Statistics

[Bibliogryphon 9,565]

I didn't know where to post this so I have created a new thread. If a mod thinks it is already covered please move it.

 

I was thinking about who are the general Deathlist picks so as a starting point I took my 1000 name longlist and split people up into broad categories. Almost 3/4 of the list is taken up with just 5 categories

 

254 - Actors

192 - Music Industry

120 - Writers

103 - Politicians

69 - Sport

 

Where the is ambiguity I have used a judgement rather than record people twice.

I don't know if this says more about me or whether peoples longlists are similar. I suppose the ultimate long list is the DDP master list.

Because this is my longlist it doesn't contain the 450 names on my shortlist who are probably more likely to go.

[msc 18,421]

I'm glad you started a general stats thread as it stopped anyone else doing it.. *innocent face*

 

No idea what my long list would look like by profession, a curious one.

[Spade_Cooley 9,513]

I reset my long-list each year rather than keep with an all purpose endless document, fwiw.

[msc 18,421]

I reset my long-list each year rather than keep with an all purpose endless document, fwiw.

 

I didn't do this for the DDP in 2012-15.

 

I did it for the 2016 DDP. Can't think what lessons that gives.

[Death Impends 7,953]

This year was the year I finally reset my longlist, ie moved all the good names to an OpenOffice spreadsheet while leaving those on my now abandoned Word document behind. There's no point in keeping aboard minor Indian politicians who appeared during searches for "frail" in 2014.

 

That's just the "people I might use in the DDP" list though, my database of interesting old people, likewise migrated to OpenOffice, is on till they drop.

[Death Impends 7,953]

I'm not going to analyze any of my longlists, but this thread did make me curious of the occupations of the 73 who have made my DDP squad - which to be fair, is something mainly decided by "who will likely die in the next twelve months and get an obit" but can be interesting to think of the walks of life one's picks come from regardless. I tried to tie as many of the relatives of famous and the famous for being ills to professions as I can. Looking back I guess Steve Evans could've gone under radio due to his fame coming from talking about his cancer as a guest on Five Live, but only so much time in a day...

 

Some could have easily gone in another category, ie Clive James could've fit just as well in writers, or it being ever-so-tempting to put Bruce Langhorne under business for his ventures into the hot sauce industry. But for convenience's sake, one category per person.

 

Music: 18 (Angelil, Armenteros, Berkowitz, Bonnie Brown, Van Cliburn, Katherine Crowe, Little Jimmy Dickens, Feek, Damon Harris, Wilko Johnson, Sharon Jones, Langhorne, John McCabe, Nolan, Porcaro, Tony Sheridan, Sledge, John Wicks)
Sport: 14 (Beitzel, Borgonovo, Cecil, Errol Christie, Martin Crowe, Cruyff, Farren, Lauren Hill, Jardine, Karen Muir, Bryan Murray, Odjick, Schumacher, van der Westhuizen)
TV/Film/Radio: 13 total - includes behind the scenes sorts
_____TV: 9 (Aherne, Farmiloe, Bonnie Franklin, Superstar Graham, Valerie Harper, Clive James, Stuart Scott, Sam Simon, Kris Travis)
_____Film: 2 (Michael C Gross, Winner)
_____Radio: 2 (Bloomfield, Kasem)
Politics: 10 (al-Assad, Chavez, George Fernandes, Rob Ford, Wendell Ford, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, Jaruzelski, Lubbock, John Nkomo, Qaboos)
Business: 4 (Benmosche, Gartside, Andrew Madoff, Whitworth)
Writers: 3 (Diski, Esterhazy, Trewin)
Activism: 2 (Granger, Suzanne Wright)
Religion: 2 (Rev Graham, Schuller)
Scientists and Inventors: 2 (Nakamatsu, Ockels)

Misc Relatives of Famous: 2 (Brinson, Thorson)
Misc: 3 (Steve Evans, Werner Franz, Ritchii Kara)

 

What I make of this is more than anything is that music folk who end up on my DDP best be preparing their wills; 18 names from this field picked in my four DDP years yet only five are still alive, three of them who are on my team this year.

[Bibliogryphon 9,565]

Just tried to do a similar exercise with the 2016 DL.

