Thanks to several very long days with a quill, some parchment and a 12 pack of beer, we are able to present to you, dear Watcher, a breakdown of some of the more interesting statistics for the 2014 Old Blue Eyes Memorial Celebrity Death Watch. Go ahead and grab a beer and some chips. The fun is just about to begin...

A total of 154 Death Watchers are playing this year. That's 13 less participants than last year (a 7.8% drop). We're not certain why the drop occurred. Many of our regulars returned to play, so we're happy there. However, we also noticed that a few long time players are absent this year. We'll miss you.

Death Watchers from 30 states in the U.S. are playing as are Death Watchers from 3 other countries. The states represented and the number of Death Watchers from each are: AL(2), AZ(2), CA(9), CO(10), FL(12), GA(3), IL(9), IN(7), KS(1), LA(5), MA(3), MD(1), ME(2), MI(5), MN(1), MO(4), NC (2), NE (3), NJ(12), NY(11), OH(8), PA(5), SC(1), TN(3), TX(7), VA(4), VT(1), WA (4), WI(4) and WV(3). The countries represented and the number of Death Watchers from each are: Australia(3), Canada(4), and England(3).

154 lists should result in 2002 total picks entered (Really! Try it on YOUR home computer!). However, 21 pick names were deemed ***Not a Celebrity*** this year. Two of those 21 names appeared on 2 lists each. The rest appeared on 1 list each. That means a total of 23 pick places got eliminated as ***Not a Celebrity***. Those 21 stinky picks occupied spots across 16 total lists. One player actually had three picks nixed. All of this reduced the total number of picks in play to 1979. On a side note, two of the ***Not a Celebrity*** picks (Little Jimmie Dickens and Bobby Bowden) had been ruled not celebrities in previous OBE Pools! Sheesh.

The ***Not a Celebrity*** count went up from 17 to 23 this year (a 23.5.6% increase). Not too bad considering we received 109 names not already in the database posted on the web-page (just click Frank's picture on the Main Page for the 2014/2015 updated celebrity database). Of those 109 names, we excluded 21 names (19.3%) and accepted 88 names (80.7%).

One more thing about ***Not a Celebrity*** picks. We will not argue with you, hear you out or entertain your lousy rationalizations, gripes, whines or other similar annoyances regarding your crappy pick getting scratched. You paid yer money (we hope) you took yer chances. We call this the Ronnie Hawkins stipulation.

We had 1 list entered that was short 1 pick. This pick is displayed on the Entries Page as "--------------". This reduced the total pick count to 1978.

We also had one list that contained one extra pick. Yup, 14 picks plus an alternate. For this list we followed Deborah's Rule and eliminated the pick in the 14th position. This did not change the pick count for the pool.

A remarkable 13 knuckleheads entered lists containing one or more picks that were already dead. 12 of these rocket scientists had one dead pick on their list. The 13th genius actually had 3 dead picks. In fairness, two lists had Ray Price on them. Mr. Price had died a mere four days prior to these lists being post marked. That's understandable. But for goodness sakes, some of these others:

George Beverly Shea
Ronnie Biggs
Abigail Van Buren (two lists)
Dolores Hope
John Hughes
Pat Summerall
Tony Martin
Joan Fontaine
Patty Andrews
Ann Rutherford
Conrad Bain

Sheesh, how do you score a hit with Conrad Bain in 2013 and then put him back on your list in 2014?! It's not like reinvesting your lucky $2 from a winning scratch-off. Mr. Drummond can only die once!

Anyway, all of this resulted in another 15 pick spots that don't count. This means the total active pick count in the 2014 Old Blues Memorial Celebrity Death Watch is 1963 picks.

One list had the alternate exercised this year. This list also had Ray Price on it but it was mailed in early December, before Mr. Price ceased to be.

Wondering about donations? We always are. Here's how things went for the OBE this year. 71 Death Watchers (46.1%) donated this year. That's a slightly higher percentage of players than donated last year. This statistic basically means that 53.9% of you are freeloaders. We're just saying. Keep in mind, we accept donations all year long.

So Guys, what the Peter Robbins does all this crap really mean? Great question little Not-A-Celebrity voice artist! It means you should open another beer, take a swig, take another, okay down it and get another beer... hurry... now sit back and read this.

There are a total of 154 lists with a total of 1963 total valid picks entered. 368 different celebrities (31 more than last year!) make up the 1963 picks. Of the 368 celebrities picked to bite it, 181 (49.2%) were on only one list (the Tad Szulcs), 52 (14.1%) were on only two lists (the double whammies), 50 (13.6%) were on three or four lists (the mortage a trois) and the remaining 85 (23.1%) were on five or more lists.

The number one pick this year is the same as it has been for the last three years! That apparently immortal lady, Zsa Zsa Gabor appears on 103 (66.9%) lists. Want s'more? We'll bring the chocolate and marshmallows, you supplied the Graham. Billy Graham was the number two pick this year. His name appears on 93 (60.4%) lists. The third most popular pick this year is one Tough Guy. Yup, Kirk Douglas appears on 81 lists (52.6%).

As for the rest of the potential plot patrons...a complete breakdown of celebrities and how many players picked 'em is presented below for your reading pleasure. You may want to pick up a twelve pack before you get started. Heck, make is a case. We'll be over in a few minutes.