machotrouts

TLC first draft "needs work"

I've not necessarily thought this through but it makes sense off the top of my head: how about giving the win to whoever had the last "hit" (presumably this would be whichever of the tied players was most recently winning/closest to winning), on the basis that picking someone who dies later in the year is, arguably, a better bad pick than someone who dies earlier in the year? If Player 1 gets one hit in December, and Player 2 gets one hit in February, then in lieu of any other information, I'd say Player 1 was the "better" player. Someone who dies just short of the finishing line was at least close to being a good pick. If they had the same last hit, then second last, third last, fourth last etc. If both teams have the exact same hits (including if both teams manage to get 0), then whoever submitted their team first (or more specifically, whoever finalised their team first, after accounting for mistakes and duplicates or whatever).

An admin on a deadpooling forum posting a thissiteisahoax link? Edit: I see it's filtered for me. Admins get the special privilege of falling for spam sites

A surprise hit for my Derby Dead Pool "#1 Hits" theme team. I resented "having" to include him, because as the oldest living male UK #1 hitmaker, he was on there effectively by default regardless of his health. I expected him to outlive most of his 19 teammates. I believe the oldest living male #1 hitmaker is now Tony Bennett, who I intend to start resenting from 2019 onwards.

This is not a game that incentivises risk-taking. I just figured McCain had months to go when people seemed to think he was imminent in January, and took a chance on him scraping 2019 to look like the forum psychic.

The people on my Derby Dead Pool team of #1 hitmakers who are also on my Inverse Dead Pool team – the ones who weren't properly imminent but were at least theme-team mortal – are Doris Day, Vera Lynn, and Olivia Newton-John. But, wisely, not Aretha Franklin. (Or Chris Rea, for that matter, who I maintain has been dead since 2017 and it's just that nobody's bothered to phone his agent and check.) I'm currently 7th place. 5 of the 6 teams above me have Aretha. I like this thread now.

He'll probably funk a bit after he dies too

Oh no, has Anne Frank died

You shouldn't have been watching her sex tapes in the first place.

You say that, but now she'll be able to suck herself off

Very considerate of him. Unique hit for my #1 Hits Derby Dead Pool team. I was so confused the first time I heard that song and did a Google Image search on him. The dweebiest male vocal in music history was somehow recorded by what looks like a retired 1980s WWE star.

Which of his 20-odd UK top 40 singles was his "one hit"? Avicii was responsible for at least two of the defining sounds of 2010s pop ("everything trying to sound like 'Levels'" and "everything trying to sound like 'Wake Me Up'"). He's hardly Rednex. (Rednex were better, but that's not the point.)

5 or 6 years past his chart peak, to be fair – he was already naff enough in 2014 that he was producing for Coldplay. By 2015 he was getting cut from a Madonna album. Only finding out now he had a #4 hit last year, though, featuring Rita Ora. It's always 2012 somewhere.

I'd have had 4 hits instead of 1 by now if I'd just stuck with last year's team. 2018 is proving to be a bad year for 2017.

Changing the picture without changing the bio was the best possible outcome here, and I hope it stays like that.

Couple of errors I noticed in the 'Angela of Death' team: - The DUP founder Peter Robinson should actually be the popstar Marilyn. In all circumstances, really, but particularly in the Derby Dead Pool. Marilyn's real name is Peter Robinson – presumably he was entered as that because of the database's aversion to mononyms, and he got lost in translation. - The picture in Pete Gilbey's bio is actually of his son, George Gilbey. Pete Gilbey looks like this. (Also – and I'm sure this is an error it was submitted with – I'm not sure Pete Gilbey's name is actually Pete Gilbey. They're known as the Gilbey family, but some sources call him Pete McGarry.)

"gagging" doesn't rhyme with "sharting"

1. Queen Elizabeth II 2. Paul Gascoigne 3. Donald Trump 4. Betty White 5. Angela Lansbury 6. Terry Jones 7. Dick Van Dyke 8. Doris Day 9. Olivia de Havilland 10. Prunella Scales 11. Little Richard 12. Linda Nolan 13. Vera Lynn 14. Val Kilmer 15. Robert Mugabe 16. Henry Kissinger 17. Denis Norden 18. Bob Barker 19. Bob Dole 20. Stephen Hawking 21. Kirk Douglas 22. Olivia Newton-John 23. Alberto Fujimori 24. John McCain 25. Prince Philip (Sub: Carol Channing) Four of these people are also on my actual Derby Dead Pool (theme) teams. Hedging my bets.

