An Fear Beag

Considering that any response would have come from Deathray, you can consider yourself lucky that you didn't receive one ! (Your team is on the masterlist)

Oh great - thanks for that MPFC - as if I wasn't pissed off enough already. You're a pal

I would also have no issues with Mr Whit being allowed in. Always happy to see new faces, even if they cant read the fucking rules. Speaking of which, given his obviously long track record on here, I would also throw Drol a bone and give him/her an hour to chuck in a team. The game hasn't actually started yet, so I would make an exception in this instance.

Ah FFS - not another one. I put together a team last week. She is the fifth one gone off the list since then. Had this game started on Christmas day, I'd be on the verge of victory by now. And I couldn't find enough decent names to replace them. I'm fully expecting Floyd Little, Dai Davies and Carlos Menem to all die at about 11.30 tonight.

So you take the names that you use for a pool that requires the picks to die as quickly as possible, and submit them for a pool that requires picks to die as late in the year as possible? Without wanting to tell you how to pick your own teams , I'd say that a completely different approach is well warranted!

Just over 30 hours to get your teams in for this pool. So far, there are still only 20 teams signed up, compared to 43 for the past 2 years. I suspect that people are taking advantage of Deathrays absence from the forum and hence his inability to hurl abuse at the latecomers. Personally I couldn't care less if you enter at 11.59 tomorrow, but there will be no quarter given to anyone who doesn't get in by the deadline.

For those of you looking for even more late drama, these are the picks that could give one last twist to this competition and give a late leader at the 11th hour. ANY DAY Anastasia Zavorotnyuk - Etush Bill Turnbull - Etush Brandon Sorenson - Etush Doddie Weir - Etush George Alagiah - Etush Gianluca Vialli - - Etush Jimmy Carter - Etush Michael York - Etush Bernard Tapei - Grim Ernie Moss - Grim Greg Gilbert- Grim Sinisa Mihahojvic - Grim Tom Smith - Grim 30th or 31st Kane Tanaka - Captain Chorizo 31st December Desmond Tutu - John Key Joni Mitchell - John Key Leon Spinks - John Key Morrissey - John Key Prince Phillip - John Key Eve Marie Saint - Unknown Man Georgio Napolotino - Unknown Man Isabel Peron - Unknown Man Jean Louis Trintingent - Unknown Man Abdullah the Butcher - Nantonian Andrew Romanov - Nantonian Bob Barker - Nantonian Bob Dole - Nantonian Brian Cowen - Nantonian OJ Brigance - Nantonian Clarissa Eden - Nantonian David Butler - Nantonian Katherine Jackson - Nantonian Michael Jopling - Nantonian Pope Benedict - Nantonian Lots of good names there- this ain't over yet!

On the second day of Christmas, my true love gave to me......................... a hit for JiromeonKiruma in the form of Derek Aucoin and the lead at a very late stage in the game!! The 360 points on offer gives JK a lead of 50 over Etush and a new record score for the competition. Banana also had Aucoin and moves up to 2460 which is just 8 points short of a December 31st hit being enough to take the lead. This is an update to the top of the leaderboard with just 4 days to go: JiromeonKiruma (3083 points) 14 hits [Alex Trebek, Bob Gibson, Boris Klyuyev, Chitetsu Wantabe, Derek Aucoin, Frankie Benali, Genesis P-Orridge, Joseph Hanneschlager, Judy Dyble, Michael Gauthier, John Lewis, Lone Dybkjaer Steve Blackmore, Tabare Vasquez] Etushispushingupdaisies (3033 points) 16 hits [Alex Trebek, Armen D., Bob Gibson Cullan Brown, Daniel Arap Moi, Frankie Benali, Genesis P-Orridge, Jay Allen, John Andretti, Lee Kerslake Kirk Douglas, Pat Smullen, Roger Scruton, Tabare Vasquez, Terry Jones, Vasily Kulkov] Grim Up North (2888 points) 17 hits [Alex Trebek, Chris Doleman, David Hagen, Dennis Goldberg, Frankie Benali, Genesis P-Orridge, Howard Finkel, John Andretti, Judy Dyble, Kirk Douglas, Lee Kerslake ,Liz Clarke-Saul, Nobby Stiles, Pat Smullen, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stirling Moss, Vera Lynn] John Key (2621 points) 14 hits [Alex Trebek, Bob Gibson, Chris Doleman, Frankie Benali, Ged Stokes,Genesis P-Orridge, Henry Gray, John Andretti, Kirk Douglas, Lee Kerslake, Qaboos of Oman, Roberta McCain, Ruth Bader Ginsburg , Sam Lloyd] The Unknown Man (2550 points) 15 hits [Alex Trebek, Chris Doleman, Daniel Arap Moi, Everton Weekes, Frankie Benali, Genesis P-Orridge, Javier Perez de Cuellar, John Andretti, Kirk Douglas, Lee Kerslake, Nobby Stiles, Olivia de Haviland, Sam Lloyd, Tabare Vasquez, Terry Jones] Nantonian2013 (2524 points) 10 hits [Alex Trebek, Everton Weekes, John Hume, Kamala, Little Richard, Nobby Stiles, Roberta McCain, Roger Scruton, Sumner Redstone, Tabare Vasquez]

