Derby Dead Pool 2015

[themaninblack 2,112]

The dead can't answer back...

[gcreptile 10,970]

Francis Cardinal George obit by the dailymail (where else?):

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/ap/article-3044049/Chicago-Cardinal-Francis-George-dies-age-78.html

 

He sounded like a nasty person.

[Sir Creep 7,070]

Francis Cardinal George obit by the dailymail....

He sounded like a nasty person.

He was a Cardinal in the Catholic Church.

So yes...

[YoungWillz 21,044]

Adam Gadahn's death in January from a drone strike appears to be confirmed. He was accused of treason after becoming Bin Laden's spokesman. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/ap/article-3052622/American-spokesman-Osama-bin-Laden-killed.html

 

Edit: Full page DM announcement: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3052622/American-spokesman-Osama-bin-Laden-killed.html

[Bibliogryphon 9,577]

Someone gets a unique hit for Peter Howell (Saruman in the R4 Radio Series of LOTR)

[Bibliogryphon 9,577]

 

First quarter of the year over and folks talking as if it's all over. Well, it might be.

 

Was thinking about this all day today. As far as excluding the terminally ill, who decides when you become terminal? It's fairly clear you can't make or impose that judgement call on the last minute of 31 December. It's a lottery that they might make an amazing recovery, or not obit.

 

Folks who use their illness to fundraise or blog do gain an element of celebrity, that's an inevitability.

 

I guess really what the competition boils down to is - how do you feel about winning? If it's gained on the back of the sick and dying, that might say a lot about the society we live in, the winners win on the backs of the least able (I don't subscribe to that). I agree with what was said in another thread, most of us don't want our picks to die. I know it's only a game, like life I know, but I'm intrigued by the motivation (on which I make no judgement call myself) by those who pick on the weakest to gain an (albeit virtual) victory.

 

I know I'm newish here and this may have been rehearsed before. Just my tuppence. Points are points after all.

 

In the light of Lauren Hill I have been reassessing these types of deaths. Does Lauren Hill and Steven Sutton provide the counter point to Misao Okawa and Gertrude Weaving. If we plotted the ages of all the picks we would come up with a skewed bell curve with a long leading tail. I imagine the peak of the bell would be somewhere in the 85-90 range. But the deaths of the youngest are as notable as the deaths of the oldest. It is also the changing nature of celebrity and the way social media and the internet have changed our lives.

 

However because of this I think it is important to keep stringent rules for the DDP on the qualifying nature of obituaries.

 

 

 

Further thinking on this.

 

Are we actually contributing to the concept of celebrity and by discussing the possibility of obits actually more likely to increase the chances of one. I am sure more than one lazy journalist has passed this way on a slow news day.

[Deathray 2,940]

After a good start to the year I'm floundering

[Spade_Cooley 9,525]

 

 

First quarter of the year over and folks talking as if it's all over. Well, it might be.

 

Was thinking about this all day today. As far as excluding the terminally ill, who decides when you become terminal? It's fairly clear you can't make or impose that judgement call on the last minute of 31 December. It's a lottery that they might make an amazing recovery, or not obit.

 

Folks who use their illness to fundraise or blog do gain an element of celebrity, that's an inevitability.

 

I guess really what the competition boils down to is - how do you feel about winning? If it's gained on the back of the sick and dying, that might say a lot about the society we live in, the winners win on the backs of the least able (I don't subscribe to that). I agree with what was said in another thread, most of us don't want our picks to die. I know it's only a game, like life I know, but I'm intrigued by the motivation (on which I make no judgement call myself) by those who pick on the weakest to gain an (albeit virtual) victory.

 

I know I'm newish here and this may have been rehearsed before. Just my tuppence. Points are points after all.

 

In the light of Lauren Hill I have been reassessing these types of deaths. Does Lauren Hill and Steven Sutton provide the counter point to Misao Okawa and Gertrude Weaving. If we plotted the ages of all the picks we would come up with a skewed bell curve with a long leading tail. I imagine the peak of the bell would be somewhere in the 85-90 range. But the deaths of the youngest are as notable as the deaths of the oldest. It is also the changing nature of celebrity and the way social media and the internet have changed our lives.

 

However because of this I think it is important to keep stringent rules for the DDP on the qualifying nature of obituaries.

 

 

 

Further thinking on this.

 

Are we actually contributing to the concept of celebrity and by discussing the possibility of obits actually more likely to increase the chances of one. I am sure more than one lazy journalist has passed this way on a slow news day.

 

 

A couple of years back I'm 99.9% sure that The Sun got the news that the world's tallest woman had died from here: she carked it about four weeks prior but News Corp only printed the news two days after someone here pointed it out.

[DevonDeathTrip 2,358]

 

 

 

First quarter of the year over and folks talking as if it's all over. Well, it might be.

 

Was thinking about this all day today. As far as excluding the terminally ill, who decides when you become terminal? It's fairly clear you can't make or impose that judgement call on the last minute of 31 December. It's a lottery that they might make an amazing recovery, or not obit.

 

Folks who use their illness to fundraise or blog do gain an element of celebrity, that's an inevitability.

 

I guess really what the competition boils down to is - how do you feel about winning? If it's gained on the back of the sick and dying, that might say a lot about the society we live in, the winners win on the backs of the least able (I don't subscribe to that). I agree with what was said in another thread, most of us don't want our picks to die. I know it's only a game, like life I know, but I'm intrigued by the motivation (on which I make no judgement call myself) by those who pick on the weakest to gain an (albeit virtual) victory.

 

I know I'm newish here and this may have been rehearsed before. Just my tuppence. Points are points after all.

