2011 Dead Pool List

Dead Leprechans
Alice
Carter, Jimmy
Cosby, Bill
Dylan, Bob
Eastwood, Clint
Faulkner, Gary
Gabor, Zsa Zsa
Hawking, Stephen
Il, Kim Jong  RIP 31
Moore, Mary Tyler
Nelson, Willie
Quaid, Randy
Regan, Nancy
Ringwald, Molly
Rooney, Andy  RIP 8
Sanborn, Eunice  RIP 15

The Dying Game
Trace
Bach, Sebastian
Baldwin, Stephen
Capriati, Jennifer
Dick, Andy
Houston, Whitney
Jameson, Jenna
Locklear, Heather
Lohan, Lidsay
London, Jeremy
Minnelli, Liza
Montag, Heidi
Peniche, Kari Ann
Roberts, Eric
Sheen, Charlie
Taylor, Elizabeth  RIP 21

Max iPad
Beth & Tim
Barger, Sonny
Bush, George, Sr
DeNero, Robert
Dole, Bob
Edrich, John
Ellise, Herla (?)
Hughes, Geoffrey
Lewis, Jerry
Lynn, Vera
Molinaro, Al
Piven, Jeromy
Rafferty, Gerry  RIP 37
Tarney, Bill
Tolle, Ekhart
Wallace, Mike

Jaws of Life
Garrett
Ali, Muhammed
Blake, Robert
Bruening, Walter  RIP 14
Calderon, Felipe
Ford, Betty  RIP 7
Garner, James
Griffith, Andy
Hall, Michael C
Nicholson, Jack
Perry, William "The Fridge"
Queen Elizabeth
Reiner, Carl
Thatcher, Maggie
Weber, Andrew
Winehouse, Amy  RIP 73

Do Me 2
Dave & Stephanie
Johansen, Scarlet
Rogen, Seth
Sandler, Adam
Santana, Carlos
Sarandon, Susan
Schiffer, Claudia
Schnider, John
Sellek, Tom
Shatner, William
Simpson, OJ
Smith, Willow
Snoop Dog
Star, Ringo
Stewart, Christian
Stone, Emma

Death of the Divorcee
Noelle
Belushi, James
Cheney, Dick
Douglas, Kirk
Ferigno, Lou
Goodman, John
Hamilton, George
Heester, Johannes  RIP 8
Inglasias, Gabrielle
Jackson, Phil
Jarreau, Al
Lynn, Loretta
Michaels, Brett
Obama, Barak
Seacrest, Ryan
Stedman,Ralph

Undercooked Pork
Paul
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
Douglas, Michael
Dourdan, Gary
Frederickson, Dennis Fergie
Furlong, Edward
Garret, Leif
Klugman, Jack
Lamotta, Jake
Landsbury, Angela
Limbaugh, Rush
Neil, Vince
Neimeyer, Oscar
Nolte, Nick
O'Neal Tatum
Wing, Anna

Dying for a Man
Colleen
Breubeck, Dave
Clark, Roy
Cohen, Leonard
de Oliveira, Manoel
Diller, Phylis
Dimmock, Peter
Faulk, Peter  RIP 17
Guy, Buddy
Haggard, Merle
Marie, Rose
Rooney, Mickey
Russell, Jane  RIP 11
Sizemore, Tom
Vigoda, Abe
Wells, Kitty

TnT
Tim & Tracy
Andrew, Julie
Ballesteros, Seve  RIP 46
Biggs, Ronnie
Day, Doris
Demjanjuk, John
Guillaume, Robert
Hope, Dolores  RIP 2
Karl, George
Killebrew, Harmon  RIP 26
Lange, Artie
Monahan, Gene
Nixon, Agnes
Shalit, Gene
Snider, Duke  RIP 16
Zamfir

Been Jovi
Kerry & Dawn
Baker, Tom
Bonsall, Brian
Cirus, Miley
Fox, Michael J
Franklin, Aretha
Glenn, John
Madoff, Bernie
Mars, Mick
Murray, Dr. Conrad
Nimoy, Leonard
O'Neal, Ryan
Patrck, Butch
Van Dyke, Dick
Wallach, Eli
White, Betty

Oh God!
Happy & Yogi
Barry, Chuck
Berra, Yogi
Bin Laden, Osama  RIP 46
Conway, Jeff  RIP 40
De Havilland, Olivia
Doherty, Pete
Ebert, Rodger
Fontain, Joan
Gordon, Barry
Heffner, Hugh
Lesh, Phil
Love, Courtney
Manson, Charlie
Spector, Phil
Weiland, Scott