Considering that Spade is willing to put her name up here, 10 days before the DDP begins, I suspect that there isn't a hope in hell of her getting a QO!

Deathers has asked me to post up the following. Notability is being checked stringently this year by Deathray. Notability by relation is not 'famous for something in their own right'. Rejected picks so far include Allen Jordan (James Jordan's terminally ill dad - (James is a Strictly dancer apparently). If you couldn't name the person before they were diagnosed with terminal cancer, don't flipping enter them. Relations to the famous need to be famous in their own right under the insanely loose guidelines of this pool for fame. This rule has always been in place but is being more stringently enforced this year as I have more free time. Roberta McCain = socialite, heiress and political campaigner. Allen Jordan = a dad, whose son happens to be famous.

Thanks Joey for agreeing to run this great competition again. You did a cracking job with it last year, so good to see it is in safe hands again. I've been thinking a bit over the past few weeks about the cup and the difficulties in running it. So without meaning in any way to tell you how to run your own game, I'd like to throw out a few suggestions about how to make life easier on yourself. From my vantage point, the Cup format throws up a few difficulties which you don't tend to find as much in other pools. 1. Players tend to enter teams very close to the deadline as they don't want to miss any last minute announcements. Some inconsiderate bastards (ahem) even have the cheek to send in teams with 10 minutes to go! 2. The nature of the competition means that there are a lot of very obscure names picked. Completely understandable - if there is only a month to get hits, then without the really low-hanging fruit, a lot of ties would end 0-0. However these barrel-scrapers all have to be checked out by the host before the masterlist is put up. This, combined with the last-minute submissions, must put a huge strain on the host on a specific day where they could be otherwise busy. 3. Because of problems 1 and 2, some names are going to squeeze through, which with more time to consider them, probably would not be allowed. This then leads to bitching and moaning (from certain posters) about the job that the host is doing. So, to address these issues I would suggest the following. 1. Bring the deadline for submission of teams forward from 23.59 to 21.00. At least give yourself a few hours to get the teams together and ready to post up at midnight. Realistically, the extra 3 hours makes bugger all difference to anyone's team. I can honestly say that I did not find a single pick in the final few hours that got me a hit this year (and God knows I tried!) 2. Take the vetting of picks out of your hands, and put the bulk of the work back in the hands of the players. This could be done in the following way: All teams must be submitted with 11 players plus 3 subs The host posts up the teams exactly as they are entered. No checking of picks is done at this stage, and no PMs may be sent to the host to clarify whether a pick will be allowed. Once the teams are posted up on the thread, a player has until 23.59 on the 1st of the month to object to one of their opponents picks. The objection is to be posted up on the thread, with reasons for the objections. A player can only object to their direct opponents players, but if the pick is deemed ineligible, that holds for all teams that selected him/her. If your opponent objects to your pick, you have until 23.59 on 2nd of the month to defend your pick on the thread. No further discussion is allowed - 1 post to object, 1 post to defend. No ongoing discussion. At that point, the host makes a judgement as to whether the pick is allowed. If it is not allowed, the first sub comes into play. The hosts decision is final - no further discussion on the decision is allowed. To prevent frivolous objections, each players is allowed 2 objections over the whole of the tournament. As in crickets review system, if your objection is successful you keep your full compliment of objections, if it fails you lose an objection. Likewise, you can replace a disqualified pick twice only in the tournament. If there are any further successful objections, you play with a shortened team. 3. To prevent the constant carping that can blight the competition, introduce the great football offence of "bringing the game into disrepute". Offences could include: Objecting to other players picks (other than those of your direct opponent), or encouraging other players to object to an opponents picks. Continuing an argument on a pick, after the initial objection and reply. Questioning the decision of the host once it has been made. Generally being a moany cunt (The Sir Creep rule). The punishment for bringing the game into disrepute would be: First offence - warning 2nd offence - Entire team in sin-bin for 10 days - no hits allowed, 3rd offence - Chucked out. That's my tuppence worth on the subject. Feel free to use, alter, completely disregard, or openly mock any of the suggestions! And thanks again for hosting - I look forward to defending my crown next year,

