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Post-Gazette Academy Awards Contest And the winner is... Monday, March 26, 2001 By Rebecca Sodergren, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
After entering the Post-Gazette's Academy Awards contest for more than 10 years, Christine Kirkwood of Brighton Heights has finally won.
This year, entrants submitted ballots online at the newspaper's Web site, post-gazette.com. First prize was a home entertainment system valued at $1,500, including a 36-inch television, home theater speakers and receiver, and a DVD player.
"Oh, I don't have any of those!" Kirkwood enthused when told over the phone about her win.
Kirkwood stayed up to watch the entire Academy Awards show Sunday night, but when Steven Soderbergh won Best Director for "Traffic," she figured she'd lost the Post-Gazette contest. She'd chosen Ang Lee of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon."
But as it turned out, none of the more than 2,200 contest entrants had a perfect ballot. There were 17 entrants -- including Kirkwood -- who had guessed just one of the eight categories incorrectly, excluding ballots that were disqualified for rules violations.
Because there were only five prizes available, the Post-Gazette had to use the tie-breaker -- guessing the running time of the Academy Awards show broadcast -- to award prizes. The running time, as provided by ABC, the network that televised the awards ceremony, was 209 minutes.
Kirkwood, 39, is a real estate agent, and husband Greg does quality assurance work for West Penn AAA.
Second-prize winner Phyllis Gregor of Verona wins a DVD player and 10 DVDs. The three third-prize winners -- Wendy Feathers of Bellevue, Ted Schroeder of Shadyside and Renee Toth of South Park -- will each get five DVDs or VHS movies.
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