Dec. 30, 2009 - Derby Dead Pool Reminder

This is a friendly reminder that you only have one day to complete your 2010 Derby Dead Pool entry.

The Derby Dead Pool is where you list 20 people that you think will die during the calendar year. The winner last year correctly predicted 12 of his 20 celebrity deaths. You get points based on how they die and how old they were at the time of their death

You get disqualified if you have anything to do with their death.

This year I scored points with: Ted Kennedy, Oral Roberts, Patrick Swayze, Farrah Fawcett and my real sleeper, Michael Jackson.

For the record, I’m not sadistic. I wish no ill will on most of my entries. However I’m putting Bernie Madoff on my 2010 list.

I’ve always been a fan of actuarial tables and the abnormal distribution of celebrity deaths indicated that most fall outside of 2 standard deviations from the mean (using a Z distribution of course.)

June 25, 2009 - Derby Dead Pool Update

There was huge news day with the celebrity deaths of Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson.

People always say that “They always Die in Threes." I guess with the death of Ed McMahon earlier this week, Oprah Winfrey and David Letterman can rest easy, ….for now.

For those long time Jabberwockers, I have been a participant for the past three years in the DERBY DEAD POOL.

The Derby Dead Pool is where you list 20 people that you think will die during the calendar year. The winner last year correctly predicted 12 of his 20 celebrity deaths. You get points based on how they die and how old they were at the time of their death

I currently “Captain” 4 teams:

2 Sick Not 2 Quit – personal list , 3rd year, finished 165th last year
1 Dead in Ohio – perossnl list, 3rd year, finished 342nd last year
Say Hi to Uncle George – family list, 1st year
5 Feet and 1 To Go – book club list, 1st year

Until today there had not been a “hit” on any of the 4 lists, an almost unheard of probability.

And then within one hour, two major deaths.

For example, here is the list for the 2 Sick Not 2 Quit submission:

Muhammad Ali
Fidel Castro
Dick Clark
Roger Ebert
Farrah Fawcett
Michael J Fox
Teri Garr
Stephen Hawking
Steve Jobs
Senator Edward Kennedy
Larry King
Jack Klugman
Jerry Lewis
George Michael
Liza Minnelli
Sharon Osbourne
Greg Page
Ron Santo
Ariel Sharon
Mary Tyler Moore

For the record, I’m not sadistic, otherwise I would put more time into research and would have finished higher than 165th last year.

I just have always been a fan of actuarial tables and the abnormal distribution of celebrity deaths indicated that most fall outside of 2 standard deviations from the mean (using a Z distribution of course.)

April 6, 2008 - Derby Dead Pool Update

Maybe I finally found my prognostication niche. My NCAA pool was over before it started as The Ohio State University had no chance to reach the Final Four, even though I had them as a write-in selection. My real gift may be selecting DEAD PEOPLE, or rather, picking people that will probably die soon.

It has been over 2 months, but I finally got my second hit on my Derby Dead Pool.

The Derby Dead Pool is where you list 20 people that you think will die in 2008. The winner last year correctly predicted 10 of his 20 celebrity deaths. You get points based on how they die and how old they were at the time of their death.

I haven’t had any activity since Suzanne Pleshette died on January 23. Until this weekend.

Charlton Heston died yesterday after a battle with dementia. He was the star of 150 films and TV series, among them "The Ten Commandments", "Ben Hur" and my favorite, "The Planet of the Apes".

Heston also led the National Rifle Association, believing that it is "man's God-given right" to own guns. In the below photo, Charlton Heston accepting a presentation rifle at 2000 NRA convention with the now well-known exclamation "From my cold, dead hands!"

Funeral arraignments are yet to be finalized as the mortuary team is still trying to pry the rifle from Heston’s hands.

I always admired Heston for his disdain for political correctness. Heston stated, "If Americans believed in political correctness, we'd still be King George's boys - subjects bound to the British crown."

I received six points for my Heston selection, which moved me to 66th place out of 459 teams. There is still a lot of time left, maybe not for my selections, but in the calendar year for a comeback.

January 23, 2008 - Derby Dead Pool Update

It’s time for a DERBY DEAD POOL Update. The Derby Dead Pool is an online competition to guess which famous people won't make it to the end of the current year.

You list 20 people that you think will die in 2008. The winner last year correctly predicted 10 of his 20 celebrity deaths. You get points based on how they die and how old they were at the time of their death. This year I have submitted two entries into the contest. As a refresher, here are my two teams:

1 Dead in Ohio
2 Sick, 2 Not Quit

This past Sunday I was alerted to the fact the Suzanne Pleshette had moved six feet closer to the center of the Earth.

Suzanne Pleshette was the beautiful, husky-voiced star best known for her role as Bob Newhart's sardonic wife on television's long-running "The Bob Newhart Show" (1972-1976). Apparently her husky voice was NOT great acting, but a result of a long running love affair with Marlboro. Pleshette was 70.

My fondest memories of the Bob Newhart Show were from the “Hi Bob” drinking game we played at The Ohio State University. The rules were simple. Whenever anybody on the show says "Hi, Bob!" or “Oh Bob”, everybody calls out "BOB!" and takes a very generous drink of their beer. People on the show say "Hi, Bob" very often. Pleshette was good for an “Oh Bob” once or twice every episode.

Four years after the show ended in 1978, Newhart went on to the equally successful "Newhart'' series in which he was the proprietor of a New England inn populated by more eccentrics. When that show ended in 1990, Pleshette reprised her role - from the first show - in one of the most clever series final episodes in TV history.

