'The Sopranos' actor Tony Sirico wins Scripps Celebrity Super Bowl Poll

CINCINNATI, Feb. 5, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Oh, now you want to win the Scripps Celebrity Super Bowl Poll? What are you, a wise guy?

Well, actually you are, or at least you played one on TV, if you're Tony Sirico, this year's winner.

Sirico -- mobster Paulie "Walnuts" Gualtieri in HBO's "The Sopranos" -- correctly picked the Baltimore Ravens to beat the San Francisco 49ers in Sunday night's Super Bowl XLVII in New Orleans. Sirico was just four points off the final score, good enough to edge out CNN's Erin Burnett, rocker Joan Jett and Robert Van Winkle (aka Vanilla Ice), who tied for second place, five points off the total.

Sirico, who said he's "thrilled" to be named the 2013 Super Sage, said he's not necessarily a Ravens fan, but he likes quarterback Joe Flacco because "I'm sure he's got some Italian in him, right?"

"I'm a big Flacco fan," Sirico said. "Under pressure he's great."

Sirico, who now voices wise guy pooch Vinnie the dog on Fox's "Family Guy," predicted the Ravens would beat the 49ers 32-29. He said he knew the game would be high-scoring. The now-dubbed "Blackout Bowl," should have had even more points, he said, but "the defense had time to rest" when the Superdome lights went out for 34 minutes.

"I think the blackout helped me out on my score; I was getting worried about a blowout," said second-place finisher Burnett, host of CNN's OutFront. "But I'm so glad the Ravens got the win! I'm psyched to be runner-up; this is as close to Vanilla Ice as I've ever been."

This year more than 115 big names from entertainment, news, sports and politics, including new Secretary of State John Kerry, "Apprentice" host Donald Trump and poet Maya Angelou, predicted the winning team and the game's final score. Since the poll began in 1986, celebs have picked the winner 18 of 28 times -- but not this year, when the majority went for the 49ers.

In addition to getting oh-so-close to the win Sunday, Jett has rocked the Scripps poll for years -- she has picked the winning team eight years straight.

About Scripps
Scripps (www.scripps.com) delivers quality journalism and creates valuable marketing environments through television stations, newspapers and a growing menu of digital products and services that now includes social games. Creative and mission-driven employees "give light so the people can find their own way" at 19 television stations in major U.S. markets and at newspapers in 13 markets.

SOURCE Scripps