Derby Dead Pool 2023

[Spade_Cooley 9,590]

I'm pretty sure Sutton makes it to 2024, but he was a defensive pick as I felt like he'd be the kind of name a lot of top teams would go for due to a) low age and b) not much pick-up by casual players. Mutumbo has been completely radio silent since news of his brain tumour, which for a man who wasn't exactly shy beforehand (he did adverts, he had charities, he was usually on hand to give some comment on the latest basketball) makes me think things are going bad for him. Lee is definitely dying, but she has picked up her schedule recently and seems to be travelling around the US with her documentary. Whether that's because she's had an uptick in health, or whether she's dropped the chemo so she gets a few months of improved living conditions before a short collapse and death, idk.

 

Only real choice I'm ruing at the moment is not fitting Mandela's granddaughter in somewhere, that could have been a game-winning pick in the right circumstances.

[Grim Up North 3,765]

12 minutes ago, msc said:

And Janey Godley, probably a duffer

 

Guardian review of her stand up tour

 

No clues really.

[RadGuy 1,618]

Don't flatter me too much now, msc.

 

Weird year for the DDP. First 8 days of January as busy as ever, then practically fucking nothing until things picked back up this past month. I don't remember a slower February/March in my time competing...

 

As for my team... 
Burrow and Field might be useful as they were omitted by Spade and Joey, respectively. But won't help me leapfrog anyone else. 
Randy Jackson I picked because I always miss out on the appearance-based picks (Wetton, Mark E. Smith, McCririck) but seeing almost no other contender pick him makes me feel like a fool. I no longer think he's ill at all.
Larry Pressler looked good in pictures earlier in the year. Starting to think he has that neuroendocrine Aretha Franklin BS pancan spin-off that takes a decade to kill.
Shakur exaggerating, I always thought that to be the case but he was such an interesting person I couldn't help but pick him.
Starmer-Smith should die but old dementia folks always linger, getting flashbacks to Nobby Stiles on my 2018 team...
Tilson Thomas not on a lot of teams but he's still very active for now, a late-year hit at best.
Linda Nolan is definitely my best bet to leapfrog a lot of the contenders. She only made my team because I ran out of good subs; I thought she would be a wasted spot.

 

Overall, I think my path to victory is very narrow and it's really my fault for submitting such a boring team (16 Drop 40ers ffs!)
I already cashed in on Randy Gonzalez, my best pick in terms of separating myself from the pack, but other folks have caught up with their own uniques/differentials and I reckon I'll only be sliding further down the scoreboard as the year goes on...

[gcreptile 11,029]

I pretty much managed to pick all the wrong differentials and will have no role in this.

Andrea Gibson, and, since today, Troy Stolz are in remission. Chris Snow got a new position just yesterday.

 

I think the winner could still be quite random, i.e. someone picking exactly the right DeathList/Drop 40 names. Watch for Jimmy Carter and Linda Nolan and Shane MacGowan.

Between Kate Keltie fakes, Jeannette Lee improvements, and several missing QOs, we wont quite reach the more recent lofty heights.

[Joey Russ 7,252]

Nisbet was a complete error on my end I’ll admit, I think I misread a recent article that made me think he was more dire than he clearly was. As for Ashton, I kept him mainly because I remember being really mad at dropping Sylvain and didn’t want to risk dropping another me pick, and I still feel he’s sooner rather than later. But yeah, I think my chances of winning really relies on calling 2/3 of Ashton/Hilland/Taylor correctly as well as having some other differentials from other teams not working like Robert Zimmer not getting a QO…

[YoungWillz 21,112]

You know, some of us have teams without a hit yet. Sliding down the scoreboard isn't an option for some of us. 

 

Anyway @gcreptile have a Kenneth Anger based Obit to be going on with: https://uk.news.yahoo.com/kenneth-anger-experimental-filmmaker-hollywood-144520511.html

[Banana 859]

5 hours ago, msc said:

Nice to be at the top end of the table for now though Summer beckons. Looking at the current top 5's "differentials".

 

SPADE

 

Adrian Sutton, Chris Stone, Mark Stokes (obit), Bill Steel, Dikembe Mutombo, Jeanette Lee, Joe Doering

 

I'm not ruling out a "This Christmas, I remember my best mate Mark Stokes who totally died" Guardian article till 2024 happens. Three of these names (Sutton, Mutombo, Lee) were ones I thought would last till 2024. Jeannette Lee is sicker than I thought, so she might wind up crucial, but Chris Stone is a strong 8 points if he dies and obits. (I suspect he will obit, but have been burned on LOTL picks in the past.)

