Octopus of Odstock

Taking a brief respite from the DDP (the first few days are the worst, but it's okay) and looking elsewhere, I see another death from 2007 like Ms. Bhutto above, but not mentioned in that year, is that of Ken Parry, erstwhile actor in many a TV show, including Coronation Street & Z-Cars. He died, aged 77, on the 12th December. (And no, he wasn't selected by anyone on the DDP either)

Thanks to everyone who has entered thus far - not long to go now! It will be a record entry - there's about 450 teams & 1,700 odd celebs. To all of those who entered today, confirmation e-mails will come to you as soon as is possible - but this may not be until the 2nd onwards. I will close the entry form tomorrow as soon as I have the chance, do a little cosmetic stuff & aim to have the names up & running asap. I am not going to reveal any teams or picks, so if anyone wants to post their choices, feel free - when I get the chance, I'll post mine. I'll also keep people in touch with who's dead & was selected in the first few days of January. Thanks for your continued patience everyone.

The war ended in 1916? That's a surprise to all those who died fighting up to 1918 that all their effort didn't count...!

So YOU'RE the type that would resort to dirty tricks, rather than win it on skill! Tsk Tsk. Odstock United's staff & fans are disgusted. We'd never stoop that low...

Quick reminder - about 48 hours to enter your team if you haven't done so already! (And most DL'rs haven't, preferring to wait til 23.59 on the 31st Dec no doubt... ) Think the current teams total is just shy of 300 & the celebs total.. I've lost count, bout 1,500 ish I think... Still the names of people long deceased keep coming in - have these people not heard of Google?!? The complete roll of shame will be coming soon. If I can shake this cold I have presently & hoping no big celeb goes in the next 48-72 hours then the 2008 competition might - just might - be up earlier than normal...

The years? More like the vast amount of food she ate to become a porker. Yeah, Tymoshenko is my top political totty, but I think me & CP had this discussion before...

I bet you're going to be a bit buggered if Sharon or Castro decide to go out before New Year's Day, aren't you? Them, Thatcher, Amy Winehouse & Sir Bobby Robson. If you all kindly leave them all alone for a few days it would be most appreciated. Ken Bates, on the other hand, would be perfectly fine by me (purely from wearing a DDP 2008 hat, of course)...

A little bit, but it could've been much worse. Most people have gone for Musharraf than Bhutto or Sharif. I've been very lucky so far as no-one picked Ike Turner, Russell Coffey, Oscar Peterson et al - and only one person each time picked anybody who has died since the 4th. Rather than blame the suicide bombers, CR, blame Bhutto for not having the rally on the 1st January. Can't say I'm either surprised or particularly sorry. Never liked her, though, whilst an early death was probably unexpected, I had hoped it would be a more natural demise for herself.

Well, Heston ain't getting any better. Ali I think will carry on for a while, as might, in theory, Sharon as he is already dead bar one plug. I'm keeping Heston on simply as he is still a very unwell & increasingly old & frail chap - indeed, not one report this year has said he's "doing well" or is "lucid" etc that you get with Getty or Felt.

Please correct me if I am wrong - but wasn't the Independent Newspaper a pre-requisite for the ordinary team? If so - http://news.independent.co.uk/people/obitu...icle3223657.ece Sorry, off the top of my head, I can't remember the obit rules for ordinary as compared to theme.

I honestly don't think so. He's frail, he has Parkinson's & is now 80 but.... he's still trying to be as active as possible. He won't make 90, and may not make 85, but will he be here in January 09?... more probable than not. You can never say never, but I would be expecting the likes of Tony Rolt, Les Leston & Paul Pietsch to go first if you want a racing driver on the list... oh yeah, them & my secret candidate for DDP 2008... I took Ariel Sharon off as he could be kept alive for aeons. If anything it seemed like a cheap score. But, CP, I don't want you blaming me if Sharon snuffs it on the 13th of the month & Jones Griffiths recovers & wins the NY Marathon. I dunno if PJG will die in 2008, but he'll get an obit in the UK if he does.

Well, not only is he Welsh, so he'll get a BBC regional item at worst, but interviews in the Guardian, the BBC, another BBC feature, should do, plus he's also been featured in the Times & Independent this year. If he doesn't get a UK obit, then I'll eat DDT's tractor, PJG's camera AND some Agent Orange. He's on my DDP team & I am 100% satisified he WILL get a UK obit. I only chose not to put Christodulous in because of the obit concerns I have, but if he does get it, then so be it - I won't lose any sleep either way. Re. Phil Hill - the BBC will have - 100% guaranteed an obituary for him as will every press paper. His death will be covered by wall-to-wall obits. I know this, not only because of his fame in his chosen sport, but quite simply, the obits have already been written & were near publishing toward's the end of 2006 when he took a turn for the worst...

Julien Gracq est morte. Il avait 97 ans. Ici Il a été choisi par de le Team d'Poitou pour 2007's DDP, mais, il n'a pas été choisi par quiconque pour 2008. (Apologies for the poor French).

