Roman Gabriel and Terry Carter! Lead Change!

Footballer Roman Gabriel and actor Terry Carter drag us toward the conclusion of a relatively light April, at ages 83 and 95, respectively! Gabriel’s storied career at NC State led to him being picked 2nd overall in the NFL draft by the Rams (and 1st overall in the AFL Draft, as that was the crazy system of the time), where he was a four-time Pro-Bowler and the league MVP in 1969. He also had a bit part in the largely forgotten Groucho Marx-Carol Channing comedy Skidoo! Go check it out, it’s fine! Carter’s long career most centered on television, where he is probably best known for his regular roles on the ’70s McCloud and Battlestar Galactica. He appeared briefly in this space some nine years ago, when it was briefly believed that he was killed by Suge Knight in a hit-and-run – turned out, entirely different Terry Carter! But the media was all over the place that first day!

Kahone nabs his second death in five days with QB Gabriel, moving him up to a tie for seventh overall, while Sarah retakes the lead with 15 points on longtime team member Carter, her sixth of the year! Well done, folks!

Whitey Herzog!

Baseball great Whitey Herzog gets another Death Pool contestant onto the field this year, checking out of the game at the age of 92! Herzog bounced around a bunch of teams in his unremarkable playing career – Washington Senators, Kansas City Athletics, Baltimore Orioles, Detroit Tigers from ’56 to ’63 – before making his mark as a coach, leading the Cardinals to three World Series appearances in the 1980s, and winning the title in 1982. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2010.

And Kahone is in the 2024 contest! He picks up 18 points on longtime team member Herzog, leaving a surprising five people still without points here in the early second quarter of the year. Herzog was drafted fifteen times going all the way back to Michael in 2008, then Munchak, Adams, and Bats for single years before spending the last eleven with Kahone. Well done!

O.J. Simpson!

To fly in the face of journalistic integrity across the spectrum of media, murdering former football star and murdering former pitchman and murdering former Nordberg O.J. Simpson has finally, finally, departed the big game this week, at the age of 76! And while I think the reaction to his death has been kinda wild for a variety of reasons – is everyone getting pushed videos of people showcasing My Face When I Found Out What O.J. Did? – near the top has to be that his obit’s first clause doesn’t include him being the most famous murdering celebrity this side of Caitlyn Jenner. But really, what’s he best known for? Playing football back when baseball still did pretty good in TV ratings? Appearing in the most popular TV miniseries of all time? Hosting Saturday Night Live with musical guest Ashford & Simpson (unrelated)? Shilling for Hertz? Being the sole reason we never got a fourth Naked Gun movie? As the de facto star of the first season of the wildly-popular-in-incredibly-small-circles podcast It Happened One Year (available everywhere podcasts are consumed!)? No, I think it was probably all the murdering O.J. did in the early summer of 1994, and the subsequent greatest TV show in history – the Trial of the Century, not to mention 2016’s The People vs. O.J. Simpson (starring the increasingly problematic Cuba Gooding Jr.) or the Academy Award winning masterpiece O.J. Simpson: Made in America from the same year. Until 9/11, I would’ve said the O.J. verdict was going to be our generation’s moon landing, and if you weren’t around at the time, you honestly can’t imagine what those 16 months (murder to verdict) were like to live through. There’s never really been anything like it again. And thank God for that.

The commish comes through with longtime, on-and-off team member O.J., first taken back in 2008-2010, again in 2014, and then the last three years, with Simpson stopping along the way with Sean, Alek, Capone, the Gardons, and Ryan. These 34 points only move me up to seventh, such a lean year as ’24 has been for the team so far.

(Meaningless side anecdote: Last night we were watching Succession, and it was the episode where all the Roy kids are meeting up absent of their father, who starts freaking out – with Logan shouting “I’m losing juice!”, to which I turned to Sarah and said “We all lost Juice today,” and we laughed and laughed. I appreciate that the bullshit rule of never speaking ill of the dead does not extend to the Super Fantasy Death Pool. So seriously, fuck O.J.)

Barbara Rush and Joe Flaherty! Lead Change, Just Barely!