Not sure this counts as an error, but Marco Pierre White Jr on my 'Unpersons' team has a blank "Details to Follow" bio this year, even though I also had him last year and he was given a bio then. (He was confused for Marco Pierre White not-Jr when the pool first went online, but this was subsequently corrected.) Also, this is really petty but it's bothered me for the past 3 years: the description for my '#1 Hits' team – "Those who have had a UK number 1 hit single either solo or as a group..." – ought to end "in a group", "as part of a group", "as a member of a group", something like that. There are no entire groups on there. It'd be great if all 20 came together as a charity supergroup for the particularly mortal, but it hasn't happened yet.

I think he's done enough of that already.

#1 Hits (a UK #1 hitmaker theme team) SUBSTITUTES: 21. Willie Nelson (USA for Africa) 22. Gordon Banks (England World Cup Squad '70) 23. Shane MacGowan (Various Artists*) 24. Rolf Harris (#6 last year) 25. Martin Peters (England World Cup Squad '70) 26. Mike Peters (Ferry Aid) 27. Peter MacBeth (Foundations) (#8 last year) 28. Ricky Valance 29. Chris Farlowe 30. Vic Damone (#12 last year) 31. Tony Bennett 32. Ken Dodd (#17 last year) 33. Ernest Ranglin (Commonwealth Band) 34. Bill Wyman (Rolling Stones) (#9 last year) 35. Windsor Davies 36. Bruce Woodley (Seekers) 37. Gary Glitter 38. Julia Volkova (t.A.T.u.) 39. Dr John (Various Artists*) 40. Des O'Connor (*i.e. the BBC Children in Need 'Perfect Day' cover) Unpersons (a Big Brother theme team) SUBSTITUTES: 21. Kim Woodburn 22. Carol McGiffin 23. The Situation 24. Jeremy Jackson (#10 last year) 25. Stephen Bear 26. Scotty T 27. Tila Tequila (#18 last year) 28. Janice Dickinson (#7 last year) 29. Heidi Fleiss 30. Shahbaz Chauhdry 31. Kellie Maloney 32. Daniel Baldwin 33. Angie Bowie 34. Leo Sayer 35. David Parnaby 36. Kavana 37. Coolio 38. Lesley Brain 39. Bobby Davro 40. Rebekah Shelton

Nobby Stiles ...oh

Submitted my two teams Dec 31, 23:58. A minute more punctual than the last two years. #1 Hits A theme team of people who've had a record peak at #1 in the UK Singles Chart (either solo or as part of a group). Last year's position is given in brackets, where applicable. 1. (new) Chas Smash (Madness) 2. (new) Nobby Stiles (England World Cup Squad '70) 3. (new) DJ Casper 4. (new) Olivia Newton-John 5. (4) Vera Lynn 6. (new) Chris Rea (Band Aid II) 7. (new) Harry Belafonte 8. (new) Aretha Franklin 9. (1) Ray Thomas (Moody Blues) 10. (19) Doris Day 11. (2) Terry Jacks 12. (new) Abi Ofarim 13. (new) Tony Baylis (Wurzels) 14. (new) Dave Edmunds 15. (re) Jane Morgan 16. (re) Charles Aznavour 17. (11) Sinéad O'Connor 18. (7) Billy Connolly 19. (new) Peter Kay 20. (new) Lil Wayne This team had two hits last year – Peter Sarstedt (3) and Chuck Berry (18). Survivors dropped from the team are: Len "Chip" Hawkes (5), Rolf Harris (6), Peter MacBeth (8), Bill Wyman (9), Eric Faulkner (10), Vic Damone (12), Kenny Rogers (13), Diana Ross (14), Justin Bieber (15), Barry Gibb (16), Ken Dodd (17), and Avicii (20). Unpersons A theme team of Big Brother housemates (including Celebrity Big Brother and other spin-offs). Last year's position is given in brackets, where applicable. 1. (new) Linda Nolan (CBB13) 2. (2) Jackie Stallone (CBB3) 3. (3) Bruce Jones (CBB12) 4. (1) Marco Pierre White Jr (BB17) 5. (5) Lionel Blair (CBB13) 6. (4) Julie Goodyear (CBB10) 7. (11) Big Ron Atkinson (CBB12) 8. (13) Ken Morley (CBB15) 9. (17) Gary Busey (CBB14) 10. (6) Lauren Harries (CBB12) 11. (8) Danniella Westbrook (CBB17) 12. (re) Alexander O'Neal (CBB15) 13. (re) Germaine Greer (CBB3) 14. (12) John McCririck (CBB3) 15. (re) Michael Barrymore (CBB4) 16. (new) Jackiey Budden (CBB5) 17. (new) Tina Malone (CBB6) 18. (new) James Cosmo (CBB19) 19. (new) Dennis Rodman (CBB4) 20. (new) Sarah Harding (CBB20) This team had no hits last year. Dropped from the team are: Janice Dickinson (7), Carol McGiffin (9), Jeremy Jackson (10), Christopher Biggins (14), Liz Jones (15), Carole Vincent (16), Tila Tequila (18), Starboy Nathan (19), and Ivana Trump (20).

