I will be accepting lists all day in my timezone.

I will create a mailing list of all the entrants and all business concerning the pool will be conducted that way.

The scoring system will be the one created by JD Baldwin.

All picks so far have been vetted by me and a panel of esteemed judges.

You need to inform *me* if one of your picks leaves the building, with an appropriate obituary. (Except in the obvious cases. Please don't send me the Pope's obits)

When I go away on business or vacation, I will appoint a regular member of alt.obituaries to act as host in my absence.

All "hits" will be announced on AO, and there will be periodic updates on scoring.

There will be awards at the end of the year.

Highest score, most hits, fewest hits, that sort of thing. And a special award to the person or persons with no hits at all.

All decisions are final.

No returns or exchanges after today.

No purchase necessary.

While supplies last.

Contest Scoring (With thanks to JD Baldwin)

AGE AT DEATH	POINTS AWARDED
100+	1
90-99	2
80-89	5
70-79	8
60-69	11
50-59	14
40-49	18
30-39	20
20-29	22
< 20	25
Bonus points: You were the only one to pick that person: 5 pts. You were one of only two to pick that person: 3 pts. You were one of only three to pick that person: 1 pt.

«—SUMMARY—»

Died: January 17th Age: 44 Worth: 23 ₧ Popularity: 5% of entrants Selector: Raven

1. Charlie Bell

I have returned to update the Official AO Deadpool. I'm grateful to Bill Schenley for keeping an eye on the proceedings while I was gone. To recap:

There was a sweet irony that the first official hit of this brand new deadpool came out of Australia, where I have been for the last couple of weeks. However, it turns out to be a tie for the first hit, and without time of death, it shall remain so. But I can tell you that flags weren't flying half-staff at McDonald's in Sydney for Virginia Mayo. CHARLIE BELL, former CEO of McDonald's died at 44 in Australia on January 17.

**Raven gets a high-scoring solo. That's 18 points on the Baldwin scale, plus 5 points for the solo. Total. 23 

VIRGINIA MAYO was another stylish solo, this time for Philip, with the death of this lovely actress on January 17. She was 84 and in my opinion, fantastic in Best Years of Our Lives.

**Philip gets 5 points and another 5 for the solo. Total: 10. 

Deadpools make strange bedfellows. Erik Lander and James Neibaur, two regular AO contributors, were both paying careful attention to the supermarket tabloids. And so they both get points for JOHNNY CARSON, who died January 23, at 79.

**Erik and James each get 8 points and 3 points for being the only two to pick him. Total: 11 

They're dropping like flies. We have our first multiple hit player. Louis Epstein, who has made it his specialty to predict that very old people will die!

Dame Mary Smieton, secretary of the Ministry of Education in the UK (1959-1963) has abruptly died at the age of 102.

**Louis gets one point for the hit and 5 points for the solo. 

Newsflash! One of Louis' aged ones has gone to that great glass tower in the sky. Architect PHILIP JOHNSON, he of the funny glasses, died on January 25, at 98. Only Louis Epstein had him.

**Louis gets 2 points plus 5 points for the solo. Total: 7  

AO Deadpool Update: Louis takes the lead but needs an alibi We can all make fun of Louis Epstein. Sure, his old people are more likely to kick the bucket than not, but what are the odds that three of his 23 (two already down) would be reported on the same day? Very impressive work, Mr. Epstein. Very. Now account for your whereabouts.

MAX SCHMELING was the world heavyweight champ more than 70 years ago. Four people in the deadpool had him, and all guys. (In fact, only guys have gotten hits in this deadpool) And they are Mark (many of whose picks are tied to Yankee Stadium) Buford, Kentucky Wizard and Louis. They win on points. Two of them. He died February 2. 

CARDINAL CORRADO BAFILE, at 101, the oldest member of the College of Cardinals, was sure to be on Louis' list. He's the one who died of the flu at a Rome hospital on February 3. Louis gets one point for the hit and five points for the solo. Total; 6. 

