Deathlist Cup 2022

[Spade_Cooley 9,019]

Does Mike Davis letting us all know that he "isn't imminently at death's door" mean this tournament is as good as over?

[Joey Russ 7,119]

I’m not gonna take my victory lap just yet, as I still very much believe one of Reptile’s hospice unique picks could overtake me, but if things hold I’m honestly stunned that I was able to pull an OoO

[gcreptile 10,221]

Yeah, it's still only one unique hit difference. The Mike Davis thing wasn't all that decisive, even if he were a hit, it's still only relayed to the tie breaker.

 

I've heard nothing on Gary Stibolt nor Mint Sauce Small Q, nor Henry Dickerson. Robyn Griggs Wiley has been suspiciously quiet for a while on her other gofundme, where she's just Robyn Wiley. However, Dave Taylor is in chemo, and supposedly still in there for a while. He doesn't expect to die within the next week, though esophageal cancer can be quick.

[Joey Russ 7,119]

Kind of a similar situation with me for Pinot Ichwandardi, who’s also has had no news since the coma. He may end up being another one of those long term cases but who knows. I get the feeling it’s more dire than it seems though even if he sees out the month. Ishwar Singh Rajput is definitely a dud, and I think Pervez Musharraf likely is one too. Mutulu Shakur is interesting as I do think he’s quite ill but also could see him lasting a few more months as well, which really means my best hope of closing this up is Don West. Definitely tight all around

[gcreptile 10,221]

One of my 2000 substitutions, italian politician Giorgio Oppi, big in Sardinia politics, has died at 82:

https://www.lanuovasardegna.it/regione/2022/07/26/news/e-morto-il-leader-udc-giorgio-oppi-1.100060090

 

I didn't believe in an obit enough, and at least so far, it hasn't arrived. But it might.

[Joey Russ 7,119]

I can’t believe that I actually pulled off an OoO!

[gcreptile 10,221]

Ah, none of my hospice cases worked out. Bit of an underwhelming finale, but at some point, the odds had to come out against me.

Congratulations Joey, for making the right joker decision (going through with a dignitas announcement seemed unsafe to me), and even more, for your whole title run, which requires a big effort.

[msc 17,755]

Congratulations Joey.

[Spade_Cooley 9,019]

And yep, a tight-run final was decided by the former Studio 54 owners trip to the suicide pods. Joey Russ becomes the sixth name engraved on the trophy, and wins it the year after he ceased hosting the event. Congratulations.

[Death Impends 7,364]

Well done Joey on your victory! Well done to Reptile as well, I think that's the first time the defending champion made it to the finals the year after.

[TQR 12,116]

Nice job Roey!

[Captain Hemlock 638]

Congratulations , Joey. This is in my opinion the most difficult of all the Dead Pools and requires ultimate research abilities.

[MortalCaso 1,426]

Congratulations! Tough battle to the end

[Spade_Cooley 9,019]

1 hour ago, Captain Hemlock said:

Congratulations , Joey. This is in my opinion the most difficult of all the Dead Pools and requires ultimate research abilities.

 

It's definitely up there, it really is the researcher's pool. Apologies for not making more of a big splash for the ending but I had two fillings put in this morning.

[Book 3,343]

Congratulations to Joey; winning the Cup is really an achievement!

And congrats to gcreptile, too. 2nd place in the Cup is also very very good!

[Joey Russ 7,119]

I’m still stunned that I was actually able to pull this off. Winning it the year after you’re done hosting the pool is something that has often been remarked by so many people especially after Octopus of Odstock was able to pull it off in 2010. However, nobody was able to actually repeat his success in that regard, until now. And I’m even more surprised that I was able to win because often I didn’t have much motivation to do a lot of research until the final 48 hours of the month. As it turned out though, that’s all I really needed to make my win a reality. 
I would like to think of it more of a culmination of my overall cup journey than just an overall great year as it allowed me to really grow as a dead pooler. In 2017 I just recently began dead pooling. I was 15 years old and as a result I was both quite cocky and dumb. That first match against Grim was really an experience even if it wasn’t a great match in itself, the way both me and Grim spat at each other really brought our match into the limelight. In the end I lost (of course I did, I had a freaking stage 1 testicular case on my squad). Of course the following year I ended up rematching grim, and while I won that match it was solely because of a coin toss. Another match win and a match loss in the same year, I can definitely say I’ve improved as a pooler.
But then came what’s arguably one of the single greatest cup matches of all time, me vs Banana. You had me who at this point was known to be an up and coming pooler, whereas Banana was more new to this but has already proven his talent in dead pooling. It was really a spectacle of a match, but it definitely left me burnt out in the end. For you see, while I lost to Banana fair and square, had I matched up with almost anyone else (I think I would’ve lost to only one other pooler that month) I would’ve been a shoo in for April. However the luck of the draw put me on the sideline instead. 
I was planning on improving on my performance from that match the following year but after hearing that nobody had asked to take over the pool in December of that year, I felt I had no choice but to run the pool myself. Because of that, I had to put my research skills to the side and focus on running a good tournament. 2020 ended up being solid largely thanks to COVID ruining life as we knew it, but 2021 was a bit tougher with a combination of mental health and some life changes affecting how often updates were coming out. That said, I think the winners of each of those years were definitely well deserved. 

