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, but from 2010 onwards it's the turn of The Man in Black to run the DDP.
| Latest Stiffs: 27th October 2013 |
You Needham worry about Hal anymore... |
| Stuntman-turned film director Hal Needham has died. Needham introduced safety features, such as air-filled bags while as a stuntman before turning his hand to directing in 1977, with the hit film 'Smokey and the Bandit', which starred Burt Reynolds and Sally Field. Needham provided the interesting innovation of adding outakes of actors 'corpsing' at the end credits of his films, which added to the somewhat jocular nature of them. Needham was 82. Diepod Shuffle get a well-earned unique hit. Despite the Grim Reaper's somewhat ambling performance in recent months (sort of, there's been a fair few misses lately), the all-time record set last year is within touching distance and a double century of stiffs is still on the cards as we head into Autumn... |
![[Scorecard]](/images/score.png)
![[Points]](/images/death.gif)
+
![[Unique]](/images/unique.gif) = 9pts |
Bad Karma for Nyanasamvara |
| Buddist leader Nyanasamvara Suvaddhana has died. Suvaddhana was the Supreme Patriarch of Thailand's Buddist community (90% of them!) but had been ill for a long time, spending the last decade of his life in hospital. Ironic that someone who follows a religion in which life and death are merely incidental should hang on to life for so long! He was 100. Master Mind get a unique hit to nudge them into a highly competitive top ten. |
|
+
= 7pts |
Without a Caro in the World |
| Acclaimed sculptor Sir Anthony Caro has died. A protege of the legendary Henry Moore, Caro set out on his own path of metallic, abstract modernist sculpture in the 1950s. Caro was a teacher at St. Martins College of Art from 1953-81. He was knighted in 1987. Caro was 89. Arts theme team All Death Is Consolation get a unique joker hit and 18 points. |
+
+
![[Joker]](/images/joker2.gif) = 18pts |
Ronnie, Rea's gone! |
| Former snooker player Jackie Rea has potted his final ball. Rea was Northern Ireland's dominant snooker player during the 1950s and 60s, finishing runner-up in the 1957 World Championship to
John Pulman when it was a challenge event. Rea was among the contenders for the first 'Pot Black' BBC tournament in 1969 and was an inspiration to the legendary
Alex Higgins, who succeeded Rea as Irish snooker champion in 1972.
Rea was 92 and a unique hit for newcomers Soon To Be Gone.
|
|
+
= 8pts |
Nice to have Metsu, Bruno... |
| International football coach Bruno Metsu has died of cancer. Metsu was born in France but is known for coaching teams in Africa. His finest hour was in 2002, when he led Senegal to the quarter finals of the World Cup, losing out in extra-time to Turkey. Metsu was 59. A big hit for David Quantick's Showbiz Pals, who move into contention in 4th place and a joker still to be played.... |
|
(8 teams) = 9pts |
| Latest Stiffs: 12th October 2013 |
Erich now idle |
| Nazi war criminal Erich Priebke has died in Italy. Priebke was convicted in 1998 for war crimes committed during World War II.
However, rather than slopping out with assorted criminals in Italian chokey, he was instead under house arrest due to his age. Still, a much more appropriate punishment in the fires of Hell awaits, possibly.
Priebke was 100 and a hit for over 30 teams, leaving only a dozen or so acknowledged Nazi war criminals remaining...