Actress Barbara Rush and actor/comedian Joe Flaherty give us our first sorta lead change in two months, departing at ages 97 and 82, respectively! Rush’s varied career included a number of early sci-fi films (It Came From Outer Space, When Worlds Collide), a few soap operas (Peyton Place, All My Children), a ’60s Batman villain (Nora Clavicle), the Disco bomb of all times (Can’t Stop the Music), and both The Love Boat and Finder of Lost Loves, both featured on an It Happened One Year episode this season. Flaherty is probably best remembered for his work on SCTV, and rightfully so, portraying beloved comic characters like Floyd Robertson/Count Floyd and Guy Caballero (my second favorite SCTV character), but Flaherty continued to pop up in projects in the following decades, including Back to the Future II, Happy Gilmore, 1941, One Crazy Summer, and in the forgotten, purportedly lousy Police Academy TV series from 1997 (I plan to hunt this down and prove haters wrong).

Dondos has their second death in three days with Rush, and so jumps into a technical lead ahead of Sarah – they both have 145 points, however number of deaths historically breaks ties, thus giving them the narrowest of edges! Not to be outdone, Mike Walsh picked up 28 points on Flaherty, his second of the year, to move up to sixth overall here in the early going! Rush was on Dondos/Kristen G.’s team 12 of the last 13 years, while Flaherty bounced around a bit (Adam, Munchak x3, Kosmala, Nick x2) before landing with Walsh this year. Well done!

Peter Angelos and Louis Gossett Jr.!

Longtime pool figures checking out before Easter include sports owner Peter Angelos and actor Louis Gossett Jr., at ages 94 and 87, respectively! Angelos was a lawyer and minor local politician before buying the Baltimore Orioles in 1993, shepherding them through three decades of exactly zero World Series appearances and a handful of playoff trips. Suck it, Baltimore! (Go Sox!) Gossett’s six decade acting career was largely stage work and some minor film and TV appearances before his breakthrough as Fiddler in 1977’s Roots, winning him an Emmy, and leading to his Oscar for 1982’s An Officer and a Gentleman. He was a steady presence on screen ever since, popping up in the likes of HBO’s Watchmen, the Iron Eagle movies, The Josephine Baker Story, and the immortal classic Jaws 3-D.

Capone moves up to third overall with his ten-year man Angelos, while Dondos closes the gap a bit in second, picking up 23 points for Gossett, who bounced around considerably across his 14 years in the game (Kristen G. ’11, Skeides ’12, Capone ’13 & ’14, Munchak ’15-’17, Jeff ’18-’20, Ryan ’21, Sarah ’22, Capone ’23). Well done, folks!

Malachy McCourt and M. Emmet Walsh!

Actors Malachy McCourt and M. Emmet Walsh form a rare twosome for yours truly today in the big contest, at ages 92 and 88 respectively! Frank’s younger brother Malachy was also an author, of such memoirs as A Monk Swimming and Singing My Him Song, while appearing over the years in many New York based soap operas and films like The Molly Maguires, Brewster’s Millions, and Tales From the Darkside. Walsh appeared in literally hundreds of films and TV shows, including Blood Simple, The Jerk, Blade Runner, Fletch, Reds, Ordinary People, Knives Out, They Might Be Giants, Slap Shot, and (included for fun) The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh. My personal connection is that I saw both of these fellas live in plays – McCourt twenty-some years ago in Scranton in the play he co-wrote with Frank, A Couple of Blaguards, and Walsh at Chicago’s Steppenwolf in 2014 in The Night Alive.

Sarah picks up her fifth of the year already with McCourt to extend her overall lead, while Bats moves up to third with his third on Walsh! Both nearly had two-fers today, as both as both of these guys over the years many times – Malachy drafted some fifteen times stretching all the way back to the beginning (Sarah ’07 & ’08, Kosmala ’12, Kristin M. ’13 & ’14, Bats ’15 & ’16, the commish in ’17, Sarah again ’18, Bats again ’19 to ’21, Sarah once again since ’22), while Walsh was taken nine times over the years (Bats ’15 & ’16, Steve ’18, Bats again ’19 to ’21, Sarah ’22 & ’23, Bats again this year). Wild!

Juli Lynne Charlot and Steve Lawrence!