ERNST MAYR, the evolutionary biologist died February 3 at 100. He was known as the "20th Century Darwin." He almost single-handedly made the origin of species diversity the central question of evolutionary biology that it is today, Harvard said. (More cliches in obit writing) Louis gets one point for the hit and five points for the solo. Total: 6. 

SISTER LUCIA DOS SANTOS, who saw the Virgin Mary, has died. Some sources say today, Sunday, February 13. She was 97.

Buford gets his second hit and Louis gets his 6th. They each get two points for picking her, and 3 points for being the only two to have the vision to do so.

As far as I can see, and to my surprise, no one had picked Arthur Miller. 

Gidget, Gonzo and Geographic.

All I had to do was hint that there were other players creeping up on him and wham, he makes another killing. (So to speak, I hope.)

With the untimely death at 100 of Frederick (Ted) Vosburgh, former editor of National Geographic Magazine, Louis gets his 7th hit of 2005 and yes, folks, it's still February.

One point for the hit and 5 points for the solo. Total: 6 

Sandra Dee. She was 63. Who can ever forget that scene in "Diner." (Hint: popcorn)

Well a couple of weird points of interest. This is the second time James Neibaur and Erik have scored on the same celeb (The first was Johnny Carson.)

And this was actually the third hit on Jim's list. Except his timing was off and he had to replace Jerry Orbach. He replaced him with ... Sandra Dee.

Jim wrote to me today that he was scared and not sure what to do with this strange power. I wrote back that at least he didn't play deadpools until after Bob Hope was dead. I hope he finds solace in that.

11 points each for the hit. 3 points each for the duet. Total: 14. The pair knock Raven out of second. And creep closer to the master deadpoolsman, Louis. As far as I can tell, no one had John Raitt. 

I guess it's fitting that I should enter the race with a quintessential New Yorker, an independent filmmaker and photographer who used New York City as a canvas. His wife, photographer Ruth Orkin, even created a series of photos shot from her window overlooking Central Park.

Morris Engel died March 6 at 86. His and Orkin's "Little Fugitive" was a major influence on filmmakers like Truffaut and Cassavetes. Maybe even Eastwood.

I get 5 points for the hit. 5 points for the solo. Total: 10 points. 

The eminent physicist Hans Bethe won the Nobel Prize for his carbon cycle formula, which explains how the sun generates its energy. But who can explain Louis Epstein, whose stylish solo was his 8th hit of the year? Bethe died March 6, at the age of 98.

So Louis gets 7 more points. Two for the hit, 5 for the solo. He's down to 12 picks for the rest of the year. Poor fellow. 

Ain't the beer cold! Jazz Vulture (AKA Joe Pucillo) has, he regrets, gotten a hit for Baltimore sorta Hall of Fame broadcaster, CHUCK THOMPSON. He died today, March 6. He was 83 and beloved by Orioles and Colts fans the world over.

Jazz Vulture waited til March to join the folks in the standings. But he's already ahead of three other players. (Still no women on the board, but I have a feeling that's about to change...hehehe)

5 points for the hit, 5 points for the solo. Total: 10 points

And might I add, this is the first doubly on-topic hit for the 2005 Official AO Deadpool. There will be no triply on-topic hit. If that needs explaining, email me. 

He was a rodeo cowboy. He sang songs, recorded dozens of albums, and people adored him. What more could you want out of life, except to have a little more of it than 56 years. Chris LeDoux died today, March 9. He was only 56.

Poor Ed Varner. He didn't want to get his first hit on one of his favorites. Still, his score is a big one. 14 points for the hit. 5 points for the solo. Total: 19. Not bad for a new guy. 

I think when they come to arrest Louis for the Alte Kocker murders, we'll all contribute to the defense fund. Right, guys?

George F. Kennan, the American diplomat who did more than any other envoy of his generation to shape United States policy during the cold war (to quote the NY Times) died on St. Patricks Day at the age of 101. He was one of the architects of the Marshall Plan. He coined the word "containment."

But he didn't know Louis Epstein, who cannot be contained. I have already sent condolence notes to the families of the last 16 people on his list.

He gets one point for the hit and 5 points for the solo. Total: 6 points. 