Sport comes out on top with 11, Politics 10, Actors 9, Writers 5 Music gets 3 but could be beaten by a broadly drawn Presenters category.

[rockhopper penguin 2,265]

How long before Z- list celebrity becomes a major category?

[msc 18,421]

This is all Spade's fault incidentally. His asking about some obscure musician last night led me to think: can't I use my very simple Google-fu or whatever to track down the missing info on the early years of the DDP?

 

Well, guess what I found!

 

Naturally I had to tell someone, so told the wife. "That's lovely, dear" she said without looking up. So, I've transcribed the stats learnt here for interests sakes. Who picked who, etc, didn't transfer to the modern site from 96-02. 1996 is completely lost, but here's 1997...

 

1997 –

1. Nick J 43 (Summers, Deng, Awdrey, Taylor, Stewart, Theresa, M’buto, Hall, Tonypandy)
2. Hoppo 28 (Deng, Ginsberg, Stewart, Burroughs, Calment, Theresa)

Jill Summers of Corrie fame was a unique hit for Nick J a mere 12 days into 1997. Steve L hit back ont the 12^th February with a unique on former Sweet musician Brian Connolly to go top, as Summers had suffered the old age penalty. Not to be undone, NickJ swiftly scored with Deng Xhou Peng and Rew Awdry of the Thomas the Tank books to take a firm lead. Nine successes out of twenty seemed a fine result in these pre-DDT/Spade days.

1998

• The deaths of Roy Rogers and Norman Fell were retrospectively added in 1999, but didn’t change the winner

1. Drunkasaskunk – 23 – Jack Lord, Pol Pot, James Earl Ray, Sinatra, Lord Soper)
2. Rice Man – 13 – (Lloyd Bridges, Frank Sinatra, Roy Rogers)

 

Drunkasaskunk had the first DDP hit of the year with Jack Lord, a unique hit. Some came close with Enoch Powell, but the trio of Pol Pot, James Earl Ray and Frank Sinatra all dying within a month of each other gave the Scot an unassailable lead.

The trophy was unable to be sent up to Glasgow.

 

1999

 

1. Drunkasaskunk – 39 – (Mosely, West, Springfield, Denning, DiMaggio, Sarazen, Llewellyn, Mayfield)
2. Mr C – 26 (Siskle, DiMaggio, Boxcar, Wences, Knauss)
3. DaveJ – 24 (Hussein, Moseley, Nimmo, Reed, Owen)

 

Our drunk Scot sealed the win in December with a double on Curtis Mayfield moving on up, and Q making a quick exit via a car crash to gain 11 points in the dying embers of the millennium. Both of them were unique hits.

 

The “Who Chose Who” page was removed “to prevent people just Cherry Picking the best nominations from 1999.” Useful to prevent Diana Rots, but a sad loss to the stats community.

 

2000

The only DDP to date won posthumously.

1. MT Graves – 30 – (Craxi, Landry, Schulz, Dury, Matthau, Austin)
2. Finbarr – 23 – (Dury, Linville, Fairbanks, Cartland, Geilgud)
3. Old Blue Eyes – 22 (Fairbanks, Cartland, Geilgud, Aspinall, Guinness)
4. Big Iain – 22 (Dury, Cartland, Geilgud, Runcie, Guinness)
5. Jesus J – 22 – (Swanton, Dury, Cartland, Geilgud, Austin)

The race was mostly settled by August, with few changes afterwards. MT Graves died of cancer on October 29^th. Wooden spoon contestant Uncle also died that Summer. As Big Iain put it: “to lose one Dead Pool competitor is a tragedy...to lose two is sheer bloody carelessness.”

 

2001

 

Despite having died the year before, Uncle Brian entered again. Mostly likely a tribute act, either that or the most understated comeback from the dead in history...

 

 

Finbarr missed out on the 2001 DDP due to missing the deadline.

 

 

By end of February, Ed K led the table, but there was 7 teams with 2 hits, and Sir Harry Secombe was an early points bonanza. Future champs Whittakers Choice were joint 5^th alongside Jesus Jones and Big Iain.