Fashion designer Juli Lynn Charlot and singer/actor Steve Lawrence saw their final curtains on the Great White Way this week, at ages 101 and 88, respectively! Charlot started out as a singer and actress, appearing on Broadway in The Red Mill and performing with the brothers Marx on their WWII USO tour, before inventing the poodle skirt and raking down forever after in the clothing game. Lawrence was a stage and screen staple, often alongside wife Eydie Gorme as “Steve and Eydie,” and is probably most recognized to a modern audiences for his appearances in The Blues Brothers and The Nanny, and for Christmas Carol heads, as (I believe) the last living male cast member of the classic Rod Serling adaptation Carol for Another Christmas from 1964 – Eva Marie Saint and Britt Ekland still live!

Dondos pulls closer to Sarah’s lead with nine points on six-year team member Charlot, already their fourth death of the year, while Bats jumps into the top five with his second death in the past two weeks, picking up 22 points for Lawrence. He bounced around a bit over the past ten years on teams, from the Gardons (’14-’16) to Nick M. (’18) to Ryan (’19-’22) before landing with Bats last year. Well done!

Brian Mulroney, Paul Vachon, and Chris Mortensen!

Today’s writing prompt for all you would-be comics out there – a prime minister, a wrestler, and a sportscaster walk into the afterlife – what does the celestial hot dog vendor say to the gang? Well, Canadians Brian Mulroney and Paul Vachon say something along the lines of not being worried about all the nitrates in the cuisine, thanks to their history of national healthcare, but Californian Chris Mortensen isn’t so sure? Look, it’s not the easiest creative writing exercise, but I’ve got faith in you! Mulroney was the 18th top man in Canada from 1984 to 1993, while Butcher Vachon was a champion in many wrestling promotions, including the AWA, Mid-Atlantic, and Stampede, often alongside his brother, Maurice “Mad Dog” Vachon. Mortensen was a longtime figure on ESPN, primarily with NFL news, for Sportscenter, Monday Night Countdown, and Sunday NFL Countdown, among others.

Butcher Vachon also made an excellent Offred in the local Montreal theater production of The Handmaid’s Tale

Ryan gets on the board for the first time here in ’24 with Mulroney, while Capone jumps into fourth overall picking up both Vachon and Mortensen in a span of four days! Mulroney was on team nine times over the years (Andrea ’13 & ’14, Natasha ’15, Jeff ’16 & ’17, Kosmala ’21 & ’22, Ryan ’23 & ’24), while this was Vachon’s first appearance in the contest. Mortensen was in the game seven of the last nine years (Adam ’16, Buonins ’17 to ’20, Capone ’23 & ’24). Well done, folks!

Ole Anderson and Richard Lewis!

Wrestler Ole Anderson and comedian Richard Lewis reintroduce a legendary Death Pool contestant to the game today, at ages 81 and 76, respectively! Anderson was a founding member of the famed Four Horsemen (alongside Ric Flair, Tully Blanchard, and “brother” Arn Anderson) across multiple promotions, and Lewis is one of the all-time great stand-ups, probably best known for his work on Curb Your Enthusiasm, Anyone But You, and Robin Hood: Men in Tights – but Sarah and I caught him out at the Zanies in Rosemont some years ago, and frequently comment how this was one of the two or three best stand-up routines we ever saw in person.

And both of these deaths, one day apart, go to Chad – back in the game after a few years away and jumping immediately to the top of the Holloway and third overall! Anderson had been taken six times previous – once to the Skeides in ’21, and five to the Mahons (Kahone ’18 to ’20, Bats ’22 & ’23), while Lewis was on team eight previous times – the last six years with Ryan, the Skeides in ’17, and Munchak way back in ’08! Welcome back, Chad!

Micheline Presle and Charles Dierkop!

Actress Micheline Presle and actor Charles Dierkop are leading us toward closing this relatively light February, at ages 101 and 87, respectively! Presle’s nearly 70 year career was a mix of French and Hollywood films, most notably Devil in the Flesh, Donkey Skin, Mistress of the World, and The Last Days of Pompeii, while Dierkop’s career was populated by largely playing cops and criminals, including roles in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Sting, and on the full run of NBC’s Police Woman.

Sarah scores her fourth of the year already on eight-year team member Presle, while Bats enters the fray here in ’24 with Dierkop, on his fifth team in five years (Eileen, Elle, Dondos, and Kristin M. previously). Well done, folks!