I ran to my list when I heard Johnnie Cochran had died, but to my great surprise, no one had him. Then, an email brought me the news that there was, indeed, a hit on the AO Deadpool today. And from an unlikely place. Alabama. A new player has joined the standings, a lurker named Scubama who seemed to know that this would be the year Howell Heflin would breathe his last. He was Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court just prior to his 18-year career in the United States Senate.

A conservative Democrat who supported civil rights legislation and was sometimes described as the conscience of the Senate (as the New York Times writes it) Heflin died today near his home in Tuscumbia, Alabama. He was 83.

That's 5 points for the hit. 5 points for the solo. Total: 10

Welcome, Scubama. Very cool hit. 

This was the big one. Half the players, including 4 first-timers. Buford, Corby, Erik, Jazz Vulture, KW, Kathi Seidl, ???Guest, Mark, Raven, & Wendy (Chatley Green) For the three women and Corby, the Pontiff was their first hit.

Each scores 5. And only 5. 

"Human beings can lose their lives in libraries. They ought to be warned." Saul Bellow, Him With His Foot in His Mouth (1984). p. 11.

Anyone who knows even a little about me (how much of my life has been lost to libraries) will not be surprised to learn that Saul Bellow was on my list. Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1976, Bellow was one of the most important novelists of the twentieth century. He died today at his home in Massachusetts. He was 89.

I get 5 points for the hit. 5 points for the solo. Total: 10. 

Just when you think you're gaining on him, he comes back with a vengeance. Yes, that's right. Louis Epstein has scored his tenth hit of the year with the dame who created the comic strip starring the red-headed reporter, "Brenda Starr." She died Tuesday at the age of 98. Brenda survives her.

Louis gets 2 points for the hit. 5 points for the solo. Total: 7. We shouldn't lose hope. He only has 15 names left. 

Someone in our pool has a feel for leaders who reside in Europe. Kathi Seidl had lots of company for Pope John Paul II, but she was all alone in picking the prince who picked Grace Kelly to be his storybook bride. Prince Rainier Louis Henri Maxence Bertrand died April 5 in a Monaco hospital. He was 81.

Kathi gets 5 points for the hit. 5 points for the solo. Total: 10. And with that surprising solo, she zooms up into 8th place. 

Please folks, check your 2005 lists for unrecorded hits.

Once again, a deadpooler has pointed out the error of my ways. Good thing I'm not actually getting paid for this. John Fred died in April at 64 and Ed Varner had him on his list. But did I notice? Noooooo.

John Fred and the Playboy Band were famous for one song: Judy in Disguise. If you're of a certain age, that's really all you need to say. If you're older or younger, it's still not exactly worth explaining.

Ed Varner gets 11 points for the hit. He gets 5 points for the solo. And he gets my apologies. With glasses. 

We go to the other side of the world for the next hit, feisty politician Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen. who has died at the age of 94. A peanut farmer turned premier, he ruled Queensland for nearly 20 years until controversy and a corruption inquiry ended his career. His government built Wivanhoe Dam and the Tarong Power Station, abolished death duties, opposed world heritage listings and demolished Brisbane's Bellevue Hotel and Cloudland. And his wife made the most delicious pumpkin scones.

(For those of you who need a geography lesson, Australia is divided into states and territories. Queensland is the one that includes The Great Barrier Reef and the city, Brisbane. Sydney is in New South Wales, Melbourne in Victoria, Adelaide in South Australia, Perth in Western Australia...)

Philip, our Australian player, gets 2 points for a very well-timed hit. 5 for the solo. Total: 7 

I'm sure he never played a bad guy. He was beloved on film and on the stage. We loved his daughters Hayley and Juliet. Everyone thought John Mills was the most wonderful actor, but only Corby Gilmore had him on his list. And now he gets to put him in a prominent place on his other list, the Oscar Memoriam. Actor John Mills who did, indeed, win an Oscar, died April 23, at 97.

Corby gets two points for the hit. 5 points for the solo. Total: 7. 

