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: 9th June 2014 |
May roundup: The Black death(s) |
| After a period of technical problems, the DDP is (sort of) up and running again. So let's start with the end of May before updating to the present... The most notable death we had at the end of May was that of author Maya Angelou who has passed away aged 86. Angelou was a poet and playwright who came to prominence in 1969 with the release of her first set of Memoirs 'I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings' which became an instant bestseller, telling the often harowing tale of her upbringing as a black girl in the deep south. In 1993, Angelou read a recital at President Clinton's inaguration, the first to do so since Robert Frost in 1961. Shovelful of Dirt get a unique hit. Another who made a contribution to black culture (of sorts) was actor Herb Jeffries. Jeffries was a jazz singer who starred in a series of early blaxploitation westerns and was often billed "The Bronze Buckaroo", although his actual heritage was somewhat more mixed. Jeffries was 100. Manuel Uribe was a Mexican who was reputed to be the heaviest man in the World at one point (597kg). He lost almost half his body weight (230kg) before it crept up again and he paid the price, dying at 48. Noodle Squad get all the points, the greedy sod! And now for sport and the death of businessman Malcolm Glazer. Glazer was the man behind the takeover of Manchester United in 2005. The nature of the takeover, that of leveraging debt, was a contentious one amongst the Old Trafford faithfull although success on the field continued as normal. He never set foot in the so-called Theatre of Dreams. He was 86. Bloody Dead Rep reap the dividend. The last hit in this roundup is significant in terms of the DDP title race and recent Polish history. Wojciech Jaruzelski was Poland's last Communist leader, becoming Prime Minister in 1981, eventually as President. Jaruzelski declared martial law in December 1981 in an attempt to crush Lech Walesa's non-Communist trade union Solidarity. The stand off lasted several years until inevitably, the shades-wearing general was turfed out along with all the other Communist leaders in the Eastern Bloc in the wake of the Berlin Wall falling in 1989. Jaruzelski was 90 and had been ill for some time. He was a popular death too (not just among the Poles) with 84 picks, making him the highet placed stiff of the year. One of those teams was Drunkasaskunk, who retake the lead as we head into June, before I was rudely interrupted... |
![[Scorecard]](/images/score.png) (Angelou)
![[Points]](/images/death.gif)
+
![[Unique]](/images/unique.gif)
= 9pts |
(Jeffries)
(3 teams)
= 4pts ![[Joker]](/images/joker2.gif) (1 team) = 8pts |
|
(Duff)
(10 teams)
= 6pts (1 team) = 12pts |
|
(Uribe)
+
= 13pts |
|
(Glazer)
+
= 9pts |
|
(Jaruzelski)
(84 teams)
= 5pts (3 teams) = 10pts |
| Latest Stiffs: 2nd June 2014 |
Normal funeral service will be resolved as soon as possible... |
| Just a heads up regarding technical difficulties holding up the latest update. To wit The Man in Black's computer going tits up! Rest assured work is at hand to resolve the issue. |
| Latest Stiffs: 20th May 2014 |
Brabham heads for the eternal pit lane |
| Three-time Formula 1 World champion Sir Jack Brabham has died. Brabham won during F1's first great age, competing against the likes of Jim Clark, Jackie Stewart and Graham Hill in his tough, no-nonsense fashion. In 1966, he won the championship with a car of his own construction and this ultimately led to forming his own team, which continued into the 1990s. He was knighted in 1979, the first driver to be so honoured. Brabham was 88. Strange and sad that he outlasted another great three-time champion by 20 years, of whom much has been written about recently, Ayrton Senna. |
|
(3 teams)
= 6pts (1 team) = 12pts |
Ockels, the man who fell under the Earth |