 

In the light of Lauren Hill I have been reassessing these types of deaths. Does Lauren Hill and Steven Sutton provide the counter point to Misao Okawa and Gertrude Weaving. If we plotted the ages of all the picks we would come up with a skewed bell curve with a long leading tail. I imagine the peak of the bell would be somewhere in the 85-90 range. But the deaths of the youngest are as notable as the deaths of the oldest. It is also the changing nature of celebrity and the way social media and the internet have changed our lives.

 

However because of this I think it is important to keep stringent rules for the DDP on the qualifying nature of obituaries.

 

 

 

Further thinking on this.

 

Are we actually contributing to the concept of celebrity and by discussing the possibility of obits actually more likely to increase the chances of one. I am sure more than one lazy journalist has passed this way on a slow news day.

 

 

A couple of years back I'm 99.9% sure that The Sun got the news that the world's tallest woman had died from here: she carked it about four weeks prior but News Corp only printed the news two days after someone here pointed it out.

 

 

I have it on good authority that a former Telegraph obituaries editor was a daily lurker on this site and that their obit for model railways enthusiast Cyril Freezer came about purely as a result of him being mentioned on DL.

[Spade_Cooley 9,525]

That's definitely the best obituary I've read in a long time, would love to see a David Peace novel about his defection to "Model Railways".

[YoungWillz 21,044]

Wouldn't surprise me, I posted Claire Gordon's death in B-cinema and it's up on the Telegraph now. I'd like to think so anyway...

[gcreptile 10,970]

A couple of teams get points for M. H. Abrams:

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/ap/article-3051614/M-H-Abrams-Norton-anthology-founder-dead-age-102.html

[Deathray 2,940]

Wouldn't surprise me, I posted Claire Gordon's death in B-cinema and it's up on the Telegraph now. I'd like to think so anyway...

 

I must admit if I was a lazy ass hack this'd be my first port of call for obits.

[Predictor 1,018]

Right, here we go again.

 

First the Rules & Scoring:

 

SCORING:

 

The value of the basic death depends on the person's age:

 

18-29 years: 12 points

30-49 years: 10 points

50-59 years: 9 points

60-69 years: 8 points

70-79 years: 7 points

80-89 years: 6 points

90-99 years: 5 points

100-109 years: 4 points

110+ years: 3 points

 

Hypothetically speaking, what happens with the scoring system if a celebrity dies and it's later revealed that (s)he was much older than expected? For example, Juanita Moore was believed to be born in 1922. But when she died, her obituaries said she was almost 100 (!)

 

The loss of points in this manner would be devastating, wouldn't it? The competitor might not have chosen that particular celeb had (s)he known the truth.

[CaptainChorizo 1,977]

Well if someone is picking an actress from the 40's or 50's you should take that into an account that she may have cut off 2-3 years off her age when she was younger. Caveat Emptor

[BuriedInCarolina 46]

Star of Stage & Screen Jayne Meadows Allen Dies at 95 -

http://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Star-of-Stage-Screen-Jayne-Meadows-Allen-Dies-at-95-20150427#

 

WooHoo! My joker is dead in OldPolsEtc! About time for some DDP points!

[YoungWillz 21,044]

Star of Stage & Screen Jayne Meadows Allen Dies at 95 -

http://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Star-of-Stage-Screen-Jayne-Meadows-Allen-Dies-at-95-20150427#

 

WooHoo! My joker is dead in OldPolsEtc! About time for some DDP points!

Example Qualifying Obit: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/ap/article-3058193/Jayne-Meadows-actress-TV-personality-dies-95.html

 

Congrats BiC.

[YoungWillz 21,044]

Gene Fullmer, middleweight boxing champ, at 83. Awaiting qualifying obit. http://www.sltrib.com/sports/2449583-155/former-middleweight-world-champion-boxer-gene

 

Edit: His younger lightweight boxing brother Jay died last week. http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=34348439 and his nephew Kade Fullmer (son of Don Fullmer) died of a drug overdose in January. http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865620476/Utahs-first-family-of-boxing-loses-one-of-its-youngest-members-with-the-death-of-Kade-Fullmer.html?pg=all

[Octopus of Odstock 2,195]

One from the list of the lost that has a suitable obit:

 

Richard L Bare - https://uk.yahoo.com/movies/s/richard-l-bare-green-acres-director-dies-101-000001301.html

[YoungWillz 21,044]

Jean Nidetch, founder of Weight Watchers adds some poundage for two teams as she dies at 91. http://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/weight-watchers-founder-dies-aged-5603271

[DevonDeathTrip 2,358]

While trying in vain to locate some information about the present health of one of my unique picks, Chuck Blazer, I was nevertheless able to find out a bit more about the man himself:

 

Chuck Blazer could often be found Segwaying round Central Park with a parrot on his shoulder. This 30st man, who needed a fleet of mobility scooters to get around, claimed that this was his “exercise”.
He was apparently undisturbed by the lack of physical exertion or the fact that the parrot repeatedly screamed insults at him, mimicking Chuck’s ex-wife who’d taken custody of the bird and then taught it some choice vocabulary with which to taunt him.

[YoungWillz 21,044]

Col Stuart Archer GC dies at 100. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11580289/Colonel-Stuart-Archer-GC-obituary.html

 

Listed as Bertram in the DDP but it's the same face and date of birth. Strike that, halfway down his full name is given.

[themaninblack 2,112]

Update is up but only covers up to the end of April...

[YoungWillz 21,044]

Hadn't realised to so many had gone since the last time. Should Gene Fullmer be added to the list of the lost?

[themaninblack 2,112]

Hadn't realised to so many had gone since the last time. Should Gene Fullmer be added to the list of the lost?

 

Next time, he doesn't have to, he's a hit!