Some see the Broadway star. Some see the war hero. Some see him as the charming photographer in Roman Holiday. Some see him as the sadistic warden in The Longest Yard. Some see him and remember all the lyrics to the Green Acres theme song. Only Kathi Seidl, Jim Neibaur and Jazz Vulture remembered to include him in their lists. Actor Eddie Albert died Thursday at either 97 or 99. On stage, on the big screen and on the little one, too, he always gave us pleasure.

2 points for the hit (unless someone can prove he was over 100 — keep me posted) and one point for the trifecta. Total: 3 points. Some shifting in the standings, but nothing major. 

Actor Leon Askin was born on Yom Kippur to an orthodox Jewish family nearly a century ago. Yet he is most well-known for playing a Nazi general. Go figure. Two young for Louis. But neither too young nor too obscure for Philip, now in the 3-hit club, and Ed Varner. This hit is worth 2 points plus 3 points for the duet. Total: 5. 

As dead historians go, Shelby Foote was too young for our scoring leader Louis Epstein, but Thomas D. Clark was just right. He was 101. From the AP obit:

Clark, whom a colleague once described as "the historical conscience" of Kentucky, was a state historian with a national reputation.

How did you miss him, KW?

Louis gets one measly point for the hit, but five points for the solo. Total: 6 

It's a shame that he's remembered by so many only as Ross Perot's running mate or as the butt of an SNL joke. Because, as JD has pointed out so eloquently, he had a distinguished Navy career as a fighter pilot and educator and was an inspiration to many for his supreme defiance in captivity. A Medal of Honor winner, among many, many other honors, Retired Vice Adm. James Stockdale was 81. Ed Varner and Corby Gilmore both join the 3-hit club. This moves Ed all the way up to second.

5 points for the hit, 3 points for the duet. Total: 8. 

King Daevid MacKenzie has a hit! His first hit was 6 months coming, but it was certainly worth the wait. Actress/Singer Frances Langford was one-half (with Don Ameche) of the radio duo, The Bickersons. She also became known as the "Sweetheart of the Fighting Fronts" for all her time spent entertaining the troops. She made 20 or 30 films and then retired to Florida with her rich husband. Not bad. Frances Langford died today at 91.

King Daevid gets 2 points for the hit, and 5 points for the solo, for a total of 7 points. His membership in the no-hit club has now officially expired. 

Geraldine Fitzgerald was an Irish beauty whose talent brought her to directors like Orson Welles and William Wyler. The star of stage and screen and nightclub, she even tried her hand at directing and was rewarded with a Tony nomination. She died Sunday at 91.

Over the years, I would see her on the cross-town bus, and it always surprised me to see a star of her magnitude living the simple life. Sad to see her go, but she brought us so much pleasure over her long career.

My (Amelia's) third hit and third solo. Two points plus 5. Total: 7. 

U.S. Army Retired General William Westmoreland faded away today. Kentucky Wizard, ???Guest and Bill Schenley all had him on their lists. At least two of them hope he never returns.* Way to go, Bill. Your first hit on one of your favorite people.

Westmoreland died today. He was 91. 2 points for the hit, and one for the trifecta. Total: 3

*with apologies to Douglas MacArthur 

Scotty has been beamed up. James Doohan, 85, who played Scotty, chief engineer on the television show Star Trek, has been transported to a parallel universe ... His final frontier.

Not only did Erik get his 4th hit with Mr. Doohan's demise, but our last two holdouts have finally jumped into the pool. Congratulations, Brigid Nelson and Ray Arthur.

85 years of age equals five points and the trifecta adds an additional point, for a total of six points.

This hit moves Erik past Ed Varner, and into second place.

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It would appear, in my haste to get that nagging %@#* Amelia off my back, I omitted Buford, who *also* had James Doohan on his hit list.

So it's all her fault. It must be, because I don't make mistakes. Maybe it's Buford's fault ... but it can't be mine. It just *can't* be ...

This is Buford's fourth hit ... giving him 18 points, and tying him with Kathi and Jazz Vulture. 

Louis Epstein's whereabouts, on the day (July 29th) "The Incomparable" Hildegarde died ... are unaccounted for. He continues to outmaneuver CSI teams from around the world. As for Hildegarde ... I guess it's too late to thank her for the likes of Cher ... and Madonna.

