This is the reason I just spent $14.95, in no particular order;
- Courtney Love
- Bob Dole
- Dennis Rodman
- Emeril Lagasse
- Pam Anderson
- Stephen King
- Jay Leno
- George Carlin
- Ralph Wilson
- Larry Flint
- Jeff Gordon
- John Travolta
- Macaulay Culkin
- Liz Taylor
- William Rehnquist
- Arthur Clarke
- James Doohan
- Rick Majerus
- Lou Henson
- Augusto Pinochet
- Kirk Douglas
- Bowie Kuhn
- Rosa Parks
- Patrick Moore (the astronomer)
- King Sihanouk
- Studs Terkel
I will not pick the Pope. I will not pick him ever again. I’m beginning to doubt whether he is really mortal.
Cha Chung Damn you! Lumiere is snuffed out 3 days early. You know how hard it is to get to the SDMB with my firewall problems? Nobody else better die until Sunday. The old list:
- Axl Rose
- Whitney Houston
- Steve Jobs
- Elizabeth Taylor
- Scott Hamilton
- James Earl Jones
- Paul Prudhomme
- Henry Kissinger
- Colin Farrell
- Peter O’Toole
- Ed Koch
- Jerry Orbach
- James Brown
Replace Jerry Orbach with Pat Summerall
And complete the football announcer trifecta with my alternates:
John Madden
Al Michaels
Just in case I have some bad luck over the next few days.
Mr. Goob Welcome! Welcome! Welcome! To the Straight Dope!
Your first post is in Dead Pool. A most excellent way to begin any addiction…err…relationship…
I had to narrow down a list of 88 contenders to get to this. Mostly, I’m trying to stay away from the low-point 80+ crowd, and also trying to pick a few that I’m not seeing on too many other lists. These are the people that I’m guessing won’t see the end of 2005:
Pro wrestlers, porn stars, what’s the difference:
Lou Albano
Ron Jeremy
I actually thought that these folks were already dead:
John Amos
John Astin
Kitty Dukakis
Obligatory rap/hip-hop entry:
Suge Knight
Anybody can pick Fidel, but I’m taking his brother:
Raul Castro
Random world leader whose name I’m sure I’d never pronouunce correctly:
Sukarnoputri Megawati
I can’t believe that more people aren’t picking this guy:
Mike Tyson
Just struck me as someone who might go on a self-destruction binge:
Colin Quinn
"Rounding" out the list (that’s mean spirited, but so is the whole game):
Wayne Knight
John Popper
Burt Young
Slight alteration:
Replace 1st alternate (Barbara Feldon) with Liza Minnelli, b. 3/12/1946
Not that an alternate should make a difference, but I’m concerned that Dick Clark won’t see another Saturday.
I was going to replace James Brown, but a knock on the head is no cause for panic. Besides, if I had done so the Godfather of Soul would be doomed.
NurseCarmen, I’ve had Jan Michael on my list the past 2 years and somehow he’s pulled through. I think I may be responsible for his longevity.
My list, either picked randomly or shamelessly stolen from others
The Pope (this year he’s gotta be a slam dunk)
Perry Farrell
Michael Moore
Steve Guttenberg (who holds back the electric car?)
Dave Coulier
Muhammad Ali
Scott Stapp (please don’t let him start another band)
Michael Jackson
Sally Jessy Raphael
Gene Simmons
Richard Simmons
John Goodman
Liza Minnelli (sorry, everyone. I needed a 13th)
- John Goodman
- Bob Saget
- Kobe Bryant
- Jerry Lewis
- Dustin Hoffman
- Tom Lehrer
- Gene Hackman
- Nathan Lane
- Christine Baranski
- Warren Beatty
- Bobby Fischer
- Sir Mix-A-Lot (Anthony Ray)
- Mary Ann Mobley
Out of curious wonder, A35362, just how in the heck do you keep all this organized?
If I was running the show, I wouldn’t bother until 1 Jan…
If I was running the show, I would still be working on DP1997 organizing.
I don’t believe that. You did well with this year’s Secret Santa.
