THE O.B.E. MAIL BAG
This portion of the O.B.E is dedicated to those of you who are among the living. During the course of the year, feel free to e-mail the O.B.E. with thoughts, opinions,
and general fun stuff.
This page reads from the top down. Wanna go directly to the most recent postings? Just press this thingy.
MATT:
Donna Douglas, 81 on 1-1-15....the first of the year, I believe
THE GUYS:
Mario Cuomo might beg to differ.
MATT:
He might... You know those politicians!!!
MARTHA PEARL:
Bess Myerson ?? Recheck your info. The only thing reported about her is a connection to Mario Cuomo. Bess Myerson is not dead.
THE GUYS:
Well Ms. Pearl, would you like to rethink that statement?
OTIS, YOU WANT A TREAT?:
Weird one. It's being reported that Bess has been dead for nearly a month. Died in obscurity at age 90 on Dec. 14, and nobody found out about it until public records revealed it.
She's on my 2015 O.B.E. list, so I guess move up my alternate, George H.W. Bush? And if anyone played Bess in 2014 -- I didn't -- they should get credit for her before last
year's game becomes official? Can you remember a scoring situation like this happening before, from the end of one game to the start of another? I can't.
THE GUYS:
This one is a first. We just had a conference to discuss whether the Alternate should be exercised. The plain language of the rules would lead one to say NO. However,
the intent of that language was to prevent someone who missed a death in the press by a day or two from claiming the right to an alternate. This case is quite different as
the death was reported so much later than its occurrence.
Based on the exceptional nature of the situation, we'll be permitting the exercise of the Alternate in this case. We'll rewrite the rules for 2016 to address. Perhaps we'll
call it the Otis, You Want an Alternate Advisory.
SCOTT:
Good call on the Bess Myerson issue guys... even if she died in 2014, if it wasn't reported anywhere until the last couple of days there'd be no way for any of us to have known
it. Certainly there was no AP report to have made it official per OBE rules. Allowing the Alternates is the fair thing to do in this case.
THE GUYS:
Thank you.
THE GUYS (To THE FINAL CURTAIN):
Your 2015 Entry to the OBE had 13 names that were NOT on our master list. That was 13 risks that you would get the dreaded ***Not a Celebrity***. We just finished our
voting and every single one of your picks made the grade. This is a first for the pool. Nice job!
Note that one other list this year also had 13 names that were NOT on our master list. On that list, every single entry was deemed ***Not a Celebrity***. We think they
were trying to make a point, as the names were pretty obscure.
MATT:
Boy, that Bess Myerson screwed things up. I LOVE that you work so hard at this. Have a beer for that.
Don't know if she qualified as a celeb, but Francesca Hilton, daughter of Zsa Zsa Gabor and Conrad Hilton bit the dust Monday at 67 from a stroke. But Zsa Zsa lives on! See article:
ARTICLE
I'm loving this already. Why did I wait so LONG to join? I've been doing my own dead celeb stuff at home and with friends for years!!!
THE GUYS:
Glad to have you aboard Matt. Once we get this darn thing posted, the fun will really begin. If we could only sober up and get to it...
MATT:
Just going through my mail from today. Your letter was returned. I forgot the friggin' stamp! SORRY. I had a few beers that night...and now....it's my 50th AND I'm NOT dead!!!! Check goes back in mail tomorrow. Sorry. I rewrote and give you more, since you said you needed it,
THE GUYS:
Good thing that wasn't your entry!
MATT:
Good thing it wasn't. Rod Taylor...is now food for the birds, three days shy of his 85th!
KELLY:
Happy New Year. Do you accept checks for the donations? If so, who do you want them made out to? Also, I sent my list (All aboard those going below) and my mother's
list (Alice to Ashes) via email. Are you showing both entries?
THE GUYS:
We did receive both lists! We accept checks. In the past, folks have made them out the The OBE, Cash and in a few instances to one of the Guys personally.
We prefer PayPal or cash as we've had the bank questions checks made out The OBE in the past. Folks who send cash usually enclose it in a piece of paper or a note card
within the envelope (in case you are concerned with send cash in the mail
MICHAEL:
I noted our entry isn't posted. It was sent before midnight on the 31st.
Please advise
THE GUYS:
Well, we just found it in our spam folder. Will need to update. Check in tomorrow night.
MICHAEL:
Thanks so much.
