Joey Russ

Possibly. Maybe that pesky pelican is finally able to get a win too...

Well, it seems like it’s now past the DDP deadline for obits, so I would like to officially congratulate Reptile for winning the DDP. I think I mentioned a few years ago that I thought Reptile would a future winner in the next few years but can’t seem to find that post. Next year looks to be super wide open, but again, congrats on the win here.

Well regarded blues hero James Harman is battling stage 4 esophageal cancer.

This fails the Turing test.

Alright, I’m probably going to open up the new thread tomorrow. To address some of the points above: I don’t think bringing the deadline forward is necessarily the right move. I do have the crowdsource list deadline 3 hours before midnight in the UK, but the crowdsource list is also an entirely different beast with dealing with 50 name lists throughout the entry period rather than 11 name lists. The nature of those two pools are also entirely different from each other. One is the forum minds bringing up their own list to compete with the Deathlist, while this is far more competitive in stakes. And, while bringing the deadline 3 hours might help the host a bit, I think it might stress out the competitors. And we don’t want that to happen. So yeah, earlier closing period won’t happen. I think making the competitors more aware of their picks is a good idea. However, rejected picks actually didn’t come very often, so it probably wouldn’t happen too often. I would however also advise competitors to make sure their picks aren’t already dead. There was at least one instance of someone picking a name who was dead for over a week last time. I have mixed feelings about booting out competitors due to continued annoyance. In one way, yes it would reduce the stress of the host by not dealing with the same complaints over and over again. On the other hand, is it really fair to boot out a competitor just because they’re being super annoying? I don’t think that’s a good idea. However should competitors continue to constantly complain later down in the cup I may instate that rule hopefully to shut them up. One other issue that someone brought up last time was me not really able to do competitive play in the pool due to having to submit my team early, and honestly don’t worry about me not being able to compete as well. I did say this cup would be my final time as cup host and I expect to be back to the full swing of things come 2022.

Pst, it’s an inforum joke FYI.

Hopefully this is an indication that The Living End is back on top form now...

Oh, I just can’t wait for threads of Frank Ifield, Orrin Hatch, and Robert Fripp now...

This is what I get for not double checking the posts I just wrote down (but yes Mangeshkar is the drop rather than Marcos).

Is it the shut the fuck thread? Cause I would definitely look forward to that...

Folk who played Whamaggedon probably don’t like this news:

Already got a thread:

The biggest miss of 2021 so far without a doubt is Ayatollah Mohammad-Taqi Mesbah-Yazdi. Not sure you can go much bigger than that...

16. Don’t think it’ll quite reach 2020 scores but I think it’ll do better than people expected

James Whale is the cancer name that stunned me the most that he didn’t make it on. From what I can gather he seems to be the UK’s Rush Limbaugh in a lot of ways. Harding and Parker not making it though doesn’t surprise me at all...

Peter Falk will definitely be the biggest miss from the list...

Basically my skepticism was his last QO mention was almost 2 years ago, although I definitely could’ve called that Noble play wrong.

Wait, I think he confused Ronnie Atkins with Ronald Atkins. That’s probably it

Yeah, can’t find anything on his demise either

Thankfully they’re banned as a theme team next year...

Right then, my alt obits rejections: Jungle Grrrl Hideki Hosoka Jesse Matthew Jr Gared O’Donnell Stacy Title Miguel Van Damme

Right, here were some names I considered during the last week of the year: Yoko Ono - Her situation seems very dire, but just wasn’t sure if she would drop 40, and I already have enough low pointers as it stands Michael Caputo - From what I can tell his cancer spread was more localized. Definitely would be a hit to celebrate, but I’ve taken the punt that he sees another year Yoo Sang-chul - Yes, I saw that his cancer was nearly gone as well, and while pancreatic cancer usually does come back, I think he’ll follow a more similar route to Pat Smullen which takes him to 2022 Pat Martino - Had him considered for my team a long time, I think he does have a better chance for a QO than many do (also got a Guardian article in the past), but backed out of him the last few weeks Ron Wright: Think his cancer might be worse than he’s letting on, but he seemed to have bounced back a bit after his health scare Necro Butcher: Looks absolutely terrible, but iirc only Stage 3 cancer rather than stage 4, so I’ve taken the punt he sees another year (although his death would not shock at all) Lee Noble: Last time I thought sure obit but not sure death. This time I thought sure death but not sure obit. Honestly is someone who might’ve died off the radar, and as such felt too risky Jungle Grrrl: Thought about picking her as a way to test how far the metro QO goes for wrestler after the stunning Karsten Beck QO, but I’m not sure if woman wrestlers have the same clickbaityness Jana Bennett: Probably the name I ultimately got bored with the most, and only 8 points too. So will probably score for those of you who picked her Susan Bayh: I think she’s more long term now, given she’s already lasted two and a half years with glio, who says she can’t last another 3 years? That, and with Mike Pence no longer VP her QO chances might dip somewhat Jessie Colter: The most recent update makes him seem like a goner, but from what I can tell, it’s such a crapshoot on whether lesser known porn stars get a QO, and the gay porn stars seem even riskier Josh Evans: Football player who played with the Tennessee Titans, also had an appearance in the super bowl as well. That said, I’m still not sure he gets a QO and he has kidney cancer anyways so probably sees another year Hannah Wants: She seems to be going the alternative treatment route, although she’s also taking radiotherapy as well. Wouldn’t shock either way Neale Daniher: Saw that he was receiving some award last month, couldn’t decipher if he was truly on his way out or if it’s just that, an award Never seriously considered Sarah Harding or Shannen Doherty. They felt like this year’s ONJ and Linda Nolan (although the latter is in a much more dire situation now).

Right, here’s my squad. Like I said yesterday I would be happy with a top 10 performance so I doubt this team will do that well... James Whale (joker) Ady Barkan Tim Bilton Gary Burgess Sunday Burquest Paul Cosford Dai Davies Maria Farmer Jeffrey Foskett Alan Dean Foster David Gulpilil Rush Limbaugh Floyd Little Linda Nolan Tom Parker Jake “The Snake” Roberts Gavin Robertson Tom Smith Leon Spinks Míguel Van Damme

Second 2021 death. Apu has sadly died. Yes, Apu Onyimamsches has died of Covid