Surprisingly, Snoop Dogg did not come in last place. (Zynga.com)

And in a shocking upset, Edward Norton beat out Kristen Bell, Sophia Bush, Jonah Hill and Eva Longoria in Zynga's first-ever celebrity competition of Words with Friends, a game that we had all previously assumed Alec Baldwin was the hands-down champion of. As it turned out, Mr. Baldwin didn't even enter the ring, basically throwing the fight to the Fight Club actor, who won $132,500 for his charity, Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust.

Mr. Norton did give a shout-out to the WWF master in his acceptance speech:

I'm happy to have won because it will have a huge impact for the work on Maasai Wilderness, which is an effort I'm very involved with and passionate about. This was a lot easier and more fun than asking friends to write checks to support our effort, so I'm grateful to Zynga for their generosity and for turning games into real impact and positive contribution. Next year I want Alec Baldwin in the roster. I want to beat the best. Anybody who would get thrown off a flight for refusing to stop playing WWF is somebody I need to play.

Of course, no man is an island, and Mr. Norton and the other contestants were helped out by players at home, among whom a winner will be announced today. Here are the final standings:

1. First Place – $132,500

Edward Norton, Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust

2. Second Place – $57,500

Sophia Bush, Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust

3. Third Place – $20,000

Kristen Bell, Harlem Grown

4. Fourth Place – $20,000

Eva Longoria, The Eva Longoria Foundation

5. Fifth Place – $5,000

John Legend, The Show Me Campaign

6. Sixth Place – $5,000

Snoop Lion, The Snoop Youth Football League

7. Seventh Place – $5,000

Jonah Hill, Harlem Grown

8. Eighth Place – $5,000

Paul Pierce, Truth On Health – The Truth Fund

We kind of love that there are two people below Snoop Dogg on this list. Either he must have phoned a friend, or Jonah Hill is illiterate.

The occasionally churlish star of 30 Rock was sitting on an American Airlines plane at Los Angeles International Airport when he caught the ire of a flight attendant.

Mr. Baldwin tweeted:

"Flight attendant on American reamed me out 4 playing WORDS W FRIENDS while we sat at the gate, not moving. #nowonderamericaairisbankrupt"

American Airlines, in a heartwarming display of swift customer service (at least for celebrities), tweeted to Mr. Baldwin and asked for his personal information.

Mr. Baldwin later tweeted that he was moved to a 3:00 p.m. PST American Airlines flight, blasted the airline's flight staff as "retired Catholic school gym teachers from the 1950s," and that presumably put an end to Mr. Baldwin's trivial odyssey.

But nooooooo. Then the NY Post had to be all "Baldwin is an irascible dickhead" by mentioning in its story the bit about Mr. Baldwin blowing up on his daughter's voicemail in the forever-infamous incident.

The NY Post writes:

Baldwin is known for his bad temper.

In 2007, the actor left a nasty voice mail tirade for his young daughter, calling her a “rude, thoughtless little pig.”

He later apologized and wrote a book inspired by that incident.

The Post has been particularly harsh on America's favorite hairy-chested, deep-throated actor/radio host.

Last week, the Post featured video of Mr. Baldwin directing traffic in "angry" fashion.

We say lay off the handsome man, and let him play word games and direct traffic in peace.

drosen@observer.com