Derby Dead Pool


The online competition to guess which famous people won't make it to the end of the current year. If they're elderly, ill, or just live a high-risk lifestyle, stick 'em in your team, and for each one whose death you correctly predict, you'll score points. DDP was dreamt up in Derby, England (hence the name...) by Big-Iain back in 1996, then was run from 2003 to 2007 by Siegfried Baboon and Rude Kid. From 2008 to 2009, it was run by Octopus of Odstock, and from 2010 The Man in Black...


Latest Stiffs: UPDATE: 7th June 2015 by The Man in Black

Game over for Mrs Nash

Our eagle-eyed community of dead spotters noticed a flaw in my previous missive. It turns out that John Forbes Nash's wife, Alicia Nash was also picked (by latin theme team Muertos) and thus it is with them rather than our two aged twins from Wales, Flo and Glenys that we get our first two hits in one obit, thus making a mockery of a good part of my previous update. Still, two such incidences in one week is remarkable and Muertos is rewarded with a double bonus of unique/unnatural poinits. Tune in next time for more stiffs...

[Scorecard] (Alicia Nash) [Points] [Points] [Points] [Points] [Points] [Points] + [Unique] + [Unnatural] = 12pts
Latest Stiffs: 5th June 2015 by The Man in Black

Aziz is deceased

The Man In Black is back from his holiday but the reaper has been as busy as ever.
Tariq Aziz was one of the late Saddam Hussein's most trusted lieutenants during his period in power. A Christian, Aziz was often promoted as representing the "human" face of the ancien régime. However that counted for nothing when Hussein was toppled in 2003 and Aziz was arrested and jailed for various crimes.
He died in chokey aged 79. A few teams picked him including twice runner-up STAB_in_the_DARK.
An even sadder demise for Charles Kennedy, former MP and leader of the Liberal Democrats from 1999-2006. Kennedy was that rare artifact of being a universally popular and respected British politician, leading the Lib Dems to their most successful election for decades in 2005, thanks in part to his principled stance against the Iraq War (see above). However, the demon drink was his personal and political bugbear and in 2006 he was forced out. Only last month, a visibly stricken Kennedy lost his seat in the SNP landslide. He died aged 55 and was a hit for GMC Ghost Town who has had his card marked for some years and gets a unique hit.
Jean Ritchie helped spark the folk revival in the USA in the early 1960s, which saw the emergence of the likes of Bob Dylan and Joan Baez. Indeed Dylan was accused of ripping off one of her tunes and the matter was later settled out of court. She was 92. That's June's early fallers, taking the total so far to 126, 121 shy of last year's record with over 6 months to play...

[Scorecard] (Aziz) [Points] [Points] [Points] [Points] [Points] [Points] [Points] (4 teams) = 7pts [Joker](1 team) = 14pts
[Scorecard] (Kennedy) [Points] [Points] [Points] [Points] [Points] [Points] [Points] [Points] [Points] + [Unique] = 12pts
[Scorecard] (Ritchie) [Points] [Points] [Points] [Points] [Points] (2 teams) = 5pts

Carlsson rolls over

Erik Carlsson was one of the greats of international rally driving, winning 19 races in the 1950s and 60s. He didn't have it all his own way, with his native Swedes affectionately referring to him as "Carlsson pĺ taket" or "Carlsson on the roof" for his habit of pushing his trusty Saabs a little too hard and rolling over as a result. One of Sweden's great sports personalities, He died aged 86 ansd was a hit for three teams.
Sticking with sport, Doris Hart was one of the most successful women tennis players of the immediate post-war era, claiming six major titles, including Wimbledon in 1951 - the singles, doubles and mixed doubles all in the same day! A feat unlikely to be repeated. Hart was 89 and a unique hit for theme team People Who Will Die Before An Englishman Wins Wimbledon. Can you guess what the theme is?
Now according to our well researched DDP bios, both Betsy Palmer and Anne Meara were actresses and panel show regulars, so let's add a bit more meat and mention that Palmer's best known film role was as killer cook Mrs Voorhees in the 1980 cult classic 'Friday the 13th', while Meara was the mother of actor/director Ben Stiller, having formed a long-term partnerhip both professional and personal with comedian Jerry Stiller. Palmer was 88 and a hit for two teams, while Meara was 85 and a hit for couples' theme team TilDeathDoUsPart which I have only realised was the case when writing this sentence!

