Beer man pours on the jokes

Retired Marine Col. John Saputo, a decorated veteran, wags a sharp wit under his tough guy exterior — though it sometimes gets lost in running a $90 million beer distribution business.

But Saputo, president of Lakewood Ranch-based Gold Coast Eagle Distributing, got to turn on his humor recently in Las Vegas, where he upstaged none other than “Tonight Show” host Jay Leno. Saputo and some top Gold Coast executives joined Leno onstage at the Mandalay Bay Casino and Conference Center during an Anheuser-Busch sales and marketing meeting. The Gold Coast crew was in town for the meeting, but they didn't know it would win the company's prestigious Ambassador of Excellence award.

Leno, after he presented the award to Gold Coast, asked Saputo if he was Italian. Saputo's reply: “Yes. I'm Sicilian. That's the best kind. We are the rednecks of Italy.”