Predictions for Week 3: June 30-July 4

Local Crime Story:
As I said before, it was a pretty quiet weekend, but there was one knucklehead who was arrested for shooting his paintball gun at a woman. It happened outside the Peter Pan bus station in downtown Springfield on Sunday night. He was charged with assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon. My question is this...since the Springfield City Coucil recently passed ordinances increasing the fines for vandalism, don't you think this should count? Sure, it wasn't spraypaint, but it was paint. That stain will never come out.

Weather Report for the Weekend:
Scattered showers and thunderstorms (what's new?). Highs in the low 80's. Lows in the mid 60's. Only bright spot is Saturday which looks dry so far. A good day for mischief.

Death Commish's Prediction:
Notice that we're extending the time period this weekend. Since there's a holiday involved, we'll go right through midnight on the 4th. Fireworks accidents can be the tiebreaker.

0 stabbings, 2 shootings, 1 fatality, and 3 digits blown off.

Week 2 Results: June 23-25

Looks like it was a quiet weekend in Springfield. Maybe everyone was at the air show in Westfield. Or maybe all of the rain kept people indoors. Or they're just saving up their ammo for the upcoming 4th of July weekend. Whatever the reason, there wasn't much action.

Final Result: zero's across the board.

No winner this week.

Tell your friends to come and play. The more the merrier. Predictions can be made starting tomorrow.

Predictions for Week 2: June 23-25

Here's how this will work. Everyone who wants to make a prediction can record it in the comments section of this (and future) predition posts. Just look for the "death wishes" link at the bottom of the post. I'm going to try to keep the format of the prediction posting constant. I'll start with a local crime related story, followed by local weather, and finish up with my prediction.

Local Crime Story:
The Springfield City Council passed ordinances aimed at fighting noise pollution, illegal dumping, and vandalism. Good thing the councilors have their priorities straight. Just think about how many lives would have been saved if the crackdown on loud stereos had happened earlier. Thankfully, the citizens of Springfield can rest easy knowing that they won't be the victim of a drive-by spraypainting.

Weather report for the weekend:
Scattered thunderstorms. Highs in the 80's. Lows in the 60's.

Death Commish's Prediction:
1 stabbing, 1 shooting, 0 fatalities.

Week 1 Results: June 16-18

This is the first week of the Springfield Death Pool, so please be patient while we work out the details. In the future, the results will be posted on Monday and predictions can be made in the comments section of the Tuesday post (just look for "death wishes") from Tuesday until midnight Thursday.

But, even though this week was a little rushed, I did want to let you know how we did. Here are our predictions...(no real names are used in order to protect the innocent.)

TT-3 stabbings, 2 shootings, 1 fatality
C- 2 stabbings, 3 shootings, 2 fatalities
L- 2 stabbings, 3 shootings, 1 fatality
T- 2 stabbings, 2 shootings, 2 fatalities
M- 4 stabbings, 1 shooting, 1 fatality

Final results for the weekend:
There was a drive-by shooting at the corner of Eastern Ave and Chapel St. There were shots fired in retaliation, so that counts as 2 shootings.

For those wondering about the stabbing at Wendy's...that happened on Thursday night at about 10 o'clock. By rule, it didn't fall into the "weekend window" and was not counted. Although it is a funny story. The guy tried to rob a Wendy's through the drive-thru window. And when the employee walked away, the guy climbed through the window and stabbed the worker. Plus the "alleged suspect" got away...for 5 minutes before he got caught. Brilliant!

Final score: 0 stabbings, 2 shootings, 0 fatalities. No winner and the jackpot grows.

Predictions for the weekend will open some time tomorrow. Prices and participation may vary.

Death Pool Concept

Yeah, I know. This is a morbid idea. But it was bound to happen. We just happened to take advantage of it.

Five of us were sitting around, having drinks, telling jokes, having a good time. How we came up with this idea, I'll never know...but we all thought it was funny, so we're going with it.

We live in (or around) Springfield, Massachusetts. It's a small city. Home of the Basketball Hall of Fame. Self-proclamed City of Homes. The problem is that it's got a wee-bit of a crime problem. Budget cuts led to police lay-offs, which in turn led to more crime. So, here I am to make "lemonade out of lemons".

Welcome the "Springfield Death Pool". The concept is that most violent crimes are either stabbings or shootings. Both of these result (sometimes) in fatalities. Not one to dwell on the negative...let's turn it into a game!!!!

The five of us (and we are looking for new participants!!) are going to bet on violent crime in Springfield. The rules...

1) The time period in question will be from midnight Thursday until midnight Sunday.
2) The catagories are stabbings, shootings, and fatalities.
3) If a victim is wounded during the time period, but does not die until after the time period, the crime counts, but the fatality does not count.
4) This is an ongoing process, and we reserve the right to change or add rules at any time.

Just so everyone knows, the five of us are in for a dollar this week. We'll keep adding a dollar every week that no one hits the pool.

I'll post weekly bets and results so everyone can keep track. Good luck, and may that bullet be for someone else!!!