 

 

By Mid-June, JoeRam took over the top of the table with the death of Carroll O’Connor, with Whittakers Choice in second place, two points back, and Ed K slipping down to 4^th. The highly eccentric Lord Longford died on the 3^rd August, propelling Whitakers Choice into the lead.

 

 

And that was it, and Whittakers Choice won one of the lowest scoring DDPs in history. They would have scored 27 points in todays money for comparison.

 

1. Whittakers Choice, 18 (Sir Dudley Forwood, Dame Ninnette de Valoise, Sir Charles Madden, Lord Longford)
2. Joe Ram – 16 (Sir Harry Secombe, Tim McVeigh, Carroll O’Connor)
3. EdK – 16 (Auberon Waugh, John Diamond, Lord Hailsham)

 

 

 

• Jokers were introduced in 2000.
• The Guardian was the first “standard QO” but “other publications may be accepted”
• Re 2000: “Rule 6 has been deleted (ie there’s now no rule regarding giraffes.)
• Points system was the one used up to 2006, ie: 4 points for ages 80+, 5 points for 4o-79, and 6 points for 39 and under. Extra point if murder/suicide, or unique.

 

2002

 

 

Jesus Jones was an early leader with six hits in the first half of the year, but was overtaken by end of June by Joe Ram on the death of Ted Williams. And that was how the top three finished the year.

 

 

1. JoeRam 33 (Princess Margaret, Dudley Moore, Queen Mother, Hugo Banzer, John Gotti (joker), Ted Williams)
2. Ghoulish Guesses 32 (Dudley Moore, Milton Berle, Queen Mother, Hugo Banzer (joker), John Gotti, Ted Williams)
3. Jesus Jones 30 (Spike Milligan, Kenneth Wolstenholme, Dudley Moore, Queen Mother (joker), Sam Snead, Leo McKern)

 

Tough break for Jesus Jones, but them’s the breaks.

 

 

Also controversy as Drunkasaskunk was denied an obit for Carrie Hamilton, US TV actress. Her death would have seen him level with JoeRam. The cries of “we wuz robbed” rang long into the night...and you thought the Delpech situation was a new thing?

 

 

 

2003

 

 

Big Iain stands down! It’s spoken of as a “well-deserved rest”, so he might return one day...

 

 

The bonus point for suicide was removed between 2001 and 2002 but returned for 2003. The murder bonus was not yet returned, “in case it might encourage players to be a little, ahem, over-zealous...”

 

 

DDP team Ivor Clissolde started with 19 picks instead of 20, due to picking someone who died in 1994: former snooker player Cliff Wilson. Every competitor got an introductory blurb, even if, in the case of Tim R, it read “Despite 4 years in the competition, not much is known about this competitor”!

 

 

Otis lead the table from March after Sarah Ferguson’s dad died.

 

 

But by this point, we have the actual bloody scoreboard.

 

 

Subs were allowed by 2004.

 

 

Other curious dead picks

 

 

2004 – Dave’s Dead, Aye Dead Drunk started life off by trying to pick Sammy Davis Jr. The team have gone on to become one of the longer running DDP teams.

 

 

Ferret’s Foragers picked Pan Breed favourite Jimmy Stewart. Alas, Jimmy died in 1997. I know, I was in denial too...

 

 

Sadly, the identity of the DDP pick who had actually died in 1878 remains a mystery.

 

 

[Spade_Cooley 9,513]

And who was Carrie Hamilton's one-time boyfriend? Future "List of the Lost" entry Fergie Frederiksen, who recorded this song about her with his band LeRoux.

[msc 18,421]

And who was Carrie Hamilton's one-time boyfriend? Future "List of the Lost" entry Fergie Frederiksen, who recorded this song about her with his band LeRoux.

 

As Chic Murray once put it (presumably not in someone around here's sig): "It's a small world, but I wouldn't like to have to paint it".

[Death Impends 7,953]

It looks like there actually is one available roster page, from 1998. Drunkasaskunk's winning team, nearly 20 years later, still has a surviving alum in Fidel Castro.

 

The missing 1999 rosters did make me think of Rots too, I must admit.

[msc 18,421]

It looks like there actually is one available roster page, from 1998. Drunkasaskunk's winning team, nearly 20 years later, still has a surviving alum in Fidel Castro.

