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The Off Topic 2009 Celebrity Dead Pool – Sign-up Thread
OK folks, enter and sign in, please!
This will basically be a repeat of last year's pool run so ably by Wezil. We're getting a late start, so entries will be accepted through Jan. 10, or until the first celebrity death among those already entered, whichever comes first. We'll give a 25-point bonus to entries that are submitted by the Dec. 31 deadline in the rules.
Entries should be submitted as a rank-ordered list of 20 celebrities, plus a 3-person "reserve" list (listed in order of preference). Lists should be sent to me via PM. (I'll send my list to Ming and Sloww so they can confirm.)
So get your lists ready. And in the meantime, post your interest in playing in this thread. All are invited, naturally.
1. -Jrabbit
2.
We had 15 players in 2008:
-Jrabbit (Vicious Rabbits)
Deep Sleep
Drogue
embalmer42 (Embalmer Express)
Guynemer (Calamitous Intent)
Krill (n00b)
LordShiva (WTF is a Dead Pool?)
LotC (And Then There Were None)
Ming (Mingapulco Grave Yard)
Omni Rex Draconis
OzzyKP
Perfection (From the ER to the morgue)
SlowwHand (Dallas Dwarf Tossers)
snoopy369
Wezil (Canadian Cadaver Dogs)
Here's a condensed version of the game rules...
Game Rules (abr.)
2. A Judges Panel (-Jrabbit, SlowwHand and Ming) will arbitrate and rule on all disputes and verify eligibility of all list names. Any decision is carried by 2 or more votes. Decisions of this Panel are FINAL.
4. This list is to be sent by Private Message to -Jrabbit for eligibility verification by the Panel Judges. DO NOT post your list in the thread. I will post all lists at the start of the game in January. This prevents others from “poaching” your good picks. Entries are due by 31st December 2008.
NEW - 4a. Late entries will be accepted through January 10th, providing no chosen celebrity has perished yet. Any such entries may NOT include any Unique Picks from other entrants. If there are any late entries, the On Time Airlines Award will be given to all teams who entered on time.
6. The Panel Judges will not determine if the submitted celebrity is currently alive. If you choose someone that is already dead you will be stuck with that celebrity on your list unless you notice and report the error prior to January 1st, 2009. If you still have available celebrities from your Reserve List one will be moved up to replace the already deceased choice prior to the start of the Pool.
10. Points will be awarded for each celebrity that you accurately predicted would die in 2009. Points will be awarded according to the formula in Rule 15.
11. Celebrity deaths are to be reported by the players in the Dead Pool thread (one report will suffice for all). I don’t have the time or inclination to keep track of everybody’s list. If someone on your list dies it is your duty to claim your points. NOTE: A link to an obit of some kind is required (see Rule 23b). This link must be in English.
12. All deaths are to be reported by 7th January 2010 (to allow for any delay in media reporting). This will be the official closing day for awarding points.
13. I'll update the thread every time someone scores points, and post an up-to-date scoreboard.
14. At the end of the year the poster with the most points will be declared the winner. Duh.
15. When an eligible celebrity on your list dies points will be awarded according to the following formula:
Points = (171 - Rank) + (100 – age) + Bonus
16. Rank points - The higher a player Ranks their pick the more points that pick will be worth. Be careful to order your list from most likely to least likely to perish sometime in 2008 if you want to make the most of their loss.
17. In addition, bonus points will be awarded when a death meets the following criteria (points to be shared equally in the event of multiple winners):
a) Unique Pick Award: +25 points if you were the only player to pick that celebrity.
b) Unlucky 13 Award: +10 points for a celebrity who dies on the 13th of any month.
c) Unnatural Causes Award: +20 points for murder, suicide or accident.
d) Party Pooper Award: +25 points for any celebrity rude enough to die on their birthday or Christmas Day.
e) First Blood Award: +25 points for the first celebrity to die in 2008.
f) You Can’t Cheat Death Award: +25 points for the last celebrity to die in 2008.
g) The Daily Double: +50 points awarded to any player who has two celebrities on their roster die on the same day.
h) The Hat Trick: +75 points awarded to any player who has three celebrities on their roster die over the course of one week (any 7-day span).
i) The Grand Slam: +100 points awarded to any player who has four celebrities on their roster die in the same month (any 30-day span).
j) The Empty Casket Award: +50 points awarded at the end of the year to the player who had the longest "dry spell" between deaths.
k) The Killing Spree Award: +50 points awarded at the end of the year to the player who has the most celebrities on their list die in a row. (That is, they score multiple points without anyone else scoring between them).
l) On Time Airlines Award: +25 points to all teams who submitted valid entries prior by the Dec. 31, 2008. To be awarded only if any late entries are accepted (see #4a).