I am reliably informed that in the interest of fairness, if I am to accept PM entries, I should either post up my own team here or send it to someone so that I cannot be accused of stealing other peoples picks. I'm not sure that stealing picks is of much benefit in this pool, but I like to stick to forum etiquette. So I have sent my team to Deathray via email, and also sent it by PM to Great Uncle Bulgaria.

According to Google, "Gotthilf Fischer ist tot". I don't speak German but I am going to hazard a wild guess that it means "Gotthilf Fischer is toast" So 345 valuable points for Book, who now moves up to 5th last with 604 points. Only 7 more hits needed in 2 weeks to catch the leader (or 6 with the Joker!)

Thanks Toast - I didn't spot that. The trouble with posting late at night with a few beers on me. I'm not sure what the problem with posting teams in the thread is. Even if he is banned again , Deathray can still see what is posted up here. Unless there is a possibility that the thread is locked once he is banned. Perhaps NotDeathers can tell us what IsDeathers reasoning is on this one. In any case, he did ask me to take teams by PM and forward them to him, on the presumption of the axe falling again, so that is a definite option. And I will also forward on any teams posted up here, so they will definitely be entered.

So, it seems that Deathers/Not Deathers is intent on setting up the 2021 pool by stealth. That's good enough for me - as far as I'm concerned, the pool belongs to him, and regardless of any inevitable bans, if he wants to do the work off-site to keep his game going, then good luck to him. I am happy to take over the scoring in January, assuming that either he gets banned again, or he gets bored of the keeping scores part of the game. I'm also happy to help him out in putting the game together, unless such activity is likely to get me a ban for aiding and abetting a known subversive! So, you can also PM me your team if you prefer, and I will forward it on. That makes 3 ways of entering the game: Post the team up here, PM me, or email haresdeathpool @gmail.com. Those of you who like to scrape the bottom of the barrel with your barely famous Hares picks, should be glad that Deathray has taken over the collation of teams again .I had intended to have a much tighter line on what picks are acceptable. But for another year at least, Deathrays more relaxed approach will prevail, and your high-school softball coaches are probably good. FWIW, I am another one who would be in favour of relaxing the ban on Deathray. The forum is a more interesting place with him on it. I think that in the Christmas spirit, he should at least be allowed to stick around long enough to get the Hares Pool up and running. Then ban the crazy fucker again in January if you wish.

I hadn't really intended to Grim. I am not sure that it would be right for a relative newbie on here (a mere 111 posts!) to be taking over a long-running pool like the Hares. Adding up the scores to ensure a pool is finished is one thing, but taking over the pool in its entirety would be a touch presumptuous for someone who is a late-comer to this deadpooling lark. I think that the more established members on here should be given first dibs on running it, before I throw my hat into the ring. If no-one is interested in doing so, then I will give it a go rather than let it die. But it probably needs to get going fairly soon. As for your kind offer to update the scores - that's the easy bit! The only reason why I have been able to update things for the past few months is because of the huge amount of work that Deathray did last December to set up a master-list spreadsheet and an easy to use scoring system. Whatever the issues that the mods had with him, one cannot fault the effort he put into this pool every year. Its no wonder that he was prone to irrational outbursts with the stress of getting all the information together. A Christmas spent doing sifting through all the obscure and misspelled entries, and I too might end up sending PMs to all you c**ts out there, or posting pornographic GIFs of dwarves doing unmentionable things to donkeys! (or whatever it was that finally earned a ban).