 

The missing 1999 rosters did make me think of Rots too, I must admit.

 

This is where we all look at Bruce Langhorne and laugh like a vaudeville cliche, complete with mustache.

[Death Impends 7,953]

Nah, being on two DDP rosters this year is too mainstream for Diana Rots's liking.

[DevonDeathTrip 2,358]

I was interested to look at the success of musical people picked on my squads. In total I've picked 34 and 27 (79%) of those scored me points, so, like Death Impends, I would agree that musicians are less likely to let you down.

 

2006: None picked

2007: Tommy Makem, Lee Hazelwood (2/2)

2008: Mikey Dread, Danny Federici, Ronnie Drew, Jeff Healey, (4/4)

2009: None picked

2010: Steve New, Kate McGarrigle, Ronnie James DIo, Richie Hayward, Ferlin Husky (4/5)

2011: Mick Karn, Charlie Louvin, Brian O'Connor, Aretha Franklin (2/4)

2012: Robin Gibb, Etta James, Jon Lord (3/3)

2013: Van Cliburn, Damon Harris, Reg Presley, Ray Price, Katherine Crowe (4/5)

2014: Gerard Mortier, Katherine Crowe, Wilko Johnson, Daisy Berkowitz (2/4)

2015: Jim Ed Brown, Christy Dignam (1/2)

2016: Rene Angelil, Bonnie Brown, Joey Feek, Thomas Fekete, Peter Maxwell-Davis (5/5)

 

On the other hand, I've never had a success with anyone with motor neurone disease and, despite picking a terrorist every year, the last (and only) one to score me points was Abu Musab al-Zarqawi way back in 2006.

[Spade_Cooley 9,513]

 

Sadly, the identity of the DDP pick who had actually died in 1878 remains a mystery.

 

Looking at the list of people who died in 1878 who people could have, if they weren't thinking, assumed were still alive and ancient in the late 1990s.... was it Anna Sewell?

[msc 18,421]

Anna Sewell was my bet, but I want it to turn out to be someone like Victor Emmanuel II or Pius IX.

 

I can't do those types of DDP statistics yet, because for reasons unknown to anyone, I used to cut people like Bernie Nolan in favour of hot tip Michael Jopling. Can't think why I used to do shit, either.

 

So, I looked at the 5 years of Pan Breed in 3 categories:

 

People who were actually ill: 56% (stats improved by 2016)

People who were just old or picked on whim: 17% (stats improved by dumb luck)

Times I fell for Scott Thorson Gambits: 0% (out of 3)

[Handrejka 1,903]

 

 

Sadly, the identity of the DDP pick who had actually died in 1878 remains a mystery.

 

Looking at the list of people who died in 1878 who people could have, if they weren't thinking, assumed were still alive and ancient in the late 1990s.... was it Anna Sewell?

 

 

I've always assumed it was someone mistyping Asa Biggs when they meant Asa Briggs.

[Death Impends 7,953]

Given A. the 1998 DDP rosters were fully available (the only pre-03 year that can be said for) B. there's no accompanying statistics for it and C. I've been bored, I did some further number crunching and analysis among that year's teams:

 

 

The top 25 picks that year were:

=1. Pope John Paul II 22
=1. Frank Sinatra 22
=1. Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother 22
4. Ronald Reagan 19
5. Boris Yeltsin 18
6. Bob Hope 13
=7. Barbara Cartland 12
=7. Spike Milligan 12
9. Nelson Mandela 10
=10. Thora Hird 8
=10. Pol Pot 8
=12. Gerry Adams 7
=12. Elizabeth Taylor 7
=14. Fidel Castro 6
=14. Kirk Douglas 6
=14. John Gielgud 6
=14. Margaret Thatcher 6
=18. Muhammad Ali 5
=18. Robert Downey Jr. 5
=18. Michael Foot 5
=18. Katharine Hepburn 5
=18. Charlton Heston 5
=18. Saddam Hussein 5
=18. Michael Jackson 5
=18. Norman Wisdom 5

Only Sinatra and Pol Pot among those delivered the goods that year.

Living names on three or more teams:

7 teams - Gerry Adams

6 teams - Fidel Castro, Kirk Douglas

5 teams - Robert Downey Jr.

