2003 Play-by-Play January 1st, WWII Flying Ace, former Governor of South Dakota, former NRA president, former first commissioner of the American Football League and featured prominently in Tom Brokaw's book "The Greatest Generation," Joe Foss landed for the last time as Tim Ormortis, Cedar Coffins, Dinner w/o Jack Klugman and Pontius opened play for the year with 2 points each... January 3rd, Legendary former NFL coach, Sid Gillman, passed a Wild Card to Isadora for the Game lead and an ace to seven others including the Cedar Coffins who scored their second hit of '03... Same day, though not reported until the 17th, Sweeney Todd bounded into the Top Ten with a stylish two point solo on taxidermist Douglas Herrick who is credited with screwing the horns of an antelope onto a stuffed jack rabbit and creating the legend of the Jackalope... January 4th, King Biscuit Boy, one of the world's greatest harmonica players, wailed out the blues one last time for a five point solo for Harris Tweed, putting her into a tie with Isadora for the Game lead... January 8th, former CBS CEO Thomas Wyman -- who, last November, was the first member of Augusta National Golf Course to resign over the exclusion of women to its membership -- also resigned from this earth, awarding 3 points to the Bury Pranksters, Chapter E and Sir Stiff... January 17th, Gertrude Janeway, the last widow of a Union veteran from the Civil War, gave up her $70 per month pension from the VA, handing out one point each to Dinner Without Jack Klugman and the Doom Patrol. Gertrude was 18 when she married John Janeway, then 81. She died in the three-room log cabin he bought her when they married... Same day, Motel Styx scored a 2-point solo on Preservation Hall's Frank "Hylo" Brown of whom it can be said that he was one of the first to mix bluegrass & country music and make it popular. Brown's " Lost To A Stranger" is considered a classic of the genre. He played with Bradley Kincaid, Bill Monroe and Flatt & Scruggs. He was also one of the performers at the first Newport Folk Festival in 1959. For further information, follow this link... January 19th, In 1974, horse racing's Little Current won the Preakness and the Belmont. It's thought he would have won the Kentucky Derby if he hadn't been bumped so often by the record 23 horse field. When Little Current went down due to colic, at age 32, only the Cedar Coffins were to be found in the winner's circle holding a one-point solo. It was their 2nd career solo... January 20th, Fade To Black drew into a three-way tie for the lead with Harris Tweed and Isadora with a crafty Wild Card on the sublime Al Hirschfeld whose caricatures graced the theater section of the NY Times for many years. Thirty-one other Gamesters were awarded an ace including the Cedar Coffins (the first to reach four hits, leaving them only a week to break Dr. Doux's record for the Silver Bobcat) and it put Dinner Without Jack Klugman in a tie with Pontius for fifth at 3-2... Same day, Former Rookie of the Year Greyfriars Bobby notched their second career solo, an ace, on actress Nedra Volz whose career began at age 4 but who ended up as the tiny, sweet, grandmotherly type. Volz was all over TV and films ranging from the Dukes of Hazzard to Diff'rent Strokes, to my favorite, Mrs. Kissel in 10 with Dudley Moore... January 21st, Chapter E was given a vicious 6-point hit, and the Game lead from former NFL linebacker Eddie Johnson (aka the Assassin) who led the Cleveland Browns (aka Dawgs) defense from 1984-1988. Johnson played in an incredible 101 consecutive games and in three AFC Championship games. It was career solo #7 for the 2003 leader... Same day, Irene Diamond, who scouted scripts for producer Hall Wallis and later set up a foundation to fight AIDS, donated a classy one-point solo to Gomez. Diamond helped bring to the screen such films as Casablanca, The Maltese Falcon and Dark Victory. For Gomez it was solo #9... January 22nd, Two-time Pulitzer Prize winning editorial cartoonist Bill Mauldin, creator of the WWII dogfaces Willie and Joe, passed on two points to five Gamesters, led by Leroy Estmort who cracked the Top Ten on his second hit of the year... January 23rd, Tony Award winning Nell Carter (Ain't Misbehavin') awarded a 5-point solo to last year's Gran Prix winner The Moorebids. Carter was also nominated twice for an Emmy for her sassy matronly role on TV's Gimmie A Break. It was career solo #6 and placed them in the Top Ten... January 24th, Four Gamesters, led by Fade To Black, added two points to their resumes on Italian Industrialist and patriarch of the Fiat Automobile Company, Giovanni Agnelli. Joining the scoreboard were Mme. Morte, and Worm Feast. Moving back into the Top Ten was Sweeney Todd... Jan. 29th, Influential psychologist Harold H. Kelley, Professor Emeritus at UCLA, pioneer of the modern study of group behavior, creator of the Theory of Attribution, and the creator of Social Psychology created a scholarly two point solo for the Silver Tapps, the 7th solo of their career.
