An Fear Beag

You'll always have Bayern Munich!

Don't worry - if you make yourself look stupid, you will be in very good company in this pool - I don't think anyone would even notice . And look on the bright side - they wont be using your name for the next 20 years as an eponym for a bad beating, as the unfortunate Squonk has already nailed that one.

You can pick anyone you like. In this game, it sometimes pays off to just pick the obvious names. Plenty of players in the past have filled their team with obscure Bangladeshi folklore singers who are on deaths door, only to see all of them make a miraculous recovery. Then a James Whale/Linda Nolan/Esther Rantzen type decides just that exact month to croak it and hand victory to their opponent. It's a funny old game.

Yeah, why not? I'll be like Coventry again - living off past cup glories for another year.

I know that I've been looking a bit rough after the Christmas festivities, but that pick seems a touch harsh.

HARE’S DEATH POOL 2025 – 12th Edition With the 11th edition of this much-loved pool meandering aimlessly to a conclusion, it’s time to generate a bit of pre-Christmas excitement by officially launching the 2025 edition. The pool has grown steadily in numbers over the past few years, and I will be aiming to top last year’s record of 63 entries. Thanks to you all for playing, and hopefully we will see most of you back again next year (even Chel’s obscure Russians). (I have just realized that this is my 5th year of running this damn thing - I really, really do need to get a life). A few deadpool regulars sat it out in the last year or two. Hopefully we might see some of them back again this year as I know that we will also be losing some more stalwarts of this game, and of deadpooling in general. New participants are especially welcome, and I will aim again not to be (too) rude to you. It’s a very easy pool to enter - just gather together 25 names and send them in. No further work needed after that. Add a few names to your DDP team, and you are there. Divide your Numbers team in half and, bingo, you’ve got a Hares team! If you are worried about a QO in other pools, no need to panic - this is the place for them (although you may want to avoid the really quirky local-fame types – it’s amazing how local rags tend to forget about them once they actually snuff it). Your picks just have to die, and they have to take their bloody time about doing it. The rules are published below, and they haven’t changed. Most of you know them by now – no cancer-mums, no family members, and no scumbag criminals. The requirement for a proper obit stays the same, although as is traditional, it will be the lowest of low bars on QOs. I ask this every year, and to be fair, you have mostly all been very obliging. But I will ask again – could players please take heed of the following request for formatting your team before entry. It makes my Christmas and January a lot easier if I don’t have to spent ages re-writing lists and deleting numbers. SEND YOUR TEAM TO ME BY PM, OR POST IT UP ON THIS THREAD. NO OTHER METHODS OF ENTRY ARE ACCEPTED. · List picks in alphabetical order of FIRST name. I realise that I am the only host who asks this and I don’t care. I am a special, unique individual. · Put names in Capital letters. · Do not put numbers in front of the name. This is the worst of all, as I cannot get a spreadsheet to remove them automatically. But please do count them to make sure that there are actually 25 of them – it’s not that difficult. · Put description in brackets after name, only if they are really obscure or likely to be easily confused with another celebrity. Trust me- I know who Jimmy Carter is. · Mark one pick as a Joker (or wildcard- I don’t care what you call them) I will accept entries that are not in this format. But I won’t be happy about it, and I’m generally not a very happy bunny (or tortoise?). Best of luck to you all.

I did consider disallowing the team completely, because of this horrendous butchering of the English language. But you're a decent bloke for an Aussie, and you've been around here from the start, so I'll let it slide, All good with the team. Best of luck

Another two who come under the "Famous for being a Criminal" category. However, in this case they both pass the Wife Test. My better half recognised both names immediately so they meet the fame threshold. Now, I'm sure you could argue that Sidney Cooke is as notorious as those two, but that is the way the (Sidney) cookie crumbles. As the rules state: "The host makes no apologies for any inconsistencies in this – the deciding factor is whether the host’s partner or kids have heard of them or not!"

Thanks for the entry. Sidney Cooke is out on the Criminal rule. I know that he is very well known in the UK, but he has failed the Wife Test, so he is out. Carlos Bilardo moves up.

VERY WELCOME YOU'RE. BEST LUCK OF

Thanks for the entry, and thanks for re-formatting the list. It really does help. Regarding the above: I am assuming that Mathair Muhammad is supposed to be the Malaysian ex-PM Mahathir Mohamad. I am assuming that King Salmon is supposed to be King Salman of Saudi Arabia, as opposed to the North Pacific fish, better known as the Chinook salmon.

Every year, there is always one. Ah well, if you want to play with 24 realistic picks, that is your choice. Best of luck.

Fire away.

Got a team in by PM with 15 minutes to spare. Either my researching skills have declined significantly, or there was a distinct lack of low-hanging fruit to pick from. Everyone I could find had either carked it within a few days of their illness being revealed, or they were well on the road to recovery. Even the fucking elephant in hospice care managed to snuff it before the year was out. Anyhow, lets see who can finish runner up to @Bananathis year. Best of luck to everyone.

