Pa Rock's Dead Pool: 2009

by Pa Rock
Dead Pool Manager

Last year we initiated a “Dead Pool” on The Ramble to stir some interest in this blog and to test the powers of our readers’ prognostication. And while we generated several entries and a wide range of guesses on which celebrities, politicians, and other notables would expire in the year 2008, as of yet none of the proffered selections have succumbed to the prolonged solitude of a permanent dirt nap. The names put forth last year were:

Billy Graham, Fidel Castro, Mickey Rooney, Nelson Mandela, Kirk Douglas, Osama Bin Laden, Jerry Lewis, Art Linkletter, Miley Cyrus, Walter Cronkite, Betty White, J.D. Salinger, Mick Jagger, Larry King, Barbara Bush, Kirk Douglas, Bea Arthur, James Gandolfini, Jerry Stiller, Rosie O'Donnell, Amy Winehouse, Courtney Love, Dick Clark, Eminem, Ozzy Osborne, O.J. Simpson, Keith Richards, William Barron Hilton, Chuck Berry, Bob Barker, Prince Philip, Woody Harrelson, Betty Ford, Rudy Giuliani, Jack Lelane, Eartha Kitt, Angela Lansbury, Britney Spears, Bob Dylan, Phyllis Diller, Artie Lange, Michael Vick, Dick Clark, Dom DeLuise, Brian Dennehy, John Goodman, George Wendt, Jack Nicholson, Rose Marie, Nancy Reagan.

If any of the above have expired, please let me know.

Prizes for the 2009 Dead Pool!

This coming year, in a move to stir more interest in this morbid endeavor, we are adding some serious prizes: 1st Place: One $100 Savings Bond; 2nd Place: One $50 Savings Bond; and, 3rd Place: One DVD of the 1988 Clint Eastwood / Jim Carrey film classic – The Dead Pool.

Rules for 2009:

1. Each entrant will submit a list of ten names of individuals (world-wide) whom he or she predict will expire in 2009.

2. The list should be emailed to: pa.rock.macy@gmail.com

3. There is a limit of one entry list per person, and there is no entrance fee.

4. The persons selected should be prominent enough to be recognizable by most of the general public.

5. No low-hanging fruit. The following individuals are not eligible to be selected due to their known serious health issues: Ariel Sharon, Fidel Castro, and Patrick Swayze.

6. Points will be awarded for each selected person who dies in 2009.

7. Points will be determined by subtracting the deceased person’s age from 100. (Someone who dies at a younger age will be worth more points than an old coot!)

8. Points will be tallied at the end of the year, with the top three totals receiving a prize (see above).

9. The deadline for entry submission is midnight on 31 Dec 2008.

10. Entrants are prohibited from doing anything to hasten the demise of any of their selectees! (Hey, that happened in the movie!)

So, get to studying those actuarial tables, risk factors, and Ouiji boards - and get your predictions in for the 2009 Pa Rock's Dead Pool! Have fun!