Death Rattle of the Mariachi
Heather
Aldrin, Buzz
Andersen, Michael J
Dale, Dick
Domino, Fats
King, BB
Kosen, Sultan
Lewis, Jerry Lee
Meadmore, Clara  RIP 7*
O'Toole, Peter
Pardo, Don
Ramone, Tommy
Rockefeller, David
Sharif, Omar
von Bulow, Clauss
Williams, Esther

Le Petit Mort
Scott & Jen
al Megrahi, abdelbaret al Mohamed
Aleksanyan, Vasily  RIP 61
Assange, Julian
Bader-Ginsberg, Ruth
Barker, Bob
Borgnine, Ernest
Gibson, Mel
King, Larry
Leachman, Cloris
Mandella, Nelson
Marshall, Penny
O'Hara, Maureen
Thomas, Helen
Tork, Peter
Wilder, Gene

High Noon Drive-By
Todd
Bowlen, Pat
Castro, Fidel
Clark, Dick
Ellis, Harlan
Francis, Anne  RIP 20
Funicello, Annette
Ledoux, Scott  RIP 38
Mitchell, Brian David
O'Neal, Redmond
Pratchett, Terry
Springs, Ron  RIP 46
Strahl, George
Thomas, Orlando
Wynne-Jones, Diana  24

Double D's
Dave & Diane
Arquette, David
Beckaham, Victoria
Bridges, Jeff
Busch, August, IV
Fabio
Garlits, Don
Gifford, Frank
Mellencamp, John
Osbourne, Ozzy
Petty, Richard
Philbin, Regis
Richards, Keith
Rourke, Mickey
Spears, Brittany
Swit, Loretta

2010, A Retrospective--UPDATED!!

As we look forward to the new year, I can't help but feel a twinge of sadness remembering those we've lost.  Dennis Hopper, and Cory Haim!  Kama Chinen and Josephine Ray!  More than half of the teams had hits this year, and TnT wins for most hits with 6!  Jaws of Life goes without, yet again, but Bring Out Your Dead gains a hit redeeming the family name. 

The prize winner, however, appears to be Undercooked Pork, totaling 198 points and garnering the trophy, the winnings and many accolades from near and far.

The year had its share of controversy.  Chemical Ali died by execution and yet the Lifeguard still awarded points in a curious twist of the Saddam Hussein Rule.  The Lockerbie Bomber was released from prison with liver cancer on "humanitarian" grounds only to receive a hero's welcome in Lebanon and survive the year.  And Japan released a statement that, through poor census taking techniques, bad monitoring of social benefits and widespread greed, many of the oldest Japanese have actually been dead for a while.  While this sent ripples of murmuring through the Western practitioners of Eastern medicine and their claims of longer life (actually no, it didn't.  It was quietly ignored.....) Kama Chinen was still well documented and confirmed as having lived for 114 years and now is deceased. 

And now we prepare ourselves for the coming year and the surprises that lay in waiting.  Will Charlie Sheen cheat the Grim Reaper one more year?  Who will be this year's Princess Diana, shocking everyone with the tragedy that is our grief?  What teams will we see accept this challenge for the coming year?

Look over the Rules, put your list together and join us for the 2011 Hangover Recovery and Dead Pool Draft on January 1.

UPDATE -- January 2, 2011

As exhibited in the Comments (below), I am not always right.  In fact, I make it a habit to commit at least 3 mistakes every day.  This keeps me humble.  So I would like to amend the above statements. 

1. Abdel Baset al-Megrahi is dying of prostate cancer.  I wrote "liver."  I'm not a doctor, nor do I play one on TV.
2. The Lockerbie Bomber was released to Libya.  I wrote "Lebanon."  I'm not a cartographer, either. 
3. Our US media and government reported the release on "humanitarian grounds" rather than the more appropriate "compassionate" grounds.
4. As reported in The Guardian, a British newspaper, cables released through WikiLeaks suggest, "Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan leader, made explicit and "thuggish" threats to halt all trade deals with Britain and harass embassy staff if Megrahi remained in jail, the cables show. At the same time "a parade of treats" was offered by Libya to the Scottish devolved administration if it agreed to let him go, though the cable says they were turned down."

I thank all of my readers in helping to this a better blog. 

"Breathing First, Winning Next;" Now Neither

The Boss, Big Stein, Manager George.  Whether you loved him, hated him or loved to hate him, one thing remains indisputable, George Michael Steinbrenner III was the most powerful man in baseball.  He went through dollar bills, players and managers faster than Montezuma's Revenge rips through toilet paper.  (Don't ask, but heed this caution: watch where you eat in Juarez.)