February '03 February 1st, a trembling Ghostwriter got his Irish up to solo for six points on John "Glug" Gregg, a leading member of Northern Ireland's Loyalist UDA, gunned down in a taxi cab at a red light by an Uzi-wielding Loyalist rival from a renegade faction led by Johnny "Mad Dog" Adair. Two previous bomb attacks had failed, but the third time was the charm. Gregg was leaving the Belfast ferry terminal by taxi after returning from a trip to Scotland for a Glasgow Rangers football match when the lead began to fly and his tenure as UDA brigadier came to an abrupt end. Gregg was a hero to Loyalists for almost killing Gerry Adams, Sinn Fein president, several years ago, and for noting that his only regret was that he "didn't finish the job." But in a Loyalist turf battle that was more about drug and racketeering profits than religion and politics, Gregg came out the loser. His funeral drew several thousand mourners, although we can guess that none of them were Catholics, who Gregg murdered on a regular basis, the most recent being a 20-year-old postman whose crime was apparently delivering the mail. It was career solo #17 for Ghostwriter, who notes that this is his most exciting hit since Pablo Escobar died barefoot on a rooftop... February 2nd, West Coast eclectic composer Lou Harrison, who created American Gamelans and a wide range of classical pieces during a storied career, became a two-point solo for Dark Carnival (the first in his career). An example of Harrison's style is Pacifika Rondo, which fuses ideas and instruments from many traditions in movements dedicated to Korea, Mexico and the Aztec empire, the Sinitic Area, the colonial days of California, the dolphins and ocean, and a protest against the bomb and the destruction of Pacific life. With the hit Dark Carnival moves into the Top Ten... Same day, West Coast pioneer of Abstract Expressionism, artist Emerson Woelffer put away his brushes forever, creating a two point solo for the Dada Sisters, the 12th solo of their career. Woelffer was a contemporary of de Kooning, Motherwell and Chile's Matta and once taught at Black Mountain College in North Carolina... Feb. 10th, Former Nixon Press Secretary Ron Ziegler denied that Saturday Night Massacre and Styx & Stones had each scored 4 after his fatal heart attack. Ziegler, who first categorized the Watergate break-in as a " third-rate burglary " later asked the press for forgiveness as resignations began to multiply. Both Gamesters moved into the Top Ten with the pick... February 14th, British scientists annouced that six-year-old Dolly, the first mammal to be cloned from an adult cell, had been euthanized due to a lung problem. The world famous ewe was cloned from a mammary cell and named after a famous American country singer. Dolly was milked for one point by Dinner Without Jack Klugman and Florida's Fire Ants. Dolly's death follows by less than two weeks the unexplained death of Matilda, Australia's first cloned sheep... Same day, Game leader Chapter E was the first to hit double figures in 2003 with an ace on Hall of Fame jockey Johnny Longden who rode Count Fleet to the Triple Crown in 1943. Longden's 6,032 winning rides were the standard until his one-time pupil Willie Shoemaker broke his record. Both the Fire Ants and Pontius made the call as well making it a trifecta of sorts... February 13th, Walt W. Rostow, who coined President Kennedy's 1960 campaign slogan "Let's Get This Country Moving Again," made his own last move a 2 point solo for Terminally Inconvenienced (the 2nd of their career). Rostow is sadly best remembered as an enabler who convinced JFK and LBJ that attacking North Vietnam was a good idea... February 18th, Hard drinking, hell-raising, country singer-songwriter Johnny Paycheck, best known for his 1977 working man's anthem "Take This Job And Shove It" rearranged the Top Ten dramatically and brought several Gamesters out of Club Nula. Cashing in on the four points and leading the way, and pulling away, was Chapter E, with Styx & Stones and the Bury Pranksters making major moves. Seven others cashed in as well.. February 20th, French novelist and critic Maurice Blanchot, author of Death Sentence and Thomas The Obscure, penned a one point solo for Willie's Will. It translated into career solo number five, and emergence from Club Nula... February 24th, Willie's Will was back for another ace, this time joined by the 7th Street Irregulars on John McMorran, 113, the oldest man in the United States. Each Gamester is now 2 & 2 on the year... Same day, Music composer and conductor for films and television, Walter Scharf, who was nominated for ten Oscars in a brilliant career, was career solo number eleven for veteran Gamester Mac. Though Scharf never won the Oscar he won Emmy's and Golden Globes. His credits include Funny Girl, White Christmas and 5 Elvis films including Loving You in 1957. Of the Elvis films he said he did not want to do them, "but the royalties were marvelous. " His tv credits include Man From U.N.C.L.E. and Mission Impossible... February 26th, Television's Fred Rogers, who taught a generation of children the virtues of kindness and patience and not to be afraid to take a bath (because you won't get sucked down the drain), gracefully left the neighborhood. Changing into sneakers and zip-up cardigans, and scoring a classy three point solo, their career first, was the team of death.com. The hit edged them toward the Top Ten... February 28th, The world's largest operator of escorted tours to Italy, Mario Perillo, made his final tour a trip to a New Jersey cemetery. Perillo was hailed by his peers in the travel industry for having sent millions of Americans on an Italian vacation. Our American Cousin cashed in his three point solo to travel to 4 & 2 in the standings...
