Octopus of Odstock

and on my DDP team for the last two years...... I knew he was ill, but if a Republican dissident got him, that would mean much more points than I envisaged..... Especially if they do it on the 13th of the month.

So was I, funnily enough. But it's not enough to just name your specialist subjects, you have to provide sources, back-up material & proof for your subjects. f**k that for a lark. My specialist subjects would've been: sh*t footballers of Reading FC (a toughie because there's been so many, including most of the current squad) The Formula 1 Career of Formula 1 Drivers with a surname beginning with Q There's only 1. He only did 1 race.

If you are at the French Academy, then you must know it is: -You ARE a fool. You IS a fool sounds like this man:- If you read as well as you claim to think, please take look at your posts above, you DID indeed say CLS has a terminal disease - Parkinson's. You said he was immobile & hadn't been out since 2005. Just read the posts on this & the last page. Can't be much a fool if I can read & you can't? Not giving interviews is not a sign of imminent death. Van Johnson hasn't given interviews for nearly 25 years but he's still around, metal head 'n' all. Blimey! That's thanks for you. Bloody Frenchies, always killing their own. Well if they want him dead so much, why don't they just get on with it? Can't take that much to overcome an apparently near-death 99 year old with Parkinson's who doesn't go out. Maybe they can grease the spiral staircase... I declare Heather Mills must die very soon but what I want & what I get are two complete different things. Besides, why only respond to me & not to Canadian Paul (sorry CP) saying you were bullshitting?

There's a lot of questions there. I can use Hoffman & Mamo as an example, actually. One Foot In The Grave picked Hoffman. If/When Mamo gets an obit, because he picked Mamo as well, it will be a 2nd consecutive pick. Now if Archard DOESN'T get an obit all year, and let's say, Chuck Strahl passes away tomorrow, then OFITG will have three consecutive hits. Hope that's clearer. The total is the most consecutive hits in a row. So, Finbarr got 5 in a row in the early days of the game. In truth, I don't think that'll ever be beaten now. I think Nick J way, way back had the most consecutive hits in total. Maybe I should just tweak the title (or is it relatively clear - advice needed). I must admit I was surprised when it was found that Mr C had the most hits out of everyone, but then he's been around for aeons & been consistent with it. The points is a little skewed, so Meet Your Maker who has profited the most from the new points system leads that despite having much less hits than Mr C & One Foot. But to be fair, you don't get that many points for being average, so FF deserves to be there by right. I'm amazed I'm doing so well, considering my first year & my latest year were average. But I have been in it longer & had three consistent years, so maybe fair's fair. and of course, Jaymee Bowen will always (or as long as I run it anyway) be the youngest death on the DDP. I was also surprised that there's only been 9 un-natural deaths in 12 yrs. It was actually quite fun to put together at the end, but a bit of a slog getting the info from 05-07 especially. But I'm well chuffed to have all new pages & existing info up by May. I've already got the 2009 skeleton database ready so from now until September I need to do nothing bar updates. As I expect I'll be changing jobs soon, it means I can still run the DDP & work long hours without the two crossing over. Sorry for the long-winded reply - I'll be interested what everyone makes of it when I do the next update. For me though, it celebrates what the DDP has been over the last 12 years, and hopefully will make it a little more interesting for some competitors as they see themselves climb up the historic leaderboard as well as the current.... (and yes, I will update it after each & every hit with luck)

Sorry, CP, I meant it as a guide, not a criticism. Guess I was cranky as I was tired & pissed off with Reading FC Anyway, Mamo & Archard added to the list of the lost & site has been updated as normal. Apologies to anyone who received a blank e-mail last update, but you didn't miss much. Will be sorted out for the next update! Now, when the next update DOES take place - the final part of the OOO jigsaw for the DDP will be in place - thanks to TMIB for his suggestion & as usual I have run away & expanded it a little bit:- The DDP History is now complete & includes data right up to Hofmann's death (but not Mamo or Archard yet, cos it's not known if they count yet):- Peruse all you like & make what you will of it here:- http://www.derbydeadpool.co.uk/deadpool2008/DDP_history.html

Listen, you idiot, it doesn't say that at all & it also dispels all the other rumours previously that C L-S had a condition that meant he couldn't go out "because his death was very close" and he was "very ill". I couldn't see a thing in there about being frail. I know there are better French speakers (Indeed, we have three members who live in France) than me on here, but even I can work out the general gist. I don't mind a bit of speculation but rumours which aren't true are profoundly irritating. Is he old? Yes. Will he die? Possibly - people of that age can just go like that (a la Mamo). But is he so ill that his life is hanging by a thread? Well, considering he is selecting texts for an exhibition & was going to work up a steep spiral staircase twice a week, I'd say no. and besides, if you look at the posts above (including the very similiar sounding post), C L-S has apparently been in "complete reclusion in the last few years". Really? The article above blows that theory away too. God, I hate wind-up merchants. This kind of bull-sh*t has been posted since 2006 & enough is enough. Sorry, that's my rant for the day. Move along, nothing to see here.

