Sam Eckmann is an unabashed sci-fi/fantasy nerd, champion of awards underdogs, and Broadway maven. He loves bringing Tony Awards coverage and strong opinions (which he sometimes refers to as facts) to Gold Derby. He is famous for having great insight about surprise Tony nominations and wins, but not following said insight in the prediction center. His nerdiness has resulted in an ongoing grudge with the Emmys for snubbing “Battlestar Galactica,” the greatest sci-fi series of all time (so say we all). His most recent proudest moment was predicting Thandie Newton (“Westworld”) to win at the Emmys despite Tom O’Neil himself telling him it wouldn’t happen. Finally some respect for robots.