# The Celebrity Death Pool 2006 **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** death-pool\ **Created:** [December 1, 2005, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2006/333632 "2005-12-01T22:25:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 42
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2006, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2006/333632/821 "2006-05-10T17:47:31Z")
I think the only modification should be upping the DP candidates allowed into the pool. I think it needs to be 20. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2006, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2006/333632/822 "2006-05-10T18:35:02Z")
> [@Captain Lance Murdoch](#): > > Former South African soccer star Patrick “Ace” Ntsoelengoe has died at 50. According to [this article,](http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=15&art_id=qw1147251420934B252) he was 54. [Jim Delsing,](http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/cardinals/story/0BAF9EB13496829C8625716600167B65?OpenDocument) who had a solid career as an outfielder for several Major League Baseball teams but was best known for his supporting role in one of the game’s great stunts, has died at 80. In a 1951 game against the Detroit Tigers, the St. Louis Browns sent midget Eddie Gaedel to the plate as a pinch-hitter. After Gaedel predictably received a base on balls when four straight pitches missed his miniscule strike zone, he came out of the contest and was replaced by pinch-runner Delsing. ---
**Author:** ![Lok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e8c25b/32.png) [@Lok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lok)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2006, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2006/333632/823 "2006-05-10T19:26:02Z")
No, if you really want to pick someone who is 90+, you know what you are getting. Good odds of few points. If you want more points, don’t pick the 99 year old, pick the 89 or 49 or 29 year old. That is how it works. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2006, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2006/333632/824 "2006-05-10T19:32:29Z")
Yes, it’s easy to predict that really old folks are going to croak soon. If that’s the way you want to play, then load up your list with centegenarians and go for the “Quantity not Quality” prize. And I think 13 is exactly the right number of picks for a Death Pool. 13, get it? Unlucky 13! ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2006, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2006/333632/825 "2006-05-10T19:55:54Z")
My list looks like a geezery over-stuffed baked potato, and I _still_ haven’t gotten a score this year. ---
**Author:** ![Sean\_Factotum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Sean\_Factotum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sean_Factotum)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2006, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2006/333632/826 "2006-05-10T20:07:58Z")
Oh great, change the rules when I have my first decent showing in this thing. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2006, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2006/333632/827 "2006-05-10T22:03:18Z")
> [@Paul in Saudi](#): > > I am really beginning to wonder if there is some special talent involved in this game. If so, I ain’t got it. No, you just have to be really morbid, and do a Google search like this: **“diagnosed with” cancer** That will return announcements like [this](http://www.theeagle.com/stories/042306/entertainment_20060423058.php): > [@](#): > > EUGENE, Ore. - Curtis Salgado, the singer and bluesman who was the visual inspiration for John Belushi’s Blues Brothers act, has liver cancer and has suspended concerts. > > Salgado, who grew up here and lives in Portland, was diagnosed with cancer three weeks ago. The 52-year-old performer expects to begin radiation treatment in May and eventually hopes to have a liver transplant, said longtime manager Shane Tappendorf. > > “We’re just staying optimistic,” Tappendorf said. “As we take each treatment, we’ll know more.” ---
**Author:** ![swampbear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampbear/32/467_2.png) [@swampbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampbear)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2006, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2006/333632/828 "2006-05-10T22:09:15Z")
So, according to **Fear Itself** we should all subscribe to wwwdotcelebritiesknockingondeath’sdoordotcom. 😃 I like it! I’m thinking of offering to put celebrities on my list each year for a fee, since making my death pool list apparently gains one instant immortality. ---
**Author:** ![uglybeech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/82dd89/32.png) [@uglybeech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/uglybeech)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2006, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2006/333632/829 "2006-05-11T12:55:33Z")
> [@Fear Itself](#): > > No, you just have to be really morbid, and do a Google search like this: **“diagnosed with” cancer** : Bingo. What I did – search Google News: “Diagnosed with lung cancer” “Diagnosed with cancer” “Gravely ill” “Admitted to the hospital” Then the winnowing: Ignore those with prostate cancer, breast cancer, thyroid cancer, etc. Ignore those who are over 85 no matter what, and those who are over 70 unless there’s a very good reason to put them in. etc. That got me about half my list. The other half of the list hasn’t died, and I’m pretty sure won’t die. Also, if I’d followed that method better I’d have kept Tammy Faye Bakker, instead of omitting her - an omission I’m pretty sure is going to get me bumped from first place later in the year. At which point you will no longer care what my strategy is, so I’m posting it now 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2006, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2006/333632/830 "2006-05-11T13:06:24Z")
