Two Share 1St In Oscar Contest

The question isn’t how Jeff Sandler came to share first place in the 2000 version of The Spokesman-Review’s annual Oscar contest. The question is why.

As in: Why didn’t he do better?

Sandler, a 50-year-old, self-employed cabinet maker from Hayden Lake, Idaho, tied with Spokane reader Richard Frost to win the contest. Not only did both correctly guess 16 of the 23 categories, but both nailed the tiebreaker by rightly determining that “American Beauty” would win the most Oscars with five.

Nanci Cram of Spokane placed third, tying several other entrants with 15 correct picks but winning on the tiebreaker.

Sandler says he saw only half of the nominated films. He credits his success to his secret weapon: a brother, Barry Sandler, who is a Hollywood screenwriter (“Crimes of Passion”).

So why didn’t Sandler do better?

“He put the little boy for Best Supporting Actor,” Sandler said, referring to his brother’s choice of Haley Joel Osment. “I went with his choice, but I would have gone with Michael Caine.”

As for Frost, he acknowledges that choosing Oscar winners involves luck. “Like the NCAA basketball pool,” he says. Even so, he always tries to see as many movies as he can, and it shows.

For their efforts, Sandler and Frost both win $100 in movie passes. Cram wins $25.