March '03 March 1st, the ACME Undertakers and Frozen Stiff each picked up five big points on Tom Gadd, former head football coach at Bucknell University. Gadd took over a struggling program in 1994 and led the Bison to seven straight winning seasons, including a 10-1 record in 1997 when he was named Patriot League Coach of the Year. The hit moved Frozen Stiff into a three-way tie for third and ACME Undertakers into the Top Ten... Same day, Nadine Conner, who went from singing on the radio with the likes of Bing Crosby and Gordon MacRae to performing almost two decades at the Metropolitan Opera in NYC as a lyric soprano gave up the stage to Greyfriars Bobby for a one-note solo. It was solo #2 in '03 for the former Rookie of the Year and the third of his career. G.B. is now 3-3 on the year... March 3rd, Ghostwriter, displaying his unique style, soloed for four on Horst Buchholz, an actor known as the German James Dean for his roles in films of rebellious teens he played in the '50's. Buchholz was better known in Hollywood for his performance in the 1960 classic The Magnificent Seven and in the 1961 classic One, Two, Three, Billy Wilder's Cold War film on the Berlin Wall, a satire in which Buchholz played a communist heart-throb. It was Ghostie's 18th career solo and with the hit made a statement strong enough for second place... March 8th, Karen Morley, actress who was the blonde gun moll in Howard Hughes' crime epic "Scarface" in ' 32 and appeared in many other films of that era, died (but the obit did not appear until April 20th). Morley's career was ruined in 1947 when she refused to answer Joe McCarthy's questions before Congress about her alleged association with the Communist Party. Accepting her 24th career solo was the Fire Ants, her first since rejoining the Game after a five-year retirement. The one point hit lifted her to 5 & 5 which keeps the heat on the Greyfriars Bobby for Clete's Cup... March 9th, F. William Sunderman, musician (owned and played a Stradivarious), photographer, toxicologist, chemist, writer, and inventor awarded one point patents to the Bury Pranksters (now solidly in the Top Five) and Greyfriars Bobby (scoring a 4th hit and joining the hunt for the Silver Bobcat). Sunderman also worked on the Manhattan Project, is credited with treating the first diabetic coma patient in the U.S. with a crude form of insulin, AND was still working until a few weeks ago at age 104 ! At age 99 he was the oldest person in the U.S. still paying social security taxes... March 10th, Britain's Barry Sheene, two-time former world motorcycling champion ('76 & '77), passed on and there to accept five points each were the Game's top two solomeisters, the National Health Service and Pontius. The hit gave NHS instant access to the Top Twenty and for Pontius it meant climbing to third place. It was Pontius' hit #4 for '03 and put him in contention for a Silver Bobcat with Chapter E and the Cedar Coffins... March 12th, Howard Fast, prolific best-selling novelist and victim of Joe McCarthy, gave a final two point reading and solo to the Dada Sisters, their second solo this year. Fast wrote over 80 books but is best remembered for "Citizen Tom Paine" and his moving novel "Spartacus" that was later made into Kubrick's classic film... March 15th, Beer magnate Joseph Coors was in the end, worth two points to the Bury Pranksters and the unflappable Teen Angel. The hit moved the Pranksters into third place and into Silver Bobcat contention. For Teen Angel it meant climbing out of Club Nula. Joe Coors, besides inventing the cold-filtered manufacturing system of beer, is also remembered for creating the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think-tank in D.C. and for being part of Ronald Reagan's "Kitchen Cabinet..." March 16th, once described as ready as his daughter Sarah Ferguson to live up to an undignified tabloid image, Major Ronald Ferguson, former royal polo manager for Prince Charles, left the barn for good and gave a three point solo to Yo! Rick!. Major Ferguson, also known as the "galloping major," provided the British tabloids with plenty of fodder by his frequenting of massage parlours and sexual affairs. In his autobiography he related that in 1952, while training with the royal ski team, he skied into a tree and was knocked unconscious for 10 days. "Some say that accounts for my extraordinary behavior ever since." It was Yo! Rick!'s third career solo... March 17th, Grand Ole Opry legend Jumping Bill Carlisle delivered a one-point solo to Schrodinger's Cat, the Cat's second hit of '03 (8th career solo). Jumping Bill Carlisle was remarkable not only for his music but his comedy routines as well. His alter-ego "Hotshot Elmer" was a favorite of Opry fans. His accoustical music style influenced many of the early artists of rockabilly (including Elvis), but he was mostly known for novelty songs; his biggest hits were "No Help Wanted" and "Not To Old To Cut The Mustard." He's also remembered for giving a young unknown Chet Atkins his first gig on the radio... March 26th, Wearing bow ties and horn-rimmed glasses and looking slightly disheveled, Danse Macabre and Motel Styx picked up three points each on former New York Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan. Moynihan, an original neoconservative, was also the former ambassador to India and the United Nations. He served four terms in the U.S. Senate from 1977-2001. With the hit, Danse Macabre escapes from Club Nula and Motel Styx nudges into the Top 20...
