msc

Note - the "fundraising" began in 2018. I know you know that, Joey! Just saying. Rest assured every pick sent to the Deathlist Cup I went and looked up in detail before turning them down (or not).

Current US equivalent would, I guess, be someone like Betsy DeVos (their Education Sec) who still shows up enough in the news to be a name I'm aware of, even if if I couldn't pick her out of a crowd.

TESS OF THE D'URBA...FILLS A COFFIN 5/50 13th May 2018 There has been anTessapation of a 5th hit for the Crowdsourced Deathlist for a while, and it has arrived in the shape of former politician Tessa Jowell. Jowell was first elected as a councilor aged 23, and moved up the political ranks, becoming one of the more familiar faces in the lesser Cabinet posts in Tony Blair's government. She was the Culture Secretary brought in to punish the BBC after the Gilligan Affair, although her admirers would point out that she valiantly tried to prevent the existence of BBC3. She founded OFCOM, Sure Start and The BBC Trust, and sought to liberalise the gambling laws. Despite once saying she'd jump in front of a bus for Tony Blair, she also served under Gordon Brown, and refused to join in with the rebellions against him in 2009 despite demotion. However, she was best known for her promotion of the London Olympics pre-bid and afterwards, an idea that Blair called hopeless in 2002 yet was delighted to bask in the glory of a mere decade later. In more recent years she was a recurring critic of Jeremy Corbyn, and made an unsuccessful bid to be London Mayor. This year she spoke out in favour of cancer treatments, having previously announced her own terminal illness. She was 70, and appearing on the list for the first time. She also wasn't Harriet Harman, despite some folk getting them mixed up.

Despite the lack of all the teams I cheer on, I am looking forward to the World Cup, actually. Respite from a shite season.

St Pauli are brill. Few years back (round about when Bob Crampsey died), local kids team had their kits stolen from a mini-bus. Made the BBC news iirc. Anyhow, a week or so later, an entire teams worth of kits arrived in Glasgow for them, from St Pauli. (Just checked - Crampsey died 10 years ago! - no idea how that happened...)

Hah, Glanville makes reference to that in his latest article: Just casually adds that onto a bit about Gerrard will basically get gubbed by Celtic. Think he shares your suspicion and is too old to care about being subtle.

We're sending Jeremy Corbyn next year. Cover version of Brotherhood of Man.

If the forum had been around in 1961, this appearance by Jimmy Stewart to accept a Honorary Oscar for Cooper in April 1961 would have set alarms ringing. Def Windy/Cup pick, historically. Indeed, it did back then, next day the papers announced that he was terminally ill.

Random oldie - Leslie Philips in early June.

tbh I was hoping that Italy were in first place in the public vote with something like 350 points just to piss all over the jury vote. That, and with them not being at the World Cup, my bi-annual "root for Italy because Scotland aren't there" genes feel a bit deprived. That guy who ran on the stage probably tripled the UK's public vote, thus saving us from bottom spot. Typical that we finally sent a Eurovision style dirge the year everyones suddenly enjoying kitsch again!

tbh I wasn't a fan, but no one deserves that sort of illness.

Veterans association accidentally prematurely announces death of McCain, and apologise. Don't think McCains in any state to challenge the Swarbrick record on this sort of thing, though. (Or perhaps even the DiMaggio one...)

That's Lardy, surely?

It was, and there's ebola in the DR Congo again so no one panic him.