Which leads into this year. While I had a bye in February due to my opponent being a no show, the fact my would be team was one of the highest scoring that round really showed I very much deserved to be in next months match. March was admittedly underwhelming, but I think that’s the case for most teams that month. The true highlights for me was April and May though. Both of those months had some extremely well researched teams, with Tommy Davis in particular being one of the all time great cup picks imo (definitely up there with Joe Scarborough’s mom and Vonda McIntyre). What really made those matches memorable though was that both Perhaps and Sir Creep would’ve been just as deserving to move on to as both of their teams gave me a scare near the end. Sir Creep had the added bonus of me actually beating him after my two previous matches against him were a resounding defeat (although one of them was due to host limitations though). Of course I then ended up beating the previous DDP champion and cup champion for the semifinals and finals, and while the matches definitely ended up a bit underwhelming the fact that they had their stature was enough to keep me on my toes. And somehow, I ended up on top. 

I would like to thank every single one of my opponents I’ve faced since 2017 for helping me really improve my overall craft. I truly think every single match (even the ones where I was the host) really gave me insight on how to make my cup teams even better. I would also like to mourn most of my

hits I’ve gotten over the years. Most of them seem like very nice people and I definitely wouldn’t wish death on any of them. I also had a few absolute cunts on my team, which fuck them (Angolan dictator from last round is an example of a cunt), but those are definitely few and far in between. Finally I would like to thank Spade for hosting a wonderful tournament all around. Plenty of solid matches throughout the year, and I can’t wait to see what great matches come about next year. Truly one of the top tier pools on this forum imo. Anyways, good luck to everyone next year. 

[CaptainChorizo 1,903]

Congrats on a well earned win Joey

[Sir Creep 7,011]

Well done @Joey Russ way to bring it home.

[deadsox 891]

Sorry to be late with my sincere congratulations Joey!

[Pop_Zeus 141]

Congrats @Joey Russ

[drol 10,043]

On 01/03/2022 at 09:24, Spade_Cooley said:

 

Masterffull (MAS) Francoise Hardy, Jimmy Carter, rosslyn carter, Mark girouard (c), Olivia newton john, Alan arkin, Loretta lynn, Frank field, Vanessa redgrave, Nichelle nichols, Shannon doherty

 

Mark Girouard dead at 90.

[gcreptile 10,221]

Everyone's favourite chinese blogger Mint Sauce Small Q died around August 13th according to this chinese post:

https://www.163.com/dy/article/HFK5P2VH0552UYUP.html

 

No UK obits after all...

[gcreptile 10,221]

Palestine prisoner Nasser Abu Hamid, picked in the early rounds because his health was failing, then again in summer because his health was deteriorating, is now again in declining health, and "battling death":

https://www.palestinechronicle.com/health-of-cancer-stricken-palestinian-prisoner-deteriorates-medical-report/

[MortalCaso 1,426]

Jack Thomas has now died.

 

Picked in here multiple times...

[gcreptile 10,221]

On 21/07/2022 at 14:19, gcreptile said:

My last month's pick, Eric Levy, a "free Julian Assange" activist has died:

https://euroweeklynews.com/2022/07/21/julian-assange-supporter-eric-levy-passed-away/

 

Bad luck for me... oh, my prospects are shrinking.

Weirdly, Eric Levy has received a Guardian obit:

https://www.theguardian.com/law/2022/nov/20/eric-levy-obituary

 

Those Other Lives obituaries are a total lottery it seems.

And when I picked West End actress/singer Tracy Kashi for the DDP, I must have picked a dud.