Pigskin-pickin' camel says Pats will top Jets

[November 13, 2008]  LACEY TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP) -- Despite Brett Favre and a three-game winning streak, the New York Jets don't have what it takes to finally get over the hump and pass the New England Patriots atop the AFC East. That's according to a pigskin-picking camel named Princess who is a perfect 10-0 so far this year in handicapping NFL games.

She also rightly predicted that the Pats would fall to the New York Giants in the Super Bowl last February.

"If I was a gambling man, I'd look to Princess before I placed a bet," said John Bergmann, general manager of Popcorn Park Zoo, where the 2,600-pound Bactrian camel has lived since 2004.

The camel, who once belonged to heiress Doris Duke, has a simple way of predicting the outcome of games.

Bergmann will choose a game at random, place a graham cracker in each hand, and use a permanent marker to scrawl the name of a competing team on each hand.

Whichever hand Princess nibbles from is her "pick" for that week.

Last season, Princess went 11-6, a .647 winning percentage. (Since she never quite got the hang of points spreads, Princess picks the games straight-up, just choosing the winner.)

So far this year, she hasn't been wrong once. Jets fans can only hope she is this time.

The Jets and Patriots are tied for first place at 6-3, and play Thursday at 8 p.m. in Foxboro, Mass.

[Associated Press; By WAYNE PARRY]

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