themaninblack

To be fair, it was Don Revie that led England to disasterous non-qualification before he hopped off to the United Arab Emirates, Big Ron merely cleared up the mess...

Yes, I can't imagine 'King Kenny' Dalglish getting the same coverage (top item on BBC Six O'Clock News!) when he pops it or Keggy Keagle. It wouldn't have the same coverage had something else happened at the same time, like a hurricane/earthquake or US invading Syria/Iran/Whatever.... That's a surprise, coming from what some call 'The Daily Mason' considering he was an East Belfast lad....

Harold Pinter will not collect his award in Sweden on December 10th due to ill health. He will however deliver a speech to the Academy on December 7th, which will be transmitted live on Channel 4. His last testament Dennis Potter-style?

I've notice that have been two more NO votes since it was announced that he has died! I think we can take it as read that Best will not survive into 2006...

I've just edited his biography in Wikipedia, by the way. Just tidying up all the updates on his condition. That will be changed a bit by others, but I've made my contribution...

Time to remove the poll. I would feel sympathy for his dad. Outliving your own son...

Is there a chance that Alex Higgins make it a genius/pisshead double by following Best into the saloon bar upstairs in the next 12 months?

Considering all the troubles the DUP have been in recently (like losing virtually all their MPs), I'm surprised he hasn't turned it in already. I bet when he goes, he'd be right pissed off if it were St Paul greeting him at the pearly gates....

He died alright on Wogan!

When during the hullabaloo concerning Best when he goes (tributes, obituaries etc), watch out for the Parsons and his usual contrary view in the Daily Mirror. Last year when John Peel died, when everyone was unanimous about Peel's significance in music, Parson stuck out like a sore thumb and declared his hatred for him. If the general consenus is of 'great player, wasted talent', expect the contrary one to celebrate his lifestyle and bollocks to the naysayers (and probably the following day taking aim at 24-hr drinking to confirm his consistancy). If whoever, the press casually ignore Bestie's proclivities in favour of his achievements on the pitch, wait for the reverend Parsons to clamber into the pulpit and rage against his womanizing,aldulterous,drinking,violent ways lest we forget....

Typical of Bestie to steal the limelight for soooo long! Why doesn't he croak it suddenly like a proper footballer like Johnny Haynes? Awaiting an update from his doc, telling us that Best is really, really, really, really, REALLY Bad! I fancy a nighter.....10:48pm

Cliff Michelmore was the anchor of the BBC's election coverage in 1966 and 1970. Presented the Tonight programme (forerunner of Nationwide) in the 1960s and the Holiday programme in the 1970s. Yes he hasn't done too much, but when he goes, he'll get the obituaries and maybe even a piece on TV news if its a quiet day. Worth a mention, since BBC TV first covered elections in 1955, there have been four anchormen in 50 years: Dimbleby, Dimbleby Jnr, Alistair Burnett and Cliff Michelmore. so he's worth a consideration for the list...

They're all dropping like flies at the moment. Maybe this run of stiffs might include one or two on the list perhaps...

You always get this in the news: When some celeb gets into trouble with the law, there is the usual press speculatation on the length of sentence (they could be jailed for up to 40 years etc) or in Glitter's case, the death penalty, but it never happens. There is usually some slimey lawyer there to get the celeb off the hook, like that twat who can get people off for speeding. Mind you, it would be a laugh if they went along with it and shot him!

Rather he has an extraordinary will to get another G & T down his throat...

Time to put your proverbial tadgers on the table with this one...

And the evidence?

Kenneth Griffith (b. 1921) Welsh character actor and maker of controversial documentaries. Apparently suffering from Parkinsons, according to Wikipedia...

I think the spectacular career fall which others have been subsequently judged is that of Simon Dee. Unmissable in the 1960s with his 'Dee Time' show, he argued with BBC exec Bill Cotton over money and the wily Cotton called his bluff, so Dee went to the new LWT. Unfortunately the star (and co-owner) of the station was David Frost, who wasn't aware that LWT took Dee on. So Frostie scheduled his celeb-packed 'Frost Programme' just before Simon Dee's lesser celeb-packed talkshow. Then in 1970 after an infamous incident with Bond actor George Lazenby (and whatever happened to him?), Dee was dropped. His career dwindled, Dee signed on and after a fracas was brought up in front of a magistrates court and guess who was the Justice of the Peace on this particular occasion? None other than Bill Cotton Jnr. Dee remains rather bitter about his fall from grace. Moral: Don't F**k with the big boys of TV...

What is it with new poppies with the leaf on them? A marketing gimmick? Political corectness? Or a new wristband style fad to get people to give more money to the British Legion?

Thats big news, wasn't he supposed to be behind the insurgents in Iraq?

I cut and pasted it from another website. That is an oversight. Did you know that Bryan MacLean was nearly a Monkee?

I didn't know Dean Martin died on Christmas Day. Hers some who did... 1921 - Hans Huber composer, dies at 69 1926 - Yoshihito 123rd Emperor of Japan (1912-26), dies at 47 1930 - Harvey Worthington Loomis composer, dies at 65 1938 - Karel Capek Czechoslovakian author/antifascist (Bílá Nemoc), dies at 48 1946 - W[illiam] C[laude] Fields writer/comedian/actor (Bank Dick, It's A Gift), dies from pneumonia at 67 1951 - Harry T Moore Florida NAACP official, killed by bomb 1954 - Johnny Ace ballad singer, dies at 25 in a game of Russian Roulette 1957 - Frederick Law Olmsted US architect (Central Park), dies at 87 1977 - Charlie Chaplin actor (Modern Times), dies in Switzerland at 88 1979 - Joan Blondell actress (Real McCoys), dies at 70 1979 - Lee Bowman actor (Ellery Queen, Miami Undercover), dies at 64 1980 - Oscar Romero archbishop of El Salvador, murdered 1983 - Joan Miro Spanish surrealist, dies at his home in Majorca at 90 1985 - George Rhodes orchestra leader (Sammy Davis Jr Show), dies at 66 1989 - Billy Martin New York Yankee manager, killed in a car accident at 61 1989 - Elena Ceausescu wife of Romania's dictator Nicolea, executed 1989 - Nicolae Ceausescu dictator of Romania, executed 1995 - Dean Martin singer/actor (Return to Me), dies at 78 1996 - Jon Benet Ramsey, Colorado child beauty queen, murdered at 6 1997 - Denver Pyle actor (Dukes of Hazzard), dies at 77 1998 - Bryan MacLean, Rock & Roll singer & guitarist (Byrds), dies

Christmas is a good time for celebs to croak it. I can remember Bob Monkhouse, Alan Bates and Jason Robards all went in that period. And didn't Charlie Chaplin hang up his moustache on the big day in 1977? So maybe there's hope that one of the list might go in the holiday period. Brooke Astor bestowing one last philanthropic gift perhaps?

Probably too much stodgy birthday cake! OOOh that's a bit cruel, I rather like Harry Sullivan...