| Astronaut Wubbo Ockels was the first Dutch citizen in space, when he was part of the ill-fated Challenger space shuttle's final successful mission in October 1985. It was his only trip in space. He died aged 68. The big winner from this hit is Chemo Sabee who hits the front, displacing double DDP champion Drunkasaskunk after just a few days... Jacinto Convit was a Venezuelan scientist who developed a vaccine for leprosy, although curiously not awarded the Nobel Prize for his efforts. He died aged 100. Spanish-speaking theme team Muertos grab the glory. Mary Stewart was a novelist who mixed romance with mystery and whose books often featured determined heroines who win the day. She was 97 and a hit for a pair of literary theme teams. Infamous for fifteen minutes was art collector Cornelius Gurlitt who has died aged 81. In 2012, German tax collectors discovered a hoard of over 1000 art treasures, seized from the Jews by the Nazis. Gurlitt's father was Adolf Hitler's art dealer. The artifacts are said to be worth millions of pounds. Gurlitt himself is now only worth 9 points for German theme team Death Speaks German... And now a discovered obit from a death in March. Joe Lala was a percussionist who worked with the Bee Gees and Barbara Streisand amongst others. When illness curtailed his music career, he turned to TV and film with various parts, often as a voice actor. He was 66. Among the obit publishers, the Independent has a habit of coming up with ones for more obscure picks months later and true to form they've come up with the goods. |
|
(Ockels)
(9 teams)
= 8pts |
|
(Convit)
+
= 7pts |
|
(Stewart)
(2 teams)
= 5pts |
|
(Gurlitt)
+
= 9pts |
|
(Lala)
(2 teams)
= 8pts |
Latest Stiffs: 10th May 2014 |
Kathy Crowe-k's it |
| For the first time since January, the DDP lead changes hands... Katherine Crowe was an Isle of Man-based singer who had terminal cancer. In 2012 she made headlines by releasing a single for Christmas which highlighted her plight. Not surprisingly she became a firm favourite of the DDP community. Crowe died aged 39. The net result of this means that we have a new leader, with David Quantick's Showbiz Pal's near 5 month stay at the top (barring a short period at the beginning of DDP 2014) coming to an end. Curiously it's another champion, only this time from way back in the 20th Century, for it is Drunkasaskunk who returns to the top. Looking at the Glaswegian's team selection, he may take some beating... Farley Mowat was a passionate Canadian environmentalist and a author of over 40 books, most notably 'Never Cry Wolf' in 1963. He was 92 and brings up a century of hits for 2014. Canadian theme team Rushing To Tim Horton's For Donuts After The Hockey Match get the points. The Guardian come up with the obit goods again for Austrian artist Maria Lassnig, who has died aged 94. Lassnig was known for exploring her own body for inspiration in her avant-garde paintings. Now a couple more from April. Those who picked US basketball coach Jack Ramsay have been rewarded for their patience and an offical relaxation of the obit rules, which now include online (UK version) news sites such as Yahoo. Well it counts!. Ramsay was 89. A similarly circuitous obit arrives regarding Arturo Licata, an Italian supercentenarian and the offical World's Oldest Man, who died aged 111. As you will find the article is more about his successor, Alexander Imich, who for once is actually known for something else other than being really old. No wonder there's been so many bloody hits... |
|
(Crowe)
(67 teams)
= 10pts (17 teams) = 20pts |
|
(Mowat)
+
= 8pts |
|
(Lassnig)
+
+
= 16pts |
|
(Ramsay)
(7 teams)
= 6pts |
|
(Licata)
(8 teams)
= 3pts |
|
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| List of the Lost - Latest Entrants |
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| List of the Missed - Latest Entrants |
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Clive Clark, Tatiana Samoilova, Colin Pillinger, Mohammad Naseem, Morning Glory Zell-Ravenheart, Sir Robert Porter |
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| Player of the Month - April |
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Under-Soil Greeting - 28 points |
| Latest News |
|
Legendary film composer Enio Morricone cancels a tour through illness. Former US president Bill Clinton reassures voters on the health of his wife Hillary as she muses on a run for the presidency in 2016. How are you doing, Bill? 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 and The Grey Horde
|
![[DDP 2014]](/images/ddp2014.jpg) |
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