CHRIS:
I saw the lists posted this morning, but mine wasn't on there. It was submitted on 12/30. Any chance you can post it for me?
THE GUYS:
We realized last night that a few lists had been sent to our gmail SPAM folder for some reason. We've fixed the issue. You should see your list up there now. You may need to refresh the page when you visit.
Sorry about the confusion.
CHRIS:
I appreciate it fellas, thank you!
THE BABY CRUSHERS:
I just got your email noting that the 2015 Page is up and running.
After looking at most of the pages on the site, I checked out the ***Not a Celebrity*** page and, for the life of me, I can't understand how anyone would think that
Bhumibol Adulyadej is a celebrity!!! I mean...Really!!!!! How much beer was that person drinking to think that Bhumibol Adulyadej was a celebrity? Man.....it actually
sounds more like a medical condition than a persons name!!! I mean...I can just imagine going to the Doctor to get the results of my tests and this is what it would be like:
Me: Well, Doc...What are my test results?
Doctor: Well...I am afraid that you have Bhumibol Adulyadej.
Me: WHAT??????? I have WHAT??????
Doctor: Bhumibol Adulyadej! It is a rare tropical disease that has no known cure.
Me: Well...How long do I have, Doc?
Doctor: Hard to say! Maybe 6 months!!!!
You guys see what I mean? Well...I am really glad that the 2015 page is up and running but I am really sad that I am already 2 deaths behind the leader! It is too
soon to be 2 deaths behind!!! At least I have 356 days to make a comeback!!!
The GUYS:
Bhumibol was on the list that had 13 picks that were all deemed ***Not a Celebrity***. We presume the Death Watcher submitting this was looking to make a point;
most likely that there are plenty of people who do great things and yet are not recognized for them. We actually share this opinion.
It's kinda crazy that hundreds if not thousands of people each year do utterly amazing things for humanity (and millions do simple good things for humanity) yet go
unrecognized. But, a skank like Paris Hilton does nothing other than get born into wealth and show off her cooch a few times and she's considered the celebrity. Alas,
that is the difference between accomplishment and celebrity. They are totally different things that sometimes intersect.
Anyway, we drank a few beers and took a few pills so we're pretty sure our Bhumibol Adulyadej is clearing up. That having been said, it still burns a little when we pee.
Hoping a few more beers will clear that out.
GLUPO CELEBRITY ZOMBIJA:
Glupo celebrity zombija list looks good, although i still , think that Scott Stapp is a celebrity... But oh well, i can still use Mohammed Ali, my alternate...
THE GUYS:
The Alternate is only exercised if a pick dies and the death is announced between a list being submitted and the start of the game year.
The alternate is not exercised if a pick is deemed ***Not a Celebrity***. For picks with ***Not a Celebrity Status*** the list loses that pick position and plays short.
MATT:
Sheila MacRae is dead, I think (and so does Wikipedia), as of March 2014 but I think she's on someone's list. I think it was Children of the 20s list.
THE GUYS:
Yeah. Would ya look at that. I guess we'll be re-writing those statistics again! :-(
DEAD RIGHT PSYCHIC:
Since Actress Luise Rainer had the audacity to up and die yesterday (We serious players keep track of such things) rather than wait two more days for the start of 2015,
I either need to live with my alternate or change my list. As it’s not yet 2015, I chose the latter and ask that my list be changed. The list I sent you a week ago needs
to have #10, Luise Rainer DELETED and replaced with: King Abduliah Bin Abdulaziz (House of Saud-Kingof Saudia Arabia).
THE GUYS:
Here's the thing....The whole purpose of the Alternate is to address situations like the one that occurred for you. You submit your list before 12-30. A celeb on your list
dies on 12-30. The alternate gets exercised. That's how the rules are set up. They are not set up like this, You submit your list before 12-30. A celeb on your list dies on
12-30. You get to make a new pick and the alternate never gets exercised. We followed the rules and exercised your alternate, however we did not allow an 11th hour substitution.
If we were to allow that, do you have any idea the level of work it would take if a major death occurred late in the year (Say Zsa Zsa). We'd be getting double lists for
almost everyone.
DEAD RIGHT PSYCHIC:
You've been a great Death Watch for several years here at the OBE and we hope you understand our position on this matter. Wishing you the best for 2015.
OK, understood. Hey, I tried. Guess I need to submit at the very last moment in the future and just hope no one has the audacity to up and die in the final
few minutes of the ending year.... Or pick an alternate who is good enough to kick off in the coming year. Lets see how the rest of my picks go.