|
|
(31 teams) = 4pts
(1 team) = 8pts |
Scott's no longer made of the right stuff |
| American astronaut Scott Carpenter has died. Carpenter was the second US man to orbit the Earth in 1962 and was a member of the celebrated Mercury 7 group of astronauts in the 1960s, alongside John Glenn, who is now the only survivor. Carpenter was 88 and a hit for two teams. |
|
(2 teams) = 6pts |
Chopper makes the cut |
| A possibly significant hit in this year's DDP race is that of Australian criminal Mark Brandon Read, better known as "Chopper", who has died of liver cancer aged 58. Chopper Read served time in jail for many years before turning to writing. His life was dramatised in the cult 2000 film 'Chopper', starring Eric Bana. Read has been accused of perhaps embroidering his past, once claiming he killed 19 people, despite never being charged or jailed for murder. It seems he was right about being ill, however. 16 teams, many of them contenders, get a welcome autumnal boost to their 2013 prospects, at time when many teams are already thinking ahead to next year... |
|
(16 teams) = 9pts
(2 teams) = 18pts |
Broadbent out of shape |
| I must admit, old footballers tend to be my bugbear when it somes to spotting DDP hits and Peter Broadbent, the former Wolverhampton Wanderers forward, almost slipped under the radar. Broadbent was much admired, most notably by the late George Best, so he must have been a decent player. He was 80. Octopus of Odstock's football theme team The Jean-Jacques Misse Misse XI is one of two teams to grab the points. |
|
(2 teams) = 6pts |
Death dogs de Wardener |
| So Anthony Hinds wasn't quite the last hit of September, Professor H. D. de Wardener is. Hugh de Wardener was a former POW in World War II (the common theme these days for DDP hits it seems) before becoming a pioneer in the treatment of kidney disease. He died aged 97. A welcome unique hit for Grobler's Stiff Ones. |
|
+
= 8pts |
| Latest Stiffs: 5th October 2013 |
Mind the Giap |
| One of America's nemese, General Vo Nguyen Giap has died. General Vo was Defence Minister during the Tet Offensive of 1968, which was key to communist North Vietnam claiming the South and eventually ending the USA's involvement in the region
in 1975. Before that the French were sent packing from Indochina, as Vietnam was known then, with Vo leading the way.
Vo was 102 the third hit of such an age in little over a month. Gray Panthers get a boost to his theme team aspirations with a joker hit...
|
|
(12 teams) = 4pts,
(1 team) = 8pts |
Hammer hearse of horror! |
| The last hit of what has been a quiet month by recent DDP standards is of film producer Anthony Hinds. Hinds was the head of film company Hammer, taking over from his father. Under Hinds, Hammer specialised in horror films, starting with 'The Quatermas Xperiment' in 1955, but were best known for the series of Frankenstien and Dracula films, which made superstars out of Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. Hinds wrote several scripts for the company himself under a pseudonym. He died aged 91. Sometimes They Come Back get the points. Sounds like a horror film, doesn't it? Get on the phone, Tony. Oh, you can't... |
|
+
= 8pts |
The magic has gone for Calvert |
| Magician and actor John Calvert has performed a disappearing act aged 102. Calvert's started performing magic tricks aged 8 and he was playing the London Palladium when he was 100. He even flirted with Hollywood, taking over the Falcon role in the 1940s from George Sanders. It looked for a while that he may be on the List of the Lost, but The Herald pulled the rabbit out of the proverbial hat. Worm Farmer get a unique hit... |
|
+
= 7pts |
Another Hubel out in the heavens |
| Neurobiologist David H. Hubel was died. Hubel, along with Torsten Wiesel, made important discoveries concerning eyes and the complex processing of images, which in turn led to treatments to young babies' eyesight. For this work they were awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1981. He was 87. The Canadian is a hit for self explanatory theme team Death Is International. |
|
+
= 9pts |
| List of the Lost - Latest Entrants |
| List of the Missed - Latest Entrants |
|
Tom Clancy, Phil Chevron, Martin Drewes, Bum Phillips, Jovanka Broz, Lawrence R. Klein, Noel Harrison and sadly, Lou Reed |
| Player of the Month - September |
|
Doornails R Us - 11 points |
| Latest News |
|
Former football boss Alex Ferguson publishes his autobiography and tries to settle a few old scores. Not that he bears grudges or nothing, eh Roy? Comedian Russell Brand gets political. Genuine or just a passing phase? A big storm is brewing in Blighty, which can only mean that Michael Fish is back in the news again. Let's hope you get the forecast right this time, Michael... The Theme Team League page has been updated for October... |
| 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 and The Grey Horde
|
![[DDP 2013]](/images/ddp2013.png) |
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