Your 8th Annual Celebrity Death Pool. 2012 Edition.

[notcasesensitive]

Hey there, ghoulish death aficionados. Oops. I mean followers of celebrity gossip and debilitating ailments. Or, uh, degenerate gamblers and chronically competitive types.

It is almost that time. I'll post the rules again during the week between Christmas and New Years, but start making your lists and checking them twice! As always, I'll be accepting lists until 12:00 a.m. (East Coast time) on January 1st. Check the first post in the 2011 edition if you are unclear of the rules and shoot me your picks when you've made them. I'll post the list here once I've compiled it. I'll have a status update on the 2011 pool sometime next week. Happy picking!

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally Posted by notcasesensitive

Hey there, ghoulish death aficionados. Oops. I mean followers of celebrity gossip and debilitating ailments. Or, uh, degenerate gamblers and chronically competitive types.

It is almost that time. I'll post the rules again during the week between Christmas and New Years, but start making your lists and checking them twice! As always, I'll be accepting lists until 12:00 a.m. (East Coast time) on January 1st. Check the first post in the 2011 edition if you are unclear of the rules and shoot me your picks when you've made them. I'll post the list here once I've compiled it. I'll have a status update on the 2011 pool sometime next week. Happy picking!

do you have a scoreboard for 2011?

[Fugee]

Originally Posted by Hank Chinaski

do you have a scoreboard for 2011?

I've got 3 -- don't know how that stacks up against the group.

[notcasesensitive]

Originally Posted by Hank Chinaski

do you have a scoreboard for 2011?

Did you read the post that you responded to? I'll be going through and tallying 2011 hits next week and I'll post to that thread when I have the standings.

[Fugee]

Originally Posted by notcasesensitive

Did you read the post that you responded to? I'll be going through and tallying 2011 hits next week and I'll post to that thread when I have the standings.

Haven't you read the politics board? Hank never reads other peoples' posts before responding!

[Atticus Grinch]

A word to the wise: The U.S. has a magic cancer ray and is using it on Latin American leaders. Adjust your picks accordingly.

[notcasesensitive]

As we head into our eighth big year of Lawtalkers death pools, once again I post the rules for all who wish to enter:

(Same rules as last year. And the year before. And the year before that, etc.)

*Each player submits 10 celebrity picks to me via PM (do not post them here).

*I will be the final arbitor as to whether someone qualifies as a celebrity. If you have a local celebrity that you wish to pick, or someone who I might not be familiar with, please include an explanation of why the person should qualify as famous for me. The TM anti-Earl Woods rule is in effect this year - no one qualifies as being a celebrity just because they popped out a famous kid. Also death row inmates (unless they were famous prior to committing their special crime -- the OJ/Saddam Hussein exception), Michael Jackson's accuser, etc. do not qualify.

*All picks should be submitted to me by December 31, 2011 at 11:59 p.m. EST.

*Death Pool will begin on January 1, 2012 at 12:01 a.m. EST. Pool will close December 31, 2012 at midnight EST.

*I will post a listing of all picks here once they have been tabulated. If you wish to pick anyone of questionable celebrity status, get your list to me early to make sure I accept all picks.

*Ties in final number of deaths picked will battle it out in the Hank Chinaski tiebreaker, which will measure the difference between the ages of the celebrities picked and 100. Celebrities over 100 will not garner tied players any points in the tiebreaker. The younger the dead celebrity, the more points! So go for it and pick Prince Harry if you care to. Or an Olsen twin. Or Amy Winehouse! Wait, not Amy Winehouse.

*In the event of any need for rules clarification, I will post those here. In the event of any dispute as to how the rules should work, I will have the final say. Though I may solicit opinions of pool entrants.

*If you pick someone and they die before the pool period starts, you may resubmit a new entry, but no geezer who drops before the beginning time of the pool will count as a hit for you (though if on your 2009 pool list, they wil count in that pool).

*I can't promise that I will catch every single celebrity death during the year, so I urge each of you to watch for stories confirming the death of your selected celebrities. If I miss a published death, just shoot me an e-mail with a link and I'll post the hit on this board.

*Winner gets no monetary reward. What do you think this is - a greedy associates board? But you do get to boast about it for all of calendar year 2013. Boasting is always fun!

*Person (or people) with the fewest hits during the year will grab the Angel of Mercy title.

*In case you care, here is the rundown of winners of prior Celebrity Death Pools:

2004 - Fugee
2005 - barely_legal
2006 - Mr. Man
2007 - tmdiva
2008 - tmdiva
2009 - barely_legal
2010 - Diane Keaton
2011 - ??? Fugee is currently winning in a tiebreaker with Miss Maine

*Have fun and good luck!

your faithful deathpooltrix,
ncs

[notcasesensitive]

Final reminder: get your picks in before midnight! So far we have 12 entries...

[notcasesensitive]

bold_n_brazen
1. Abe Vigoda
2. Kirk Douglas
3. Zsa Zsa Gabor
4. Monty Hall
5. Dick Clark
6. Phyllis Diller
7. Bob Barker
8. Billy Graham
9. Mohammed Ali
10. Judge Joseph Wapner

tmdiva Angel of Death 2007, 2008
1. Margaret Thatcher
2. Billy Graham
3. Ariel Sharon
4. Zsa Zsa Gabor
5. Nancy Reagan
6. Chuck Berry
7. Prince Philip
8. Nelson Mandela
9. Bryant Gumbel
10. Michael Douglas

