Current News can be found on the Main Page.

Two-time Tour de France winner Laurent Fignon has died at the age of 50, causing KDP 2004 Champ Bob Razem to jump to the head of the 2-hit peloton and take up 11th place with his second hit and FIRST^* solo of the game. Bob is also now our leader in Career Solos with this, his 8th. (Yes, that page is still messed up for the "Best Standing" column.) FIXED!

Congrats, Bob!

*Yeah, I'm an idiot - in my email announcement I said that this was Bob's second solo of the game, when it's his first. Sorry for the confusion!

Band leader Mitch Miller died on the 31st, and the news is just coming out now. (I've had a long-standing suspicion that some celeb deaths are withheld from the news if they happen on a weekend. I'm not saying that's the case here, of course - but take a look at our game's Hit Distribution to see that Monday is the day with the most hits. (Of course, the page is both out of date and contradicting me for this year. Also: I suck!)).

In any event, Miller was picked by 6 players, including Clint Place's Clint's 90-Plus List, Brad Hope, Brave Sir Robin, Michelle Stoken's List 2 and Rich Holland's 100% Dead Meat List, all of which see their third hit of the game. Meanwhile, Natalie Tyler's M is the Deadliest Letter List makes the board for the first time this year.

Congrats, all!

Journalist Daniel Schorr is making the news today on the word that he's given Rich Place his 5th career solo and 2nd hit of the game. Rich moves from 41st to 13th place.

Congratulations, Rich!

Blurb credit: Rich Place!

George Steinbrenner is dead at 80, giving us our first 4-hitter as Russ McDonald solidifies his lead.

Candy York's Hodgepodge List and Bob Broadhurst see their 3rd hits.

Mike Roche's List 4 and List 2, Kelly Keegan's Kelly and Craig....the 3peat List and News Guy Craig all get hit #2.

Terry Csipkes's List 2 List and Natalie Tyler's Bye, George! List make the board for the first time.

Congrats, all!

Lost in the excitement of the World Cup Finals yesterday, I totally forgot to put out an update about Bob Sheppard, who'd just announced a solo hit for Joe Biasi. Joe becomes the third player to get a third hit this year, and he moves up from 8th to 3rd place. Interestingly, this is also Joe's third career solo. (Yes, I see the BEST STANDING bug on that page now - I'll fix it when I can).

So: sorry for the delay, Joe, but Congrats just the same!

Blurb credit: Rich Holland

Senator Robert Byrd died yesterday at the age of 92, and 11 players picked him, including Russ McDonald, who gets his third hit of the game and moves into the lead.

Joe Biasi, Judith Place, Joyce Shelby's JS STARTING LINE-UP List, J.R. MacDonald and Chuck Daley all see their second hit.

Andrew Gonzalez, Cyn Hechinger, Candy York's Mishmash List, Nathan Raupach and Natalie Tyler's Politicians and Proseletyzers List all make the board for the first time this year.

Congrats, all! (Hard to believe we're at the halfway point already! )

Blurb credit: Mike Spinney

Legenday coach John Wooden is dead at 99, giving us our biggest hit this year with 13 players getting a hit: Mike Roche becomes the first player this year to get three hits, which of course moves him into first place.

Infant powerhouse Alyssa Valentine gets her second hit in as many days, while her daddy Jeremy Valentine, Kelly Keegan, Brad Hope, (canine not human) Clint Place's Clint's 90-Plus List, Terry Csipkes, Michelle Stoken's List 2 and Rich Holland's 100% Dead Meat List all get their second hit.

Joyce Shelby's JS STARTING LINE-UP List, Natalie Tyler's I'm Ready for my Close-Up, Mr. Reaper List, John Downey and Charlie Daley all make the board with their first.

Congrats, everybody

Blurb credit: Joyce Shelby

Golden Girl Rue McClanahan is dead at 76, and 2 players thanked her for ... you know... everybody else is going there, so I'm not going to bother. Following on Dennis Hopper's heels with his second hit in 4? 5! no - 6 days (MATH IS HARD!), (the human, not canine) Clint Champion's Thought Out Choices List moves into First place.