Because Hildegarde was 99 ... Louis gets 2 points and an additional five for the solo. 

Ok. I screwed up. Ray Arthur wrote to tell me I missed his pick of big guy Pat McCormick. That was way back in July. He was 78. Funny man.

So Ray gets himself a solo and 8 points for the hit, for a total of 13 points and this moves him several places up in the standings.

Sorry about that. 

(Corby) Coming soon, I hope. I believe that Louis had Hildegarde (although I am dubious, because she seems a little young for him) and I had Ray Cunningham.

(Bill) Bitch, bitch, bitch...Whine, whine, whine....

Corby, you should be ashamed of yourself. All this commotion over long-dead Lee Cunningham? ... You really want points for a guy who's been on the life-support of one two-base hit since his unceremonious release in the early part of another century?

Did you take Jose Canseco ... like someone else? No. How about Jason Giambi or Bucky Dent? No. You took a 100-year-old guy whose claim-to-fame ... was listening to Dizzy Dean in the dark.

What the hell kind'a pick was that...

Anyway Corby gets one point for the hit ... and five for the solo. 

King Fahd is dead at 84. (Reports of his age vary but they all seem to be in the 80's.) He guided the Saudis from tradition to modernization (what would we do without those NY Times subheads — we might actually have to read the whole thing —) and he refurbished his 707 using the artist who designed the floating space city in Star Trek. What a guy. His like will not be seen again. No. Wait. There are plenty more of them in Saudi Arabia. Never mind.

Anyway, Buford saw it coming, and for this prescience, he gets 5 points for the hit and 5 points for the solo. Total: 10. This moves him up a whole bunch of places in the scoring. 

Quoth the Raven: "I guess someone has to make a late season run to try catching Louis so it may as well be me." And so Raven starts the run with a very sweet 16 points (11 for the hit and 5 for the solo) on LSU Women's Basketball Coach Sue Gunter, who died today at the age of 66. Under Gunter's direction, the Lady Tigers posted an overall record of 442-221, making her the winningest coach in school history.

Raven goes past Erik into second place on this hit, a mere 27 points from Louis, the leader of the ancient world. 

Theoodore Roosevelt "Double Duty" Radcliffe, a former Negro League star thought to be the oldest professional baseball player died Thursday at 103. His career was so illustrious, it's hard to recap so I suggest you read the various obits. It's nice that he left the world with his beloved White Sox in first place. Louis Epstein racks up his thirteenth hit, a solo that's good for a total of 6 points. And the AO Deadpool gets its second doubly on-topic hit. Louis is running out of contenders. There's that, at least. 

As soon as I read the news that former NZ Prime Minister David Lange had died, I knew to check our Australian player's list. Sure enough, Philip gets a hefty 16 points on the beloved statesman who advocated a nuclear-free New Zealand, which is now the law of that land. Just 63 at his death, his memoirs were published only last week. Philip gets 11 points for the hit and 5 for the solo, moving him ahead of 6 players into third. Nice work, Philip. 

He was the cinematographer for Fellini, Pasolini, Leone, Benigni, Risi and Malle. If you loved Once Upon a Time in the West, America and The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, it's partly because he made them look beautiful. Tonino Delli Colli started working at 16 at Cinecitta as a camera assistant and the rest is cinematic history. He was thought to be a magician with light and said it was because "for Italians, who are familiar with the southern sun and the fog of the north, it's difficult to get things wrong." Modest, too.

Tonino Delli Colli died today at 82 in Rome. And I'm proud to say I had him on my list. My fourth solo. 5 points for the hit. 5 points for the solo. Total: 10. I move up a few places to fourth, a mere point behind Philip. (Notice how quickly I update when it's about me, me, me.) 

U.S. Chief Justice William Rehnquist left the Supreme Court today the only way he was going to. He died. He was 80. Six AO Deadpool players score 5 points apiece and they all moved places, I think. In no particular order, they are Raven, Buford, Erik, KW, Jazz Vulture and Ed Varner. Too young for Louis, too noble for ???Guest. Two court appointments for these monsters. Heaven help us all. (Hey it's my deadpool, I'll say what I want.)