As we hurtle onwards towards Christmas, has anyone given thought to running the Hares Pool next year? It would be a shame to let a long-standing pool like this die on account of the unfortunate absence of its original host.

All action in this pool at the minute with 2 big hits in the past 24hrs. First up was Chuck Yeager who was a hit for Msc and Markb4 on 7th December. As mentioned above, it was a record breaking Wildcard hit for Markb4, the first ever wildcard hit in December. It nets 682 points, beating the previous record of 666 points held by SirCreep. That brings Markb4 and Msc up to 1849 and 1703 points respectively - probably too little too late to trouble the leaders. Of more potential significance to the final standings is the death of Ged Stokes, who was a unique hit for John Key. That brings him up to 2621 points and 4th place. Another one who needs two hits from the following list (or one on 31st December provided no player above him has the same pick) David Gulpilil Desmond Tutu Joni Mitchell Leon Spinks Morrissey Prince Philip Yoo Sang Chul

No matter how many times players are told to check their own teams, they still leave it up to someone else to do it for them! A check on the teams has revealed that Russian Actor Boris Klyuyev died on September 1st and was a unique hit for JiromeonKiruma. An very important unique hit at that, as it brings him/her to within 1 hit of new leader Etush. In addition, it would appear that former Ely City player, and barrel-scraping unique pick for CaptainChorizo died back on 30th May, to bring them within striking distance of the leaders. The leaderboard has been updated above. 25 days to go, and the game is far from over. The chasing pack all have a lot of outs they can hit to turn it around. Grim and Jiromeon needs one of the following to retake the lead: GRIM UP NORTH Bernard Tapei David Gulpilil Ernie Moss Greg Gilbert Sinisa Mihajlovic Tom Smith JIROMEONKIRUMA Alcee Hasings Brett Sinclair Derek Aucoin Gavin Robertson Lars Hogh Lee Noble Rod Nordland Scott Dureau Yoo Sang Chul The next 2 on the scoreboard all need 2 off their list to snatch a dramatic late lead (or 1 if its on 31st December, and Grim does not also have them) THE UNKNOWN MAN Bernard Tapei David Gulpilil Eva Marie Saint Georgio Napolotino Isabel Peron Jean Louis Trintagent Prince Philip NANTONIAN2013 Abdullah The Butcher Andrew Romanov Bob Barker Bob Dole Brian Cowen O.J. Brigance Clarissa Eden David Butler David Gulpilil Katherine Jackson Leon Spinks Michael Jopling Pope Benedict Meanwhile Captain Chorizo still has an ace up the sleeve in the form of wildcard Kane Tanaka. A Tanaka hit, or two of the following would leapfrog Captain to the top of the pile. Boris Pahor Jessie Lichauco Lucia Hiriart Luis Echeverria Mary Fairhurst Sugar Pie Desanto The only other player within two hits of the leader is yours truly - provided they both go on or after December 29th. I won't hold my breath on that one!

