The 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. 2016 marks the Twentieth Anniversary!

Latest Stiffs: 30th November 2016 by The Man in Black

One last cigar for Fidel...

Viva La Revolution (in the grave)

2016 has been a sensational year for celebrity passings but what was lacking was a major World figure. Fidel Castro was such a figure, but if ever there was someone punching above their weight, it was Castro. The Carribean island of Cuba was a tax haven-cum gambling centre for the USA but that all changed in 1959 when Fidel Castro overthrew the Batista regime and installed himself as socialist leader, aided by the cult revolutionary Che Guevara. Bang smack in the middle of the Cold War and Castro was at the heart of it: his close relationship with the Soviet Union and equally tense rivalry with the USA almost lead to a Third World War in 1962. Castro lead for nearly 50 years - hated for his supression of free speech and opposition, admired for driving Cuba's improvement in healthcare and in particular education. Castro effectively stepped down in 2006 for health reasons, making way for his brother Raul. Castro died at 90, remarkable considering the numerous attempts on his life, including an exploding cigar! Well it's Havana cigars all round for the 94 teams that chose him, making him hit number 12 on the Drop 40. Remember: from next year these hits will count for more...

(94 teams) = 5pts (2 teams) = 10pts

Insert obvious checkmate pun here

Mark Taimanov was a chess grandmaster as well as a concert pianist who found himself in hot water with the USSR in 1971, when he lost 6-0 to the infamous Bobby Fischer in a World Championship quarter-final. For two years after he was ostracised by the authorities before being allowed back into the fold. Taimanov was 90 and a unique hit for Dead and Dusted 3.

+ = 8pts

Grim's putting on the Fritz

Fritz Weaver was a veteran US actor who won a Tony award in 1970 and was nominated for an Emmy for his performance as a Jewish patriarch in the drama 'Holocaust' in 1978. Weaver specialised in genre TV roles in series such as 'The X-Files' and 'Star Tek: Deep Space Nine' among others. He died aged 90 and was a hit for 2 teams. Singer Sharon Jones was credited with spearheading the "soul revival" of the 2000s with her band The Dap-Kings. She and the band, with their old-school rendering of soul and funk, were nominated for a Grammy in 2014. Jones died of cancer aged 60, with 7 teams scoring, The Anfield Iron earning a joker bonus. Denton Cooley may have had a name that sounded like he was a member of the Dap-Kings but he was in fact a pioneering heart surgeon who performed the first heart transplant operation in 1968 and then implanted the first artificial heart, as a temporary measure, the following year. He had a long-standing feud with fellow heart surgeon (and DDP graduate) Michael DeBakey. Cooley was 96 and a hit for two teams. Ruth Gruber was a journalist who when working for the US government during World War 2, helped arrange the settlement of more than 1,000 Jewish refugees and successfully lobbied for them to become US citizens. She died aged 105 and was a hit for two theme teams. The next update will include the opening of the nomination period for 2017...

(Weaver) (2 teams) = 5pts

(Jones) (7 teams) = 8pts (1 team) = 16pts

(Cooley) (2 teams) = 5pts

(Gruber) (2 teams) = 4pts

Latest Stiffs: 17th November 2016 by The Man in Black

Hustled out of the game...

Vaughn's the last of the gang to die

Actor Robert Vaughn has died. Vaughn first caught the eye in 1960, playing gunfighter Lee in John Sturges' hit western 'The Magnificent Seven' and would spend the rest of his career alternating between playing heroes or villians (equally adept at both). He achieved worldwide fame as the dashing agent Napoleon Solo in 'The Man From Uncle', which surfed the wave of the spy boom of the 1960s. Vaughn won an Emmy in 1978 for his role as the scheming Frank Flaherty in the Watergate-inspired mini-series 'Washington: Behind Closed Doors'. He was a familiar face on British TV too, appearing in 'The Protectors' in the 1970s and achieved later success as the genial conman Albert Stroller in the BBC series 'Hustle'. He even turned up in 'Coronation Street'. Vaughn was 83 and a hit for 5 teams. Shame it wasn't 7....