 

JOEY

John Ashton, Toni Hilland, Scott Nisbet, Teresa Taylor

 

Joey's kept faith with his musician Ashton though Stage IV prostate cancer is very much a slow burner. He went risky with Teresa Taylor (how is she still alive? but will she obit?) and picked Toni Hilland probably a year earlier, but if either of these gambles pay off, then he's in the drivers seat. I've no idea why Joey picked Nisbet, whose kidney cancer has been under control for over a year now! Maybe he knows something I don't?

 

RAD CHAP

Starmer-Smith, Larry Pressler, Linda Nolan, Randy Jackson.

 

Rad's that guy I can't shake off. We have 15 picks in common (stop using telepathy, Rad!), and of the 4 living differentials, 2 are on their way out and one is ridded with pancreatic cancer. This is the main reason I rank my own chances of winning below 10%, as the window of opportunity for overtaking Rad is very small. Almost impossible if Linda Nolan snuffs it. Why do I always ignore the Nolan Sisters?

 

Other than good taste, of course.

 

DROL

Rhod Gilbert, Toby Keith, Andy Taylor, Michael York

 

Michael York's an interesting one, he's hung for so long with a rotten diagnosis but you feel he's fighting gravity. (Surely a DL pick next year?) The other three seem too healthy at the moment, and to challenge Spade, Drol needs Toby Keith or Rhod Gilbert to decline quickly. But you have to be in it to win it.

 

DDT

Aston Barrett, Faye Fantarrow, Dickie Guy, Ilia II, Randy Jackson, Dikembe Mutombo, Tom Oliver, Mark Stokes (obit), Adrian Sutton

 

The Living End might not win the DDP for the 4th time but they've got the most interesting team in the top 5 places at the moment. Music, science, Neighbours, sports, religious figures, an obscure footballer! All the fun of fair here. Faye Fantarrow's 12 points, mostly snubbed by a DDP ambulance chasing horde who assumed she had twelve months in her, is one to watch. I suspect this is a top ten finishing side with a few successful gambles, rather than winners, though.

 

ME

Mutulu Shakur, Eric Lamaze, Graham Caveney, Ady Barkan, The Princess

 

In order - prisoner exaggeration case; person alleged to be faking their ill health on niche forums; how is he still alive and damn that Reptile; ALS gamble; brain dead but not dead dead. The first two are probably bad picks. Caveney ought to be any week now but we've been saying that since Christmas. Barkan I picked solely because I've missed a few ALS names who die around the time he's had the disease for. The Princess is gone, but if the state don't make it official it counts for nothing. 

 

My best chances for an unlikely win go through the trio of Caveney/Barkan/Princess B, and relying on the power of positivity to keep Lee/Stone/Nolan/Pressler/etc alive.

 

Ignoring me and my ego, Rad seems in a strong position in the top 5. 

 

Outside the top 5, I haven't had time to look though no doubt there are teams who can go on a good run. 

 

I guess we’ll never know what you think of my team. Oh well!

[Banana 859]

55 minutes ago, Joey Russ said:

Nisbet was a complete error on my end I’ll admit, I think I misread a recent article that made me think he was more dire than he clearly was. As for Ashton, I kept him mainly because I remember being really mad at dropping Sylvain and didn’t want to risk dropping another me pick, and I still feel he’s sooner rather than later. But yeah, I think my chances of winning really relies on calling 2/3 of Ashton/Hilland/Taylor correctly as well as having some other differentials from other teams not working like Robert Zimmer not getting a QO…

Patience…

[Sideik 236]

6 hours ago, Spade_Cooley said:

Yourself and the returning T-Mib are both interesting teams, having that Irwin joker still to play and both selecting Jimmy Carter. Should be a lot more twists and turns in the DDP this year.

I missed some good punts for this year, so I'm not seriously taking into account any winning chance, I just want to say to my nieces (or someone else's nieces, more likely), one day, that I was once on top of the ranking, for a week, in june, in the gloroius 2023 

[Perhaps 1,425]

@msc It’s news to me Eric Lamaze is allegedly faking his health! Fuck sake, I’ve already got Kate Keltie on my team. 

 

I doubt I have a shot this year. I overlooked Sakamoto being D40 and stupidly picked Tilson Thomas over him. Simon Cowell and Linda Nolan my team also lacks. Maybe I shouldn’t completely ignore D40 90 year-olds as I have been doing also. 