I said he had some live prospects to take the lead, and he's only bloody gone and hit one! Etushispushingupdaisies is one of 4 players to successfully predict the late demise of Tabare Vasquez, and so takes the lead with a new record of 3033 points. The other three to hit The Unknown Man, Nantonian2013, and Jiromeonkiruma were all among the leaders, and all move up into the top 5. All are within 2 hits of the leader and have plenty of picks left (Nantonian has somehow hit 2524 points from only 10 hits), so Etush will not be putting the champagne on ice quite yet. A new leader definitely deserves a new leaderboard, so here it is: Etushispushingupdaisies (3033 points) 16 hits [Alex Trebek, Armen D., Bob Gibson Cullan Brown, Daniel Arap Moi, Frankie Benali, Genesis P-Orridge, Jay Allen, John Andretti, Lee Kerslake Kirk Douglas, Pat Smullen, Roger Scruton, Tabare Vasquez, Terry Jones, Vasily Kulkov] Grim Up North (2888 points) 17 hits [Alex Trebek, Chris Doleman, David Hagen, Dennis Goldberg, Frankie Benali, Genesis P-Orridge, Howard Finkel, John Andretti, Judy Dyble, Kirk Douglas, Lee Kerslake ,Liz Clarke-Saul, Nobby Stiles, Pat Smullen, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stirling Moss, Vera Lynn] JiromeonKiruma (2723 points) 13 hits [Alex Trebek, Bob Gibson, Boris Klyuyev, Chitetsu Wantabe, Frankie Benali, Genesis P-Orridge, Joseph Hanneschlager, Judy Dyble, Michael Gauthier, John Lewis, Lone Dybkjaer Steve Blackmore, Tabare Vasquez] The Unknown Man (2550 points) 15 hits [Alex Trebek, Chris Doleman, Daniel Arap Moi, Everton Weekes, Frankie Benali, Genesis P-Orridge, Javier Perez de Cuellar, John Andretti, Kirk Douglas, Lee Kerslake, Nobby Stiles, Olivia de Haviland, Sam Lloyd, Tabare Vasquez, Terry Jones] Nantonian2013 (2524 points) 10 hits [Alex Trebek, Everton Weekes, John Hume, Kamala, Little Richard, Nobby Stiles, Roberta McCain, Roger Scruton, Sumner Redstone, Tabare Vasquez] CaptainChorizo (2355 points) 17 Hits [Alex Trebek, Bernard Ebbers, Bernhard Pinera, Bob Weighton, Chitetsu Wantabe , Dennis Goldberg, Frankie Benali, Genesis P-Orridge, Hugh Downs, John Lewis, Johnny Harris, Lee Kerslake, Raymond Allen, Roger Scruton, Terry Jones, Toby Dawson,Tom Belso] An Fear Beag (2307 points) 13 hits [Alex Trebek, Bob Gibson, Bob Weighton, Chris Doleman, Daniel Arap Moi, David Hagen, Frankie Benali, Genesis P-Orridge, John Lewis, Kirk Douglas, Pat Smullen, Roberta MCCain, Terry Jones] drol (2293 points) 14 hits [Alex Trebek, Bob Gibson, Daniel Arap Moi, David Hagen, Dennis Goldberg, Genesis P-Orridge, John Andretti, Lee Kerslake, Majek Fashek, Qaboos of Oman, Pat Smullen, Roger Scruton, Shin-Kyuk-ho, Sumner Redstone] John Key (2279 points) 13 hits [Alex Trebek, Bob Gibson, Chris Doleman, Frankie Benali, Genesis P-Orridge, Henry Gray, John Andretti, Kirk Douglas, Lee Kerslake, Qaboos of Oman, Roberta McCain, Ruth Bader Ginsburg , Sam Lloyd] Prophet (2272 points) 12 hits [Alex Trebek, Bob Gibson, Daniel Arap Moi, Frankie Benali, John Andretti, Kirk Douglas, Lee Kerslake, Nobby Stiles, Olivi De Haviland. Roger Scruton, Vera Lynn, William Frankland] the_engineer (2257 points) 12 hits [Alex Trebek, Arnold Spielberg, Chris Doleman, Dennis Goldberg, Jill Gascoigne, John Andretti, Kirk Douglas, Lee Kerslake, Nobby Stiles, Olivia De Havviland, Roberta McCain, Roger Scuton] Death Impends (2189 points) 12 hits [Alex Trebek, Diana Sera Carey, Earl Cameron, Javier Perez de Cuellar, John Hume, Lyon G Tyler Jr, Mad Mike Hoare, Pearl Carr, Roberta McCain, Stirling Moss, Sumner Redstone, William Frankland] Joey Russ (2181 points) 15 hits [Alex Trebek, Chitetsu Wantabe, Daniel Arap Moi, Genesis P-Orridge, Jill Gascoigne, Kirk Douglas, Lee Kerslake, Little Richard, Nobby Stiles, Roberta McCain, Roger Scruton, Stirling Moss, Terry Jones, Tommy DeVito, Vera Lynn) The Old Crem (2116 points) 11 hits [Alex Trebek, Jill Gascoigne, John Hume, John Lewis, Kirk Douglas, Nicholas Parsons, Nobby Stiles, Olivia de Haviland, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stirling Moss, Vera Lynn] Torva Messor (2108 points) 10 hits Alex Trebek, [Diana Sera Carey, Frankie Benali, Genesis P-Orridge, Hugh Downs, Nobby Stiles, Olivia de Haviland Kirk Douglas, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Vera