April '03 April 4th, Friday night, on the outskirts of Basra, Iraq, Ali Hasan al-Majid, better known as "Chemical Ali," upon arriving at home with his body guard, hears a terrible whistling sound in the sky. Seconds later, after the explosion and the smoke had cleared, Tomb Essence collected his five point solo, blasting out of Club Nula with stunning style, and found himself in the Top Twenty. Chemical Ali earned his moniker in 1988, after killing thousands of Kurds with gas and with the blessing of his cousin Saddam Hussein... April 11th, Fifteen Gamesters, led by Pontius and Frozen Stiff, went to the offices of the San Diego Chargers to collect five points each on general manager John Butler, one of the NFL's most respected talent gurus. Butler was previously the general manager of the Buffalo Bills when they went to the Super Bowl four straight times from 1991-1994, losing them all. For Pontius it meant a tie for the Game lead with Chapter E and a potential 8th Silver Bobcat. While Pontius is the first, on paper, to reach five hits, the murky circumstances in Iraq means any of several other Gamesters may have already won it. The award is proving to be elusive... Same day, the race for the Silver Bobcat was further muddied and the race for Clete's Cup intensified. Denying each other a solo, Greyfriars Bobby and the Fire Ants each crafted an ace on former Pamunkey Tribal Chief Tecumseh Deerfoot Cook. For Greyfriars Bobby it meant hit number 5 (on the same day that Pontius took his 5th hit) and a claim to the Silver Bobcat (clouded by questions in Iraq). For the Fire Ants it meant keeping the heat on Greyfriars Bobby, who now stand at 5 & 5, as she went to 4 & 4 in an early battle for Clete's Cup. Chief Deerfoot Cook lead the Pamunkeys from 1942 to 1984 and served, until recently, as the tribal ambassador at the annual tribute to Virginia's governor, a tradition dating back to 1646. Asked the secret for his longevity, Deerfoot Cook was quoted as saying, "Eat plenty of raccoons and muskrats and drink Pamunkey River water, but lay off the possum..." April 12th, Greyfriars Bobby picked up his second hit in two days and his third solo of the year as he notched another ace, this time on Cecil Howard Green, one of the four founders of Texas Instruments in 1951. With the hit Greyfriars Bobby climbed to 6 & 6, took the lead for the Perriman Pennant (most hits), Clete's Cup (lowest QPA), and moved into the Top Twenty... April 17th, The dramatic snowstorm hit Manhattan Monday, the 8th. On Tuesday the 9th, Dr. Robert Atkins, cardiologist and author of the best-selling Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution, was on his daily walk to work when he "failed to negotiate" the ice on the sidewalks at Third Avenue and 55th Street. He suffered severe head injuries and went from surgery to life-support to worse. The Beverlys used the three-pointer to slip/slide up to 5 & 2 and a Top Thirty spot. The hit was a career first solo for The Beverlys who just happen to live on Glacier Court in their hometown... Same day, and for the second time in a week, the Greyfriars Bobby and the Fire Ants denied each other solos as both went to the gardens of the National Trust in England for a hit on celebrated gardener and horticulture writer Sir Graham Stuart Thomas. Greyfriars Bobby picked up one point (now at 7 & 7) while the Fire Ants (smelling like a rose) went Wild which sent her into the Top Ten... April 20th, the recently active Beverlys were joined by Sir Stiff in picking up an ace each from America's oldest person, Mary Christian who lost a fight with pneumonia at age 113... April 21st, Sleeps With Fishes burst out of Club Nula with their first career solo as they alone made the classy three point call on jazz and soul diva Nina Simone, who really defied categorization and was a major part of the soundtrack of the civil rights movement with her "Mississippi Goddamn." Simone was best known for her "My Baby Just Cares For Me" but her emotional 1959 recording of Gershwin's "I Loves You Porgy" may have been her signature tune... April 22nd, prolific and talented songwriter Felice Bryant wrote a beautiful three point solo for Schrodinger's Cat. Schro's Cat proved to be very much alive as it was their second solo of the year, and it vaulted them to third place at 13 & 4. Felice Bryant, who co-wrote her songs with her husband Boudleaux, wrote over 800 songs recorded by more than 500 artists resulting in 10 million in sales. For The Everly Brothers it was "Bye-Bye Love" and "Wake Up Little Susie." For Buddy Holly it was "Raining In My Heart." For the Osborne Brothers it was "Rocky Top" (A song known to drive the Florida Gators mad), fight song for the Tennessee Volunteers. For Little Jimmy Dickens it was "I'm Little, But I'm Loud." Ad infinitum... April 23rd, For the second time in three days, Sir Stiff, this time rolling up his sleeve for a hit of glory, scored another ace, and his fifth career solo, on Sir Bernard Katz of Nobel Prize (1970) fame. Katz escaped Nazi Germany with other scientists and became the founder of modern psychopharmacology. Sir Stiff moves up a notch to 5 & 3 adding six Gamesters to his rear view mirror... April 26th, noted oarsman Frank Shields, who was the founding father of POWER TEN NEW YORK, which honors those in the sport of rowing, gave a four-point coxbox solo to Mme. Morte who used the hit to pull into a tie for 20th place...