I see the Ivana/Ivanka mix-up has already been mentioned in this thread (my Big Brother-themed team 'Unpersons' has Ivanka in it when it should be her mum Ivana). One other possible issue: Marco Pierre White Jr has been entered as just Marco Pierre White. To clarify, my pick is the Big Brother housemate, not his dad the famous chef. Also, not that it really matters, but Avicii has been entered on my '#1 Hits' team as "Tim Berling" when his real name appears to be "Tim Bergling". (I wouldn't have recognised the name either way – had to Google it because I thought my team had a mystery intruder – but I gather the database gets a bit tetchy about mononyms)

Strictly Corpse Dying (a Strictly Come Dancing/Dancing with the Stars theme team) 21: June Brown 22: Tim Wonnacott 23: George Hamilton I didn't spend nearly long enough on this team to have anything below the basic three-person subs bench. Obviously Gary Busey would be there if he wasn't already in another team I'm more invested in. This one: Unpersons (a Big Brother theme team) 21: Alicia Douvall (#10 last year) 22: Jackiey Budden 23: Michael Barrymore (#12 last year) 24: Rebekah Shelton (#1 last year) 25: Alexander O'Neal (#11 last year) 26: Germaine Greer (#19 last year) 27: Darryn Lyons 28: Angie Bowie 29: Lady Sovereign 30: Lesley Brain 31: Tara Reid 32: Daniel Baldwin 33: Paddy Doherty (#13 last year) 34: Kellie Maloney 35: Coolio 36: Shahbaz Chauhdry 37: Dirk Benedict 38: Dennis Rodman 39: Gail Porter 40: Leo Sayer Four of last year's team – Paula Hamilton (#17), Katie Hopkins (#15), Dustin Diamond (#9), and Derek Laud (#20) – are out of the top 40 entirely. #1 Hits (a UK #1 hitmaker theme team) 21: Chris Farlowe 22: Brian Wilson (The Beach Boys) 23: Marcia Barrett (Boney M.) (#8 last year) 24: Rick Westwood (The Tremeloes) 25: Mick Taylor (The Rolling Stones) 26: Brian May (Queen) 27: Aretha Franklin 28: Charles Aznavour (#15 last year) 29: Jim Cregan (Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel) 30: John McVie (Fleetwood Mac) 31: Billy J. Kramer 32: Tommy Roe 33: Jerry Lee Lewis 34: Eric Burdon (The Animals) 35: Jerry Allison (The Crickets) 36: Harry Belafonte 37: Jane Morgan (#5 last year) 38: Tony Bennett 39: John Leyton 40: Phil Collins Completely missed DJ Casper (and potentially other people of interest, I don't know) because I ran out of research time somewhere in the late 1990s. What are 21st century hitmakers doing getting cancer? Crazy Frog better watch his back