As he famously said in an interview on his philosophy and methodology of spending money on the Yankees, "Winning is the most important thing in my life, after breathing. Breathing first, winning next."  His arrogance and myopia made him the butt of many jokes, and the caricature of George Costanza's boss on Seinfeld.  Manager Billy Martin tells many tales of the atrocities committed against humanity.  Yet through it all, he also was recognized as caring deeply for friends and family, for New York and baseball.  If he fired you, he would also make sure you were with means and ability to move on.

TnT gains 20 points.

George Michael Steinbrenner III
July 4, 1930 -- July 10, 2010

John Wooden

John Wooden is a hero to everyone, and I mean everyone.  Sales people, politicians, teachers, clergy.  If you're a leader, if you're on a team of any kind, if you aspire to guide people through the trials and tribulations of life, or if you like basketball, you either have been or will be touched by something John Wooden has said.

Rising to college basketball dominance, John lead the UCLA Bruins to an unprecedented 10 NCAA Championships during his coaching career in the 1960's and 70's.  In fact, during the 40 year run of coaching, he had only one losing season--his first. 

After his formal retirement, he wrote Pyramid of Success and started a motivational series of the same title.  His words have become ubiquitous epithets that thoughtful people live by and simpletons spout around sales conference tables.  He has had many imitators, but like any true icon, his work stands head and shoulders above the rest--but he wants you to join him in greatness.

John passed of natural causes at the ripe old age of 99.  TnT gets 1 point.

John Wooden
October 14, 1910 -- June 4, 2010

People Like Frank

I remember the first time I saw Blue Velvet.  Dennis Hopper played Frank Booth.  I was a junior in high school and the character of Frank freaked the living crap out of me for weeks thereafter.  But that was the brilliance of Dennis Hopper.  He completely immersed himself in every role he took on.  Remember him as the dope-smoking photojournalist in Apocalypse Now?  Or as Billy on Easy Rider?  He also appeared in two of my favorite westerns, True Grit and Hang 'Em High.

He directed, wrote movies, was a photographer, an artist and an art collector.  His modern art collection is one of the largest and most extensive in the country.  An offbeat man of dichotomies, he was registered as a Republican and he voted for Barack Obama in the last election.  He brought life to the antiestablishment but was also the spokes person for Merrill Lynch.

He fell into great depressions and fell further into drug addictions.  He successfully fought his addictions and demons and came back to film some of his most memorable films, including Blue Velvet.  And Waterworld.

"I should have been dead ten times over.  I thought about that a lot.  I believe in miracles.  It's an absolute miracle that I'm still around."

Undercooked Pork gets 26 points.

Dennis Hopper
May 17, 1936 - May 29, 2010

Returning to The Cabin In The Sky

A singer, dancer and actress, Lena Horne joined the chorus line of The Cotton Club in 1933 and was discovered by MGM producers while working in a nightclub in 1941.  Performing in numerous film musicals until she became disenchanted with Hollywood in the early 1950's.  Her departure became far more complete when she was blacklisted during the Red Scare of Joseph McCarthy's attempt to clean up the subversives in the arts.  But she was always the activist.  While performing in USO shows during World War II, she refused to perform before a segregated audience or any in which German POWs were seated in front of Black Servicemen. 

She appeared on almost everyone's variety TV shows throughout the 60's and 70's, and many of the biggest names of Hollywood and Broadway counted themselves among her close friends.  From 1961 to 1995 she won 8 Grammy Awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Award in 1989.  And I will never forget her when she appeared on both Sesame Street and The Muppets. 

Le Petite Mort earns 8 points for their pick.

Lena Horne
June 13, 1917 - May 9, 2010

He's Really Most Sincerely Dead

Given his small stature (4' 7" at the height of his career, but only 3' 11" during his acting years) Meinhardt Raabe stood out.  Best known as the Munchkin coroner in The Wizard of Oz, he was one of nine Munchkins with a speaking role: "As coroner I must aver, I thoroughly examined her.  And she's not only merely dead.  She's really most sincerely dead." 

What many don't know, Meiny also served as a pilot and instructor for the Civil Air Patrol during World War II; he was a spokesman for Oscar Meyer hot dogs--known as "Little Oscar, The World's Smallest Chef," he got to ride in the first WeinerMobile!  He was an accomplished horticulturist, had an MBA in accounting and also taught for many years. 

The Wizard of Oz continued to be a huge part of his life, and while his only theatrical production, Mr. Raabe got the most out of it, appearing in numerous historical reviews of Oz and Munchkin-hood. 

TnT gets their first hit and 6 points.

Meinhardt Raabe
September 2, 1915 - May 10, 2010