Gore beat odds to win Nobel Peace Prize
Earlier this week, before Al Gore was announced as the winner of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, I called Wynn Las Vegas sports book director Johnny Avello and asked him the obvious:
What are the numbers for the Nobel Peace Prize?
Avello had not (yet) set odds for the coveted honor, which is being announced Friday, but he slept on it and Thursday morning – as if by fate, really – he shipped me a set of odds.
They were: United Nations diplomat and former Finnish President Marti Ahtisaari went off as the favorite at 4-1. Polish Underground activist Irena Sendler, who saved 2,500 Jewish children from the Warsaw Ghetto during the Holocaust, was 6-1. Canadian environmental activist Sheila Watt-Cloutier was 8-1, by Al Gore at 10-1 and Bono at 1,000-1. The field (that’s all of the other 176 nominees) were even money.
An avid film buff and cinematic expert, Avello is famous for setting odds for all major categories for the Academy Awards As always, Avello’s specialty bets were for entertainment purposes only, and we know of no one who organized a Nobel Peace Prize office pool.
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The Miss America Organization sent a news release, in which the term "news" is loosely applied, announcing that the 2008 Miss America Pageant will be held at Planet Hollywood. Quoted are Planet Hollywood president Mike Mecca and Miss America Organization president and CEO Art McMaster, both of whom are "equally pleased" that the show is back in Vegas for the third straight year. If this all sounds deja vu-esque, that's because Team Tiara already made this announcement a few months ago when it signed its cable broadcast contract with TLC, even as it was reported locally that negotiations to bring the show back to Planet Hollywood were still hot and heavy. Anyhow, it's double-official: The show will air at 8 p.m. Pacific Time on Jan. 28, from the Planet Hollywood Theatre for the Performing Arts.
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PL8 in my head: A silver Chevy Suburban with GOT2LAF.
Fabulous Las Vegas appears at this Web site. John Katsilometes, who also hosts "Our Metropolis," a weekly issues and affairs show, each Tuesday at 6 p.m. on KUNV 91.5-FM, can be reached at 990-7720, 812-9812 or at [email protected]