I suspect she will get some US obits, but she doesn't appear in Halliwell's Who's Who of the Movies (and it includes bucketloads of silent film stars) which makes me question her possible obit status worldwide.

How about here or here. Archard will certainly get a broadsheet obit, as should Mamo in the next week, but neither have a suitable obit at the moment.

Yeah, I thought that bizarre, if not typical. It could be they were celebrating the fact they drew a game. In other football, we are doomed barring a miracle.

BS sez Google News French. Well done CP, but this guy has been making these comments for about a year & a half now & they're about as successful as iain's were (and come to think of it, mine, considering my brighty & breezy Sir Anthony Mamo will live for ever post...). Guest, I am sure the world will cope with his death just tickety-boo.

Mark Kendall, former Tottenham, Wolves & Welsh u-21 international keeper has died, aged 49, of a heart-attack.

It could be worse, you could live somewhere Alex Salmond is the (supposed if somewhat self-anoited) leader of.. Oh.. sorry

The above comment about Mamo's health by myself should be stark proof as why I am doing so abysmally in the DDP

This is more down the "famous for being ill" line, but it's a decent one. Stephen Jenkins, 58. Has AIDS, is in prison & wants to die in the UK as he will not survive his full sentence. For those of you who go for this type of pick on dead pools, he seems a pretty decent bet. He seems a bit of a lowlife too, so no moral dilemma too, I guess.

Firstly, are you mad? Bert Williams & Gil Merrick were top-class keepers, with full international honours & were both legends of the clubs they served so well. Alan Kelly was an international too and also served Preston with distinction. Secondly, Lev Yashin isn't healthy at the mo. He's also dead at the mo. He died in 1990. If you had to make up a Deathlist XI (and subs) of them in their pomp it would have to be: 1 Bert Williams 2 Ray Kennedy 3 Bill Foulkes 4 Paul Madeley 5 Bobby Moncur 6 Eddie Turnbull 7 Tommy Burns 8 Paul Gascoinge 9 Nat Lofthouse 10 Diego Maradona 11 Sir Tom Finney 12 Gil Merrick 13 Velimir Zajec 14 Peter Broadbent 15 Sammy Cox 16 Ivor Broadis (though if it were really MY team - I'd pick Canoville for bias' sake)

Okay, here is my list (yes, yes I know Godot, I plead guilty to liking lists!) of footballers/football related people who are plain darn ill. There's enough here for a whole team on the DDP - in fact, probably two (though there's already one anyway). Cancer Bobby Moncur - 63, ex-Newcastle, Sunderland, Scotland - colon cancer - obit assured. Gary Kelly - 41, ex-Oldham & Bury - cancer - obit possible, but not assured Ernie Cooksey - 27, ex Oldham, Rochdale & Boston - skin cancer - obit probable Sir Bobby Robson - 75, ex-England manager & player etc. etc - lung cancer - obit assured Peter Jackson - 47, current Lincoln City manager - throat cancer - obit assured Eddie Thompson - 68, Dundee United chairman - terminal bone cancer - obit assured Tommy Burns - 51, ex Celtic & Scotland player, ex Celtic boss - skin cancer - obit assured Alan Kelly - 71, ex Preston & Ireland - dad of Gary - cancer - obit most probable Paul Canoville - 46 - ex Chelsea & Reading (first black player for Chelsea) - cancer twice - obit assured Parkinsons/Alzheimers Paul Madeley - 63 - ex Leeds & England - Parkinson's amongst many other ailments - obit assured Ray Kennedy - 56 - ex Liverpool, Arsenal & England - long-time Parkinson's - obit assured Peter Broadbent - 74, ex-England & Wolves - Alzheimers - obit assured Other Illnesses - all obits assured bar Zajec, which is most probable cos of Pompey links Malcolm Allison - 80, ex Man City boss - past alcoholism & respiratory problems (only has one lung) Eddie Turnbull - 85, ex Hibs & Scotland - two strokes in past Sammy Cox - 84, ex Rangers & Scotland - very fat & heart probs John Neal - 76, ex Chelsea & Middlesbrough boss - heart problems Khaliliou Fadiga - 33, ex Bolton & Senegal - major heart problems Paul Gascoigne - 40, ex Newcastle, Spurs & England - loopy as a fruitcake, drinker, HIV?? Diego Maradona - 47 - ex Argentina - fat & drugs & loopy Velimir Zajec - 52 - ex Yugoslavia player, ex-Pompey boss - believed to have motor neurone disease?? (Not 100% certain, but that's why I took a risk with him on the 2008 DDP) Brookes Mileson - 60, ex-Chairman of Gretna - brain infection, cancer, serious stomach problems Not Ill But Old - again, all obits assured Gil Merrick - 86, ex Birmingham & England - remarried in 2008 so might be okay for now.... Francisco Varallo - 98, ex-Argentina, played in 1st World Cup final. Seems well for age. Sir Tom Finney - 86, ex-Preston & England - one of greatest living footballers. Seems well. Nat Lofthouse - 82, ex-Bolton & England - okay health, but has looked very frail in recent years Phil Taylor - 90, ex Liverpool manager, England player - good health for age. Oldest ex-England player Bert Williams - 88, ex-Wolves & England - appears well for age. Ivor Broadis - 86, ex-Carlisle, Sunderland & England - okay for age, but noticeably frailer Bill Foulkes 76 - ex Manchester Utd & England - looked incredibly frail at Munich 50th anniversary I know there's others I've forgotten & others that could be added yet - certainly plenty to choose from...

