The friendly bet that was customary between the Nederland Police Department and the Port Neches Police Department surrounding Mid-County Madness football rivalry will not take place this year.

Nederland Police Chief Gary Porter said he didn’t want to participate in the long-running wager that Port Neches Police Chief Paul Lemoine and former Nederland Police Chief Darrell Bush had prior to Bush’s retirement in the spring.

That bet usually involved the losing team running up the winning team’s flag over the station for a day.

Lemoine said those bets often turned into pranks.

“(Bush) would sneak over here, or have some people sneak over here, and put banners up in our yard,” Lemoine said. “I would sneak over there and decorate his office up in purple and white. All kind of stuff like that.”

Lemoine said the raising of the flag came as a bit of a treaty — or surrender, as Lemoine tells it.

“He figured out he couldn’t keep up with me,” Lemoine said. “Then, he said we should just raise a flag. We also would buy each other dinner.”

Lemoine said he and Bush still have to come up with a wager for Friday’s game.

“I called him (Thursday) and talked to him,” Lemoine said. “(Bush) said he hadn’t even thought about it. We’re going to have to come up with something, though.”

Porter did not shut the door on resuming or reinventing the wager next year.

“We might come up with something next year,” Porter said. “We’ll do something.

“I don’t want to raise a flag though. That’s old school.

“We’ll have to come up with something new.”