Not a personal hero, but worth mentioning: Roger Bocquet is, to the best of my knowledge, the only man to play a World Cup quarterfinal suffering from brain cancer. His team lost 7-5 in what is still the record for most goals in any World Cup match, but hey. Oh, yeah, he recovered and lived another 40 years. But really, for me, despite being a big Jon Pertwee fan as a kid, it's got to be actor Patrick Troughton, surely. The second Dr Who, or if you prefer, the priest who gets killed by the church spike in The Omen. Had long affairs with most of his co-workers. Drank heavily. Had two families, which he managed to make sure never met each other, despite him being the father of six kids combined among the two. Kept this out of the papers despite having the most high profile TV job of the 60s. Smoked like a chimney. Got told to quit drinking for the sake of his health aged 50, took up more drinking to spite the doctor. Lost a lung to cancer, immediately started smoking again. Spent his entire life smoking, drinking and shagging - also being an early-ish advocate of LSD and the like - and finally died - allegedly Felix Faure style - in a hotel room of a heart attack aged 67, having received a standing ovation hours earlier. Oh, and when he wasn't living life exactly and only the way he wanted to, he was also one of the most acclaimed actors of his generation. Oh, one more point - he was involved in the Navy in WW2, and used to be admired for the seemingly eccentric habit of foregoing any protective helmet for a tea cosy. People assumed he was trying to inspire his fellows. Jon Pertwee brought it up years later on the set of Dr Who. "Oh that" said Troughton, "Those helmets wouldn't do a thing if you actually got shot, so you might as well keep warm!"

Oh, first I've twigged Sir Creep's Sean Cox is the Liverpool fan tbh. "His dream's to give His heart away Like an orphan on a wave..." If OMD wrote songs about David Goodall, which they didn't. Anyhow, he's gone. I can confirm one of our Semifinals is a lot closer! One of them... Dead Cow v Sir Creep 4-3 DDT v Deadsox 7-0

Admin charon, mod Deathray, you know it makes sense.

Speaking of Eurovision elsewhere, watching that Channel 5 "crap Eurovision" thing. How the fuck is Russell Grant still alive? He looks like he could keel over at any second.

The bar on wrestler obit notability is really really low now, apparently. (This is a good thing.)

Does the job for the DDT, will this lead to Deadsox doing the job in the Semifinal? Dead Cow v Sir Creep 4-0 DDT v Deadsox 4-0

Back in late 2012, we had a chat facility on here, which actually got used. There it was, one night in December, a few of us were discussing DDP tips - I forget who, now. Anyone, one forum member was expressing doubt about Bernie Nolan as a DDP pick. She's a must, I said, and went onto list several reasons, from the severity of her condition, to the spread of it, etc etc. iirc they did pick her, and thus got points. Whereas I completely forgot about her when I wrote my team down. I mean, the combination of Kris Travis (turned down to be nice, an idiotic move in hindsight) and any single one of the names I knew were ill but I didn't pick (Brinson/Plowright/Mulligan/Jock Scot/Fekete/Paul Cox/Aherne/Esterhazy/Caslavska) would have won me the 2016 DDP, but that's after the fact. Whereas Nolan didn't change a single thing, the slip of memory just annoys me.

He's not. He's a centrist independent, though that doesn't stop both sides trying to claim him for their own.

^^ Has a point, you know. Also remember 2012 election. "I like to fire people" vs "General Motors is still alive". Facts might be stretched but perception sticks.

Yes, but to flip that: Many people thought Trump would fuck up the Republican chances and that Donald would have been the better opponent to Clinton. That's why many... etc etc. In short, people sorely underestimated Obama's appeal to a wide base (his pluses of being a sharp debater, having the gift of the gab and looking good in a suit are the triple whammy of US Presidential candidates) and massively overestimate Hilary's, even now. McCain would have beaten Clinton, would have beaten Kerry, probably Gore. He wasn't beating the Obama machine GOTV strategy in the states that mattered.

Had a very quick look in the records and there is a William Todd who died in Paisley at the right age in 2015. However, given the hattrick - sacked Fergie, got an MBE off the Queen, won something daft like 4 or 5 medals for his WW2 service - I'd assume there's folk keeping tabs on him and an obit would have appeared if that guy was him? British airmen who got shot down but escaped the Germans are practically the lifeblood of the Telegraph. Also he appears to be a hate figure among St Mirren fans but no references to his death on their forums.