Thanks much for the quick explanation. Maybe worth adding to the rules list for those of us too dense to figure it out...
BECKEY:
Leonard Nimoy is, of course, the more famous of these 2, but the Washington Post, New York Times, and Chicago Tribune have also written of the death
of Father Hesburgh. He really was more than a local figure here in South Bend. :) (I'm sending this with no negative thoughts about the year you didn't
consider him a celebrity on my list. I can see your point, for sure. And at this stage of my life when my own obit will be in the paper soon, I'm pretty
mellow about these things.) :) Thanks again for all your efforts, and remember that no matter how hard you try, you'll never be able to please everyone.
That's just human nature. You're doing great, in my opinion.
THE GUYS:
We strongly suggest you hold off on that whole obit in the paper for a while. We've got a few more classic one liners we know you're going to want to read.
As for Father Hesburgh....well known=Yes; Celebrity=no.
BECKEY:
Ah, that's the distinction? Now that you say it that way, it makes sense. Poor guy, though - he worked with several presidents and marched with MLK and still isn't a
celebrity. But I do get what you're saying.
And once again, I would not want your job, deciding who qualifies for this game and who doesn't. Good thing you're both young and have ways to escape. :)
SCOTT:
On a purely technical note, you have Leonard Nimoy listed as a 4-point death on the Entries page, although he was correctly scored as a 3-pointer.
Out of curiosity, why are there 5-point, 4-point, 3-point and 1-point picks, but no 2-pointers? If nothing else, it would be an easier system to remember; I literally have to to look up every time to see whether three- and four-way picks are worth two points or three.
It's three, right?
Seeing that I actually stand to benefit this year from the current rule, maybe I shouldn't have brought it up.
THE GUYS:
Right you are. We've corrected that little foible. The scoring goes like this:
1->5 points
2->4 points
3&4->3 points
5 or more->1 point
The reason for the gap was an attempt to better "reward" more unique picks in the event of ties.
MATT:
Sam Simon. Dead. And I didn't even know he was sick--for so long, too! No wonder 30 people had him! My head must be in the sand. I really thought I was up on such morbid things! LOL
Harumph.
Hope you guys are well--and I'm sure you're already pre-drinking for St. Patty's Day!
THE GUYS:
Sam Simon was sick? Damn.
VALAR MORGHULIS:
Ahem…..Lee Kuan Yew died on March 23rd. I unfortunately did not have him, but I see some others do, and I’m surprised they haven’t complained about it already.
THE GUYS:
Right you are. All updated.
VALAR MORGHULIS:
Sad to report that Percy Sledge has die, but I have him!
THE GUYS:
But apparently, he was too yellow to make the trip.
BECKEY:
Sometimes you go years without hearing about a celebrity, and then all of a sudden he's in the news.
About Carroll Spinney and Big Bird: Big Bird Was Supposed To Be A Passenger On Doomed Challenger Flight.
THE GUYS:
Wow, you had Percy Sledge! So that's what happens when a man loves a woman...
Will update the site this weekend.
WAYNE:
Betsy Palmer croaked back on May 29. I've seen her on a couple lists, including mine. I need the points! Sure you'll come up with some sort of clever Friday the 13th pun,
can't wait.
THE GUYS:
She was one hell of a golfer before the surgery...Oh, wait. That was Bruce Jenner. And he was runner. Damn, we gotta stop drinking.
JOE:
Didn't Betsy Palmer leave us on May 29th? I don't see her listed.
THE GUYS:
Sorry, we were still shaking off a hangover from April and neglected to post it. That's all taken care of now.
VALAR MORGHULIS:
Just a heads up in case you didn't notice. When you update for Patrick Macnee, remember to cross out Betsy Palmer on From Here to Eternity's list. She died on May 29, 2015.
THE GUYS:
Just a heads up in case YOU didn't notice, we're out of beer. Please send help.
VALAR MORGHULIS:
On my way to Hops & Grapes! Happy 4th of July!
THE "EX" FILE:
Think I've got some bad news for you guys and team Gimmie A Stiffie... was looking over this year's entries (never to soon to start next year's research) and noticed that
Donald Keefer apparently died last year - September 7, 1914 according to both Wiki & IMDB.
I'm assuming his entry was for the actor from "Death of a Salesman", "Liar Liar", "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid", and The Twilight Zone episode "It's a Good Life".
