Posted on: Wednesday, December 15, 2004

Perfect picker is first-time winner

Advertiser Staff

After years of unsuccessful attempts, Pigskin Picks winner Tony Saguibo received a little holiday cheer this week.

Saguibo, of Mililani, won his first Pigskin Picks title after playing the contest for about six years.

Saguibo, 63, correctly picked 14 out of 14 NFL games last week. His ballot was randomly selected from several perfect ballots.

"I don't win this kind of stuff," said Saguibo, who added that he's had several near-perfect ballots in the past, but nothing to show for it. "I don't win trips to Vegas. I'm ecstatic. This is a terrific Christmas."

Saguibo entered two ballots last week. His wife, Ellen, filled out the other ballot, but it was his ballot that won.

Saguibo, a maintenance carpenter at the University of Hawai'i, said he normally selects the "hot teams" when he fills out his ballot.

"I don't know if you call it a strategy," Saguibo said. "I just pick the best — the hot teams in the past two to three weeks."

As the Pigskin Picks winner, Saguibo wins a trip for two to Las Vegas from Worry-Free Vacations, Non-Stop Travel and the Golden Nugget Hotel, and $500 from The Advertiser.

He also is entered to win a year-end prize of free use of a Hyundai Tucson for a year, courtesy of Tony Hyundai.

Saguibo said he's eager to revisit Las Vegas, a city he frequented with his wife when they lived in Los Angeles before they moved to Hawai'i in 1992.

"I'm going," Saguibo said. "I'll take my wife, and I'm going to gamble. I'm going to play the football games (at the sportsbooks)."