The Game's history is filled with astounding feats oft repeated for the young by their elders over tankards of ale at the fireside in the great vaulted halls of Gamedom. Below you will find many of our retired heros legends who glow in the mists of time.
J. Basal was a Charter Gamester and 1978 Hall of Fame inductee. In eight seasons, he tallied 181 career points, 48 hits, two Daily Doubles, seven solos, a Silver Bobcat and five Wild Cards. His warrior's attitude and the ability to score big earned him the sobriquet of "The Smoldering Giant." His greatest contribution, however, resulted from a chance remark on the telephone. When informed that two of his 1977 picks were already dead when he listed them, he replied, "Perhaps I was a little too conservative with those." Thus 'Conservative Pick' became a part of the Game's language.
J. Batterson's career is profiled in The Game Eternal.
B. Beasom, the Game's Moody Strongman (For the record: 305 Bench, 550 Deadlift, 450 Squat - 1305 total, November 5th, 1977) and Sergeant-at-Arms, played for six seasons, scoring 114 points on 34 hits, plus three solos and a Wild Card. During dry spells, he would drop to his knees in front of the television and scream "Give me a hit!" at newscasters. Especially gratifying was his call on the spectacular demise of mobster Carmine Galante. But perhaps his clearest display of power came when he soloed on Algerian leader Hoari Boumediene for five points and then hit his National Disaster -- War/Rhodesia -- for ten more, in the final four days of 1978. Less than two months later, in February of '79, he tallied another ten, this time on War/Vietnam, his second Disaster in less than 60 days, and thus earned the nickname, "The Master of Disaster."
Blotto's career was brief, 1979-1980, but he brought added lustre to
the Game by appearing in one of the first videos shown on MTV (1980's "I Wanna
Be a Lifeguard") and then showing up on the front page of The National Law
Journal in July of 2000 as Counselor Blotto when his band went out to
promote their new CD, Then More Than Ever.
J. Buffalo was a Charter Gamester and a key
figure in the Game's early years. Steadfastly stylish, she created the "five
points or better" method of selecting picks, earning three Buffalo Cups (to
which she gave her name) for her trouble. She is perhaps best remembered for
her 1970 solo on Janis Joplin, and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1979.
Captain Cadaver was one of the Game's
most muscular competitors and began in 1979 as Rookie of the Year, scoring 35
points on 8 hits, including his National Disaster, for a 4.37 QPA. In his
11-season career, he tallied 352 points on 86 hits, two Reaper Ribbons for
High QPA, three solos, a Silver Bobcat and four Wild Cards. A voracious reader
whose memory served him well, he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in
1983.
Mr. Clete the Wonder Dog was the prescient
pooch, the crafty canine of the Gazette's founding editor, Ghostwriter. He
leaned heavily on the almanac and tallied a series of QPA's as low as his dog
bed. He enjoyed a privileged position in Gamedom until animal lists were no
longer allowed in 1978. Also known as the Dark Dog and the Furry Rocket ("The
one dog I fear" -- Binky Brown), he gave his name to the Low QPA award and won
two Clete's Cups during his tenure, as well as tallying two solos and a Wild
Card. He entered the Hall of Fame in 1979 and died in 1983.
G. Conway aka Mrs. Grid Gold, aka Mrs. Binky
Brown, won the Gran Prix in 1977 in a tying effort with D. Perriman Sr., and
shared the 1974 Perriman Pennant with Dr. Death. In ten years of play, she
amassed 179 points on 56 hits, hit a solo and a Wild Card, and won a Clete's
Cup. She was inducted into the Hall in 1978.
J. Corrigan was the first gamester to break the
50-point mark, with his 57-point Gran Prix effort in 1979. In ten years of
play, he scored 221 points on 64 hits, and hit a National Disaster, two solos,
two Wild Cards and won a Clete's Cup. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in
1978.
Dr. Death, together with Binky
Brown, founded the Death Game in 1970 and was its first truly great
practicioner. In the first four official seasons of play, 1971-1974, he won
the Gran Prix all four times, was honored with Class List all four years, won
four Perriman Pennants, hit all four of his Wild Cards, held the leading QPA
three years out of four, hit the Game's first National Disaster, scored in the
Game's first Daily Double, hit eleven (11) solos, hit the Game's first-ever
Wild Card Solo, and bagged two Silver Bobcats. In just four years, he tallied
137 points and 31 hits with a Career QPA of 4.42.
