2009 Dead Pool

Current Standings | The Players | The Players A-Z | Unclaimed Baggage | The Rules | Links | 2008


Standings:


First Place:
Jim & Terri
Second Place:
Shirley
Third Place (Tie):
Sue; Benny & Sara; Bill


1/10 - Players pick their rosters
1/14 - Ricardo Montalban. Sue scores.
1/16 - Andrew Wyeth. Point for Jim & Terri
2/28 - Paul Harvey. Another point for Jim & Terri. And now you know the rest of the story.
5/2   - Jack Kemp. Shirley is in the race.
6/23 - Ed McMahon. Jim & Terri pull ahead more.
6/25 - Farrah Fawcett. Shirley closes the gap a bit.
6/25 - Michael Jackson. And nobody had him. Such a waste.
6/27 - Billy Mays. Benny & Sara are on the field.
7/1   - Karl Malden. Bill is now on the field.


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The 2009 Dead Pool Draft took place on Saturday, January 10, 2009. Rosters are as follows:

Wally

Maureen O'Hara
Ted Kennedy
Andy Rooney
Billy Graham
Margaret O'Brien
Harry Morgan
Walter Cronkite
Oscar Neimeyer
John Demjanuk
Yitzhak Shamir

Wild Cards:
Maxine Waters
Mike Corona

Rick

Ariel Sharon
Sharon Osborne
Margaret Thatcher
Seve Ballesteros
Abe Vigoda
Wilfred Brimley
Bridget Bardot
Mickey Rooney
Roger Moore
Jack Klugman

Wild Cards:
Vin Scully
Sarah Palin

Ruthie

Elizabeth Taylor
Barack Obama
Dick Van Dyke
Michael J. Fox
Ozzy Osborne
Edward Furlong
John McCain
George Bush
Osama Bin Laden
T.I. (AKA Clfford Harris)

Wild Cards:
Tyra Banks
Cloris Leachman

Benny & Sara

Frances Reid
Annette Funicello
C. Everett Koop
Olivia de Havilland
Joan Fontaine
Jerry Lewis
Kirk Douglas
John Glenn
Herman Wouk
Nelson Mandela

Wild Cards:
Billy Mays - 6/27
Verne Troyer

Sue

Nancy Reagan
Chuck Yeager
Eunice Kennedy Shriver
Jan-Michael Vincent
Mitch Miller
Jerry Lee Lewis
Ricardo Montalban - 1/14
Paul Prudhomme
Don Pardo
Chuck Berry

Wild Cards:
Dick Button
Phil Spector

Bill

Jerry Maren
Claude Levi-Strauss
John William Finn
Carl Ballantine
Terry Jones
Karl Malden - 7/1
Luise Rainer
Professor Irwin Corey
Frank Cady
Kim Jung-Il

Wild Cards:
Al Franken
Rod Blagojevich

Jim & Terri

Patrick Swayze
Fidel Castro
Ed McMahon - 6/23
Amy Winehouse
Al Goldstein
Zsa Zsa Gabor
Gloria Stuart
Andrew Wyeth - 1/16
Paul Harvey - 2/28
Blake Fielder-Civil

Wild Cards:
Fred Phelps
Nancy Pelosi

Ashley

Asif Ali Zardari
Dolores Hope
Art Linkletter
Muhammad Ali
Roger Ebert
Ted Stevens
Abigail Van Buren
Lena Horne
Pete Doherty
Khaled Mashaal

Wild Cards:
Kim Kardashian
Tila Tequila

Marlene

Meip Gies
Steve Jobs
Ronnie Biggs
Millie Del Rubio
Run Run Shaw
Jack Ramsay
Rise Stevens
Pope Benedict
Lawrence Ferlinghetti
Patty Andrews

Wild Cards:
O.J. Simpson
Howard Stern

Shirley

John Wooden
Tony Martin
Jack LaLanne
Levon Helm
Betty Garrett
Farrah Fawcett - 6/25
Ernest Borgnine
Dick Clark
Jack Kemp - 5/2
Tony Curtis