4 teams - Snoop Dogg (so long ago that he was still known as Snoop Doggy Dogg at the time), Mikhail Gorbachev, Prince Philip

3 teams - Richard Branson, Liam Gallagher, Rev Billy Graham, Eric Hall, Holly Johnson, Vera Lynn, Mary Tyler Moore, Keith Richards, Michael Schumacher

 

Some longtime perennials like Castro, Douglas, and Graham, (and Keith Richards for the most casual of deadpoolers) but lots of the still living among the above are risky punts that ultimately failed - hoping that the peace process wouldn't pan out as intended for Gerry Adams, RD Jr's downward spiral, (which, given his success today with Iron Man and whatnot, it's strange to think he was in such bad shape 20 years back) the guess Snoop Dogg would be the next gangsta rapper to meet a violent end, (nowadays he's just rap's equivalent of Cheech & Chong) Eric Hall was hospitalized in late 97 with E. coli, guessing Schumi would crash on the racetracks, etc.

 

In total, at least 128 names are still living. I can't figure out who the hell Kevin Chin is meant to be, so potentially 129. Whether you count Chin or not, that amounts to about 45% of total names - this of course buoyed by the amount of young healthy people picked.

 

Already dead names picked:

 

Ed Sullivan (1974)

Lorne Greene (1987)

Doris Speed (1994)

Ronnie Kray (1995 - Though, to be fair, the team who picked him could have easily meant Reggie, who was still alive at the time)

George Burns (1996)

Chris Farley (1997 - as it was in December, he may have still been alive when the team was submitted)

 

DDP VS DeathList:

Usually most of the 10 most popular DDP picks can be expected on the same year's DL. Of the DDP98's top 11 (as Thora Hird and Pol Pot are tied for 10th) only Hird and Mandela weren't mutual to DL. Mandela was also the only one alive in a decade's time.

 

DL1998 is noteworthy to us as the first (and still only) DL to eventually achieve a clean sweep when Jaruzelski (not picked in the concurrent DDP, fwiw) died. Only two DDP98 squads have seen their total drop to zero - Big-Iain himself and Just Another - and this occurred quite recently, as Muhammad Ali was the last one standing for both teams.

Other bits:

Zsa Zsa was only picked by one team. I wouldn't have thought there was a past DDP season where Snoop Dogg was a more popular pick than her, but there you have it.

 

 

[themaninblack 2,112]

This whole thing reminds me to construct the "Archive" so we can all see what the old pages looked like...

[Deathray 2,940]

This whole thing reminds me to construct the "Archive" so we can all see what the old pages looked like...

Are the really old team lists still around?

[Lord Fellatio Nelson 6,218]

This whole thing reminds me to construct the "Archive" so we can all see what the old pages looked like...

Lets not go there.

The last time the forum was modified the swear filter got ballsed up and it still is

[themaninblack 2,112]

 

This whole thing reminds me to construct the "Archive" so we can all see what the old pages looked like...

Are the really old team lists still around?

 

 

Yeah, knocking about somewhere. I never got rid of them, just put them aside to make way for the newer stuff.

 

I am concerned about space being taken up on the server, particularly when you consider the pictures that are added every year. They may individually be anything from 4k to 13k but they all add up and there are thousands!

 

There will be some reconstruction work done on past years pages in the next few months, rolled out over time which will mean less pics of celebs - only the ones who passed away in a particular year, as is the case from 1996-2003...

[msc 18,421]

I thought I'd be doing actual work today, but my darling youngest has passed on a hellish virus. So, here's some inane DDP stats I looked up as a distraction technique.

