Coretta Scott King (1927-2006)

With the unfortunate passing of human rights activist Coretta Scott King , 78, at least one player (me) has begun scoring (22).

Fortunately, I had revealed my choices to at least three other players prior to all our lists being posted here on Friday, so it's all above-board. I'll comb through the other lists later to see if there are any other scores. Please get your lists in by Groundhog Day if you want to join in!

Small change in fee...

Many players have expressed that $20 is a lot of cash to flush down the crapper over some dead celebs. So the price has been discounted to the STEAL of the century: TEN DOLLARS!

This can be mailed to me in cash or check, or we can do the 21st century method and use PayPal. No rush on the cash, let's just get those lists IN!

Man my list is so Rokken, you'd think Dokken wrote it!

DeathWatch2006 Rules & FAQ

Ladies and Gentlemen:

I would like to announce DeathWatch2006. Here, mixed in with FAQ, are the rules:

WHAT DO I DO? Come up with 20 famous people who you believe will die this year. Send me the list (now) and twenty U.S. dollars (later) for each entry. We can hook this up through PayPal or U.S. Mail. Send your list along with a code name, unless you want your real name splashed on the website of sick bastards who bet on the deaths of celebs.

WHO IS FAMOUS? The three-person Board of Deathmasters will review each list. A 2/3 majority must recognize the name for the person to qualify as famous. If a person is not deemed famous enough, you will get a chance to replace that name with no penalty. You should confirm that the person is ALIVE to begin with, otherwise you will have wasted a slot on someone who likely won't die a SECOND time in '06. (If you're careless enough to pick someone who is already dead, we won't let you replace that person...instead we'll make fun of you all year.) The celeb has to be a non-fictional living human being (you can't pick Johnny5 nor Lassie nor Optimus Prime (who, by the way, has cancer) )

WHO CAN YOU PICK? You can't choose someone who is comatose/vegetative at the time of selection (e.g. Sharon/Schaivo). You CAN choose someone who is scheduled to die (e.g. execution of Timothy McVeigh back in the day) but you will only get credit if that person dies of some OTHER METHOD OTHER THAN THAT SCHEDULED. To clarify, McVeigh was allowed to be picked, but you'd only score points for him if he, say, committed suicide before his scheduled death. You may choose someone who is widely known to be ill, as long as that person is in a sentient condition.

WHAT IS DEATH? Just to be clear, only ACTUAL pulselessness will count as death. If they're on LIFE support even though brain dead, they are still ALIVE for purposes of this contest. You can thank the Republicans and Jesus for not allowing people to slip away with dignity. This is a friendly reminder to get a living will drawn up.

HOW DO YOU SCORE? One hundred minus the age at death is your score for each person. People ninety-nine years or older will always count for one point. No negative points are possible. Double points are awarded for a suicide, and before you ask, we're talking about a note-leaving suicide, not a drug overdose, etc. For example: You choose an 80-year old man, he commits suicide, you get 20 points X 2 = 40 points.

WINNING AND TIEBREAKING: The person with the most points as of February 2nd 2007 wins all the money. (The last death that will count is one that happens before 11:59:59 PM on February 1st, 2007, though we wait a week to make sure that all obscure celeb deaths get reported before awarding the cash.) In the event of a tie, the person with the MOST death predictions wins. In the event that there is still a tie, the player involved in the tie who has the largest single score wins (on rationale that the younger a person is the harder it is to predict that death). If there is still a tie, we'll split the pot.

DUE DATE? Now - February 1st. The game is locked on February 2, 2006. If you get me your list TODAY, though, and your guy dies tomorrow you WILL get the points. I guess I should say that the LAST DAY TO ENTER is Feb 2. Money can be dealt with at any time, just get me your list first.

RESOURCES: DeathWatch2006 officially uses http://www.whosaliveandwhosdead.com/ as a resource for both generating lists and checking life status. If you read an obit of an obscure celeb (Whitman Mayo, 'Grady' from Sanford and Son comes to mind as an obscure one that trickled in late) please forward it on to me. Kato, Badass and I will be generating a website if we get the time to display everyone's lists and the current scores. For those who choose him this year, there is an Abe Vigoda Life Status plugin for Firefox (thanks to Kato for the link) : https://addons.mozilla.org/extensions/moreinfo.php?application=firefox&category=Entertainment&id=451

DISQUALIFICATION: Any attempt to CAUSE the death of a celebrity (either directly or through a conspiracy) will be be grounds for immediate disqualification, and the player will be turned in to the proper authorities. Withholding blood or organs that could save a celebrity will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.

Good luck!