NCS...
 

Sorry about that. They are up there now. Bringing us up to 26 entries.

Would have been a good wild card pick
 

Ted Williams' son, dead at 35.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4472951/

Would have been a good wild card pick
 

I can't help but wonder whether his head will be frozen now, too.

Would have been a good wild card pick
 

Doesn't the "agreement" with his dad require it?

Although apparently they never paid the company, so I doubt they'll end up doing anything . . . or hold Teddy Ballgame hostage for payment from J.H.'s estate.

We're playing for Second
 

looking at the picks, I gotta give the early edge to aloha. The Yeltsin pick caught meearly, but just wentback through. the blake/karzai tandem is a pretty good bet.

luckily no one picked Spalding, who died in January and wouldhave required rule interpretation.

We're playing for Second
 

Paul Winfield- actor RIP

Here they are... your death pool picks
 

I dont like how many people clearly went to death pool sites and did not come up with picks from their own base of knowledge. Johnny Oates? Gimme a break. Who has hear of him? That shoudl not be allowed. Ditto a couple of others.

Here they are... your death pool picks
 

The good news is that looking at death watch sites only works so well. Those people have to actually die for it to pay off. It did result in me having to google more often than I would have liked to confirm celebrity status.

I figured those old time baseball players were picks by people who care about baseball and therefore would know them. I don't even like being forced to attend 1-2 games per year with clients, so I'm not big on baseball players.

My kudos to the people who picked 103 year old Brooke Astor. I think she is the oldest pick on the list.

Not a Hit
 

But this was a hit on the big pool that I'm playing in today:

Sounds pretty obscure to me.

Here they are... your death pool picks
 

The Dc sniper gets executed in October, but I don't think that would have been an allowed pick.

Here they are... your death pool picks
 

Yes, and they always get executed on the date initially set.

Here they are... your death pool picks
 

sometimes- see Gary Gilmore.
The first day, when they shot 4, I was in Old Town alexandria. Woke up, went for a run down Mt. Vernon Trail. By the time I got back to my hotel the murders were on the news. I didn't run on the bike path the next day.

Here they are... your death pool picks
 

That's a lame ass alibi, but I guess it worked. Kudos.

Here they are... your death pool picks
 

And I am sure the only person who knows who she is is DTB, or maybe BRC. which reminds me that Marylou whitney woud have been a good choince. The peopel who picked Johnny Oates and brooke astor and others probably woud not have come up with thme on their own, or even know who they are. There are others as well who I dont even know who they are. And I thought Fay Wray died like ten years ago.

Here they are... your death pool picks
 

Wont he have like eighty appeals? Nobody goes down on their scheduled date.

Here they are... your death pool picks
 

If I may, this is precisely the reason why I went to a Death Pool site. Actually, I originally tried to google for info about specific people, but it was too big of a pain in the ass. Most of my picks were established before I checked. I did a Google search, b/c I wanted to find out if Buddy Ebsen was still alive. (Sadly, he died last year and I couldn't use him.) And then, I saw Fay Wray's name, and said "Fuck, she's still kicking?" Bam! Buddy's replacement.

I'm sure others may have done the same. FWIW, if I hadn't heard of them, or they were a quasi-celeb, at best, they weren't used.

Here they are... your death pool picks
 

Paigow, you have always been kind to help me understand Main Fashion, so I'm going to give you some advice for this Board- you are a newbie here after all.

If you think a rule is unfair, so what. You have to stew over it, SILENTLY. ncs has made the rules and you better not complain or spooky will call you a pain in the ass.

I think they may work in the Justice department.

Here they are... your death pool picks
 

That's interesting. I didn't take what she said as a complaint, and I think I gave an honest answer to a legitimate question.

You sir, on the other hand, are a pain in the ass.

* Good one, on both counts.

Here they are... your death pool picks
 

I picked Brooke and do know who she is. She's been a mainstay of the New York wealthy social/philanthropic scene for years. I also know who Max Schmelling, another of my picks, is because he's the answer to a bunch of the boxing questions in the original Trivial Pursuit and my Dad had to explain who he is back when we got the game. The Dead or Alive sites can tell you who is really really old, but that's no guarantee that they're going to actually die this year. Good old Brooke might have 2 or 3 years left in her, for all I know. She's got the dough for the best medical care money can buy.

Here they are... your death pool picks
 

Its not that I think its unfair, its that I think it is lame that people who arent spooky took the cheap out and picked folks they never heard of. The, but for this death pool, I would never have heard of this person bit. Doesnt show creativity. For example, I picked Rodney Dangerfield bc I recently saw him accept a lifetime achievement award and he 1) looked like shit, well shittier than usual- fat, old, red 2) he seemed a little slow and 3) he had some young broad with him cheering hyim on. He willl probably have a heart attack. Also, I picked Phyllis Diller bc 1) the plastic surgery can no longer conceal that she is older than dirt and bilmore and 2) she seemed totally senile. but I guess the upside is that my original picks could pay off nicely for me if they do go bc nobody else got them.