Right, this is the first of a two part post - one focusing on this lot, the other a round-up of footballing possibilites, because there seem to be so many. Firstly, CP, I must mention something from the above. The 5 I mentioned are/were players who actually played in the tournament. Most of those above were just squad members - that's not to say they're not worthy, but records of them are even less kept than the players & it is unlikely in the extreme that any of them will get obits. Anyway... Boucek d. 10 Oct 1987 Diepenbeek d. 8 Aug 1981 Sole & Patzel... all sources seem to agree that they are dead, but they just don't know when precisely. Snitt would be around 104-105 now if he is still alive, which I doubt. Streb appears to be alive, but didn't play & that German side was pretty poor, so there won't be an obit. As for Kalocsai, he only recently passed away - the link is in Hungarian, but he appears to have died on 29 July 2007.

Not really. What I did, nearly 10-15 years ago, was read an article about Francisco Varallo. As one does (well me, anyway) I wondered how many others are still alive from a World Cup or who has died from recent ones? All I have is the line-ups of everybody, and in bold is who is still alive, and in normal font, who is dead or almost certainly deceased. But with so many being relatively obscure, it's nowhere near as precise as the motor racing site I run. Best resource for following up is the player history website - www.playerhistory.com which is a lot more reliable than the cut & paste shamefest that is weltfussbal, which is one of the links mentioned. Some countries are quite easy to find, but others very difficult. I tend to have a good look at it every two years or so to see if there's any that slip the net. But in summary, 1930 has only one left - Varallo I think 1934 has those I mentioned above with a few more hmmmmmsss like Cisar 1938 has at least three definitely alive - another 10-12 possibles, if not more...

Yep. In a sportscar, he was their equal - certainly he beat 1961 World Champion (and great friend) Phil Hill a number of times. Had he ever wanted to, I think he could've had some decent results in "better" machinery. But he certainly wasn't at the level of Gurney, who, as is often remarked, was the only racer the great Jim Clark really feared.

Dan Murphy, 1980 & 1990's sportscar World Championship driver & former Indy 500 entrant, but perhaps best known as a Indy team boss & builder, has died suddenly, at the age of 66 - again, a forum link but also a tribute.

Cyril Smith, and why not says I?

Chuck Daigh, former Indy 500 & Grand Prix driver, sportscar ace (including a Sebring win) & a F1 car builder & designer, has died - best link for now but full link will come - he was 84 - but despite this it's a bit of a surprise as he seemed quite well.

That Wiki entry on Alcazar is shamefully wrong. Alcazar died, first of all, April 4, 1979. But where on earth the Oran, Algeria came from, I do not know. He was known as Joseph "Pepito" Alcazar & part of the reason for this was because he was born in Spain - La Union, nr. Cartagena, to be precise. As for Cisar, all I have on him is the following "dead, death date unconfirmed". I suppose in the issues of fairness, you could leave that one open, but I have no knowledge that he is still alive.

Whilst debate goes on if a very famous Swiss centenarian has died, a less famous Swiss centenarian has definitely passed away - Fernand Jaccard was 100 when he died - (link in foreign muck language though) & was, by my calculation***, only one of five survivors from the 1934 World Cup who were still alive in 2008. ***Note to those after DDP possibles - Nehin & Iraneta of Argentina are believed to be alive, Smellincx of Belgium is apparently alive but if he gets a UK obit, I'm going to change my name legally to "Monkey Face In a Tree Agadoo" & the most famous (as it were) of them all is Rene Llense, of France, who had a long & successful career in the French leagues. But he won't get a UK obit either, I don't think.*** Despite my dire warning notes above, it might be worth trawling through a few World Cup Final players of yore. There's a few on the DDP this year (Ghiggia of Uruguay, for example), but the great Brazillian team of the 1950's must be getting on a bit now.

Another dramatic day in the footballing world. Chester & Reading hang on (for now), but I think it's fair to say Carlisle United have pretty much blown automatic promotion. You can see one of Doncaster & Nottm Forest losing, but not both... Meanwhile a Southampton home league game versus Hereford United is looking a real possibility. What fun Portsmouth would have if they won the Cup & Soton went down. Monoclinic must be apopletic with rage. As for that matter, I imagine, MPFC also. And in the Blue Square Prem it will indeed be Exeter vs Torquay for the right to be in the Play-off final at Wembley.