And quite possibly our youngest player to get a hit: Alyssa Valentine scores her first just 13 days before her FIRST birthday.

Congratulations, Clint and Alyssa!

Dennis Hopper is dead, man! Three players picked him, including Candy York's Hodgepodge List and Russ McDonald, each of which get their second hit and move into first and third place.

Clint Champion's Thought Out Choices List makes the board for the first time.

Congrats, all!

Blurb credit: Madison Kaufman (In case you couldn't tell that it was written by a 12 year-old)

Art Linkletter is dead at 97, and nine players picked him: Mike Roche takes the lead with his second hit of the game. Doug Sing, Natalie Tyler's Old Friends List and Brave Sir Robin also score a second hit.

Clint Place's Clint's 90-Plus List, Gene Kaufman (FINALLY!), Michelle Stoken's List 2, Chuck Daley and Toe Tag all make the board with their first hit.

Congrats, all!

Ronnie James Dio is dead at 67, and Jeremy Valentine picks up a solo as he jumps to 2nd place

Congrats, JVal!

Blurb credit: Mike Spinney (who truly came up with a much better blurb than I did and not at all because he whined about it last time)

Lena Horne is dead at 92. I didn't realize that she was that old, but Rich Place and Natalie Tyler's Old Friends List did, as they each see their first hit and move up to 19th and 29th place.

Congratulations, Rich and Natalie!

Big-time sportscaster Ernie Harwell is dead at 92 and 11 players picked him, including Bob Broadhurst who becomes the first player in this game to get a second hit. Obviously he's moved into the lead. I'll have to crunch the numbers at some point, but this is definitely pushing it for the latest second hit.

And we have 10 players getting to the scoreboard for the first time this game: Kelly Keegan, Sheila Place, Bob Razem, Joe Biasi, Kevin Byrnes, Bonnie Dell, Kelly Keegan's Kelly and Craig....the 3peat List, Brooke Newsguy, Mike Spinney, News Guy Craig

Congrats, All!

John Forsythe is dead at 92, and we've got 7 beautiful players that went to work for him. Amazingly, we've still not gotten a player with a second hit this year. Natalie Tyler's The C Files List and Bob Broadhurst move into the top 10 at 8th and 9th. In addition - Candy York's Hodgepodge List, Terry Csipkes, Doug Sing, Judith Place and Russ McDonald all hit the scoreboard, as well.

Congrats, all!

Former Interior Secretary Stewart Udall is dead at 90, and J.R. MacDonald grabs a solo to become the 12th player with a single hit, and settles into 10th place.

Congrats, J.R.!

Merlin Olsen has died at the age of 69, and Joyce Shelby's JS BENCH List gets the solo, as her list fearsomely flies up from 30th to 2nd place.

Congrats, Joyce!!

Mystery writer Dick Francis is dead at 89, and Brad Hope gets his first hit of the year. His solo propels him into 8th place.

Congrats, Brad!

Author JD Salinger is dead at 91, and only three players had him: Natalie Tyler's Writing Oneself to Death List, Myriam Shelby and Brave Sir Robin. All are getting their first hit of the game, and end up as 6th, 7th, and 8th in the standings.

Congrats, you phonies!

Poltergeist's Midget Dwarf Little Person Munchkin Psychic Zelda Rubenstein is dead at 76. For those who didn't realize it - SHE was the celeb that I mentioned at the beginning of the game that was close to death. Obviously, she held on a little bit to give our 2 players (and 5 lists) a bit of a worry.

Mike Roche takes the lead, with Grady Harmon right behind him. Mike Roche's List 2, List 4 and List 3 fill out the rest of the hits. (They aren't in order because he had her ranked differently on each list.)

Congrats, Grady and Mike x4!

Anne Frank's savior Miep Gies is dead at 100, and Rich Holland's 100% Dead Meat List takes an early lead with the first hit - and first solo of the game.

Congrats, Rich!