It had Newhart waking up in the bedroom of his "The Bob Newhart Show" home with Pleshette at his side. He went on to tell her of the crazy dream he'd just had of running an inn filled with eccentrics. CLASSIC.

I will always have a special place in my heart for Ms. Pleshette for her “Oh Bob’s” and for advancing me to 20th place out of the 459 teams in this year’s Derby Dead Pool. I received 7 points for my Pleshette selection.

Other Derby Dead Pool Updates on some of my selections:

Snoop Dogg’s brother had a heart attack on January 9th. Bad genes can be a factor.

Britney Spears continues to spiral out of control. She’s beginning to look more like Anna Nicole than Anna did. The Associated Press has already drafted her obit.

January 3, 2008 - The Derby Dead Poll - Entry 2

As detailed in yesterday’s post, I am ready to reveal my entries to the United Kingdom’s Derby Dead Pool.

My first entry, 1 Dead in OHIO, was made up of a variety of young out of control debutantes and aging stars. It was based more of fun, general desire, and “yeah, it could happen” thoughts.

This entry is more scientifically or at least it is medically based. I’ve titled it, 2 Sick 2 Not Quit.

It contains folks that would be denied insurance because of “pre-existing conditions.”

1. Muhammed Ali, Parkinson’s Disease

2. Jerry Lewis, everything but MD

3. Patricia Dunn, Cancer

4. Liza Minnelli, Deranged Diva Disease

5. Fidel Castro, may be already dead

6. Ryan O'Neal, Cancer

7. Roger Ebert, Cancer

8. Sharon Osbourne, Cancer

9. Farrah Fawcett, Cancer

10. Greg Page, left Wiggles gig with an undisclosed illness

11. Teri Garr, Cancer

12. Suzanne Pleshette, Cancer

13. Michael Fox, Parkinson’s Disease

14. Larry King, multiple heart failure episodes

15. Steven Hawking, some rare and progressive neuromotor disease

16. Ron Santo, Diabetes

17. Charles Heston, Alzheimer’s Disease

18. Ron Springs, remains comatose

19: Areil Sharon, remains comatose

20. Jack Klugman, Cancer

Now before you get up in arms about the morbid nature of this exercise, remember I wish none of these people ill (pun intended) will.

There are no trophies or cash stipends for being correct. It just gives me a reason to Google Greg Page from time to time to see if the life of an ex-Wiggle is the 2008 version of a 1970 ex-Beatle.

You don’t have to wish me good luck or those on my list bad luck. I just think it is time to bring an American Victory to the UK Derby Dead Pool.

January 2, 2008 - The Dead Pool

Now that we are into 2008, I can reveal my entries into this year’s DERBY DEAD POOL.

Some blokes in the UK run the Derby Dead Pool. It is an online competition to guess which famous people won't make it to the end of the current year

You list 20 people that you think will die in 2008. The winner last year correctly predicted 10 of his 20 celebrity deaths. You get points based on how they die and how old they were at the time of their death.

SCORING:
The value of the basic death depends on the person's age:
18-29 years: 12 points
30-49 years: 10 points
50-59 years: 9 points
60-69 years: 8 points
70-79 years: 7 points
80-89 years: 6 points
90-99 years: 5 points
100-109 years: 4 points
110+ years: 3 points

On top of this, bonus points are awarded as follows:
Unique pick: +3 if you were the only competitor to pick that person.
Unlucky 13: +2 for a celeb who dies on the 13th of any month.
Unnatural causes: +3 for murder, suicide or accident (but not State executions).
Party pooper: +5 for a celeb who dies on their birthday or Xmas Day.

I had Benazir Bhutto on my 2008 list, but she went four days too early. I struggled on whether to add Ernest Borgnine or Britney Spears.

This year I have 2 entries:

Entry #1 – 1 DEAD IN OHIO

1. John Travolta – flies his own plane (think John Denver)

2. Daniel Baldwin – least talented Baldwin brother, also recently pissed off Alec

3. Duane (Dog the Bounty Hunter) Chapman – his luck will run out, possibly at hands of his own family

4. Steven Fossett – missing for months, but not LEGALLY dead

5. John Paul Stevens – oldest Supreme Court Judge, never read Pelican Brief

6. Wilford Brimley - Heavy-set, superbly-mustachioed US actor in TV, films & commercials, looks 93, is only 73.

7. Bobby Brown – ex-husband of Whitney Houston, been in and out of rehab and jail

8. Zsa Zsa Gabor - Nine-times married, cop-slapping actress. Was in a coma for a while after a collision between her car and a lamp-post on Hollywood's Sunset Boulevard in November 2002. I’m not sure if she ever really emerged from coma.

9. Rev. Billy Graham –will turn 90 in 2008. He was on my 2007 list.

10. Lindsay Lohen – was in and out of Betty Ford more times than Gerald Ford (before he died)

11. Perez Musharraf – he can’t run and he can’t hide forever. He survives assassination attempts as if they were mosquito attacks.

12. Ashley Olsen – possible anorexia or high wind victim

13. I.M. Pei –91 year old architect. He was on my 2007 list.

14. Dick Clark – I get extra points if he dies AS the ball drops on December 31

15. Oral Roberts – will be 90 in 2008

16. Phyllis Diller - will be 140 in 2008

17. Richard Simmons - OK this one is a reach, but I feel lucky.

18. Snoop Dogg – over exposed rapper, has already outlasted most rapper actuarial tables

19. Chris Hanson – will star posthumously in “To Catch A Predator and the Guy That Killed That Smug Host”

20. Britney Spears – dah?

Tomorrow I will post my second entry: 2 Sick Not 2 Quit