1. The first name on your subs list gets moved up. That is Queen Camilla. RTFR. 2. You don't get to add another sub. 5 is your limit. RTFR 3. Please (and this applies to everyone) don't alter your team as it appears on this thread. I realise that players think they are being helpful, but they are not. All teams are entered onto a masterlist as they arrive, but it is sometimes necessary to refer back to the original post to double check a team. If you do want to change it for your own records, put a line through Carters name rather than delete it, and mark the sub that has moved up.

Everyone except @arghtonand @MariNisia. It is now a 2 horse race.

HARE’S DEATH POOL 2024 – 11th Edition As the 10th edition of this long-standing pool bubbles up nicely to the boil, its time to turn our attention for a few minutes to the 2024 edition. This pool has had a welcome surge of entries in recent years, culminating in a whopping 57 players last year. Thanks to you all for playing, and hopefully you will take some time out of your busy December to throw together a team for next year. I am aiming for 60 teams – don’t let me down! I know a few deadpool regulars have said that they are taking a step back from most pools next year. Hopefully you can all make an exception for this one. It takes minimal effort to enter. No research needed - the first 25 names that come into your head will do the trick. New participants are especially welcome, and I promise not to be (too) rude to you this year! It’s dead simple to enter - just gather together 25 names and send them in. Add a few names to your DDP team, and you are there. If you are worried about a QO in other pools, no need to panic - this is (usually) the place for them. Your picks just have to die, and they have to take their bloody time about doing it. The rules are published below -they are exactly the same as last year. So the ban on local criminal types is still in place, with my good wife being the arbiter of how famous the criminal is – if she has not heard of them, they are out. The requirement for a proper obit stays the same, although as is traditional it will be the lowest of low bars on QOs. I will ask very nicely, pretty please with a cherry on top, for players to take heed of the following request for formatting your team before entry. Although it is dwarfed by the gargantuan effort of running the DDP pool ( ), it still takes a good bit of work to set up any pool, and you can make my January a lot easier if I don’t have to spent ages re-writing lists and deleting numbers. SEND YOUR TEAM TO ME BY PM, OR POST IT UP ON THIS THREAD. NO OTHER METHODS OF ENTRY ARE ACCEPTED. · List picks in alphabetical order of FIRST name. · Put names in Capital letters. · Do not put numbers in front of the name. This is the worst of all as I cannot get a spreadsheet to remove them automatically. But please do count them to make sure that there are actually 25 of them – it’s not that difficult. · Put description in brackets after name, only if they are really obscure or likely to be easily confused with another celebrity. Trust me- I know who Jimmy Carter is. · Mark one pick as a Joker (or wildcard- I’m not getting into that discussion again!) I will accept entries that are not in this format. But I won’t be happy about it. And I am not a happy person at the best of times. Best of luck to you all.

Don't even fucking joke about it

On behalf of pool-runners everywhere, can I just say: FOR FUCK SAKE - YOU ARE FUCKING KIDDING ME!!

Thanks for the entry Phil. All good with the main team. However Isabel Veloso has already been banned from this (and just about every other) pool, so should you lose two picks in the next 48 hours, Emily Willis will move up to your main team. A porn star- now that is real celebrity!

. List picks in alphabetical order of FIRST name. I realise that I am the only host who asks this and I don’t care. I am a special, unique individual. · Put names in Capital letters. · Do not put numbers in front of the name. I suppose it was too much to expect a French person to follow any rules

Sorry to hear that - another fine dead-pooler bowing out. Well, if you change your mind, you have another 48 hours to cobble something together.

To be honest, I am not sure that this is a pool that rewards a lot of research. A bit of common sense, and a lot of luck are probably more important. As it is largely the same team as last year, I assume that this is still Ann Hamilton the British actress, rather than the American artist who comes up first on a Google search.

A little under three days to go until the game commences, and so far we have 35 players on board. A long way to go to reach last years record entry of 65 players. So far, I am missing entries from the following who played last year. Still load of time to submit a team, and of course new players are very welcome to join. @Book @BuffaloPhil @Charles De Gaulle @chel @diego @drol @etib80 @Etushispushingupdaisies @Famous6Eva @Funeralopolis @gcreptile @Ghostofchristmaspast @Grim Up North @Hell @Imelda @John Key @nantonian2013 @Pedro67 @Prophet @RadGuy @Salmon Mousse @Shamalka Amarasekera @The Old Crem @ThereWillBeDeaths7 @time @Toast @Torva Messor @TQR @tracy @wannamaker @WhoamI @WillyWonka422 @Young One @Zsa Zsa's leg

On another note, when did it become unacceptable to use the word "snig,gering" as I had originally intended in that post? (I took it out, rather than add in the comma as I have done there). Are normal words to be banned because they contain an unacceptable combination of letters in the middle of them? Ordinarily I am quite happy to attach myself to the WOKE brigade, but that is just ridiculous.