May '03 May 9th, Former Senator Russell B. Long, a smooth-talking Louisiana Democrat, who served for 38 years and who played a major role in forming the nation's tax laws, levied two points on Second Line (improving to 3 & 2) and Burke & Hare, who gratefully left Club Nula... May 10th, in 1944 there was an international convention in Chicago to set the rules and standards for civilian aviation for the world and Lloyd Welch Pogue led the group in establishing the ways and means for flight between airports. All alone in the control tower was Greyfriars Bobby, happily wagging his tail as he moved to 8 & 8 with the one-point solo (4th solo this year) and in firm control of Clete's Cup as we head toward halftime... May 13th, former Premier John Savage, who rose from hippie-doctor running a drug/aids clinic to the top of the political ladder in Nova Scotia and whose policies while in office led him back down the ladder, boosted Frozen Stiff into the Game lead with a three-point shove. For the 1997 Gran Prix winner it was also career solo numer eleven... May 14th, Robert Stack was found slumped over in a chair at home by his wife. The Emmy-winning (The Untouchables/1960) and Oscar-nominated (Written on the Wind/1957) actor (with his distinctive baritone voice and stiff style) was remembered by nine Gamesters, (each earning two points) lead by Worm Feast, who moved into the Top Five, and Manolete, who improved to 9 & 3. Club Nula had three Gamesters check out... Same day, Alibi and Our American Cousin went to England to collect one point each from English film and stage star Dame Wendy Hiller. Dame Wendy's acting career spanned almost 50 years but she chose her roles with care, appearing in only 16 films. She's best remembered for her portrayal of Eliza Doolittle opposite Leslie Howard in the 1938 classic "Pygmalion" and she won an Academy Award for best supporting actress in 1958 for "Separate Tables..." May 21st, legendary car maker and racer Alejandro De Tomaso designed a three-point solo for Sweeney Todd, who sped past 23 other Gamesters into 16th place. It was his second solo of '03 and 21st of his career. Argentine-born De Tomaso built his cars in Italy and is associated with Maserati, Fiat and Ford. His most famous cars were the Vallelunga, the Mangusta and the Pantera... May 25th, stylish Arkansas Gang member Tim Ormortis notched his first solo of 2003, the 31st solo of his career (only three Gamesters have more), while accepting two points from American novelist Sloan Wilson. Wilson was the author of the best-selling novels The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit and A Summer Place, both of which examined American culture during the 1950's and were made into very successful films... May 27th, Italy's foremost composer of the late 20th century, Luciano Berio, who taught courses at Columbia University in NY and was an expert in electro-acoustical exploration and winner of the Wolf Prize for the arts in 1990, spent one night in a hospital in Rome before giving Schrodinger's Cat three points, the Game Lead at 16 & 5, his third solo of the year, and the lead for the Reaper Ribbon with a QPA of 3.20... May 28th, the 1977 winner of the Nobel Prize for chemistry, Ilya Prigogine, late of the U. of Texas and founder of five research centers around the world, made his final experiment a classic two point solo for Helena Handbasket, the eighth of their career...
June '03 June 02, Classy Freddie Blassie, Pro Wrestling Hall of Famer, the original "heel" (the wrestler one loves to hate), was pinned to the mat one final time by five grappling wrassling Gamesters, who came up with two points each. Leading the way were the Dada Sisters who moved into the top 25 with their third hit of 2003. Gashlycrumb Tinies and The Penguin scored 2nd hits while hard-breathing Dust To Dust and W Dockum celebrated escape from Club Nula. Blassie was the first "wrestling villain" and one of the best smash-mouth talkers in the business... June 3rd, Sculptor Felix de Weldon, creator of more than 1,200 public monuments, chipped in one pointers for Game leader Schrodinger's Cat and Arkansas Gang member Styx & Stones. Austrian-born de Weldon's work includes the statue of Marines raising the U.S. flag on Iwo Jima at the Marine Corps Memorial in Arlington, and a statue of Admiral Richard Byrd at McMurdo Sound, Antartica... June 9th, two days after Funny Cide failed in his attempt to win the Triple Crown by losing the Belmont Stakes, Spectacular Bid, who suffered a similar fate in 1979, gave up the bridle for good, but not before giving a classy one-point solo to Terminally Inconvienenced. For T. Inc. it was solo number two in ' 03, and solidified their hold on sixth place as they improved to 12 & 4... June 11th, Screen legend Gregory Peck made his final exit a two-pointer for seventeen grateful Gamesters. Leading the way were Chapter E, claiming the second spot, and Styx & Stones, inching towards the top five... Same day, Styx & Stones made it a Daily-Double, as did four others, on veteran news journalist David Brinkley, who passed out dueces to twenty other Gamesters as well. Eleven Gamesters canceled their memberships to Club Nula before the day was done... June 14th, Former Washington Redskins outside linebacker Pete Wysocki, whose violent collisions with NFL running backs earned him the nickname the "Suicide Socker," laid a five-point hit on the Dada Sisters. It was their third June hit, their third solo of 2003, and they muscled their way into seventh place. Wysocki, whose special teams tackles often made the highlight films, was once quoted as saying, "I try to stay just this side of being rabid..." June 15th, thirty Gamesters rushed onto the set to line up for aces from stage and screen character actor Hume Cronyn. Leading the way were Styx & Stones, who are red hot, with four hits this month alone. Youth In Asia took the lead for Rookie of the Year, while Club Nula lost four more guests... June 18th, When Jackie Robinson joined the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947, much less attention was given to the the arrival of the first black player for the American League and the Cleveland Indians three months later. Larry Doby was good enough to play 13 seasons. Good enough for Hall of Fame status. Seven Gamesters remembered Doby and bagged the three points. Dinner w/o Jack Klugman and El Duce's Revenge (third June hit) used the hit to slide into the Top Ten. The Sick Puppies, Stenchman (fourth June hit) and the Cedar Coffins advanced to the Top Twenty. Also moving up were the Deadbolts (second June hit), and Lincoln's Brain, who left Club Nula with grace... Same day, The House of Commons in the British Parliament found itself short by one member as the Labor Party's Paul Daisley