> [@Shirley Ujest](#): > > I think the only modification should be upping the DP candidates allowed into the pool. I think it needs to be 20. Shirley Ujest! There’s something so right about the macabreness of 13! ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2006, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2006/333632/831 "2006-05-11T13:19:00Z")
Heh…looks like I’m not the only one who did some serious research. I have a standing Factiva search of: **((“suffering from” same cancer) or (“diagnosed with” same cancer) or (has w/4 cancer)) not died** (plus a few indexing code exclusions to weed out non-celebs) I’m somewhere in the top ten this year, so it looks like the strategy is working. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2006, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2006/333632/832 "2006-05-11T18:56:23Z")
[Former heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson dead at 71]]([http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/20060511-0954-box-obit-patterson.html](http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/20060511-0954-box-obit-patterson.html)) ---
**Author:** ![42fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/b487fb/32.png) [@42fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/42fish)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2006, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2006/333632/833 "2006-05-11T19:29:41Z")
Former NY Times editor A. M. ‘Abe’ Rosenthal dead at age 84, according to Yahoo News. ---
**Author:** ![uglybeech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/82dd89/32.png) [@uglybeech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/uglybeech)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2006, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2006/333632/834 "2006-05-11T19:32:11Z")
> [@Hal Briston](#): > > Heh…looks like I’m not the only one who did some serious research. Eh. Don’t need serious research with google. The point is it’s easy as hell and doesn’t require brains as long as you know your cancers. Took me about an hour to come up with my list. And half of that was spent debating whether it was wrong to post it or not. (yes, it is - this is all wrong). > [@](#): > > I have a standing Factiva search of: > > **((“suffering from” same cancer) or (“diagnosed with” same cancer) or (has w/4 cancer)) not died** (plus a few indexing code exclusions to weed out non-celebs) > > I’m somewhere in the top ten this year, so it looks like the strategy is working. Wow. Even simpler. A totally automated death pool list. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2006, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2006/333632/835 "2006-05-11T20:39:39Z")
[Frank Boos](http://obit.desmondfuneralhome.com/obit_display.cgi?id=309772&listing=Current) , The Bow Tie Guy from The Antiques Road Show has died. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2006, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2006/333632/836 "2006-05-11T23:33:07Z")
Singer [Soraya](http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/Music/05/11/obit.soraya.ap/index.html) has died at the age of 37 ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2006, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2006/333632/837 "2006-05-12T20:13:05Z")
Longtime Congressman [G. V. “Sonny” Montgomery](http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060512/ap_on_re_us/obit_montgomery_2) is dead at 85. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2006, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2006/333632/838 "2006-05-15T20:33:07Z")
[George Lutz,](http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk2MDYmZmdiZWw3Zjd2cWVlRUV5eTY5MzMxNDYmeXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXky) whose 28-day tenure as a resident of a Long Island house gained him notoriety, has died at the age of 59. Lutz claimed that he, his wife, and their children were driven out of the three-story colonial in 1975 by the spirits of the DeFeo family members who had been killed by Ronald DeFeo a year earlier. The story served as the basis for a novel and subsequent film, each called _The Amityville Horror_. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2006, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2006/333632/839 "2006-05-15T21:16:56Z")
I was skimming the radio dial last night and Art Bell had a repeat of an old episode with an interview with George Lutz. It a becomes clear to me now. ---
**Author:** ![Rachm\_Qoch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a8b319/32.png) [@Rachm\_Qoch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachm_Qoch)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2006, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2006/333632/840 "2006-05-16T00:15:43Z")
Poet Laureate [Stanley Kuntiz](http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-051506kunitz_lat,0,1152442.story?coll=la-story-footer) dead at 100 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2006/333632.md?page=41) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2006/333632.md?page=43)