Lynn] Banana (2100 points) 13 hits [Alex Trebek, Bob Gibson, Chris Doleman, Frankie Benali, Greg Lewis, Henri Richard, John Lewis, Joseph Hanneschlager, Lee Kerslake Ruth Morrissey, Steve Blackmore, Terry Jones, Tom Belso] The Quim Reaper (1715 points) 11 hits [Javier Perez de Cuellar, Kirk Douglas, Lee Kerslake, Little Richard, Nicholas Parsons, Nobby Stiles, Olivia de Haviland, Stirling Moss, Terry Jones, , Valery Giscard D’Estang, Vera Lynn] LizLemon (1651 points) 8 hits [Alex Trebek, Jerry Stiller, Kirk Douglas, John Lewis, Olivia de Haviland, Roberta McCain, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sumner Redstone] gcreptile (1643 points) 11 hits [Alex Trebek, Bob Gibson, Bob Joers, Danny Oosthuizen, Frankie Benali, John Jhairo Valezquez, Karen Simpson, Lee Kerslake, Pat Smullen, Peter Bonetti, Todd Portune] theoldlady (1635 points) 10 hits [Alex Trebek, Daniel Arap Moi, David Prowse, Ennio Morricone, Henry Gray, Javier Perez de Cuellar, Kirk Douglas, Nobby Stiles, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stirling Moss] RadGuy (1548 points) 10 hits [Alex Trebek, Frankie Benali, John Andretti, Lee Kerslake, Michael Robinson, Nanci Ryder, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sam Lloyd, Terry Jones, Tom Long] Sean (1427 points) 10 hits [Alex Trebek, Everton Weekes, Javier Perez de Cuellar, John Hume, John Lewis, Kirk Douglas, Nicholas Parsons, Olivia de Haviland, Terry Jones, Vera Lynn] msc (1362 points) 9 hits [Earl Cameron, Freeman Dyson, Kirk Douglas, Nicholas Parsons, Olivia de Haviland, Peregrine Worsthorne, Sumner Redstone, Vera Lynn, William Frankland] Fixed Business (1323 points) 7 hits [Alex Trebek, Daniel Arap Moi, Genesis P-Orridge, Kirk Douglas, Lee Kerslake, Nobby Stiles, Sean Connery] The Mad Hatter (1296 points) 12 hits [Daniel Arap Moi, David Dinkins, Genesis P-Orridge, Ian Holm, Jimmy Heath, John Andretti, John Hume, Kirk Douglas, Little Richard, Olivia de Haviland, Roger Scruton, Terry Jones] Great Uncle Bulgaria (1198 points) 7 hits [Alex Trebek, Daniel Arap Moi, Kirk Douglas, Roberta Mc Cain, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stirling Moss, Vera Lynn] Wormfarmer (1173 points) 9 hits [Daniel Arap Moi, David Stern, Frankie Benali, Genesis P-Orridge, James Randi, Kirk Douglas, Lee Kerslake, Majek Fashek, William Frankland] markb4 (1167 points) 8 hits [Alex Trebek, Christopher Tolkein, Javier Perez de Cuellar, Kirk Douglas, Nicholas Parsons, Roberta McCain, Ruth Bader Ginsburg Vera Lynn] YorkshireBanker (1161 points) 9 hits [Alex Trebek, Bobby Brown (rangers), Daniel Arap Moi, Freeman Dyson, Henry Gray, Johnny Beattie, Katherine Johnson, Vasily Kulkov, Vera Lynn] Etib80 (1058 points) 5 hits [Alex Trebek, Kirk Douglas, Olivia de Haviland, Valerie Giscard D’Estang Vera Lynn] Sir Creep (1040 points) 11 hits [Balbir Singh Sr, Daniel Arap Moi, Deanne Sutherland, Frankie Benali, Henry Gray, Ignatio Trelles, Jay Allen, John Andretti, Kirk Douglas, Henri Richard, Ruth Bader Ginsburg] YoungWillz (1023 points) 5 hits [David Prowse, Earl Cameron, Geoffrey Palmer, Nicholas Parsons, Philip Latham] Toast (1000 points) 7 hits [Ian Holm, Judy Dyble, Michael Lonsdale, Michael Medwin, Pearl Carr, Stirling Moss, Vera Lynn] JoeMoneyPenny (894 points) 6 hits [Everton Weekes, Genesis P-Orridge, Hau Pie-tsen, Manolis Glezos, Stanley Ho, Vera Lynn] GraveDanger (862 points) 6 hits [Chris Doleman, Genesis P-Orridge, Lee Kerslake, Jill Gascoigne, John Andretti, Nobby Stiles] Clorox Bleachman (843 points) 6 hits [Chitetsu Wantabe, David Hagen, Irene Sinclair, Lee Kerslake, John Andretti Thuy Thuanh Trong] Whoaml (813 points) 8 hits [Jean Kennedy Smith, John Andretti, John Lysak, Katherine Johnson, Kirk Douglas, Marge Champion, Olivia de Haviland, Kirk Douglas] Skinny Kiltrunner (777 points) 7 hits [Bernard Ebbers, Bob Watson, Chris Doleman, Frankie Benali, John Andretti, Nobuhiko Obayashi, Sumner Redstone] Pedro67 (481 points) 4 hits [Jackie Stallone Kirk Douglas, Nanci Ryder, Terry Jones] Predictor (437 points) 4 hits [Ben Cooper, Francisco Jose Cox, Joey Image, Kevin Thompson] Bibliogryphon (287 points ) 1 hit [Herbert Kretzmer] Book (259 points) 3 hits [Hannelore Minkus, Michel Picolli, Sonja Ziemann] Deathray 0 points

