ShareThisPerfection is fleeting.The Patriots and the celebrities found that out the hard way Sunday.The New York Giants' last-minute comeback victory in the Super Bowl not only derailed New England's dream season, but it also snapped the celebrities' four-year run of correctly predicting the winning team in Scripps Howard's annual Celebrity Super Bowl Poll.Sixty-three of the 100 notables who participated this year incorrectly predicted New England would win. This was just the seventh time in the Poll's 19-year history -- and the first time since 2003 -- that most of the celebrities picked the wrong team.Among those who picked the Patriots was actor Haley Joel Osment, who had foreseen a record eight straight Super Bowl winners before Sunday's upset. Others whose streaks ended Sunday included Bobby Thomson, the N.Y. Giants baseball player who in 1951 hit the "Shot Heard 'Round the World." He missed for the first time since 2001, as did comedian Phyllis Diller, who hadn't been wrong since 2003.Thirty-six celebrities went with the underdog Giants, including Pat Robertson, founder and chairman of The Christian Broadcasting Network, whose pick of Giants 20, Patriots 14 was the closest to the final score of 17-14.Robertson's prognostication skills earn him the Scripps Howard Super Sage Award."I am not noted as a sports authority, but I am thrilled at this great honor," said Robertson, who follows in the footsteps of previous Super Sage winners: golfing legend Arnold Palmer in 2003, Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir in 2004, actor Dennis Farina in 2005, Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., in 2006 and magicians Penn & Teller last year."I was counting on the Giants' defense, and because they were the underdog," said Robertson. "I knew they had a heart to win. I was counting on a defensive game versus a free-scoring game."Robertson was one of the few celebrities who forecast a low-scoring game. Six, including country singer Dierks Bentley (27-24) and tenor Placido Domingo (24-21), picked the Giants to win by three, but with higher scores. Actor Tobin Bell got the score right, 17-14, but picked the Patriots to win.Psychologist Dr. Joyce Brothers was the closest to Robertson, picking the Giants, 17-10. Choosing Super Bowl winners is nothing new for Brothers, who has picked the winner every year since 2002, except for 2006, when she did not participate in the Poll.Robertson picked the winner last year, too. The longest current correct prediction streak belongs to Fox News host Bill O'Reilly, who picked the last five Super Bowl winners.(E-mail David Nielsen at nielsend(at)shns.com. Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.scrippsnews.com)
Robertson wins Scripps Howard Super Sage Award
Submitted by SHNS on Mon, 02/04/2008 - 17:44
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