expired before his term did. Removing his bowler hat, Frozen Stiff humbly accepted the six points and quietly assumed the Game lead. The 1997 Gran Prix winner now has an even dozen career solos to his credit... June 20th, Former U.S. Congressman Robert Stump, who represented Arizona for twenty-six years, in the end, represented three points for Schrodinger's Cat, Preserveit and the Legion of Doom. This hit releases Preserveit from Club Nula... June 21st, At the summer solstice, 26 Gamesters, wearing loud ties and skates, hit the ice for four points on National Hockey League Hall of Fame coach Roger Neilson. Frozen Stiff (25 & 6) remained in the lead as he and seven of the Top Ten Gamesters made the call. Frank Merriwell, OPEC and Silk Shroud bolted out of Club Nula... Same day, Leon Uris, the hugely popular novelist and gifted storyteller, who wrote many best-sellers: Exodus, Topaz, and Trinity, to name a few, suffered the ultimate writer's block. Collecting three points, and picking up career solo number fifteen, was the gracious game veteran M. Hamilton... June 22nd, Former Fordham U. athletic director and first executive director of the NIT college basketball tournament, Peter Carlesimo, who also played football at Fordham with Vince Lombardi, issued two-pointers to Chapter E and the sizzling Stenchman. While Chapter E solidified his hold on third place, the Stenchman is the story here. He started June in Club Nula and now is in the Top Twenty with a 10-5 mark...June 24th...The Necrophiliac Pimp went Wild for five and lead a parade of 26 Gamesters down Peachtree St. in Atlanta to mark the passing of flamboyant former Georgia governor Lestor Maddox. Frozen Still used the deuce to hold onto the lead at 27 & 7. Schrodinger's Cat was right behind him and reached a Game high 9 hits. Styx & Stones made it five hits for the month and Lincoln's Brain was liberated from Club Nula. Same day, Humorbid found a one-point from Richard Pough, who authored National Audubon bird guides and was the first to sound the alarm on the harm caused by DDT. Score that a Maddox/Pough daily-double for Humorbid... June 26th...An eye-popping eighteen Gamesters went Wild and sixty-four other scratched out an ace on the longest serving senator in US history, Strom Thurmond, this year's most popular single hit to date... June 28th..Off-beat mystery writer and B-film screenwriter George Baxt, who created the outrageous gay black detective Pharaoh Love in his first novel "A Queer Kind of Death," penned a clever two-point solo for Isadora...June 29th...Film legend Katherine Hepburn, winner of four Academy Awards, made her final exit an ace for 74 Gamesters while Second Line and SLY went Wild. Giving up their quests for the Buffalo Cup and canceling their leases at Club Nula were the Flatliners and Freddy's Fallen Heroes. Greyfriars Bobby pocketed a Game high tenth hit... Same day, Ignoring the flurry of recent aces, game leader Frozen Stiff made a six-point move away from the rest of us on Loyola College women's lacrosse coach Diane Geppi-Aikens, who took her team to the NCAA tournament ten times in fifteen years. It was Mr. Frosty's third solo of the year...June 30th...Robert McCloskey, writer and illustrator of children's books, drew a two-point solo for the distinguished Silver Tapps of Texas, their second solo of the year...Same day...Seven Gamesters amused themselves with three-points from comedian and actor Buddy Hackett. Leading the way was El Duce's Revenge who rose to sixth-place at 29 & 9. W. Dockum and death.com snickered into the Top Twenty.
July 2nd...Sweeney Todd scored his fourth career Wild Card solo on Briggs Cunningham, a member of both the America's Cup HOF and the Motor Sports HOF. It was Sweeney's third solo of the year...July 4th...A score of swaying Gamesters sang "I Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe" as they each collected a five-note from velvety-voiced singer Barry White. Chapter E took over second-place while El Duce's Revenge moved into a tie for third. The Pups, Danse Macabre and Manolete moved into the Top Ten while Clean Underwear used the diversion to sneak out a side door of Club Nula....July 6th...Forty-nine Gamesters added a one-point hit to their resumes with the departure of actor Buddy Ebsen...Same day...Tim Ormortis scored the 31st solo of his career - an ace - on English poet Kathleen Raine...July 10th...Greyfriars Bobby, the Deadnecks and Humorbid approached the bench and accepted one-point verdicts from Nuremberg Trials prosecutor Lord Hartley Shawcross who secured the convictions of a dozen Nazi war criminals including Goering and Hess...July 12th...Jazz legend Benny Carter left the sound studio as an ace for eleven Gamesters. Greyfriars Bobby scored his 13th - Game leading - hit...July 13th...Final Curtain said "Adios Amigos," as she snuck out of Club Nula with a one-point solo on Compay Segundo, who gained international fame for his performance on the 1998 Grammy-winning "Buena Vista Social Club" CD...July 15...Five Gamesters scored two-point conversions on Tex Schramm, the former president and general manager of the Dallas Cowboys. The 16th-place Fire Ants were joined in by huddle by Boneyard Dog, Stonesdoug, Rig R. Mortis and Of Corpse...July 16...the Sick Puppies lead five Gamesters in a conga line as they celebrated three-points from the "Queen of Salsa," singer Celia Cruz. Same day...Eleven Gamesters crossed the border into Canada and smuggled out four-points from Pulitzer-prize winning novelist Carol Shields. Game leader Frozen Stiff set the pace while the resurgent Sick Puppies used their Daily-Double to rise to 5th-place and Fade To Black moved up to 8th. Closing their account at Club Nula with a rousing rendition of "O Canada" was Passing Fancy...July 22nd..Mosul, Iraq....Qusay and Uday, the brutal and powerful sons of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, were ambushed by American Special Forces and the 101st Airborne forces that resulted in a deadly four hour firefight. Enjoying the best day of his Game-career was Tomb Essence who came away from the fray with a 14-point Daily-Double and who skyrocketed up to 10th-place at 19 & 3. The hit on Uday vaulted Pontius into a tie for 2nd, lifted Fade To Black up to 4th and dramatically boosted the status of Necrophilliac Pimp, Clean Underwear and Freddy's Fallen Heroes...J. Eby scored a classic one-point solo on Tex McCrary, who (with his wife, Jinx Falkenburg) helped create and popularize the talk-show format on radio and television in the 1940s and 1950s...Same day...Tom Essence remained red-hot as he scored a four-point solo on Foday Sankoh, the Sierra Leone guerilla rebel leader who was indicted for war rimes after brutalizing his nation in a ten year reign of terror.
