

Hazelnuts, that is, one pound of them, courtesy of a bet she won against Rep. David Wu (D-Ore.). Kilroy had bet Wu that the Buckeyes football team would defeat his University of Oregon Ducks in the 2010 Rose Bowl, which was played on New Year’s Day. They did, 26-17, and now, after three months, Kilroy collected on her bet.

Her timing was great: Former Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith, now of the National Football League’s Baltimore Ravens, was also visiting Capitol Hill. And to top the day off, Kilroy wore a scarlet-and-gray Buckeyes jersey as she proposed a resolution that passed in the House, with the entire Ohio delegation co-sponsoring it, to congratulate the team, which has won 44 games in the last four years, on setting a new record at Ohio State.

Had she lost, Kilroy would have had to fork over a pound of buckeye candy, also a nutty treat, but made of chocolate and peanut butter molded to look like the fruit of Ohio’s state tree, the Buckeye.

Wu was a good sport about the loss. “While I hated to see the Ducks defeated, I’m glad to share tasty Oregon filberts with my colleague,” he said.