CanadianChris

It's mid-December, which can only mean it's time for the fifth annual TSM Death Pool. And, more than likely, my third consecutive shutout. Here are the rules: Pick any 20 celebrities who you think will die between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2009. I will be the sole arbiter on who is a celebrity and who isn't. The main rule -- if a major news organization reports on someone's death, that person is generally considered a celebrity, although there may be exceptions. Last year, there were a number of complaints over whether people were or were not celebrities, so I may be a lot more likely to question you on someone. Keep in mind, though, that just because you don't recognize someone does't mean they're not famous enough. Eligibility rules: Anyone picked must be at least 18 years of age as of December 31, 2008. Anyone executed by the state will receive zero points. Scoring Each dead celebrity is worth a base of 10 points. Additional points will be allocated as follows, according to age at the time of death: 18-34: 90 points 35-49: 50 points 50-59: 40 points 60-69: 20 points 70-79: 10 points 80-99: 0 points 100+: -5 points Bonus points 25 points will be awarded for any of the following: - If a person on your list dies during the month of December. - If a person on your list dies of unnatural causes (suicide, murder or accident), other than through a state execution. Note: There are no bonus points this year for having someone on your list but no one else's. We frown upon originality! The BEST BET You may select any TWO of your celebrities as a BEST BET. If your BEST BET dies during the year, ALL points for that person are DOUBLED. Whoever has the most points at the end of the year will be the winner. In case of a tie, whoever had the most people on their list die will win. In case of a further tie, whoever has the lowest total age of all dead people on their list will win. Deadline for submissions is December 31, 2008. No exceptions. Once you post your list, it is final, except if someone on your list dies before January 1, 2009, in which case you may post a replacement no later than 11:59 pm on December 31, 2008. One more change: Anyone found guilty of murdering someone on their list will win the pool automatically. If there is more than one case of this, whoever is convicted first will be the winner. Good luck to everyone!

I'd be willing to get a good discussion of this going somewhere else.

Rest In Peace. March 31, 2009. A-fucking-men. Peace out, g.

I just don't know about that El Dandy pick.

I can take other picks as well, I'll be around (or not far away) all weekend.

I was looking for a face who could work and was a bit of a high flier, and I think I've found him in: Mil Mascaras

Wrong thread.

Damn, that Memphis loss hurt. I can still win, but I need all my remaining picks to be right, plus Kansas needs to beat Michigan State tonight and Missouri needs to make the title game. Yeah right.

I hope it collapses on top of him. Fuck that guy.

One of the great mic men of the 70s and 80s, a precursor to (and influence on) The Rock...another versatile mid to upper midcard guy: "Iceman" King Parsons

Ohhhhhhhhh so close.

Why does Vince even bother opening his mouth? He has to know he has zero credibility calling another company's programming reprehensible. Or maybe Vince really is that delusional and self-unaware.

Where did all the Raider fans come from? I must not have paid a lot of attention in past seasons, because I only remember CanadianGuitarist (and possibly Porter) as a Raider fan over the years.

Allow me to pile on and say how bad the Thanksgiving games look. Cowboys/Chargers would have been good, I don't know why they wanted the Raiders. Lioons/anybody would be horrible, so I assume they put Green Bay on to attract Packers fans. Giants/Broncos could be decent depending on how the Cutler situation pans out.

This is an historic drought. No one's scored a point in over four months.

It was between him and Koloff for me. It was between him and Kiniski for me.

And away we go! I knew the Big East would get three #1s. I didn't think Memphis would get enough respect in the committee room for their conference.

Anyone who has an answer other than Bettman clearly doesn't follow the NHL.

They did. I never noticed it watching it live, but man, is that funny now. Sorry that won't be shown to a wider audience. I noticed a weird overdub on the Hogan/Orton match. They dubbed "Real American" in over "Eye of the Tiger", but they also overdubbed the Fink's intro with an intro from many years later, with Hogan being from Hollywood and weighing 275, instead of Venice Beach and 302.

A perfect babyface complement to Gene Kiniski, especially given that they feuded extensively in real life: "Whipper" Billy Watson

Damn, my picks are always coming up in the middle of the night now. Pick will be up in a few minutes.

I don't mind it. The tournament is supposed to go to chalk, it ensures the best matchups It's not too good from an entertainment standpoint, though. They sell this tournament in part on the Cinderellas and the amazing upsets, which are sorely lacking this year. I would think it's better from an entertainment standpoint to have the top teams play one another? Not better, just different. The quality of the games might be somewhat better, but I think that's mitigated by the excitement that's missing from seeing a David get a chance to knock down a Goliath. There's nothing about a Kansas-Michigan State matchup that would make me sit up and take notice, or a Louisville-Arizona game. Now, make it Louisville-Cleveland State, and I'm probably going to watch, just on the off chance that the unthinkable happens. The best teams almost always make it to the Final Four anyway, I just don't like that the committee is sucking the life out of the tournament before it even starts by putting all the Goliath programs in at the expense of the Davids. Sure, Arizona is playing well now, but who's to say St. Mary's couldn't have done what they did?

goldengreek roho

That was disappointing, the stunt bros deserved to lose for making such a LOLBAD choice on the Detour. Anyone who had seen the show before would know that this was a Detour where the producers wanted to see everyone do one thing, so they made the other choice so ridiculously hard that no one in their right mind would ever choose it.

Former Leaf Walt Poddubny died Saturday at 49. I have nothing to say about the current standings or anything else.