Sparklehorse
1. Mel Gibson
2. Ariel Sharon
3. Zsa Zsa Gabor
4. Margaret Thatcher
5. Pete Doherty
6. Bobby Brown
7. Dick Cheney
8. Nancy Reagan
9. Lindsay Lohan
10. Fidel Castro

learnedmano
1. Robin Gibb
2. Etta James
3. Margaret Thatcher
4. Fidel Castro
5. Zsa Zsa Gabor
6. Jack Klugman
7. Ernest Borgnine
8. Phyllis Diller
9. Little Richard
10. Penny Marshall

Atticus Grinch
1. Zsa Zsa Gabor
2. Joe Paterno
3. Nancy Reagan
4. Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, Pope Benedict XVI
5. Ariel Sharon
6. Fidel Castro
7. Billy Graham
8. Hugo Chavez
9. Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
10. Muhammad Ali

Miss Maine
1. Billy Graham
2. Dick Clark
3. Fidel Castro
4. Kirk Douglas
5. Zsa Zsa Gabor
6. Jerry Lewis
7. Dick Cheney
8. Prince Phillip
9. Nelson Mandela
10. Hosni Mubarik

barely_legal Angel of Death 2005, 2009
1. Etta James
2. Zsa Zsa Gabor
3. Robin Gibb
4. Aretha Franklin
5. Hugo Chavez
6. Larry Hagman
7. Eydie Gorme
8. Eli Wallach
9. Penny Marshall
10. Andy Williams

Hank Chinaski
1. Kirk Douglas
2. Tony Bennett
3. Carol channing
4. Abe Vigoda
5. James Garner
6. David Crosby
7. Mickey Rooney
8. Peter O'Toole
9. Fidel Castro
10. Billy Graham

Greedy,Greedy, Greedy
1. Billy Graham
2. Dick Clark
3. Queen Elizabeth
4. Pete Seeger
5. Ravi Shankar
6. Olivia de Haviland
7. Fidel Castro
8. Ariel Sharon
9. Robert Mugabe
10. Steven Tyler

LessinSF
1. Fidel Castro
2. Yitzhak Shamir
3. David Hasselhof
4. Zsa Zsa Gabor
5. John Demanjuk
6. Ariel Sharon
7. Dick Cheney
8. Louis Farrakan
9. Nancy Reagan
10. Margaret Thatcher

Adder
1. Walter Mondale
2. Louie Anderson
3. Garrison Keillor
4. James Hong (actor)
5. Bob Dylan
6. John Madden
7. Loni Anderson
8. Patty Andrews (member of the Andrews Sisters)
9. John Roswell Camp (aka John Sandford)
10. Mary Tyler Moore

Flinty_McFlint
1. Lindsay Lohan
2. Kirk Douglas
3. Fidel Castro
4. Zsa Zsa Gabor
5. Pat Robertson
6. Billy Graham
7. Mindy McCready
8. Dick Clark
9. Michael Douglas
10. Terrell Owens

Fugee Angel of Death 2004, 2011
1. Etta James
2. Zsa Zsa Gabor
3. Hugo Chavez
4. Robin Gibb
5. Muhammed Ali
6. Oscar Niemeyer
7. Penny Marshall
8. Fidel Castro
9. Leif Garrett
10. Prince Phillip

Jack Manfred
1. Rev. Billy Graham
2. Olivia DeHavilland
3. Liza Minelli
4. Mickey Rooney
5. Etta James
6. Zsa Zsa Gabor
7. Ravi Shankar
8. Eli Wallach
9. Phyllis Diller
10. Pete Seeger

Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)
1. Margaret Thatcher
2. Hugo Chavez
3. Fidel Castro
4. Jerry Lewis
5. Zsa Zsa Gabor
6. Billy Graham
7. John Demjanjuk
8. Nancy Reagan
9. Joe Paterno
10. BB King

Mr. Man Angel of Death 2006
1. Jim Marshall (king of amps)
2. Etta James
3. Fidel Castro
4. Kirk Douglas
5. Billy Graham
6. Nelson Mandela
7. Zsa Zsa Gabor
8. Oscar Niemeyer
9. Ronnie Biggs
10. BB King

notcasesensitive
1. Fidel Castro
2. Kirk Douglas
3. Zsa Zsa Gabor
4. Robin Gibb
5. Billy Graham
6. Stephen Hawking
7. Etta James
8. Joe Paterno
9. Ariel Sharon
10. Nelson Mandela

17 entrants this year. Notably no entry from Angel of Death 2010, Diane Keaton. No chance for me to learn more about local politics in third world countries. Good luck and let the dying begin!

[Atticus Grinch]

I was worried I'd be the only asshole to pick Paterno.

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally Posted by Atticus Grinch

I was worried I'd be the only asshole to pick Paterno.

I'm surprised by the no Sanduskeys.

[Fugee]

Originally Posted by notcasesensitive

Adder
1. Walter Mondale
2. Louie Anderson
3. Garrison Keillor
4. James Hong (actor)
5. Bob Dylan
6. John Madden
7. Loni Anderson
8. Patty Andrews (member of the Andrews Sisters)
9. John Roswell Camp (aka John Sandford)
10. Mary Tyler Moore

I just realized Adder has an all Minnesotan list (if you count the fictional MTM not the actual actress).

[Greedy,Greedy,Greedy]

Originally Posted by Fugee

I just realized Adder has an all Minnesotan list (if you count the fictional MTM not the actual actress).

BTW, Congratulations Ms. Death.

[Adder]

Originally Posted by Fugee

I just realized Adder has an all Minnesotan list (if you count the fictional MTM not the actual actress).

Yup. Went with a theme instead of a chance to win.

[Sidd Finch]

Originally Posted by notcasesensitive

bold_n_brazen
17 entrants this year. Notably no entry from Angel of Death 2010, Diane Keaton. No chance for me to learn more about local politics in third world countries. Good luck and let the dying begin!

Man, you people really have it out for Zsa Zsa.