August 13th...With the help of an Israeli anti-tank missile, Frozen Stiff left the rest of us in the dust Mohammed Sidr, an Islamic Jihad bombmaker, went out with a boom, rewarding the Game leader 8 huge points which gives Mr. Frosty an eleven-point lead over second-place Chapter E...August 21st...British forces in Iraq announced the arrest of Ali Hasan al-Majid, aka Chemical Ali. Back in April of this year the British forces announced they had killed him and Tomb Essence celebrated then but is crying like a baby now as has lost a five-point solo,his Game-leading QPA and has dropped out of the Top Ten...August 24th...Eighteen-year veteran J. Eby went to England to collect his first Wild Card Solo ever on Sir Wilfred Thesiger, who was the quintessential English explorer who sought out the secrets of the Arabian desert before it was transformed forever by the discovery of oil beneath her sands...August 25th...Boneyard Dog rose into a tie for tenth-place as blew the whistle on Jim Wacker, former head football coach at TCU and Minnesota...August 30th...Lives In Jeopardy and Omega Travel left the dugout and jogged to the mound to collect an ace each from former Chicago Cubs pitcher Claude Passeau, who threw a one-hit shutout in a 3-0 win over the Detroit Tigers in game three of the 1945 World Series...Same day...Four Gamesters went to the cinema to collect two-points from actor Charles Bronson, best known for his "Death Wish" films. Worm Feast used the deuce to get back into the Top Ten while T & J James, Dr. Tom(b) and Hare Today moved up the scoreboard as well...August 31st...Fourteen-year veteran Gamester Tim Ormortis conjured up a two-point solo on Donald Davison, one of the most important philosophers of the post WWII period. Tim Ormortis how has 31 solos out of 75 career hits.
September 3rd,
Tim Ormortis picked up yet another solo, the 32nd of his career, when he scored two-points on Pulitzer-prize winning poet Alan Dugan and rising to 11 & 6 on the scoreboard. September 7th, sixty-six Gamesters howled in unison at the moon as they accepted five-spots from quirky singer-songwriter Warren Zevon, best known for his song "Werewolves of London." Frozen Stiff howled the loudest as most of his closest challengers made the call as well. September 8th, the Decomposers visited the paddock for a one-point solo on Harold Rose, who in a fifty-year career in horse racing as a trainer, owner and breeder, won over 300 races at Calder Park and took two ponies to the Kentucky Derby. Same day, Leni Riefenstahl, Nazi film maker and photographer, entered the dark room of eternity and was caught in the act by thirty-six Gamesters. While most collected an ace, Dr. Tom(b), the Necropolis Keepers and Rig R. Mortis Went Wild for five. Fade To Black climbed to 5th-place and Fire Ants made it her 14th hit of the year, giving her a tie for Most Hits with the death dog, Greyfriars Bobby. September 9th, gang hitting continued as 26 gieger-counter toting Gamesters registered one-point each on nuclear physicist and hydrogen bomb advocate, Edward Teller. Leading this radioactive group were the contenders Fade To Black, Motel Styx and Pontius. September 12th, yet another gang hit. Fifty-nine Gamesters, all dressed in black and singing "Ghost Riders In The Sky" picked up three-points apiece from Country music legend Johnny Cash. Top Ten Gamesters gaining ground on the leader were El Duce's revenge, Fade To Black, Chapter E, Motel Styx and the ever dangerous Moorebids. September 14th, Breathless scored a Wild Card Solo and moved into the 15th-place slot as he spilled his beans on the couch of internationally respected psychologist Donald Clifton, known as the father of "strength -based" psychology. September 15th, singer, songwriter and actor Sheb Wooley gave a dozen Gamesters a deuce, inducing them to sing "Purple People-Eater" all day long. Leading the choir were Pontius (moving into 4th), Schrodinger's Cat (8th) and Breathless (11th) who scored his seventh-point in two days. September 19th, our Australian entry Lillies Down Under Went Wild as she escaped Club Nula with the help of Aussie Country music icon Slim Dusty, whose rendition of "The Pub With No Beer" was the first Australian song to go gold. September 24th...Herb Gardner, playwright and screenwriter, (A Thousand Clowns) handed out four-points to theSick Puppies (tie for second), the Moorebids (tie for sixth) and Dinner With Jack Klugman who rose to tenth. September 25th, Edward Said, the United States chief advocate for Palestinian rights advanced four-points to Sleeps With Fishes and three other Gamesters. Same day, Dust to Dust and Women With Spurs found a four-point hit from George Plimpton, author of the best-seller "Paper Lion". September 27th, El Duce's Revenge claimed 2nd-place and the Cedar Coffins moved into 10th-place as they led seven others to three-points from actor/dancer Donald O'Conner. September 28th, game leader Frozen Stiff led seventeen others to the tennis courts to accept three-points from the first black woman to win Wimbledon, Althea Gibson...Same day...twenty-three Gamesters earned an ace from film director Elia Kazan and