Pool note: Buford is catching up to Louis with # of hits. Raven has the best hit to scoring ratio, or whatever you would call it. Schenley is still bringing up the rear. 

When I asked you guys why you like obituaries a couple of years ago, one of the many great answers was this one: "To fume when some pop-culture-saturated obit writer dwells at great length on a later and unimportant accomplishment of some great person and completely overlooks the far more important thing that person did earlier in life." He used the example of Don Adams, and the possibility that all an obit writer would have to say about him was that he was the voice of Inspector Gadget. Having read a few obits today, I am happy to report that all of Adams' accomplishments, early and late, come through loud and clear. TV star Don Adams died Sunday at the age of 82.

Brigid and Corby collect 5 points for the hit and three points for being the only two to have him, moving both of them several places up in the standings.

(I am grateful to all the other deadpool picks for staying here on earth while I was away.) 

There may have been two Ronnies on British TV, but only one AO Deadpool player had this one. That's Corby Gilmore, who knows his comedians even better than he knows his baseball. The great comedy actor and writer, a master of the television sitcom, Ronnie Barker died on October 3 at 76. Corby earns 8 points for the hit and 5 points for this surprising solo (he had to remind me) which moves him into third place well behind the master and just slightly behind Raven, holding onto second for dear life. 

It's a hit! Toronto Blue Jays announcer Tom Cheek, who never missed a game, and who called Joe Carter's World Series winning homer, "Touch 'em all Joe. You'll never hit a bigger home run in your life," has died at 66.

Raven said he was going to give Louis a run for his money. And that's just what he's doing.

Raven gets 11 points for the hit, 5 for the solo, putting him a mere 12 points behind Louis. With 8 fewer hits. With this baseball hit, we've got a horse race. 

Rosa Parks changed the world on the way home from work one day. She sat down, yet stood her ground. The mother of the Civil Rights Movement, as she was known, died yesterday at 92. Erik, Scubama, KW and Jazz Vulture each get 2 points for having her on their lists. But just like Rosa Parks, they all stayed right where they were. 

Señor stayed up way past his bedtime to watch his beloved White Sox in the World Series. He had, after all, managed the last White Sox team to make it to the October games. He lived long enough to see them win it, too. He was no stranger to endurance or winning. He caught more than 1900 major league games. And every time the Yankees didn't win the pennant between 1946 and 1964, the teams that Lopez managed did.

Kentucky Wizard gets the solo on the oldest member of the Baseball Hall of Fame. That's 2 points for the hit, 5 for the solo, for a total of 7. This moves KW up a place and into the 6-hit category, a very small club. 

Raven wrote to me in a manic state when Wellington Mara passed on. Had he picked the wrong Giants owner and ruined his chances for an AO Deadpool lead? Would a solo have put him ahead? Well, the answers are these: He didn't pick wrong. Giants owner Preston Tisch died yesterday at 79. A solo would have put him ahead. But our Erik had him, as well. No solo. 8 points for the hit, three points each for the duet. Erik gets his seventh hit and knocks Corby ("#3 at last") Gilmore out of third, and Raven is breathing down Louis' neck.

What a race. 

With Jim Neibaur's Desperate But Not Serious plea for an AO Deadpool update as to the death of Wendie Jo Sperber ... I have been forced to apply my pathetic arithmetic skills to the scoring ... in an effort to accommodate Mr. Neibaur. Since Jim and Erik are Bosom Buddies ... it's only fitting that these two Sorority Boys share in the hit. Because Ms. Sperber was somewhere between 40-49 years old when she died ... the pick is worth 18 points ... with three bonus points going to each.

Erik's point total puts him just three behind Louis and two behind Raven. Jim Neibaur moves ahead of Corby ... and into fourth place ...

Unless I have totally screwed up the scoring ... Which is more than likely ...  

John Iannacone, 94, was the last surviving crewman of the Los Angeles, the Navy's first rigid airship in the 1920s. In 1937, when the Hindenburg, a German airship, burned and crashed, killing thirty-six people, he rallied the rest of a fleeing crew and brought them back to carry survivors to safety. He died on Friday, December 2nd.