18. The official date/time of any celebrity death is measured in the time zone that the celebrity is in when they die.
19. In the event of a dead heat on points at the closing of the 2008 Dead Pool, the winner will be selected according to the following criteria, applied in this order:
a) The player with most correctly chosen deceased celebrities.
b) The player with the youngest average age of correct predictions.
20. If a celebrity who has passed on has more than one reported age the following websites will be consulted and the age that the majority says the celebrity was would be the age used.
a) deadoraliveinfo.com
b) Reuters.com
c) AP.com
d) bbc.co.uk
e) NPR.org
f) CNN.com
i) If there is no clear majority, then the deadoraliveinfo.com site will be the official age recorder.
ii) If deadoraliveinfo.com doesn't list an obituary for this celebrity, then the rest of the websites, in the order listed above, will be queried.
21. You may not go out and “help yourself” win. Basically, you cannot kill someone on your list to give yourself more points. any list. The penalty for violating this rule, in addition to any criminal charges brought upon you by the appropriate authorities, is a lifetime ban from the Off Topic Dead Pool.
23. DEFINITIONS:
a) "Celebrity" means someone who, upon their death, gets a written obituary in a major, mainstream media news website. A good rule of thumb is “Celebrity = Name Recognition.” The Judges Panel should be able to look at the name and say “Oh, I know who that is,” without any prompting from the player. The Judges Panel should at least be able to find many references to the individual with a cursory online search.
b) "Obituary" simply means an article that mentions the fact that the person has died. It doesn't have to be the conventional biographical write-up.
c) "Alive" means drawing breath, not decomposing, that kind of thing.
d) “Dead” means dead. No irreversible coma, no vegetables. To qualify as dead, there must be an actual corpse. The death of a career (e.g. Michael Jackson) doesn't count.
24. Ming is the Staff Contact on this project. Any attempt to squirm around the letter or intent of these rules will be met harshly and swiftly by Ming the Merciless.
25. PRIZE: The player with the most points at the end of the year will gain title to the Grim Reaper Award 2009, an honorary title suitable as sig material with all its attendant glory.
OK folks, enter and sign in, please!
This will basically be a repeat of last year's pool run so ably by Wezil. We're getting a late start, so entries will be accepted through Jan. 10, or until the first celebrity death among those already entered, whichever comes first. We'll give a 25-point bonus to entries that are submitted by the Dec. 31 deadline in the rules.
Entries should be submitted as a rank-ordered list of 20 celebrities, plus a 3-person "reserve" list (listed in order of preference). Lists should be sent to me via PM. (I'll send my list to Ming and Sloww so they can confirm.)
So get your lists ready. And in the meantime, post your interest in playing in this thread. All are invited, naturally.
1. -Jrabbit
2.
We had 15 players in 2008:
-Jrabbit (Vicious Rabbits)
Deep Sleep
Drogue
embalmer42 (Embalmer Express)
Guynemer (Calamitous Intent)
Krill (n00b)
LordShiva (WTF is a Dead Pool?)
LotC (And Then There Were None)
Ming (Mingapulco Grave Yard)
Omni Rex Draconis
OzzyKP
Perfection (From the ER to the morgue)
SlowwHand (Dallas Dwarf Tossers)
snoopy369
Wezil (Canadian Cadaver Dogs)
Here's a condensed version of the game rules...
Game Rules (abr.)
2. A Judges Panel (-Jrabbit, SlowwHand and Ming) will arbitrate and rule on all disputes and verify eligibility of all list names. Any decision is carried by 2 or more votes. Decisions of this Panel are FINAL.
4. This list is to be sent by Private Message to -Jrabbit for eligibility verification by the Panel Judges. DO NOT post your list in the thread. I will post all lists at the start of the game in January. This prevents others from “poaching” your good picks. Entries are due by 31st December 2008.
NEW - 4a. Late entries will be accepted through January 10th, providing no chosen celebrity has perished yet. Any such entries may NOT include any Unique Picks from other entrants. If there are any late entries, the On Time Airlines Award will be given to all teams who entered on time.
6. The Panel Judges will not determine if the submitted celebrity is currently alive. If you choose someone that is already dead you will be stuck with that celebrity on your list unless you notice and report the error prior to January 1st, 2009. If you still have available celebrities from your Reserve List one will be moved up to replace the already deceased choice prior to the start of the Pool.