- Mickey Rooney
- Bo Diddley
- Graham Kerr
- Tom Smothers
- The Pope
- Elizabeth Taylor
- Robby Gordon
- Lyle Waggoner
- Ken Venturi
- Mickey Jones
- Van Cliburn
- Hunter S. Thompson
- Gore Vidal
- Dick Cheney
- Dick Clark
- James Doohan
- Kirk Douglas
- Stephen Hawking
- Philip Johnson
- Courtney Love
- Mary-Kate Olsen
- Luciano Pavarotti
- Pope John Paul II
- William H. Rehnquist
- Mickey Rooney
- Elizabeth Taylor
Alternate: Lady Bird Johnson
- Jason Giambi
- Courtney Love
- Pope JPII
- Viktor Yuschenko
- Fidel Castro
- Jane Wyman
- Chris Burke (Corky on “Life Goes On”)
- Dick Clark
- Dick Cheney
- Bill Parcells
- James Doohan
- Margaret Thatcher
- Marion Barry
I almost forgot to put in my picks:
- Pope John Paul 2
- Nancy Reagan
- Gary Busey
- George Steinbrenner
- Pete Seeger
- Aaron Spelling
- Arthur C. Clarke
- Osama Bin Laden
- Fidel Castro
- Charleton Heston
- Vincent D’Onofrio
- William H. Rehnquist
- Suzanne Somers
The Muckety-Mucks:
- Gerald Ford, he looks very shaky.
- Pope John Paul II. It’s traditional by now. Amazed this wonderful gent got through another Christmas.
- Margaret Thatcher. Couldn’t even speak at Reagan’s funeral.
- Nancy Reagan (replacing Perwez Musharraf). Widowed spouses in long, devoted marriages usually don’t hang around.
- Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, ne Ahmad Fadil an-Nazal al-Khalaylah, born 1966. If there’s any justice, that is. I think Osama won’t emerge from under his rock this year.
- William Rehnquist. Fading fast.
The Theater and TV World:
7) Betty Comden (2004 was a bad year for Broadway greats, and this marvelous but frail lady is one of the finest lyricists still with us)
8) Jane Wyatt (has had strokes)
9) James Doohan (ditto, plus the Alzheimer’s diagnosis this year)
10) Walter Cronkite (met him myself, getting very shaky)
11) Elizabeth Taylor (one of the ailments she imagines will be real someday)
Various:
12) Dr. Hunter S. Thompson (replacing Keith Richards, whom he resembles to a truly disturbing degree)
13) Robert Morgenthau (Manhattan District Attorney since the Roosevelt Administration. Theodore Roosevelt’s. Replacing Courtney Love)
Now all these fine folks are guaranteed a safe year, since my average ain’t that great. Ronald Reagan? My unborn nephew could have gotten that one.
Flattery will get you everywhere, my dear. But Dealing with dead people and such high stakes as the [Insert Law & Order Thunk Thunk noise here Dead Pool List is an honor and a migraine that I feel no prescription medication can handle. It’s the computer program to organize this entire thingie that would give me spazms.
While I am on that, I would like to inform all of my fans ( all three of them and they live inside my head) that I have misplaced my ** Super Duper Top Secret Dead Pool List. ** This list has been with me for weeks. I am so annoyed with myself. I shall remedy the situation by avoiding it and going off to watch my new DVD of Harry Potter. Fiddle Dee Dee.
My first “Official” entry into this annual contest… here we go.
William Rehnquist
Pope John Paul II
Dick Clark
Frank Gifford
Salman Rushdie
Macaulay Culkin
Lawrence Taylor
George Carlin
Robert Downey, Jr.
Snoop Dogg
Florence Henderson
Bob Barker
Walter Cronkite
Ok, here’s my first try at this.
- Pope John Paul II
- John Wooden
- Jesse Helms
- Don Rickles
- Willie Mays
- Mickey Rooney
- Walter Cronkite
- Fidel Castro
- Gerald Ford
- Richard Pryor
- Muhammad Ali
- Andy Rooney
- Scott Peterson