[Scorecard] (Carlsson) [Points] [Points] [Points] [Points] [Points] [Points] (3 teams) = 6pts
[Scorecard] (Hart) [Points] [Points] [Points] [Points] [Points] [Points] + [Unique] = 9pts
[Scorecard] (Palmer) [Points] [Points] [Points] [Points] [Points] [Points] (2 teams) = 6pts
[Scorecard] (Meara) [Points] [Points] [Points] [Points] [Points] [Points] + [Unique] = 9pts

Then I guess he had to crash, valium would have helped that Nash

Mathematician and economist John Nash worked for the RAND corporation in the USA and was a key figure in the development of Game Theory which boiled down to assuming humans as being selfish, autonomous beings, easily capable of betraying each other for self-preservation. This proved useful to the American military in its fight against communism but the theory was then taken out and used in Economics with decidedly mixed results for the global economy. Nash was belatedly awarded the 1994 Nobel Prize for economics in after a long period in the wilderness having suffered from mental illness (so maybe that theory wasn't entirely foolproof, guys!). His remarkable story was made into a film, 'A Beautiful Mind', starring Russell Crowe. Nash died aged 86 along with his wife in a car crash in New Jersey, so bonus points for the 4 teams who picked him.
A few years ago, it would have been likely that the passing of 52 year old local US TV anchorman Dave Benton would not have received the required obit, indeed he wouldn't have even been picked. Post hoc ergo propter hoc, as the Romans would say because once again the Daily Mail in their ceaseless quest for internet hits steam in with the obit. So kudos to the big teams who pencilled him in.
To complete the US trilogy is Margaretta "Happy" Rockefeller, socialte and widow of the late Nelson Rockefeller. She married him in 1963 admidst scandal, as both she and Nelson were married to others but quickly divorced their respective spouses. Rockefeller was then Governor of New York and the affair effectively killed his hopes of landing the US Presidency, although he accepted the post of Vice-President upon the elevation of Gerald Ford to the top job in 1974. Anyway, enough of this, Happy died aged 88 and was a unique hit for Circling The Drain.

[Scorecard] (Nash) [Points] [Points] [Points] [Points] [Points] [Points] (4 teams) + [Unnatural] = 9pts
[Scorecard] (Benton) [Points] [Points] [Points] [Points] [Points] [Points] [Points] [Points] [Points] (12 teams) = 9pts [Joker](1 team) = 18pts
[Scorecard] (Rockefeller) [Points] [Points] [Points] [Points] [Points] [Points] + [Unique] = 9pts

Two birds with one stone obit

What comes next is arguably unique in the history of the DDP. In April, Glenys Thomas one half of the World's oldest pair of twins died with no obit and indeed it passed under the DDP's radar (which isn't that difficult!). She was 103. And that would have been that, but it seems her sister Florence Davies couldn't live without her, so when she passed away also aged 103, just 27 days later... Wham! an obit and of course it isn't a story if you can't mention one without the other. So Norman Tebbit's Bicycle Club gets two unique hits for the price of one and I don't think that has happened before, so another first for the DDP where the hits keep coming...
Last up we have a late obit for Dutch judo great Wim Ruska who died back in February aged 74. The Times come up with the goods for Dutch theme team Minions Of Xuleneb.

[Scorecard] (Davies) [Points] [Points] [Points] [Points] + [Unique] = 7pts
[Scorecard] (Thomas) [Points] [Points] [Points] [Points] + [Unique] = 7pts
[Scorecard] (Ruska) [Points] [Points] [Points] [Points] [Points] [Points] [Points] + [Unique] = 10pts
Latest Stiffs: 18th May 2015 by The Man in Black
[Picture of B.B. King]

The R&Bocalypse continues...

Bye bye B.B.

B.B. King, one of the most famous blue guitarists of all time, has passed away. King was a inspiration for many subsequent blues and rock guitarists, including Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton among many others in a 60+ year career which took him around the World, with his trusty guitar Lucille. It's another blow for the classic era of R&B, following on the heels of the non-related Ben E. King and Percy Sledge. King was 89 and a hit for 23 teams.