And I have the right to bitch. Nobody can deny me that. H

I think Princess Alice is 103 too, but am too lazy to see whether Brooke or Alice was born earlier in 1901.

turns out that neither is 103 yet. Princess Alice was born on Christmas, 1901. Brooke Astor was born in March, 1902. Really really old, but not 103.

I win
 

That makes my odds better. Neener, neener, neener.

I win
 

Las Vegas death pools count points per death as 100 minus age at death. Get it? these would be negatives. If she croaks don't gloat.

Fun facts from death pools
 

Until Lester mentioned her, I didn't even know there was a Princess Alice, much less part of the British Royals. When I Googled her, I found a web site from which I also learned there is a Princess Alexandra and a Duke and Duchess of Gloucester. They must not have scandals as juicy as the Queen's kids and grandkids. My knowledge of essentially useless trivia already has been enriched by the 2004 FB Death Pool.

What did you do with yourself before the Internet?

Hmm
 

So Whitney Houston has entered rehab -- http://www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/Musi....ap/index.html

I'm not sure what to do with this information at this point. I guess the options are:

1. Still count her as a wild card for all purposes.
2. Only count her death for wild card purposes if she dies of something not drug related. This is the rule for concealed illness (wild card pick that had an undisclosed illness does not count as a wild card if that person dies of the undisclosed illness but does count if death is, for example, in a car accident).

If a wild card is disqualified from wild card contention, any death would still count towards the picker's overall death pick total (and of course pride points would still be available), but the death would not entitle the picker to any portion of the wild card prize.

What do you guys think? I am leaning towards option 2 above.


ETA: you can either post a response in this thread or PM me your thoughts.

Hmm
 

Undisclosed? Don't we know it's been a problem for a while? How does rehab change it? Although drug use isn't a disease, any more than fatness is. What's next, perversion, thus disqualifying michael jackson?

Hmm
 

Well actually the idea behind disqualifying people from wild card contention for these reasons is that, despite the 50 Cent picks and the like, the spirit of the wild card is to pick a true wild card. Someone who has no reason that they might be more likely to die than anyone else, thus shocking the world when they do die. Application of the rules relating to wild cards is necessarily difficult because at least some of the analysis is subjective. That is why I had a hard time with determining eligibility. And why I might throw that portion out if we do it again next year.

I did not pick Michael Jackson as a wild card in my big pool because I wasn't sure if there would be some obvious mental illness disqualifier, but sure enough, that pick was allowed there, so I have allowed it here. In the same spirit, some morbidly obese comedian with a coke habit is not really a "wild card" in that if that person died, no one would be surprised. It just depends how far you want to take the analysis. I will be watching what the person running the big pool does with respect to this Whitney Houston thing. THe guy who runs it has been doing so for many years and this stuff has likely been encountered there before. If he doesn't do anything to wild card Houston picks there, I'd be more inclined not to do anything about them here.

Rehab is short-hand for drug problem. It is not perfect because celebs entering rehab either have admitted to the problem and are trying to fix it, or they haven't and some outside force (such as law enforcement) has pushed it on them. The first scenario seems to make them better off (if the rehab takes), the second just shows that they have a problem.

Hmm
 

Well, that makes sense. But it seems if it's undisclosed then that's just your good luck (so to speak), just like a car wreck. But, it doesn't matter much to me . . . your 2 seems eminently reasonable should whitney die (although I think it's more likely to be at the hand of bobby brown that at the end of a needle or crack pipe).

Don't know about "undisclosed," but her drug problem was widely suspected, if not outright known. Kinda like saying we didn't know Dean Martin was a drinker.

Hmm
 

Don't get all pissy just because I picked her as my Wildcard.

C.I.W.
(Crack is Wack)

Hmm
 

I'd leave things alone. Suspected drug user isn't the same as confirmed. If anything, her going into rehab reduces her chance of a dirt nap this year...

Hmm
 

I tend to agree that she is probably less likely to die (especially during the time that she is actually in rehab). I'll let the picks stand.

Now that I am death obsessed...
 

This death didn't get any press at the time:

http://www.deadoraliveinfo.com/dead.nsf/pages/main

11/14/2003 41 Gene Anthony Ray Entertainment

[Leroy from Fame! - dead]

Now that I am death obsessed...
 

some of these "where are they now" deaths take a few weeks to hit the news. You may need to have a clearing period at the end of the pool.

maybe Ishould have listened to ncs......
 

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,114378,00.html

Now that I am death obsessed...
 

This new board is not doing healthy things for all of you. I'm reading it and thinking "Harold and Maude."

Now that I am death obsessed...
 

So you think ncs and I will get together too?

This Looks Bad
 

Did anyone consider Ethan Hawke? He looks terrible lately.

Click on the link at your own risk. Work safe. Barely.