Doc was the only
player in Game History to win the Triple Crown -- finishing with the lead in
Points, Hits and QPA -- a feat he accomplished in 1971, '73 and '74. He was
the only gamester ever to lead the Game from Wire to Wire -- from the first
day of scoring (Opening Day) to December 31st -- doing so in 1972 and '73. He
retired at the end of 1974, going out at the top of his game after a dramatic
come-from-behind victory over G. Conway. Gamester L. Smith called him, "the
Babe Ruth of the Game." Dr. Death was a first-round inductee into the Hall of
Fame in 1977, and no wonder.
Dupont
Fluvius, a Charter Gamester and 1983 Hall of Fame inductee, scored 138
points on 69 hits in 11 seasons of play. He won two Clete's Cups, scored a
Daily Double, hit two Wild Cards and thirteen (13) very stylish solos.
Fire Ants retired in 1998 with an
extraordinary record of ten (10) Clete's Cups, the World's Record Low QPA
(1.00, set in 1998) and twenty-two (22) career solo hits, including Kirby "Sky
King" Grant in a car crash. She also tallied a Wild Card, a Daily Double and
was Rookie of the Year in 1985.
P.
Grise was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1983 after an eleven-year
career that included 214 points, 63 hits, two Daily Doubles, a solo and two
Wild Cards.
The fabulous J.C. & E.
Hoffmeier, Charter gamesters and 1980 Hall of Fame inductees, are best
known for their five-year "let it ride" list that scored handily every year
from 1974 to 1978 without the addition of a single name. In their sparkling
nine-year career, they scored 108 points on 39 hits.
The Ithaca Psychics were inducted into the Hall
of Fame in 1986. Winners of the 1983 Gran Prix, they scored 248 points on 64
hits in nine years of play, brought home a Reaper Ribbon for High QPA, bagged
a Silver Bobcat, and hit four solos and a Wild Card. In an unrelated honor
that brought additional glory to the team and the Game, the main Psychic was
the recipient of a Senator Proxmire "Golden Fleece" award for his pioneering,
federally funded psychological study, "Why Bowlers Smile."
W.J. "The Caller" Krug was a Charter Gamester and
1978 Hall of Famer. In eleven seasons of play, he hit eight (8) solos and had
102 points on 38 hits. He was most famous for the inspirational tone of his
lists, picking famed individuals who were dazzling in their obscurity and
scoring solos on the icons of our childhood.
D.
Perriman Sr.'s career is profiled in the Game Eternal.
G.
Reaper's career is profiled in the Game Eternal.
The Register, aka The Blacksburg Register, whose
December team meetings were the stuff of legend, debuted with 21 points on
five hits, including their National Disaster, for a 4.2 QPA and 1978 Rookie of
the Year honors. They went on to score 258 points on 73 hits, and won the
Perriman Pennant in 1980. The Register reigned for nine seasons as one of the
great Game teams and were inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1981.
L. Smith burst onto the scoring rolls in dramatic fashion in 1978, with a Daily Double that included his Wild Card. He won a hotly contested Gran Prix in 1982, battling into the lead on March 16th, taking the Silver Bobcat on June 13th, losing the lead on September 14th, tying for the lead again on October 18th, and then taking sole possession on December 8th, holding on to win at 38 & 9. He scored his Wild Card that year, one of the nine (9) he tallied, a Career Record that he shares with D. Perriman Jr. at the time of his retirement in 1999. His Personal Bests were 51 points and 13 hits (from the 1987 season where he finished second only to the Sick Puppies), and a 5.40 QPA he scored in 1991. He finished in the Top Ten seven times, won the Reaper Ribbon for High QPA twice (in '79 and '90), scored three Daily Doubles, and soloed four times. He scored 663 points on 153 hits and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1982.
But for all his scoring prowess, it was spirit that set L. Smith
apart. In 1985, he was quoted in the San Francisco Chronicle as saying,
"People are going to die anyway," a quote used countless times since. He
delighted in introducing the Game to others, and was one of our least
apologetic missionaries.
J. Smoke
exemplified the relaxed and confident style of play. He was the only gamester
to ever top Dr. Death in QPA while he was playing -- a 4.2 to Doc's 4.1 in
1972. In ten seasons of play, he scored 149 points on 44 hits, hit two solos,
bagged a Silver Bobcat and hit five Wild Cards. He was a second round (1978)
Hall of Fame inductee.
D.
Trageser hit ten (10) solos in his 11-season career, plus a Daily Double
and two Wild Cards. His "Let It Ride" decision in December of 1983 enabled his
'83 Class List winner to win Class List again in 1984. He scored 225 points on
68 hits, and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1986.