(5 teams) = 6pts

Death of a Ladies Man

Acclaimed singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen has died after a fall. The Canadian poet and novelist turned to folk music in the 1960s essentially to earn a decent living and he hit the ground running with his cult opus 'The Songs of Leonard Cohen' in 1967. His brooding style was not to everyone's tastes but nonetheless he has a successful if somewhat wayward career, often dogged by depression and financial mismanagement. He unexpectedly hit paydirt in later years when his 1984 song 'Hallelujah' was covered by a succession of artists, including John Cale, Jeff Buckley and 'X Factor ' winner Alexandra Burke, whose version was the UK Christmas number 1 in 2008. Cohen died aged 83, just weeks after the release of his latest album. Something of a theme this year. Lastorders gets a unique hit. Lupita Tovar was a Mexican actress who perfomed in the Spanish language version of 'Dracula', using the same sets as the version starring Bela Lugosi. She was 106 and a hit for 7 teams, with Old As Dirt claiming the joker. So far there has been no hits from 13th November which means there is just one more chance to claim the "Unlucky 13" bonus before it is discontinued... Gardnar Mulloy was an American tennis player who specialised in doubles. He won four US Championships with his partner Bill Talbert in the 1940s and 50s and the Wimbledon title with Budge Patty in 1957 aged 43. His biggest success in singles was a solitary US championship final appearance in 1952, losing to Australian Frank Sedgman. Mulloy was 102 and a unique hit for Old People, Young Death. Dwayne Andreas was CEO at food manufacturer Archer Daniels Midland and had his thumbs and most of his fingers in political pies in Washington. Andreas donated to both Democrat and Republican politicians and hobnobbed with the likes of Harry S. Truman and Mikhail Gorbachev. He finally got his wings clipped in 1997 when his company was fined for price-fixing, with his only son heading to prison. Andreas was 98 with Captain Hemlock's Twenty pocketing the points, probably in a brown paper bag....

(Cohen) + + = 12pts

(Tovar) (7 teams) = 4pts (1 team) = 8pts

(Mulloy) + = 7pts

(Andreas) + = 8pts

Holy Mose(s)

Mose Allison was a blues and jazz pianist and songwriter who although didn't achieve much commercial success was much admired and covered by many artists including The Who, Leon Russell (who has sadly also passed away recently), The Clash and the Pixies amongst many others. Allison was 89 and was a unique hit for See You In Heaven. Melvin R. Laird won a Purple Heart for his service for the US Navy during World War 2 before turning to politics. The congressman from Wisconsin served as Richard Nixon's Secretary for Defense from 1969-73 towards the end of the Vietnam War and was instrumental in US forces gradually withdrawing from South Vietnam but not without equipping and training the South Vietnamese first. Laird was 94 and a hit for two teams. Len Allchurch was a Welsh footballer who served most of his career at Swansea City alongside his brother, the late Ivor Allchurch. He won 11 international caps and played his whole career without getting a single booking. He was 83 for I Told You I Was Ill. This latest burst of hits puts 2016 just a dozen off the all time record from 2014...

(Allison) + = 9pts

(Laird) (2 teams) = 5pts

(Allchurch) + = 9pts

List of the Lost - Latest Entrants

Marc Sleen, Zara Nutley, Frans Tutuhatunewa, Salme Katajavuori, Jannes Eiselen, Ilse Aichinger, Luigi Caccia Dominioni, Jay Wright Forrester

List of the Missed - Latest Entrants

Leon Russell, Nana Afua Kobi Serwaa Ampem II, William Trevor, Florence Henderson, Margaret Rhodes, Grant Tinker

Player of the Month - October

Sir Candy's All Stars - 22 points

Latest News

Mick 'n Keef along with the rest of the Stones are back with a new album. Could it be their last? The Theme Team League is updated for November with Shameless still in the lead...

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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