Wild Cards:
Cal Worthington
Dick Cheney

The Players, A-Z

Muhammad Ali - Ashley
Patty Andrews - Marlene
Carl Ballantine - Bill
Seve Ballesteros - Rick
Tyra Banks - Ruthie
Bridget Bardot - Rick
Pope Benedict - Marlene
Chuck Berry - Sue
Ronnie Biggs - Marlene
Osama Bin Laden - Ruthie
Rod Blagojevich - Bill
Ernest Borgnine - Shirley
Wilfred Brimley - Rick
George Bush - Ruthie
Dick Button - Sue
Frank Cady - Bill
Fidel Castro - Jim & Terri
Dick Cheney - Shirley
Dick Clark - Shirley
Professor Irwin Corey - Bill
Mike Corona - Wally
Walter Cronkite - Wally
Tony Curtis - Shirley
Olivia de Havilland - Benny & Sara
Millie Del Rubio - Marlene
John Demjanuk - Wally
Pete Doherty - Ashley
Kirk Douglas - Benny & Sara
Roger Ebert - Ashley
Farrah Fawcett - Shirley
Lawrence Ferlinghetti - Marlene
Blake Fielder-Civil - Jim & Terri
John William Finn - Bill
Michael J. Fox - Ruthie
Joan Fontaine - Benny & Sara
Al Franken - Bill
Annette Funicello - Benny & Sara
Edward Furlong - Ruthie
Zsa Zsa Gabor - Jim & Terri
Betty Garrett - Shirley
Meip Gies - Marlene
John Glenn - Benny & Sara
Al Goldstein - Jim & Terri
Billy Graham - Wally
Paul Harvey - Jim & Terri
Levon Helm - Shirley
Dolores Hope - Ashley
Lena Horne - Ashley
Terry Jones - Bill
Steve Jobs - Marlene
Kim Jung-Il - Bill
Kim Kardashian - Ashley
Jack Kemp - Shirley
Ted Kennedy - Wally
Jack Klugman - Rick
C. Everett Koop - Benny & Sara
Jack LaLanne - Shirley
Cloris Leachman - Ruthie
Claude Levi-Strauss - Bill
Jerry Lewis - Benny & Sara
Jerry Lee Lewis - Sue
Art Linkletter - Ashley
Karl Malden - Bill
Nelson Mandela - Benny & Sara
Jerry Maren - Bill
Tony Martin - Shirley
Khaled Mashaal - Ashley
Billy Mays - Benny & Sara
John McCain - Ruthie
Ed McMahon - Jim & Terri
Mitch Miller - Sue
Harry Morgan - Wally
Ricardo Montalban - Sue
Roger Moore - Rick
Oscar Neimeyer - Wally
Barack Obama - Ruthie
Margaret O'Brien - Wally
Maureen O'Hara - Wally
Ozzy Osborne - Ruthie
Sharon Osborne - Rick
Sarah Palin - Rick
Don Pardo - Sue
Nancy Pelosi - Jim & Terri
Fred Phelps - Jim & Terri
Paul Prudhomme - Sue
Luise Rainer - Bill
Jack Ramsay - Marlene
Nancy Reagan - Sue
Frances Reid - Benny & Sara
Andy Rooney - Wally
Mickey Rooney - Rick
Vin Scully - Rick
Yitzhak Shamir - Wally
Ariel Sharon - Rick
Run Run Shaw - Marlene
Eunice Kennedy Shriver - Sue
O.J. Simpson - Marlene
Phil Spector - Sue
Howard Stern - Marlene
Rise Stevens - Marlene
Ted Stevens - Ashley
Gloria Stuart - Jim & Terri
Patrick Swayze - Jim & Terri
T.I. (AKA Clfford Harris) - Ruthie
Elizabeth Taylor - Ruthie
Tila Tequila - Ashley
Margaret Thatcher - Rick
Verne Troyer - Benny & Sara
Abigail Van Buren - Ashley
Dick Van Dyke - Ruthie
Abe Vigoda - Rick
Jan-Michael Vincent - Sue
Maxine Waters - Wally
Amy Winehouse - Jim & Terri
John Wooden - Shirley
Cal Worthington - Shirley
Herman Wouk - Benny & Sara
Andrew Wyeth - Jim & Terri
Chuck Yeager - Sue
Asif Ali Zardari - Ashley

Unclaimed Baggage:
Here are the people who died this year and weren't on anybody's list. Such a waste....