Excellent work, CP, especially on drawing an insult that has nothing to do with what you posted! But.... Phil Hill... questionable fame?! He'll get tons of UK obits! However, he won't die next year so I agree on the risky part. I would argue Amte & Christodolous may struggle to get obits, whereas Russell Watson & Phillip Jones Griffiths are more or less guaranteed obituaries. I would argue that putting Thatcher in is a wasted vote & I would also say DO NOT PICK Eli Wallach or Olivia de Havilland & certainly not Jack Kevorkian. If I had to pluck 50 names from CP's list (Which also match the DL ethos of not necessarily going for soft picks), I would go for: Muhammad Ali Arthur C. Clarke Basil D'Oliveira Janez Drnovsek (Deserves a DL nomination for being a lunatic) Betty Ford (Definitely) Estelle Getty Billy Graham Jesse Helms Charlton Heston (Definitely) Edmund Hillary (Definitely) Eunice Kennedy Shriver (Definitely) George T.D. Moore Sydney Pollack (Worth the risk) Francis Leslie Pym, Baron Pym Bobby Robson (Definitely) Yves St. Laurent Yitzhak Shamir (Definitely) Ariel Sharon Sargent Shriver Tony Snow Richard Widmark Fidel Castro Blake Edwards Zsa Zsa Gabor (Definitely) Alex Higgins Albert Hofmann Ian Huntley Sir Ludovic Kennedy (Could be a surprise hit, as it were) Girija Prasad Koirala Claude Levi-Strauss (IE would never forgive us if we didn't...) John Mortimer Pervez Musharraf (Especially for sudden death value) Oscar Niemeyer Chapman Pincher Harold Pinter Terry Pratchett Erich Priebke (Needs a Nazi on the list) Than Shwe (An interesting candidate, me thinks - a much more high-brow pick) King Norodom Sihanouk Sir Cyril Smith Alexander Solzhenitsyn Gloria Stuart Zeljko Sturanovic Suharto Gough Whitlam Elizabeth Edwards Phillip Jones Griffiths Russell Watson Nuon Chea Saad al-Sabah But would genuially not rule out either Amy Winehouse or Pete Doherty completely.

So, the mighty Grobler is 50 today! Happy birthday wishes to you!

Not that it matters as he wasn't picked in either 2007 or 2008, but he's already got obits from the BBC, Channel 4, , and quelle surprise, The Guardian so that saves you having the read the turgid rags that make up most of our national newspapers.

Not any more she doesn't - she's dead. I'd imagine that's her off a number of potential teams - that's if they had the time to add her on in the first place.

She's still mighty fine now in her "maturer" years.

I don't mind, as long as it involves relatively minimal maintenance on my part to manage this team, as time is not one thing I have an awful lot of in 2008. If I do play, it will, of course, be in the same tactical mould as my two managerial heroes - Stevie Coppell & Admiral Ackbar. Therefore, Expect a downbeat "It's a Trap!" to be my main cry from the dugout.

Only the one team so far, actually - or, at least of those who entered. I also think Nestor was their joker. Well, I knew it was too good to be true that no-one would go, especially when some very old people have been chosen.

Sorry to post-whore, but just noticed this on the football thread:- All of them are well-known. The only one who isn't, still clearly has a Wikipedia page signifying that he died in 2005 & what's more, of the first 10 google results for his name, two mention his death. One dead celeb, US-based, who died in 2005, has been named twice by two different teams! Other picks died in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005 & two this year in 2007 - one of them is on the DDP already, quite clearly dead as a dodo, and the other, again, was well-reported & a Google & Wiki search on them takes two seconds to say they are dead. The worst offender thus far is someone who died in 1959! SB & RK have assured me that is NOT an all-time record - one pick in previous years died in 1878!!!!!!! None of them, are say, like Rudolf Rominger, Bob Roessler, Helen Gardiner or Mansour who are listed as alive somewhere, but actually dead. If they were, those teams would get a chance to name someone else - as it is, the teams who have entered the dead picks so far - tough sh*t... it says to research your names on the rules! CP, I will reveal those already dead picks picked when I upload the first e-mail in 2008.

Hmm.. I forgot to taunt you about last week's result, TMIB. Thanks for reminding me! Reading 3-1 Liverpool Oh what fun it is to ride Stevie Coppell's sleigh - Hey! Leeds drew at Walsall this weekend. Only a few years ago, it was role reversal..... Oh, well done Carlisle - a good win at the weekend. Looking good so far...

That ain't gonna happen, I can tell you that much, MPFC. That wasn't actually me, as I 'm not really supposed to fiddle with the front page until 2008! But yes, there have been numerous ineligible picks, already dead picks, picks with spelling mistakes that would embarrass my 3 yr old nephew, unclear picks (i.e. people of the same name but no other clue as to which one they mean - I have had to second-guess) and so on. However - that is all par for the course, and often happens early on. Hopefully, the big guns will enter soon & when they do, they'll do none of the above... I hope!

He died in 2002, CP. He was the last surviving Egyptian from that 1934 squad, and I remember his death well. Here's the proof. More shocking lack of research by Wikipedians. So, don't put him on unless you want to join the ever increasing list of already dead celebrities submitted for the 2008 DDP.

You would then re-choose your joker. It happened to me twice last year - I named Wilma Dykeman with Joker, then Saddam Hussein. In the end, Messner got it, bless her. Ultimately if people die in the last few days of the year, it will be sorted out that no-one misses out, yet no-one gets an advantage by it going into January. Also, CP (or anyone else), you could name a sub joker when entering your team should you want to. Cheers