alt obits guy

And congratulations on retaking the AO deadpool lead. I've had Tsvangirai before, but not in any recent year.

Marie Gruber hit is now official and is a solo.

Good to hear. Once I know for certain (unless an update comes first), I will confirm the hit here.

Marie Gruber, the most difficult name I managed to find for the AO Deadpool, has died. There is some uncertainty as to whether the obituaries I provided are sufficient, as both are online German sites to what appear to be well known newspapers from that country. At least one of last year's hits (Carsten Mohren) appeared to have been okayed with a German obit. Gruber's death date on Wikipedia is listed as Thursday, February 8th, though her death is only being reported today (February 11th). If it qualifies, I get another hit. If the date is accurate...in Maxwell Smart voice, "Missed it by that much" (a vaunted trifecta, three deaths on one day).

Thank you. I see somebody also got a hit for John Gavin. Busy day for deaths.

I do, indeed, have Liam Miller. If he has died, he was days away from his birthday. Meanwhile, I found an obit from ABC news radio (the U.S. station, not the Australian one) for Craig MacGregor that should suffice. Will submit it momentarily.

I also suspect Mr. Tierney will have him. He was a carry-over from my 2017 list.

As some names who I don't have, but others do, appear to be closing in on death, I may be able to put on more hit on my resume, so to speak. I had Foghat bassist Craig MacGregor in the AO Deadpool. No obituary yet that I'm willing to submit for confirmation, but I expect something from one of the better known music magazines will be published. If good, it's my second hit of 2018. Meanwhile, I also get to claim one of the 'strikeouts' as my own. I'm the one who had Dave Barrett, former Premier of British Columbia, in 2016. A suspected solo had he gone then and certainly one had I re-added him this year.

I've benefited from posted names in determining dead pool choices, time to give back. CBC radio show host Arthur Black has pancreatic cancer. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/arthur-black-dying-pancreatic-cancer-1.4506994 Dead http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/cbc-radio-personality-arthur-black-dead-at-age-74-1.4546417

Congratulations! It's been a good January for you.

Congratulations to those who had Patrick Cryne. I can't be too upset as his was a name that hadn't crossed my path. Guess I never searched for the right combination of keywords. I find it harder when a pick is shortlisted, fails to make the final cut, then ends up dying. The lead is indeed yours, Joey Russ. Well earned.

Congratulations to Jiroemon Kimura / Cancerous Hatred for his 2017 win.

Thank you for the welcome. Yes, I also sent the IBTimes obituary and ones from canoe.com, the Fight Network, various newspapers and even one from a Japanese website. Some were full length obits, others shortened. No combination proved sufficient to be the qualifying obituary. In literally less than a minute from my posting this, the 2017 year will officially be closed.

No, I don't have him. Can't say he came across my research last year.

Understandable. My oldest in the 2018 pool is 89 and I do tend to avoid nonagenarians & centenarians. Before superlatives (oldest, tallest, etc.) were disqualified as picks, I'd frequently choose the oldest living person at the time. Gave me a solo at the beginning of one year, where I led the Deadpool with 1 point (no bonus points for supercentenarians then) for a couple of days. I made an exception last year for Mario Soares, given his comatose state.

In this case, many of these names are familiar to me, but a few were off my radar. I will say at least one made my final list, a carryover from last year. Others...maybe, maybe not. As for my own possibility of solos, one is Canadian and just not much in the news. Another will likely require a foreign language obituary. Most of the rest on my list have probably been selected by a few people, but there may be a couple who slipped in unnoticed. Suffice it to say, John McCain will not score any bonus points.

Inherently, I've found there's a certain amount of subjectivity with the decisions as to who hits the acceptance threshold for the AO Deadpool. I guess it's unavoidable. There is an argument to be made for Vervoort because she was a gold medal Paralympian but, given the distinctly lesser popularity of the Paralympics vs the Olympics, it was decided she didn't meet that threshold. Even being an Olympian is actually no guarantee. One of the 2018 picks I submitted and that was rejected, Ian Lariba, was an Olympic table tennis player from the Philippines. She was at the 2016 games. Just not famous enough.

The AO Deadpool has one person who only picks despots. They may get a couple of hits a year but I guess their conscience is clear with their selections. Otherwise, yes, many people only pick old actors and other elderly sorts while a select few tend to mostly include people who've received a serious diagnosis. Some probably do throw a couple of better-known personalities. All the names you mentioned above are familiar to me and were considered for my 2018 list. Within the second group, there are those who make the extra effort to find the hidden ailing. I've seen many hits for people who I'd never heard and who I didn't come across in my preparations...and I do make the effort. These forums are both a blessing and a curse in that they can offer up good suggestions while lessening the likelihood of solos, as I found out in 2017. I'm cool with the lists not being revealed. I see that's the exception, not the rule, as far as deadpools go.

Yes, it is. What I've noticed is that some people tend to play old Hollywood and better known names. Anyone who does can benefit from an early death, like a Jerry Van Dyke. In time, it's those who've made the effort to put people on their list that've been diagnosed with a serious illness who emerge as pool leaders.

Yes, I just read the notification e-mail. Doesn't surprise me. Well, the game is on.

Thanks for the welcome, msc. Yes, Francis seemed like he could be accepted. Goodwin not being a federal Aussie politician made her more of a long shot. Can't blame a guy for trying, though.

Sorry to disappoint you Joey Russ. Perhaps a duet with Manikan, if nobody has him besides us?

Hello deadsox / Deceased Hose. Your reputation has preceded you in the pool for many years.

Thank you Death Impends. Good luck, as well.