Three departures since the last update: David Dinkins: November 23rd (Mad Hatter 1296 points) David Prowse: November 28th (The Old Lady 1635, Young Willz 1023) Valery Giscard D'Estang: December 2nd (Etib80 1058, Quim Reaper1715 ) None of them makes any material difference to the upper echelons, so I won't clog up the thread with an unnecessary leaderboard at this stage. Still 28 days to go.

Not wanting to take this thread completely off topic, but I don't think that Vicky Phelan had much, if any, influence on the fall of the Varadkar government. Or indeed that his Government was "toppled" in the conventional sense of the word. It was a minority Government propped up by Independents and the support of their bitter rivals, which was supposed to last 4 years and which finished up about 2 months shy of that. in reality the Government had run out of steam some months previously, and it was only a matter of time before a General Election was going to be called. But Vicky Phelan and the Cervical Check scandal (which happened 18 months previously) had little or no effect on that.

Out of curiosity, what government did Vicky Phelan help topple?

My biggest regret is picking 2 FFBI types in the misguided belief that such a strategy was essential to having a shot at winning the thing. Immediately regretted it once I realised that the better, more long-established and classier teams had all avoided such picks. On top of that, they are both still alive and probably wouldn't QO if they did go, which pretty much ruled out any chance of catching Greptile (although I doubt I would have anyway). It is no more than I deserve for the two really poor picks. I applaud the committee for ruling those out next year- it will make for a much better game.

Can't you just tell them that you are far too busy moderating The Deathlist Forum to do jury duty? If that statement alone doesn't immediately disbar you from having some poor sods fate in your hands, then the British justice system is in a far worse state than I thought.