One of our very first regulations, still covering all our contests, and it’s even got a story to go with it. On New Year’s Eve, 1994, mere minutes before the year came to an end, word came over the airwaves that L.A. Times sports columnist Jim Murray was to undergo emergency heart surgery. This was, of course, before the creation of the Z-5000, the trusty stiffs.com super-duper-computer, and all entries were still sent by snail-mail.

Instantly, the phones at the offices of stiffs.com were lit up by sleazy opportunists attempting to stretch the entry deadline and tilt the scales of fair play in their favor. Fortunately for all concerned, the ever-vigilant Commissioner Love was not caught with his pants down, and the no-goodniks were foiled. Dead Pool disaster was narrowly averted that day, and a valuable lesson was learned, and this is why The Lee Atwater offers no grace period. Period.