Rude Kid

Otis's research is certainly impressive - all the more so because he's American, so I wouldn't have thought that '70s British politicians and soap scriptwriters are obvious choices for him. Last year's competition was a one-horse race from about March onwards, and he ended up with 7 hits and 43 points, equalling the best score ever in the DDP. Google his name and you'll find that he plays, and does well in, a fair few other deadpools as well.

IIRC Mo Mowlam had chemotherapy for brain cancer in about '98, and I'd guess it's worked for her to have survived this long. She was on the radio a few weeks ago talking about Iraq, and sounded on good form. As for Chris Stein, his weblog's here, but at a quick glance I can't see any mention of illness: http://www.blondie.net/chris_stein.shtml What's supposed to be wrong with him?

Good idea! Also, how about one point for each gratuitous insult hurled at the DL team - you're sick/immature/should be shot/need to get out more/probably suffered abuse as a child etc etc. Juan Kerz on the Stephen Hawking thread would be well into double figures.

Yes, the Torygraph, and to a lesser extent the Guardian, are the flies in our ointment, as they seem to publish obits of just about any old Joe, so long as someone sends one in, the person had done something vaguely interesting at some point in his/her life, and they've got space for it. We may have to consider excluding said publications next year. That or send them an obit of a completely fictitious person and see if they print it.

Thanks for the welcome, GR. I'm just enjoying catching up on some of the threads from your forum - who'd have thought Alex Higgins of all people could arouse such passions from passing ranters? Problem with that is we'd end up with loads of really obscure picks, and it'd be too difficult to keep an eye out for obits, especially in foreign-language newspapers. In any case, there aren't many (any?) other UK-based dead pools out there, so it's nice to fill a niche. That said, we have a fair few international entries this year, and the top 2 places on our leaderboard are currently occupied by Americans.

Evening all. Just to clarify, the DDP rule on what constitutes 'famous' states that the person in question must get an obit in a British national newspaper or on the BBC News website when they shake a seven. Not a perfect definition, but it does at least avoid accusations of subjectivity. The flip side of this is that we get people picking obscure lords and ex-military types on the basis that the Times or the Torygraph are almost guaranteed to give them an obit. Incidentally, the lead may be about to change hands again, as Lesley Ball, wife of squeaky-voiced '66 World Cup hero/football manager/pundit Alan, died of cancer on Saturday, but so far only a couple of local papers have printed her obit, so we're holding fire on awarding the points. If the Beeb or one of the nationals pick up on it, the top 2 teams will swap places, and you lot will remain in 3rd. It's still all to play for!