six more did the same with Yukichi Chuganji, the certified oldest man in the world.October 3rd, Game Grand Dame M. Hamilton drew a stylish one-point solo on William Steig, prolific illustrator for The New Yorker magazine and creator of award-winning children's books, including Shrek. October 5th, Terminally Inconvenienced scored his third solo of the year, for three-points, on abusive conservative talk-show host Wally George. October 7th, tireless American fashion promoter Eleanor Lambert created an ace for three well-dressed Gamesters. Humorbid and the Fire Ants strutted down the runway but Greyfriars Bobby stole the show with his Game-leading 17th hit of the year. October 9th, Iron Maiden and Unplugged collected three-points from mystery writer and and scholar of English literature, Carolyn Heilbrun aka Amanda Cross. October 12th, five Gamesters, resplendent in their racing silks, saddled up for three-points from Hall of Fame jockey Willie Shoemaker. Demento Morte, who moved into the Top 20 led the way. October 17th, elusive running back Charlie "Choo-Choo" Justice, a two time runner-up for the Heisman Trophy in college football was once described as a "twisting, whirling dervish" but Terminally Inconvenienced had the skills to bring him down for his fourth solo of the year and the tree-points vaulted him into 8th-place with a 38 & 12 mark October 19th, a half dozen Gamesters, led by Breathless, who moved into 13th-place, collected three-points from Alija Izetbegovic, who was a hero of the Muslim resistance in Bosnia-Herzegovina during the siege of Sarajevo and led his country to independence from Yugoslavia. The Bury Pranksters celebrated their 50th career hit. Same day, Margaret Murie, the mother of the modern conservation movement and who sowed the seeds for the 1964 Wilderness Act, gave an ace and 15th-hit to Humorbid while Toe Tag went wild for five and an Izetbegovic/Murie Daily-Double. October 20th, cock-eyed character actor Jack Elam, usually cast as the villain, presented a deuce to five Gamesters, led by the Necropolis Keepers and Necrophilliac Pimp...October 21st, sporting a red beret and matching suspenders, 2 Dead Crew scored a hefty five-point solo on Fred "Rerun" Berry, who starred in the 1970s sitcom "What's Happening." The 2 Dead Crew own a Game best career QPA of 5.36. October 23rd, twenty-five Gamesters opened their history books and found an ace from Mme. Chiang Kai-shek while the Deadbolts and Mullen's Revenge Went Wild!! In Top Twenty action, Breathless, Cedar Coffins and D. Perriman Jr. re-arranged the furniture. With his tail thumping away, Greyfriars Bobby scored Game-leading 18th hit. October 29th, seven Gamesters answered the call from The Price Is Right announcer Ron Roddy to "Come on down" and collect four-points. Schrodinger's Cat climbed to 4th-place and Dinner With Jack Klugman used their prize to secure the 7th-place slot. October 31st, a half dozen Gamesters found an ace in their Halloween bags courtesy of the official Oldest Man in the World, 116-year old Kamato Hongo. Greyfriars Bobby scored his Game leading 19th hit.
[REST OF THE YEAR COMING LATER]
The Top Ten
Frozen Stiff 53 & 12 (4.42)
Schrodinger's Cat 46 & 16 (2.88)
Sick Puppies 45 & 12 (3.75)
El Duce's Revenge 45 & 16 (2.81)
Chapter E 44 & 15 (2.93)
Fade To Black 41 & 13 (3.15)
Breathless 41 & 15 (2.73)
Pontius 41 & 15 (2.73)
Dinner Without Jack Klugman 41 & 17 (2.41)
Motel Styx 39 & 15 (2.60)
The Gran Prix - Frozen Stiff (53)
[DESCRIPTION LATER]
The Perriman Pennant - Greyfriars Bobby (21)
[DESCRIPTION LATER]
Rookie of the Year - Youth in Asia
It was a small class: Dirt Nap and Youth In Asia. Of the two, only Youth In Asia managed a QPA and thus takes the award with a 9 & 6.
Doc's Diploma for Class List - Tim Ormortis
The most subjective of all the awards. Tim Ormortis was not to be denied as he picked 5 solo hits for the season, tops for the year. If there were a solos per category he would won it.
The Silver Bobcat - Greyfriars Bobby, Pontius
On April 11, Greyfriars Bobby and Pontius tied for the Silver Bobcat as Pontius claimed five points (with a dozen others) on New York Giants CEO/President John Butler and the King of Aces, Greyfriars Bobby, scored one on native American Pamunkey tribal Chief Tecumseh Deerfoot Cook. It was Ponty's record setting 8th Bobcat.
Reaper Ribbon for High QPA - Ghostwriter (4.80)
[DESCRIPTION LATER]
Clete's Cup for Low QPA - Greyfriars Bobby (1.00)
[DESCRIPTION LATER]
The Buffalo Cup - Dead Stiffs, Necro Wafers
[DESCRIPTION LATER]
Hit of the Year - death.com on Mr. Rogers
A hit tinged with happy childhood memories from the Land of Make Believe, death.com avoided the Internet bubble bursting and collected a solo, wrapped in a cardigan sweater, from everyone's favorite neighbor.
Let's look at the Top Ten for 2003.
Take me on to 2004.
Take me back to Play-by-Play.
Detailed Hits and Standings for 2003 [January] [February] [March] [April] [May] [June] [July] [August] [September] [October] [November] [December]
Who's in the Top Ten right at this moment, and what's their score?
Take me to Doubly Missed for 2003.
Take me back to Play-by-Play.
Take me Home.