Octopus of Odstock

Scottish footballer Brian Hetherston, aged just 29

I was about to delve into Windsor's subconcious & say that I think this was an ironic posting on the death of the Liberal Democrats but I need no longer go there.

Have you based that on a broadsheet guide to the new season? Ide has been racing for over ten years in Formula Nippon, Japanese F3, GT's - he's an extremely experienced driver who I would hardly call inept - he's won races, which is more than Jenson Button has ever done. The broadsheets have been jingoistically praising Button, who so far as been the biggest underachiever since Eddie "undera"Cheever & have done no research on Ide at all, because "he's bound to be slow & he's a Jap" I consider Ralf Schumacher to be a bigger threat to himself & others than anyone on that grid.

Actor Frankie Muniz, famous for Malcolm & The Middle & My Dog Skip has quit acting & has started a career as a racing driver. He'll be in Formula BMW this year, CART Toyota Atlantic next year (that's the plan anyway) in the hope that he'll drive in CART. Following Jack Wild's death carrying on the curse of child stars & fast cars with no karting background, if you really want a long shot, well.........

.. and on that note, there are now 79 survivors allegedly alive: Alice Baker, last surviving female British WW1 veteran

I bet Tim R is pissed off. He, like me, chose Clarence Ray Allen, but decided to play his joker on Michael Morales, another execution possibility. Although Morales' execution did receive less publicity than Allen, you could bank on the Guardian or someone mentioning it. However, Morales' execution has been indefinitely suspended & court actions may keep it suspended for some while i.e. 2007 onwards. We'll wait & see, but that is unlucky - excellent research, and just his luck to choose the one execution that didn't happen!

The report on Ronnie Barker's memorial revealed Danny La Rue has been in hospital on occasion for cardiac problems in the past year or so.

And as far as the Celtic 1967 European Cup winning squad are concerned, they too are down to 9 after Ronnie Simpson & Bobby Murdoch's deaths, though Jimmy "Jinky" Johnstone is seriously ill now.

No it isn't. George Best followed Shay Brennan, who died in 2000. The other 9 are alive.

All of the 22 members of the squad bar Bobby Moore. The manager, Sir Alf Ramsey & his coach Harold Shepherdson have also passed away. The referee & the "Russian" (actually Azerbaijani) linesman are dead as is Ken Wolstenholme. West Germany's team have 10 survivors - only Lothar Emmerich is dead & two other players in their 22 man squad have also died. How strange that only 1 from 66 has gone, yet 4 from 1970, 4 years later are gone. Normally, its the other way round.

Translation: Why is Deathstar a Moderator but has only posted twice? I think this one has already been discussed. Are you happy that I have finally opened this thread & topic? I have no major feelings personally, but others might Abbie Hoffman - Abbie Hoffman. No, definitely not.

Joe Royle? He's never been England manager. I think you're thinking of Joe Mercer, who I mentioned earlier. He was caretaker for a few games, played the flair players & he won most of the games they played in. Think he was caretaker between Ramsey & Revie if my memory serves me correctly.

This article raised hopes for a second but with nothing to support it, one can only presume sloppy research. Red Herring for Ms. Astor

Graham Taylor, too. Did miracles at Watford, but miracles were in very short supply when England boss.

Only a small update - whilst reading The Times today it mentioned Mandela had taken voted in his local elections (28th Feb). It mentioned he was frail, but he was well enough to walk to the local booth & make a quick speech for the newspeople nearby.

The question, surely, is why should you want to post in Near Misses, when there's already a dedicated thread to him which has announced his death? Near Misses, as you clearly need some reminding, is those near misses, not covered elsewhere in the forum, who were ones that either the DL should've got or at least people who maybe some of us have heard of. Near misses is not Iain's personal posting of anybody who appears on Recent Deaths Wikipedia page. You seem to be in some fantasy world that you're in a newsroom & you are breaking the news to us of deaths, when most of us have already seen the deaths, dismissed them as nobodies & three days later you're telling us again. *Rant Over* Apparently, he died from oral cancer. So my source, which said he was clear was wrong.

Too slow again Iain. Posted 20 minutes ago in the Jack Wild thread, which is the obvious place to post, I would've thought.

Hmmm.... The BBC have also announced he has died. Maybe I should look at my reasoning again, or trust better sources... Unless he went suddenly... anyway.

Yes, I know. It's shameful. However, there's not many I have up my sleeve now. As for my birthday, it is a struggle. There's a few for the ladies like Marc-Paul Gosselaar, but all the most notable ones, Glenn Miller, David Niven, Yitzhak Rabin are dead. From a DL point of view, Harry Belafonte is the best one, though Ron Howard & "Face" from the A Team do their best too. However I did find: Cara Buono, 32 today & Alicia Leigh Willis, 28 Don't ask me who they are, but some people here will not be too worried about that!

Worthington, he was another - only 8 caps for England. Currie got 17, but maybe that should've been more. No matter, it's done now.

Not when capping them for England, he didn't. Indeed, you must remember most of his Leeds show players weren't English like Giles etc. Only when dear old Joe Mercer took the reins as a caretaker boss that the likes of Osgood etc. got a go. Mercer had nothing to lose so picked the most talented players & just sat back & enjoyed. I think Revie thought that England & Leeds were too different in importance & perhaps in tactics to have the same outset. Looking back, it looks like he got it badly wrong.

The military leader of Islamic Jihad, Khaled Al-Dahduh in an explosion. Maybe not famous per se, but a death that might have repurcussions in that region.

Should've been 40. But then, Ramsey & Revie didn't really like all those show players. The likes of Bowles, Osgood, Hudson, Charlie George etc - should really have got more caps if talent is a virtue. Even though John Hollins, Osgood's team-mate, was no showman, he only won 1 cap. It amazes me how some players in the England team tonight have simply racked up cap after cap, but hey, that's an discussion for another time. Osgood was part of the George Best era of footballers who were sublimely talented, for those of you who don't know who he is. I think the reason it is big news is many, many people have either lost a hero or suddenly feel very old all of a sudden. Nice to see the Anfield crowd clap, then observe a minutes silence AND respect the opposition's anthem, but that too is for a discussion elsewhere...

Well, as you've mentioned it, yes, and so has Hungarian footballer Ferenc Bene, who scored 3 goals in the 1966 World Cup. Wayman also played for Southampton, so that's two dead players in two days for them. Firstly, thanks for the birthday mentions. Now, you could argue that this lady should be a "Not famous.. but", but as she was my secret weapon for my 2007 DDP as I felt no-one would choose her if she was still living, I'll put her down here: Georgina Battiscombe I noticed her when The Times announced her 100th birthday in November & I thought... mmm.. good possibility here as not on Genarians, famous enough for Times Birthdays, definitely alive AND ancient. Shame she had to go in February then.

Didn't want to. But it's on my birth certificate, so it can be proved.