2016 Dead Pool

Ken AshfordIn PassingLeave a Comment

Link to 2015 Dead Pool

Link to 2014 Dead Pool

Link to 2013 Dead Pool

Link to 2012 Dead Pool

Link to 2011 Dead Pool

It is unfortunate to be doing this on the day that David Bowie’s death was announced, but this has to b done.

First, the usual blah-blahs.

There are two “dead pool” lists.  One is just a random list of people who I think will pass in the upcoming year. The other is a competitive list where you pick ten (and only ten) people-to-die, and you score your points by subtracting their age-at-death from 100.  For example, Amy Winehouse was in my 2011 Dead Pool list, and she indeed did die that year.  Since she was 27, I received 73 points (100 minus 27).

We’ll look at my competitive list.  First the scores from previous years:

2011: 113 (thanks to the deaths of Amy Winehouse and Jeff Conaway)
2012: 38
2013: 13
2014: 16

So, let’s see how I did with my 2015 Dead Pool(s).  First, my generic list of people who I thought might die in 2015:

  • Zsa-Zsa Gabor – still alive
  • Olivia de Havilland – still alive
  • Billy Graham – still alive
  • Leonard Nimoy – died 2/27/2015
  • Muhammad Ali – still alive
  • Fidel Castro – still alive
  • Nanette Fabray – still alive
  • Dick Cheney – still alive
  • Michael Douglas – still alive
  • Pele – still alive
  • Stephen Hawking – still alive
  • Dick Van Dyke – still alive

Wow.  I suck at this.  Dick Van Dyke was just on the Jimmy Fallon show singing and dancing.  He is NEVER dying.

And now for my 2015 Competitive Dead Pool list:

  1. Billy Graham (born 11/7/1918)
  2. Abe Vigoda (born 2/24/1921)
  3. George Bush (born 6/12/1924)
  4. Harper Lee (born 4/28/1926)
  5. Fidel Castro (born 8/13/1926)
  6. Roger Moore (born 10/14/1927)
  7. Jim Nabors (born 6/12/1930)
  8. Valerie Harper (born 8/22/1940)
  9. Pele (born 10/23/1940)
  10. Muhammad Ali (born 1/17/1942)

They are all still alive.  That’s right — none of them died in 2015. I scored zero.

So now it is time for my 2016 Dead Pool list.  I’m going to keep some of what I had:

I’m just going to keep what I had, minus a couple of names.  And this year, unlike other years, they can only be on ONE list.

  • Zsa-Zsa Gabor
  • Olivia de Havilland
  • Billy Graham
  • Nanette Fabray
  • Kirk Douglas
  • Pele
  • Stephen Hawking
  • Nancy Reagan

Now, as for my competitive list, I am taking some people off.  Yeah, sure Billy Graham is more likely to die than any of these others, but he’s only 2 points now.  After my humiliating zero of this year, I need a rebound.  Here are my picks — I’m sticking it to game show hosts this year:

  1. Abe Vigoda (born 2/24/1921)
  2. Monty Hall (born 8/25/1921)
  3. Bob Barker (born 12/12/1923)
  4. Harper Lee (born 4/28/1926)
  5. Fidel Castro (born 8/13/1926)
  6. Prunella Scales (born 9/22/1932)
  7. Glen Campbell (born 4/22/1936)
  8. Mary Tyler Moore (born 12/29/1936)
  9. Tommy Chong (born 5/24/1938)
  10. Roger Daltrey (born 3/01/1944)