ShareThisBefore this week, legendary comedian Phyllis Diller and former Miss Panama-turned-actress Patricia De Leon had little, if anything, in common.
But now they're forever linked, thanks to an unlikely source: their football-handicapping prowess.
Diller, 91, and De Leon, 31, were honored this week by the Scripps Howard News Service for their participation in Scripps Howard's Celebrity Super Bowl Poll. Diller received a special MVP (Most Valuable Predictor) plaque while De Leon became the first woman to ever win the Super Sage Award trophy.
"It's awesome," said De Leon, upon receiving the trophy Thursday in Los Angeles. "I was proud not just to be the first woman, but I'm Latina and I come from a foreign country."
Every year since 1990 Scripps has asked notable personalities to predict the winner of the Super Bowl. Beginning in 2003, Scripps began awarding the celebrity who picked the winning team and who had the closest prediction of the actual final score with the Super Sage Award.
Diller has participated in the Celebrity Poll each year for more than a decade, but has never won the Super Sage Award. As this year's Super Bowl wound down, however, it appeared that Diller might emerge as the first female winner, as her prediction of Arizona winning, 23-20, was right on the money -- until Pittsburgh scored a last-minute touchdown.
That late score sealed the victory for the Steelers, and the Super Sage for De Leon, who was participating in the Celebrity Poll for the first time. Her prediction of Pittsburgh, 27-24, was the closest out of the 100 celebrity participants, narrowly missing the actual final score of 27-23.
Diller admits that she doesn't follow football very closely, but was captivated by Arizona quarterback Kurt Warner.
"His story was amazing," she said of Warner, who wasn't drafted out of Northern Iowa, but now has played in three Super Bowls. "He came back and he was the hero -- until the end."
Diller didn't get the Super Sage, but she was thrilled with her MVP award, which recognized her long-standing support for the Celebrity Poll.
"I love it," said Diller after receiving the plaque Wednesday at her home in the tony Brentwood district of Los Angeles. "I'm going to display it and show it to everyone who comes over."
De Leon was just as excited -- and surprised -- to win the Super Sage Award. She acknowledged that she's hardly a football expert. In fact, she's never been to an NFL game. But you don't have to be a football genius to win the Super Sage. Previous Super Sage winners have included magicians Penn and Teller, the Rev. Pat Robertson and Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir.
"I would love to hear what they have to say about (my win)," she said.
Growing up in Panama, De Leon remembers watching some football on TV, but she didn't see her first game live until she was a high-school exchange student in Harrisburg, Pa.
The Super Sage isn't De Leon's first sports-related trophy. She remembers winning one while playing for her high-school basketball team in Harrisburg. She also recalls falling awkwardly during a scrum and breaking a basketball opponent's leg.
"I don't know what happened," said De Leon, whose latest movie, "American Summer," is scheduled for release this summer. "But I am very aggressive when I play."
And when she predicts. She said she definitely will be back next year to defend her Super Sage title.
(E-mail David Nielsen at nielsend(at)shns.com. Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.scrippsnews.com)
