MrWonderful

Hit #15 on the year for me. I thank Mr. Kissinger for playing.

Whatever they did, I'd say it was a smashing success. The grandson said they were only expecting him to survive for a few days when he first entered into hospice care early in the year. He ended up making it past Thanksgiving.

Hey, I'm up to 19th. Ruffo as the joker helped. Will probably be my high-water mark!

Damn. Almost 20 years ago now, I had a niece die at just 6 weeks old due to severe heart complications following a series of surgeries, and she was born with the same affliction. (Many Down babies are born with major heart defects.) What I wouldn't have given for her to outlive me. Anyway, at his age and given this news, I suppose that Erskine is probably an extremely good candidate for 2024 Lists, even though he doesn't look awful in that previous photo.

Completely agree with you. Maybe he lasts several more years, but he's just too famous, and the one lung thing...yeah, get him on. Christ, Dick Van Dyke is in better health.

Quite sad to see him in this condition, but bravo to him for wanting to actually be there at the service. He has obviously defied the odds to this point, but I can't imagine that we're looking at more than days here. Would be shocked if he makes it to 2024. Compared to a few months ago he has very clearly deteriorated. The grandson said that the family was expecting him to only last a few days in hospice when he first entered, and perhaps his wife still being alive gave him some sort of purpose to keep on living, some will to live. I'm expecting this to be very quick now, and judging from how he looks, it's probably for the best so he doesn't have to suffer.

The guy had brain cancer in his 90's and has been in hospice care for most of this year. The dude might live to be 110; nothing would surprise me with him anymore!

"I appreciate your candor in the matter."

I've been watching hockey since the late 1980's. I've never seen anyone, and I mean anyone, do what this guy did on this play. It's a completely unnatural hockey play; it's not something that could happen where it's an "accident" that might occur during a normal hockey play where something goes awry. As an example, you might get a check wrong into the boards, you might get the timing wrong and bury a guy into the glass from behind and get a match penalty (ejection) for boarding or something. What this dude did is intent to injure, PERIOD. And when that happens, it deserves prosecution. There is certainly precedent for that, with the 2000 Marty McSorley/Donald Brashear incident and the 2004 Todd Bertuzzi/Steve Moore incident. Neither McSorley nor Bertuzzi did any jail time, but both were found guilty (or pled guilty) to crimes. In this case, we have a guy who died as a result of this intent to injure. I'm sure that his intention wasn't to kill the guy, but that's irrelevant. He's going to get convicted and he's going to do jail time, and deservedly so.

That was over 22 years ago, he's 77 now, and he bounced the pitch from in front of the mound. I doubt he could do it from the rubber now. That said, he looks pretty good for 77. He and Bill Clinton are the same age and Clinton looks clearly worse. He should, with all of his heart troubles.

Wow, three posts about Butkus in about 15 seconds...do we win a prize?

Truly one of the greatest players in history, legendary Chicago Bears linebacker Dick Butkus has died at the age of 80, according to TMZ. (They are about 99.9% accurate.)

Dammit. RIP.

A must-add for '24, if he makes it. Yeah, he looks very sick. Sad to see.

Yeah the great thing about his Pee-wee character was that kids loved it, of course, but there was enough innuendo in there to make it entertaining for adults as well.