10. Points will be awarded for each celebrity that you accurately predicted would die in 2009. Points will be awarded according to the formula in Rule 15.
11. Celebrity deaths are to be reported by the players in the Dead Pool thread (one report will suffice for all). I don’t have the time or inclination to keep track of everybody’s list. If someone on your list dies it is your duty to claim your points. NOTE: A link to an obit of some kind is required (see Rule 23b). This link must be in English.
12. All deaths are to be reported by 7th January 2010 (to allow for any delay in media reporting). This will be the official closing day for awarding points.
13. I'll update the thread every time someone scores points, and post an up-to-date scoreboard.
14. At the end of the year the poster with the most points will be declared the winner. Duh.
15. When an eligible celebrity on your list dies points will be awarded according to the following formula:
Points = (171 - Rank) + (100 – age) + Bonus
16. Rank points - The higher a player Ranks their pick the more points that pick will be worth. Be careful to order your list from most likely to least likely to perish sometime in 2008 if you want to make the most of their loss.
17. In addition, bonus points will be awarded when a death meets the following criteria (points to be shared equally in the event of multiple winners):
a) Unique Pick Award: +25 points if you were the only player to pick that celebrity.
b) Unlucky 13 Award: +10 points for a celebrity who dies on the 13th of any month.
c) Unnatural Causes Award: +20 points for murder, suicide or accident.
d) Party Pooper Award: +25 points for any celebrity rude enough to die on their birthday or Christmas Day.
e) First Blood Award: +25 points for the first celebrity to die in 2008.
f) You Can’t Cheat Death Award: +25 points for the last celebrity to die in 2008.
g) The Daily Double: +50 points awarded to any player who has two celebrities on their roster die on the same day.
h) The Hat Trick: +75 points awarded to any player who has three celebrities on their roster die over the course of one week (any 7-day span).
i) The Grand Slam: +100 points awarded to any player who has four celebrities on their roster die in the same month (any 30-day span).
j) The Empty Casket Award: +50 points awarded at the end of the year to the player who had the longest "dry spell" between deaths.
k) The Killing Spree Award: +50 points awarded at the end of the year to the player who has the most celebrities on their list die in a row. (That is, they score multiple points without anyone else scoring between them).
l) On Time Airlines Award: +25 points to all teams who submitted valid entries prior by the Dec. 31, 2008. To be awarded only if any late entries are accepted (see #4a).
18. The official date/time of any celebrity death is measured in the time zone that the celebrity is in when they die.
19. In the event of a dead heat on points at the closing of the 2008 Dead Pool, the winner will be selected according to the following criteria, applied in this order:
a) The player with most correctly chosen deceased celebrities.
b) The player with the youngest average age of correct predictions.
20. If a celebrity who has passed on has more than one reported age the following websites will be consulted and the age that the majority says the celebrity was would be the age used.
a) deadoraliveinfo.com
b) Reuters.com
c) AP.com
d) bbc.co.uk
e) NPR.org
f) CNN.com
i) If there is no clear majority, then the deadoraliveinfo.com site will be the official age recorder.
ii) If deadoraliveinfo.com doesn't list an obituary for this celebrity, then the rest of the websites, in the order listed above, will be queried.
21. You may not go out and “help yourself” win. Basically, you cannot kill someone on your list to give yourself more points. any list. The penalty for violating this rule, in addition to any criminal charges brought upon you by the appropriate authorities, is a lifetime ban from the Off Topic Dead Pool.
23. DEFINITIONS:
a) "Celebrity" means someone who, upon their death, gets a written obituary in a major, mainstream media news website. A good rule of thumb is “Celebrity = Name Recognition.” The Judges Panel should be able to look at the name and say “Oh, I know who that is,” without any prompting from the player. The Judges Panel should at least be able to find many references to the individual with a cursory online search.
b) "Obituary" simply means an article that mentions the fact that the person has died. It doesn't have to be the conventional biographical write-up.
c) "Alive" means drawing breath, not decomposing, that kind of thing.
d) “Dead” means dead. No irreversible coma, no vegetables. To qualify as dead, there must be an actual corpse. The death of a career (e.g. Michael Jackson) doesn't count.
24. Ming is the Staff Contact on this project. Any attempt to squirm around the letter or intent of these rules will be met harshly and swiftly by Ming the Merciless.
25. PRIZE: The player with the most points at the end of the year will gain title to the Grim Reaper Award 2009, an honorary title suitable as sig material with all its attendant glory.
ACK!
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