THE GUYS:
First off, 1914 is a long time ago. We think ya meant 2014.
Now, if you think this is bad news for Gimmie a Stiffie, it's worse news for us. This means we gotta go back, redo the stats, update the website, fix the database.
Damn it, this is why we start drinking at 10 a.m. Well, it's one reason at least.
THE "EX" FILES:
Yeah, sorry about being the bearer of that news... had a feeling it was going to be a pain for you guys. Any chance he meant Donald Keeler - which is the professional name
Joey Vieira went by early in his career?
And hey, I'm old... 1914 seemed like last year.
(Ok, so I'm not THAT old - LOL)
THE GUYS:
Not a chance. They specified the age as 98.
CHRIS W.:
Former player of the dead pool here. I haven't played in a long time. Under the current rules would Bobbi Kristina Brown have
been a valid pick? Seems like she is just the relative of a celebrity, but not an actual celebrity herself. Like for example
Earl Woods or Dana Reeve or Eleanor Mondale but NOT TERRY SCHIAVO!!!!
THE GUYS:
The Guys would have to review this and make a determination.
Of course, that won't be necessary as she croaked. Likely it would have been a ***Not A Celebrity*** though.
DAN V.:
I would "rule" Ann Rule as famous enough to post on your "dead folks" list. Just sayn'.
THE GUYS:
And that, fine sir, is why WE run this thing.
DAN V.:
Be nice to me or i won't donate.
WAYNE MANOR:
Oh Darling...Jean Darling left Our Gang and turned it into more of an Our Really Old Small Aging Group on
9/4/15, age 93. Put down the beer long enough to give me my points, then carry on.
THE GUYS
Yupster. We'll be updating shortly. That or we'll just head over to the brewery.
STEW:
Thanks for your page – a good place to scout with our draft coming up this week.
I know – no arguing over the non-celebrity list, but Monte Irvin’s not a celebrity? The guy is in the Hall of Fame.
I realize my Monday night is a little more lax on celebrity status. We let someone take Lauren Hill with the number-one overall pick. What the heck, he’s a new guy, and this will ensure him of the Rookie of the Year award, especially since he’s the only rookie.
By the way, I hate to brag, but in my Thursday night league, I was taken with the fifth overall pick. Nothing like a little cancer to move you up on the boards. (It’s like performing well at the combines.)
Thanks again. You have a great site.
THE GUYS
First off, a sincere thanks for the kind words about our site. We've been doing this for what seems an eternity and it really
keeps us going when we know folks appreciate it.
As far as celebrities go, it's a never ending argument. Sports seems to be our toughest area, though certainly not the only
area of argument (see Ronnie Hawkins).
You'll note in our rules that we state...
"ATHLETES: This category is probably the toughest for Death Watchers. Neither of The Guys is big into the sports world.
Sure The Guys follow a bit of baseball and football. Certainly they know the BIG names. But folks, not every hall of
famer is a celebrity. In fact, most are likely not celebrities. Reggie Jackson: Celebrity. Vida Blue: Sure. Bobby Orr:
You betcha. Joe Namath: Absolutely (heck, based on Love Boat and Brady Bunch appearances alone!). You want to go for a
lesser known great player. Go for it. We’ll probably knock it off the list. Fair? Not really. But that’s the way it is fanatics. "
We know this is an argument that will not go away as long as we keep our criteria quasi-subjective. We've learned to
live with this fact through a process of laughter and beer. Especially beer. It's served us well to date.
PEARLY GATES:
Just curious. Would you Guys consider Jean Kasem a non celebrity? I really hate that c*nt and would love to see her on a
deadpool list! My husband has not sent his entry in yet. Let me know between beers. Thanks.
THE GUYS
In fairness to all players, we don't answer questions about celebrity vs not-a-celebrity other than during our
annual review of entries.
BECKEY:
This is the first year we haven't waited until New Years Eve to submit our lists. That's a good thing, but I keep thinking a
bunch of celebrities might kick the bucket in the next 10 days and we won't have enough alternates to fill the spots. haha --
Or maybe I should just be at ease, knowing that my personal list has 6 of the oldest celebrities still breathing, one is 101
(Norman Lloyd), Herman Wouk is now 100, and 4 others will turn 100 in 2016. Seems like that list would be a slam-dunk, but so far
it hasn't worked out. What is WITH some people???