In 1994 we were invited to join The Ghoul Pool, run by our friend David. They awarded points the same way that we do and gave a trophy to the winner at the end of the year. Right away Pat got in trouble because he scored first with President Clinton's mother, Virginia Kelley. David felt that she wasn't famous in her own right, but Pat successfully argued that she'd been interviewed in women's magazines, had campaigned for Bill, etc. She was famous in a way that Hillary's mother, for instance, was not. David let that slide, but that summer John Wayne Gacy was executed and Pat had him. David disallowed those points. Pat did a slow burn.
Little understanding the effort that would be involved, Pat in his fury vowed to start our own dead pool where famous people who happened to be executed would be worth points. And moreover, our pool would reward the winner with money. So in 1995, the first Dead Club came to be.
- 1995
- Number of entries: 25, including Lizzie's mom and Pat's sister
- Highlights: Carrie and Jim wrote on their entry, "It is against the laws of God and nature to submit the list of the dead on a Disney card and when all is said and done you can bet it will even out."
Shelley listed causes of death for his people, such as "Gotti, John - lead loafers. Van Dyke, Dick - slips in the tub. Sinatra, Frank - somehow mixed up in Gotti thing."
Karla, one of our members and a co-worker of Gregor, died in a surfing accident. This should have been a warning...
- Winner: Gregor with 93 points and 2 corpses: Les Aspin and Steve Silver. This was the year at the federal government ran out of money and since he was a furloughed employee at the time, the prize was especially appreciated.
And so a tradition was born.
- 1996
- Number of entries: 32
- Highlights: Milton Zorro added a colorful drawing of Buzz Lightyear to his envelope.
Jim Corkery, bitter about Gregor's early lead, said "I don't know Gregor, but I hate him."
- Winner: Gregor with 125 points and 5 corpses: Francoise Mitterand, Gene Kelly, Timothy Leary, Andreas Papandreou, Greg Morris.
- 1997
- Number of entries: 41
- Highlights: Lizzie, unemployed in 1996, had put the Dead Club on her web page as an exercise. This brought in lists from total strangers around the country.
Julie included on her list "Carol Channing - I hate that bitch."
We allowed Don to submit two lists
The best pick was someone who chose his own boss, a famous chef.
- Winner: Shelley with 204 points and 5 corpses: Robert Irsay, Charles Kuralt, Amado Carillo Fuentes, Mother Teresa, and Chris Farley.
- 1998
- Number of entries: 56, the highest ever
- Highlights: We became slothful and didn't send out any newsletters except one at the end of the year. Probably this is why the membership dropped off the next year.
The Dead Club was mentioned in an article about dead pools (I forget where but what the heck, it's FAME)
After their win, the Dead End Kids vowed to have T shirts made that said "We beat Gregor!"
- Winner: Dead End Kids - some of those folks who came in through the Web site - with 214 points and 10 corpses: Junior Wells, Lloyd Bridges, Pol Pot, James Earl Ray, Frank Sinatra, Al Campanis, Roy Rogers, Robert Young, George Wallace, Mel Fisher.
- 1999
- Number of entries: 42
- Highlights: M. I. Rich? At Times, a man who knows how to do research, began his reign of terror.
- Winner: M. I. Rich? At Times with 371 points and 9 corpses: Doug Wickenheiser, Saddam Hussein, Dusty Springfield, Joe DiMaggio, Kathryn Schoonover, James Farmer, Pee Wee Reese, Matt Hartl, James "Catfish" Hunter.
- 2000
- Number of entries: 36
- Highlights: Not satisfied with his win last year, M. I. Rich? At Times submitted a second list as Late Slot.
- Winner: M. I. Rich? At Times with 476 points and 14 corpses: Elmo Zumwalt, Don Budge, Jim Varney, Charles Schultz, Tom Landry, Bobb McKittrick, Ian Dury, Terence McKenna, Sylvan Rodrieguez, Cardinal John O'Conner, Jim Hurd, Bernie Whitebear, Gordon Solie, J. T. McHugh.
- 2001
- Number of entries: 28
- Highlights: Entries down because of no newsletters AND everyone discouraged by M. I. Rich's high scoring.
M.I Rich back, but does not score till late January.
- Winner: That darned M. I. Rich again. Eight stiffs for 291 points.
- 2002
- Number of entries: 30
- Highlights: Entries are up from last year! More people surf in fron the Web. Truly, we live in a global village.
- M.I Rich back AND scores first blood.
- Winner: Vicious Piranha with eight deaths (is that the lucky number?)
- M. I. Rich? At Times had the most corpses, with nine.
- Vicious Piranha, M. I. Rich, Mike, Bill, and MCR split the prize for choosing the youngest person to die, Carrie Hamilton.
- 2003
- Number of entries: 37
- Highlights: Nothing really noteworthy, but more people.
- Winner: Vicious Piranha with 463 points.
- The first death of the year was scored by M. I. Rich, with Joe Foss.
- Vicious Piranha had the largest number of corpses with an even dozen.
- Vicious Piranha chose the youngest person to die, 43 year old former Browns linebacker Eddie Johnson.
- 2004
- Number of entries: 35
- First blood: Die2K with Maxine Postal.
- My favorite list: Refr' Madness, with some interesting people
- Winner: M. I. Rich, with 484 points.
- M. I. Rich had the most stiffs, with 10.
- The youngest stiff was Mattie Stepanek. M. I. Rich, Vicious Piranha, and Putnam's Tomahawk Chop had him.
- 2005
- Number of entries: 38
- First blood: Gravedigger V with Shirley Chisholm.
- Highlights:
- OH MY GOD, IT'S BEEN TEN YEARS!
M. I. Rich and Vicious Piranha retire from the field of combat.
- Winner: Already Dead, with 353 points, 101 more than the next contender.
- Most stiffs: Already Dead, with 12
- The youngest stiff: BBC science writer Ivan Noble, 37. Mr. C had him.
- 2006
- Number of entries: 35
- First blood: Nearly everybody, with Lou Rawls
- Highlights: Gregor / Enemies of Carlotta retires. He was hated by certain contestants even though he only won twice.
"Bill Cowher - It's my duty as a Ravens fan to hate the Steelers head coach" - Raven's Axis of Evil
"Saddam Hussein al-Tikriti - a great affliction upon the people of Iraq (1979-2003); formerly the Wile E. Coyote of Baghdad; now the Elmer Fudd of Tikrit." - Refr' Madness
- Winner: Already Dead, with 428 points
- Most stiffs: Already Dead, with 13
- The youngest stiff: Bury Me, with Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, 39
- 2007
- Number of entries: 34
- First blood: Raven, with Yvon Durelle
- Winner: Putnam's Tomahawk Chop
- Most stiffs: Putnam's Tomahawk Chop
- The youngest stiff: Putnam's Tomahawk Chop, wiht Kirk Rundstrom, 38
- 2008
- Number of entries: 30
- First blood: Goatsucker and Go Fish, with Choi Yo-Sam, 35
- Highlights: "And no, I did not put my own brother on the list even though he's being shot up into space soon. I'm not THAT disturbed and I'll be very upset if I see his name on anyone else's list." - Karen
"Bill Cowher -- just because he retired from coaching the Pittsburgh
Steelers doesn't mean I still can't hate him." - Raven's Axis of Evil
- Winner: ???
- Most stiffs: ???
- The youngest stiff: ???
Dead Club trivia question: What year and month scored the most deaths ever during the game's existence?
Answer: It was a tie between July 2003 and January 2005. Ten deaths earned points in each of those months.
Last updated February 21, 2008. Labels by Warning Label Generator.
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