NOTE: The Stats reflect the removal of a list on January 31, 2018 at a player's request.

We fired up the old TRS 80 (look it up) and let it crank away at the numbers while we drank beer for a few hours. The results of this exercise were a wicked buzz and the statistics presented below. These statistics are presented to you, dear Death Watcher, as some of the more interesting facts about the 2018 Old Blue Eyes Memorial Celebrity Death Watch. We know you're itching to read these, but we strongly suggest you pick up a growler or two of beer first. Go ahead, we'll wait... .... .... .... .... ... .... .... .... ....
Oh, you're back. Okay, here we go...

A total of 150 Death Watchers are playing this year. That's up 1.4% from last year's count of 148 participants. There were 151 players however one player asked to have their entry removed once the game began. This was the unfortunate outcome of an online rant on our Facebook page. Let's all remember, at the other end of that chat is a real, live human. It's called "civil" discourse for a reason...

Death Watchers from 34 states in the U.S. are playing as are Death Watchers from three other countries. The states represented and the number of Death Watchers from each are: AL(1), CA(12), CO(8), CT(1), DE(1), FL(8), GA(3), IL(2), IN(11), KS(1), LA(5), MA(5), MD(1), ME(2), MI(2), MN(3), MO(5), MS(3), NC(1), NE(5), NH(1), NJ(12), NY(11), OH(6), OR(1) PA(6), SD(1), TN(5), TX(6), VA(4), VT(1), WA(2), WI(3) and WV(4). The countries represented and the number of Death Watchers from each are: Australia(3), Canada(3), and England(1).

Twelve Alternates were exercised this year. Last year thirteen alternates were exercised due to three late season deaths. This year one less Alternate was exercised but all were due to a single late season Celebrity death. Yup, Rose Marie shook up death pools around the globe with that final punchline.

150 lists should result in 1950 total picks entered (Really! count on your fingers!). However, several factors reduced the total pick count (as is typical). Have some popcorn, open that second growler of beer and read on, you'll find out all about it. We're presuming you already finished the first growler of beer, correct?

Normally, at least one player submits a list that is short a pick. Remarkably, that did not happen this year. Instead, three lists were submitted with a pick listed twice. Yup, one player each liked Bob Dole, Doris Day and Kirk Douglas so much they listed them twice. Of course, you are only allowed to pick a Celebrity once. That eliminated three (3) pick positions. So, according to the TRS 80, we're down to 1947 picks.

But wait, someone always picks a dead person, right? Yup. Three someones in fact. Three lists had a pick that was already dead. We're always amazed that this happens. It's not hard to use an internet search engine and we post deaths on our site as part of the game each year. None the less, one player each picked the already deceased Bobby Doerr, Debbie Reynolds and Della Reese. Since you can't score on people who are already dead (ewww, that's an unpleasant double entendre), an additional three (3) picks were removed. The TRS 80 says that brings us to 1944 active picks.

Here's the part that will make you wish you purchased that third growler of beer...83 new names were entered as picks this year. That's up from the 82 new picks entered last year. Of the 83 new names entered, 64 (77.1%) were deemed to be celebrities. If you've been using your fingers and toes, you've figured out that 19 new names were deemed ***Not a Celebrity***. These 19 names occupied 21 pick positions across 16 lists. That means the loss of 21 more pick positions, making our active pick total 1923.

A few comments and thoughts here. One pick that we eliminated, Bea Wain, had also been deemed ***Not a Celebrity*** back in 2016. To make matters worse, Bea is also dead (August 19, 2017). Two rejected picks appeared on two lists. These were Dwight Clark and Kamala "The Ugandan Giant." One list had two picks deemed ***Not a Celebrity*** while two lists had three picks deemed ***Not a Celebrity***. One of those folks we mentioned who double entered a pick on a list also had a pick deemed ***Not a Celebrity*** (shouldn't have been drinking when you put your list together....aw heck, yes you should have.)

To see who got deemed ***Not a Celebrity*** Go to the NOT CELEBRITIES portion of our website. To see our entire existing database or people who are celebrities, click on Frank Sinatra's image on the home page for the OBE or just click HERE. Now, take a minute to reread the Ronnie Hawkins Requirement on the 2018 OBE rules page. This Requirement clearly prohibits a player from "belly-aching, whining, snivelling, wincing, guffawing, or donning of faux expressions of shock" about their pick(s) being deemed ***Not a Celebrity***. We struggled with several of these ***Not a Celebrity*** decisions this year. In the end however, we applied the criteria outlined in the rules and the tried and true method of asking a cross section of folks some of the names. You get what you get and you don't get upset. Now let's get a beer.

Oh? What's that? We're not done yet? Right, donations! Sure we have some statistics on donations too. 66 players (44.0%) donated to the OBE this year. Last year 75 players donated. This year, 56% of our players presumed the other 43% would support them. Moochers, that's what they are. It's not too late to rectify this situation. We take donations all year long via mail and PayPal. If you mail a donation after January 10, please let us know via email so we're sure to visit the PO Box (which we don't do very often after the Death Watch is under way). One more thing about donations. Two people who are not playing made donations (very thoughtful) and one player sent us a Dairy Queen gift card (go figure).

Lot's of information so far, right? You should see the smoke pouring out of the TRS 80. That thing must be working overtime. Or it could be the beer we spilled on it. Hmm, we'll have to look into that.

We're at 1923 active picks across 150 lists. Those 1923 active picks are comprised of 397 different celebrities (18 less than last year.). Of the 397 celebrities picked to keel over, 206 (51.9%) were on only one list (the Tad Szulcs), 55 (13.9%) were on only two lists (the double whammmies), 62 (15.6%) were on three or four lists (the mortage a trois) and the remaining 74 (18.6%) were on five or more lists.

The number one pick this year has been a top five pick since 2005! That pick is Kirk "I'm never going to die" Douglas. Mr. Douglas appears on 106 (70.7%) lists!! That's only five lists more than the dude's age! George H.W. Bush (aka. George Bush Sr.) took the number two spot this year, appearing on 87 (58.0) lists. Billy Graham was knocked down to the number three position being picked on 86 (57.3) lists.

A complete breakdown of celebrities and how many players picked 'em is presented below for your reading pleasure. It's definitely time for another beer.