# The Celebrity Death Pool 2009 **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** death-pool\ **Created:** [December 1, 2008, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2009/475262 "2008-12-01T23:40:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 78
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2009, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2009/475262/1541 "2009-10-03T20:35:07Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > I’m guessing this was one of those “people only famous for being sick” entries? Correct. Ditto Tom Buckley. Ditto Allister Boyd. > [@](#): > > Will the points count? Yes - they are valid picks under this year’s rules. They will not be valid next year, and not only because they are already dead. When we had the discussion thread about the rules, there was strong consensus to change the rules to eliminate these choices in future. I plan to revive that thread in November to allow final decisions to be taken in advance for opening the 2010 contest on December 1. And to work out exactly how we handle validating the picks. Please do not continue the discussion in this thread. If you wish to discuss the rules, please go to [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=499961). ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2009, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2009/475262/1542 "2009-10-03T22:01:10Z")
Edit: didn’t spot the admonition. ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2009/475262/1543 "2009-10-04T00:38:56Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Edit: didn’t spot the admonition. It’s no big deal - I just want all discussion in one place so I can review it more easily. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2009/475262/1544 "2009-10-04T00:47:32Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > Scrabble, Death Pool – damn, you just can’t win. 😛 It’s a wonder I have any lunch money at all. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2009/475262/1545 "2009-10-04T21:34:35Z")
[Mercedes Sosa](http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Music/10/04/obit.mercedes.sosa/index.html?eref=igoogle_cnn), voice of Latin America, had died at age 74. Frankly, I have never heard of her but google was kind enough to put her on my home page so I thought it was worth noting. Myabe someone has her. ---
**Author:** ![MarkF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@MarkF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarkF)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2009, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2009/475262/1546 "2009-10-07T13:00:54Z")
**Amarone** , Hello 🙂 I notice you go on, ahem, “trips” and I also notice, with my close attention to detail, that your picks are dropping like flies. Coupled with the fact that you are clearly a man of some means to have so much free time to spend on spreadsheets, is there something you’re not telling us? I think we deserve answers matey…! ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2009, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2009/475262/1547 "2009-10-07T13:19:53Z")
> [@MarkF](#): > > **Amarone** , Hello 🙂 I notice you go on, ahem, “trips” and I also notice, with my close attention to detail, that your picks are dropping like flies. > > Coupled with the fact that you are clearly a man of some means to have so much free time to spend on spreadsheets, is there something you’re not telling us? > > I think we deserve answers matey…! Hmm - and draw your own conclusions from the fact that three of my remaining survivors live a long way away - two are Antipodean - and are not easy to get to/at on a long weekend trip. But I am proud of the fact that my spreadsheet needs no ongoing maintenance. On a death, all I do is enter the date and age, then sort the lists and everything else is done for me, even right down to generating the position with or without equal sign. ---
**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:** [October 7, 2009, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2009/475262/1548 "2009-10-07T19:21:44Z")
> [@amarone](#): > > But I am proud of the fact that my spreadsheet needs no ongoing maintenance. On a death, all I do is enter the date and age, then sort the lists and everything else is done for me, even right down to generating the position with or without equal sign. I am oogied yet fascinated by this concept of death spreadsheets. It’s such a delightful contradiction of feelings! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2009, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2009/475262/1549 "2009-10-07T23:54:37Z")
You shoud donate it as a template for our Death Panels. Just one minor change – plug in the name and it returns the date the person _will_ die. ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2009/475262/1550 "2009-10-08T00:05:24Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > You shoud donate it as a template for our Death Panels. Just one minor change – plug in the name and it returns the date the person _will_ die. Piece of cake: =IF(networth\>=100000,“you have nothing to worry about”,IF(age\>=75,TODAY(),“not just yet, but we’re watching”)) ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2009/475262/1551 "2009-10-08T02:46:22Z")
AMARONE has 9 out of ten. Alert no 10 to go see the doctor immediately. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2009/475262/1552 "2009-10-08T02:47:25Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > AMARONE has 9 out of ten. Alert no 10 to go see the doctor immediately. 9 out of 13. I made the same mistake not far up-thread. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2009/475262/1553 "2009-10-08T04:00:50Z")
> [@amarone](#): > > Piece of cake: > > =IF(networth\>=100000,“you have nothing to worry about”,IF(age\>=75,TODAY(),“not just yet, but we’re watching”)) You need a couple of more nested IFs related to religion of choice and political affiliation, but you are on the right track. ---
**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:** [October 9, 2009, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2009/475262/1554 "2009-10-09T02:34:46Z")
Tied for 152nd. ---
**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:** [October 11, 2009, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2009/475262/1555 "2009-10-11T20:10:15Z")
Boyzone lead singer [Stephen Gately](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Gately) dead at age 33. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2009/475262/1556 "2009-10-13T19:41:55Z")
[Larry Jansen](http://blog.oregonlive.com/mlb/2009/10/larry_jansen.html), who compiled a 122-89 win-loss mark during a Major League Baseball career spent mostly with the New York Giants, has diied at the age of 89. Jansen was the winning pitcher in the decisive game of the 1951 National League playoff series against the Brooklyn Dodgers. The contest was ended by Bobby Thomson’s “shot heard 'round the world” home run which inspired broadcaster Russ Hodges’s now-legendary call: “The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant!” ---
**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:** [October 14, 2009, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2009/475262/1557 "2009-10-14T16:32:28Z")
The man who started the worldwide craze of wearing a rubber band in your cheek, [Captain Lou Albano](http://ydr.inyork.com/ci_13559160?source=rss), dead at 76. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2009, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2009/475262/1558 "2009-10-14T16:41:50Z")
[Al Martino, who sang “Spanish Eyes” and played the non-Frank Sinatra-esque Johnny Fontane in “The Godfather,” died at age 82.](http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/15/arts/music/15martino.html?hp) ---
**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:** [October 14, 2009, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2009/475262/1559 "2009-10-14T16:58:39Z")
> [@Hal\_Briston](#): > > The man who started the worldwide craze of wearing a rubber band in your cheek, [Captain Lou Albano](http://ydr.inyork.com/ci_13559160?source=rss), dead at 76. Forgot to mention – looks like **zoog** got himself a unique pick here. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2009, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2009/475262/1560 "2009-10-15T20:15:58Z")
Aaaaaaaand Ruth Bader Ginsburg psychs me out AGAIN! Gah! [Woman, stop messing around with sleeping pills and cough medicine](http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-10-15-voa33.cfm) 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2009/475262.md?page=77) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2009/475262.md?page=79)