Buford had a solo hit ... giving him seven points. Two for the pick and five for the solo. This moves Buford into sixth place ... passing Ed Varner, Amelia and Philip. 

As the obit in the Times puts it:

At the height of his career, in the late 1970's, Mr. Pryor prowled the stage like a restless cat, dispensing what critics regarded as the most poignant and penetrating comedic view of African-American life ever afforded the American public. He was volatile yet vulnerable, crass but sensitive, streetwise and cocky but somehow still diffident and anxious. And he could unleash an astonishing array of dramatic and comic skills to win acceptance and approval for a kind of stark humor.

Philip, Buford, Mark and Scubama each scored 11 and each moved up several places in the standings. 

One of the worst people of the last hundred years has died, apparently of old age. What was he famous for? Gruesome experiments on children during the war. Thousands of them. He didn't believe in euthanasia.

He was put on trial three times, but all the cases were dismissed.

He published five articles between 1955 and 1965 based on research using the preserved brains of children killed because they were deemed handicapped or anti-social.

He became a prominent neurologist after the war and was awarded the prestigious Austrian Honorary Cross for Science and Art in 1975.

Maybe, Bryan, there are worse things than playing deadpools?

Obviously, this guy's karma didn't catch up to him for over 60 years.

Dr. Heinrich Gross, dead, finally, at 90. Buford gets two points for the hit, 5 points for the solo. He's gaining on Louis' hit count.

It's official. I've run the numbers, checked the stats, and made sure the winners are the winners. Of course, everyone is a winner in the AO Deadpool, and that's the way we like it. However, there are some folks who will be going home with some prizes, even if most of them are virtual.

First, a note: As far as I can tell Bill and I (because I ain't taking complete credit) made only one mistake. Buford seems to have finished the year with a very respectable 9 hits, not 10, as it was recorded. Even so, it was the second highest hit count. Way to go, Buford. And thanks for your end-of-the-year help. You, too, Bill.

 Ok, you're ready?

THE MOXIE MAN AWARD goes to none other than the great lover of antiquity, Louis Epstein. The big winner. On points. (77) On hits.(13) On solos. (11) If you're old and decrepit with brittle bones and a recent hip surgery, Louis knows about it. As terrifying as the Angel of Death, our Louis is. He's good. Real good. And now he must drink the Moxie. Enjoy, Louis. You've earned it.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR AWARD. Only one point behind him was the clever Raven. Little-known to the people of AO, he sneaked in and showed us amateurs how to play the game. Raven had the best quality point hits. (I made that up. I can't think of any other way to say it.) He was only one point behind Louis with fewer than half the hits. Averaging about 12 points a hit, by far the highest, he certainly deserves to be Rookie of the Year. Raven's prize? He doesn't have to drink the Moxie.

THE COMPANY OF STRANGERS AWARD. Say what you want about Erik, he knows how to make the most of a deadpool roster. Erik came in third only three points behind Louis with 8 hits and ... not ... one ... solo. Erik stays in the company of strangers, although there is no one stranger than Erik.

THE BOBBSEY TWINS AWARD. Erik and James Neibaur hit three times as a duet. I would say they are joined at the hip, but that would be too creepy to contemplate.

ONE-HIT WONDERS. One must congratulate people who keep the people on their lists alive. King Daevid, Wendy and Bill Schenley did that quite efficiently.

We will give the DIM REAPER AWARD to Bill Schenley for the fewest points. (Notice he made sure to put Lou Rawls on his 2006 list. His pride was on the line, I believe.)

Indulge me. Let me have an award. Thanks.

I give myself the I WALK ALONE AWARD. All four of my hits were solos. I was second only to Louis in solo count. And this is NOT because I saw everyone's lists. I like to walk alone. Raven, Buford, Philip and Corby each had three solos among their hits.

THE PAINFULLY OBVIOUS SOLO AWARD goes to the person who got a solo on someone the whole group should have had. This goes to Kathi Seidl for Prince Rainier. But I could see where people might have missed this. He was only dying for about 10 years.