[Scorecard] [Points] [Points] [Points] [Points] [Points] [Points] (23 teams) = 6pts

Case closed for Rendell

Crime writer Ruth Rendell was best known for the creation of the fictional detective Inspector Wexford in a series of novels starting in 1964. The Wexford books were later made into a successful series, starring the late George Baker. Rendell was 85 and a unique hit for crime fiction theme team in eternum+'s Wrinkly Dicks.
Military dictator Kenan Evren led Turkey for 9 years following a coup in 1980, which involved 50 hangings, the banning of all political parties and 600,000 arrests. And to think some of us moaned about putting up with the likes of Thatcher and Reagan in that decade! He was eventually put on trial in 2014 and got a life sentence which didn't last very long. Evren was 97 and a unique hit for DDP veteran Inquilinekea/Simfish.
Talking of Reagan, Jim Wright was the Texan Democrat congressman who led the US House of Representatives at the back end of the Gipper's Presidency, from 1987 until 1989, when he was forced out after allegations of improper conduct. Wright was 92 and a unique hit for Grim Sleeper.

[Scorecard] (Rendell) [Points] [Points] [Points] [Points] [Points] [Points] + [Unique] = 9pts
[Scorecard] (Evren) [Points] [Points] [Points] [Points] [Points] + [Unique] = 8pts
[Scorecard] (Wright) [Points] [Points] [Points] [Points] [Points] + [Unique] = 8pts

Send for the funeral singer

Ellen Albertini Dow was something of a late developer in Hollywood. She first caught the eye in 1998, as the rapping granny in Adam Sandler's only half-decent film 'The Wedding Singer' and settled into the role of the quirky oldie for a late career flourish. She was 101 and a hit for a clutch of teams and a 5th hit for theme team 16 Is The Number who's proving 16 is a lucky number as they take the lead in the TTL...
Somewhat more soberly comes the death of young mother Samantha Beaven who passed away aged 29, a hit for three teams. It's in the rules, so let's move on...

[Scorecard] (Dow) [Points] [Points] [Points] [Points] (5 teams) = 4pts [Joker](1 team) = 8pts
[Scorecard] (Beaven) [Points] [Points] [Points] [Points] [Points] [Points] [Points] [Points] [Points] [Points] [Points] [Points] (3 teams) = 12pts [Joker](1 team) = 24pts

The Iron Duke rusts

Geoff Duke was one of the great names of motorcycling in the 1950s. Duke won the great Isle of Man TT on six occasions and was a hair's breadth from being the first motorcyclist to lap at 100mph. He died aged 92 and was a hit for three teams.
Colonel Bertram Stuart Archer was the oldest recipient of the George Cross for his work on bomb disposal during World War II. You don't often get the likes of him anymore. He was 100 and a hit for 2 teams.
Now a couple of hits from April. Gene Fullmer has been somewhat written out of middleweight boxing history, despite beating the legendary Sugar Ray Robinson on no less than three occasions albeit when the latter, arguably the greatest boxer of all, was past his peak in later meetings. He was World champion in 1957 and again from 1959 to 1961. Fuller was 83 and a unique hit for Out for the C*unt.
Peter Howell was a prolific character actor whom The Man In Black personally remembers playing a judge sentencing Mr You-Don't-Wanna-Do-It-Like-That to death on 'Harry Enfield's Television Programme'. He was 95 and a unique hit for Brown Bananas.

[Scorecard] (Duke) [Points] [Points] [Points] [Points] [Points] (3 teams) = 5pts
[Scorecard] (Archer) [Points] [Points] [Points] [Points] (2 teams) = 4pts
[Scorecard] (Fullmer) [Points] [Points] [Points] [Points] [Points] [Points] + [Unique] = 9pts
[Scorecard] (Howell) [Points] [Points] [Points] [Points] [Points] + [Unique] = 8pts


List of the Lost - Latest Entrants

John Stephenson, Eileen Essell, Elisabeth Wiedemann


List of the Missed - Latest Entrants

Stuart Sherwin, Dean Potter, Marques Haynes


Player of the Month - April

The Living End - 46 points (honourable mention to Thomas Jefferson Survives, who had FIVE hits in April!)


Latest News

High drama at FIFA as Sepp Blatter steps down as President days after winning the election after continuing allegations of bribery and corruption hit the football world. Meanwhile, former German chancellor Helmut Kohl is in a critical condition...
The Theme Team League is updated for May.

Message to all current competitors: There will be no more regular emails except in certain circumstances, such as rules and invitation to next year's competition.

Further Information
Derby Dead Pool is hosted by The Man In Black with contributions from Big-Iain, Rude Kid, Siegfried Baboon, Octopus of Odstock, WEP 2.0 - World's Eternity Prophet Reloaded, The Grey Horde, Thomas Jefferson Survives, Bibliogryphon, David Quantick's Showbiz Pals, Dickie's Gone the Way of the Dinosaurs & The End Of The World As We Know It

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