 

My pick Caroline Page looks like a lock this year according to her twitter, constant dire news. She would be a 12 pointer that boosts me up to 6/7th place as things currently stand. That’s if the tabloids decide to cover a local councillors death, which they should because they covered her illness. Anyone’s game this year!

[Spade_Cooley 9,590]

Had a bit of a scare seeing this pop up on LinkedIn Messenger before discovering it's just the website's head of advertising:

 

 

 

[alt obits guy 3,379]

Long shot for me to win, but not impossible. Currently in 14th place (Fade to Black), but second among those whose joker hasn't yet hit. Mine is Johnny Ruffo, which would be 20 points if his terminal brain cancer lives up to its name this year. Combine that with unique pick Daniel N. Paul (given a three-to-six month prognosis around mid-December 2022) managing a QO (certainly no guarantee, possibly less than 50/50) and I'd at least be in the mix.

[Spade_Cooley 9,590]

21 minutes ago, Perhaps said:

@msc It’s news to me Eric Lamaze is allegedly faking his health! Fuck sake, I’ve already got Kate Keltie on my team. 

 

Perhaps the only time this forum will ever have crossover with "Horse Show Diva".

[msc 18,512]

47 minutes ago, Banana said:

I guess we’ll never know what you think of my team. Oh well!

 

Top 5.

 

*actually goes to look*

 

A curious mix of obit risks and folk who seem a bit early. Still, a curious gamble in May often turns out an inspired pick by December.

 

5 minutes ago, Spade_Cooley said:

 

Perhaps the only time this forum will ever have crossover with "Horse Show Diva".

 

I genuinely never knew in December how insane behind the scenes on the equestrian showjumping circuit was!

[Banana 859]

1 hour ago, msc said:

 

Top 5.

 

*actually goes to look*

 

A curious mix of obit risks and folk who seem a bit early. Still, a curious gamble in May often turns out an inspired pick by December.

 

 

I genuinely never knew in December how insane behind the scenes on the equestrian showjumping circuit was!

I am top 5…

[Death Impends 8,024]

I could easily finish Top 20 or even, with a bit of luck, 10, despite my self-imposed hosting restrictions. Napoleon was huge for me, Jimmy one of my differentials, and if another of my random oldies go...

[Toast 16,186]

I'm not going to be troubling the leaders, but while we're here could I have some points for my unique pick Jeremy Clarke, please?

[YoungWillz 21,112]

3 hours ago, YoungWillz said:

You know, some of us have teams without a hit yet. Sliding down the scoreboard isn't an option for some of us. 

 

Anyway @gcreptile have a Kenneth Anger based Obit to be going on with: https://uk.news.yahoo.com/kenneth-anger-experimental-filmmaker-hollywood-144520511.html

Ok, so you know I said this a few hours ago?

 

Well, not any more baby! Tina Turner a hit for my Top of the Pops Theme Team! All teams have a hit now. 

[YoungWillz 21,112]

Interestingly (to me at least) Belafonte, Harris and Tina Turner were all picks for my 2021 TOTP theme team.

 

That means there has been quite the slaughter of my 2018 and 2021 TOTP teams this year already.

 

And I don't think 2023 is quite finished with them yet.

[gcreptile 11,029]

2 hours ago, Toast said:

I'm not going to be troubling the leaders, but while we're here could I have some points for my unique pick Jeremy Clarke, please?

Sorry, noted. Next weekend is a longer one for me. Some updates will happen.

[Toast 16,186]

41 minutes ago, gcreptile said:

Sorry, noted. Next weekend is a longer one for me. Some updates will happen.

 

I'm not usually impatient, only I saw my score had already been updated for Rolf so was afraid JC had been missed.

[DevonDeathTrip 2,365]

I love it how the team I only just managed to put together on 31st December, while in the midsts of a truly horrendous bout of flu, is faring better than the more carefully considered efforts of recent years .  

[Octopus of Odstock 2,206]

On 24/05/2023 at 17:27, Spade_Cooley said:

 

Perhaps the only time this forum will ever have crossover with "Horse Show Diva".

 

Fascinating but FFS. Picked at least two fakers (Lamaze and Keltie) and my Tongo gamble failed utterly miserably. 

 

Lobinger and Campbell got obits that I never expected them to get.

 

Ah well, there's always next year.

[YoungWillz 21,112]

Ed Ames QO: https://uk.news.yahoo.com/entertainment/ed-ames-daniel-boone-star-013418317.html

[Spade_Cooley 9,590]

I didn't know he was Jewish sick.