Fred Travalena, 6/28
Gale Storm. 6/27
Michael Jackson, 6/25
Sam Butera (Louis Prima's sax player), 6/3
David Carradine, 6/3
David Eddings (writer), 6/2
Dom DeLuise, 5/4
Danny Gans (comic/female impersonator), 5/1
Bea Arthur, 4/25
J.G. Ballard, 4/19
Mark "The Bird" Fidrych, 4/13
Marilyn Chambers, 4/12
Maurice Jarre, 3/29
Irving R. Levine, 3/27
Dan Seals (England Dan), 3/25
Natasha Richardson, 3/18
Ron Silver3/15
Horton Foote3/14
Jimmy Boyd, 3/7
Philip José Farmer, 2/25
Louie Bellson, 2/14
Willem Kolff, 2/11
Philip Carey, 2/6
James Whitmore, 2/6
Ingemar Johansson, 1/30
John Updike, 1/27
Patrick McGoohan, 1/13
Don Galloway 1/8
Griffin Bell 1/5
Pat Hingle 1/3
Claiborne Pell 1/1
Helen Suzman 1/1


The Rules

How does it work?
Players are assigned a position in the rotation as follows: New players choose first, in order determined by drawing straws. Returning players go in the reverse order of their standing in the previous game; the winner chooses last. On each turn, a player chooses the name of one celebrity to add to his list. There are no duplications allowed; once a celebrity is chosen by one player, he/she is not available for other players. The choosing of teams continues in this manner until every player has a list of 10 (ten) celebrities.

The next step is the choosing of Wild Cards. Each player chooses in turn until every player has two Wild Cards. The first is added to the player's roster, and the second is written on a card and put into a basket, from which they will be drawn at random so that each player ends up with someone else's Wild Card. If a player picks his own nominee, he may keep it if he so desires.

Throughout the year, at random intervals, the Commissioner will publish updated listings of each player's score. These will be posted on the Dead Pool website as well as being distributed in printed form. At the end of the year, the player who has had the most deaths on his/her list is declared the winner, and takes the pot. The game is winner-take-all; there are no prizes for second or third place.

What's a Celebrity?
Our standard is that candidates have to be noteworthy enough for the Associated Press to publish their obituary. We have to be able to find out who's dead. There are certain exclusions: Convicted criminals facing execution by the state are disqualified. You can't just check in with the Texas Penal System and get their schedule. Convicts who are not on death row are valid candidates, provided they are noteworthy public figures (Richard Ramirez, Charles Manson or Sirhan Sirhan, for example).

Players are not allowed to choose minors for their rosters. Sorry, Jamie-Lynn Spears is off-limits. Celebrities can be chosen from any walk of life. Previous candidates have included mathematicians, rap singers, architects, astronomers, and writers, as well as the usual contingent of actors and politicians (same thing).

What's a Wild Card?
Wild Cards are candidates that a player does not have any reason to think would die, rather he/she wishes they would. This is your chance to vent your hostility and choose someone simply because they annoy you. Some suggestions might include Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Dick Cheney, OJ Simpson, Martha Stewart or Tom Cruise.

This introduces two elements into the game: Random Chance and Personal Animosity. By choosing people who aren't likely to die, and by distributing some of them at random, the opportunity for an upset is added. By nominating objects of loathing for these slots, players are (1) free of the problem of nominating unlikely candidates simply because they are hated, and (2) given the opportunity to cheer for the possible demise of such people. Simply put, it makes for a livelier game.

How do I find names to pick?
Research is the key. Pay attention to the news and make note of public figures who are old, ill, or self-destructive. Search the Internet for sites that track the dead and dying (there are a lot of them). Call the retired actors' home and see who's there. When you see someone on TV who looks like hell, make a note to yourself. Above all, research, research, research. We can't do everything for you!

What if I pick someone who's already dead?
If anyone notices during the choosing period, you'll get to pick a replacement. If it's discovered after the game begins, you lose a point. It's happened before.

That's it. Pick your potential stiffs, and let's see who pushes up the daisies this year. It's a fun game, but extremely corrupting. You'll find yourself keeping track of old movie stars, asking "gee, how's her health?" When you hear that some rocker has gone belly-up in a hotel room, choking on his own bile, you won't say "too bad." You'll say "who had him?" Prepare to be warped.

Sound like fun? Good.


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Dead Pool Links

Dead People Server
Dead or Alive
stiffs.com



Send comments to jim@jimmacq.com


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