themaninblack

Ooh I'm going to make hay with this!

Unfortunately yes. For 2014 I'm going to update the List of the Lost so the deadline for Brit obits is 1st January 2015, so that there's at least 24 hours grace...

Looks like it was on 31st December with no UK obit on time...

Has to be Billy Graham...

He was the voice of Shaggy in Scooby-doo. He'll piss that obit...

He's dead Y'know. That's what happens when you cut 'n paste the original list sent before Mr AK-47 popped his clogs! Rev Billy Graham is in his place...

Happy New Year everybody! They're Dead Y'Know! Wilko Johnson (J) Dennis Davis (Bowie's drummer in the mid-70s) Major John Freeman Jack Good (Producer of 6-5 Special & Oh Boy!) Mikhail Gorbachev Valerie Harper Bobby Heenan Jimmy Hill Barry Hines Richard Hoggart General Wojciech Jaruzelski Mikhail Kalashnikov Casey Kasem Helmut Kohl Joseph Kony Bess Meyerson Olaf Pooley (Actor in Dr Who & Star Trek TNG) Leslie Randall (Sitcom actor) Joost van der Westhuizen Douglas Wilmer Good luck everyone...

A little part of my memory will always have a place for Tony Gubba with Paul Canoville at Hillsborough in a common or garden League Cup tie in the mid-1980s...

I reckon he'll be numero uno...

Carman, you mean? He was dropped, like Jim Bamber as I don't think the obit's gonna be forthcoming. Well, somebody's picked them...

I did think he was the more doddery of the "two Johns", but that's still a bit of a shock...

Good, you deserve it. Well done, mate!

True. If you are skiing off-piste at high speed, it wouldn't be a massive surprise should you crack your head on a rock. Not likely to happen or something, yes...

330 teams now registered...

Good point Oc. I'm not sure why I didn't give the points bonus. Perhaps it was the time factor (18 months between accident and death). I'll cogitate on the legality of this and let you know soon... EDIT: now I know why having fully woken up and this is an important point to bear in mind: Friso wasn't awarded bonus unnatural points because the accident occurred in 2012 (February), a previous year of the competition. Now I am of the the belief that an unnatural points bonus is given because it is unexpected (Murder, fall, suicide etc). If Michael Shumacher dies tonight (before 23:00 GMT to be precise) if would have been as a result of a skiing accident that was totally unexpected and therefore Pass Me The Mike gets the points (Age (10) + Unique (3) + Unnatural (3) = 16 points). Teams are coming in with the knowledge of Shumacher's accident/coma in much the same way Death Row prisoners were picked. Should Schumi make it to 2014 and then cark it, then it would have as a result of injuries sustained in the previous year of the competition. Of course the factor here is of time. Friso's accident was months before 2013 began, whereas with Schumacher, it is merely days. I think it would go against the spirit of the game to awarded "bonus" points. The only previous precedent in DDP history makes the same point. On 25th December 2007, boxer Yo-Sam Choi was injured and in a coma as a result of a fight. He died on 2nd January 2008 and no bonus points were awarded. (and you were in charge, Oc!) So in summary, If Schumacher died before 23:00 GMT (00:00 local time) bonus points are awarded. After, they are not... (bangs gavel) Case dismissed!

Whenever you like...

There are about 80ish emails on the slate, so I reckon yours is among them. The procedure is this. I take said email, load the celeb names onto my bespoke excel lookup table, chalk up the team name on another spreadsheet and add any new celebs to a list. After several teams are done (30/60/90/120 depending on how many tabs I use up), I then create new codes for the new celebs to load into the access database, tidy celebnames up (first names, surnames etc) so they are ready to be researched later on (by me, OoO and WEP). Then when that "cycle" is done, I compile team emails that have been sent and then send a mass email (BCC of course!) to the teams saying they've been registered. It sounds ominous but it's not all that bad once you know the routine! I'll wait until I've done another 60 teams before sending off another confirmation email before New Year's Day, depending on how fast I can get through these in the next 24 hours. In the meantime, I may (or many not, depending on events) update the DDP pages just one more time before NYE...

270 teams registered so far...

Well indeed. It'll it be case of stick or twist for a lot of teams in the next 48. If he goes, Pass Me the Mike gets the sole glory, if a little pointless in terms of the overall prize, even the theme team one (I think 16 points will be accrued). If Schumi goes in to next year (and that birthday), then teams can cash in. What an exciting end to what's been a brilliant DDP season. I thought things were a bit too quiet on the Reaper front over Xmas...

I fear it may be even worse than that.Traumatic brain injuries don't usually mean a full recovery is possible.Permanent brain damage is the best case scenario probably I hope for the sake of his wife and children that he pulls through though Prince Friso Mk 2...

The next couple of days should be interesting...

The man is Ayrton Senna compared to fucking Vettel! Mind you, he's heading the same way as Senna if he's not careful...

Bob Godfrey of course! Throw in Richard Briers as well while we're at it...

Shortly after midnight, New Year's Day...

Bob Monkhouse died 10 years ago today...