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First score! Mark K. takes the early 300-point lead January 21 when convicted assassin Byron de la Beckwith loses all of his civil rights.

Curtain time. Five days later last year's winner Keith S. ties the score, when it's Tap City for college basketball coach and broadcaster Al McGuire.

Decomposing. Cecil then gets in the game when avant garde composer Iannis Xenakis' final movements fade into the amplified sounds of burning charcoal on February 4.

Trigger happy. Just three days later Cecil and Mark K. pull ahead of Keith S. Cecil splits points with Rob when Dale Evans meets Roy Rogers again on those great happy trails in the sky...

God is her co-pilot. ...And the very same day Mark K. splits points with Neil when Anne Morrow Lindbergh turns in her goggles and silly leather helmet and heads for the great open sky in the...er, sky.

God to Abe - Drop Dead. Three more days and Mark K. pulls into first place with 550 points, when 70's mayor of New York is Beamed up. Paul and Keith M. also get on the board with 100 points apiece.

Out of the park. Keith S. then pulls into the lead just past Mark K. a week later with 600 points, when Hall-of-Fame slugger Eddie Matthews is retired for good on February 18.

Stassen Passin'. But Mark K. leapfrogs back into first with 850 points on March 4 when perennial Presidential candidate Harold Stassen guarantees that he won't gather any future votes, though of course that doesn't necessarily mean he can't win a US Presidential election.

Smoke gets in your lungs. A week later Larry enters the game in fourth place behind Cecil, when Morton Downey Jr.'s famed loudmouth is shut by the only event that could accomplish that feat.

My mother the corpse. And three days after that on the ides of March, Mark K. presses his lead by another 300 points for a total of 1150 when Ann Sothern prepares for her next reincarnation as a burned-out Porter.

Another Hall-of-Famer caught out. Willie Stargell strikes out April 9 and heads for the celestial Three Rivers Stadium, increasing Mark K.'s lead for first place and Keith S.'s solid hold on second as they split the 300 points. Batter up!

Please exit and sign out. After a particularly quiet month and a half, Mark K. scores again when gameshow mainstay Arlene Francis goes to the final bonus round on May 31.

Coca leaves. Mark K. does it yet again only two days later, now up to a whopping 1750 points, when Imogene Coca does her final goofy facial contortion. Neil also picks up 150 points, pulling away from Rob and tying Larry for fourth place.

"Cut the rope and be free." The very next day Neil continues his move, adding another 150 points to his 450 as Anthony Quinn is relieved that he'll never have to hear that damned "Zorba" music ever again. But Cecil scores the other 150 points to hold onto his third place spot and close on Keith S.

Veigh to go. After a stay or two, scumbag terrorist Timothy McVeigh dies by lethal injection on June 11. (He was, incidentally, on the Game lists since 1998, long before his scheduled execution.) Larry restores the tie with Neil for fourth place while Rob trails them with the other half of the 300 points.

Lower the boom. Just ten days later blues legend John Lee Hooker chills out for the last time. Keith M. picks up the 300 points to leave behind Paul and pass Rob, but still slightly trails Neil and Larry.

All's quiet. And then...nothing. After this tremendously active first half, the remaining six full months of 2001 unbelievably go by without incident--well, without Game-related incident, anyway--leaving Mark K. with his ridiculous lead intact and therefore the 2001 GAME WINNER!