 

Teams That won the DDP without using their joker (since stats exist in 2002)

 

• Deathlist.net (2004)
• The Living End (2013)
• David Quantick's Showbiz Pals (2014)

 

Unique Picks by Title Winners

 

 

Jill Summers (1997), Peter Taylor (1997), Brian Hall (1997), Viscount Tonypandy (1997), Jack Lord (1998), Lord Soper (1998), Gene Sarazen (1999), Desmond Llewellyn (1999), Curtis Mayfield (1999), Bettino Craxi (2000), Tom Landry (2000), Sir Dudley Forwood (2001), Sir Charles Madden (2001), Lee Kreindler (2003), Carol Shields (2003), John Schlesinger (2003), Henri Cartier-Bresson (2004), Artie Shaw (2004), Cardinal Corrado Bafile (2005), George Kennan (2005), Zhao Ziyang (2005), Benny Parsons (2007), Kai Johansen (2007), Mehmed Uzun (2007), Brian Flowers (2010), Danny Fiszman (2011), Elvis Gordon (2011), Brian Haw (2011), Bert Sugar (2012), Anthonia Onouha (2012), Andrew Millwall (2013), Pran (2013), Yosa El-Essawy (2014), Chen Ziming (2014), Marlise Munoz (2014)

 

 

Jokers of Title Winning Teams

 

 

• 2002 - John Gotti
• 2003 - Warren Zevon
• 2004 - Ronnie Biggs
• 2005 - Hendrijke van Andel-Schipper
• 2006 - Ross Davidson
• 2007 - Mehmed Uzun
• 2008 - Archbishop Christodoulos
• 2009 - Robert Novak
• 2010 - Dr Willie Stanton
• 2011 - Dr Ann McPherson
• 2012 - Xolile Mngeni
• 2013 - Sandy Jardine
• 2014 - Steve Evans
• 2015 - Lauren Hill

 

(Random thought - a unique joker who dies in a car crash on their birthday, the 13th of a month, under 30, would bring up 50 points for a single hit.)

 

 

Championship winning Hits

 

• 1997 – Brian Hall – 17^th September

• 1998 – James Earl Ray – 23^rd April

• 1999 - Desmond Llewellyn – 19^th December

• 2000 – Walter Matthau – 1^st July

• 2001 – Lord Longford – 3^rd August

• 2002 – Ted Williams – 5^th July

• 2003 – Warren Zevon – 7^th September (title winner only team in top 5 to have him as a joker)

• 2004 – Artie Shaw – 30^th December

• 2005 – Robert Tisch – 15^th November

• 2006 – Ross Davidson – 16^th October (a joker hit which won the title by three points)

• 2007 – Mehmed Uzun – 10^th October (a unique joker hit)

• 2008 – Ronnie Drew – 16^th August

• 2009 – Patrick Swayze – 14^th September (won by Swayze being the only one of the big six 2009 Summer of Death hits that Impaled on the Antlers on Doom didn’t have. Unlucky.)

• 2010 – Sir Norman Wisdom – 4^th October

• 2011 – Dr Ann McPherson – 28^th May (though technically it was all over by 14^th January...)

• 2012 – Winnie Johnson, 18^th August

• 2013 – Ray Price, 16^th December

• 2014 - Yosra El-Essawy, 24^th October

• 2015 – Sadhana Shivdasani, 25^th December

 

And, finally, here's an utterly subjective Top of the Pops top 20 DDPers all time. (Based on success, hits, and general personal whim...)

 

 

• 1. Pan Breed
  Just my little joke...
  

 

 

• 20. Impaled on the Antlers of Doom
  A contender for best team name of all time, Impaled is a former side which raked up 4 top ten places (2007, 2009, 2010, 2011), and was a miss on Swayze away from a title in 2009.
  
• 19. Hoppo
  Co-organiser of the original DDPs, Hoppo had four top ten places last century.
  
• 18. One Foot in the Grave
  A US team who predicted the Michael Foot pun a decade early, OFitG had three appearances in the top five before disappearing without trace a decade ago.
  
• 17. Otis, You Want a Treat?
  Winner in 2003, and nearly repeated in 2004 only to be piped at the post by the latest of late shows.
  
• 16. Star Dust
  A modern team with two top five places in the last two years.
  
• 15. Tonight Matthew, I'm Going to be Badly Torn-Boy
  Three top ten finishes and a title.
  
• 14. NickJ
  Winner of the first two DDPs.
  
• 13. Mr C
  18 years in the competition, 74 hits overall, six top ten places and a runners up spot in 1999. Mr C is one of the most consistent DDPers in history to never win the title.
  
• 12. Jesus Jones
  The long running Father of the House, Jesus Jones had seven top ten places, and four podium places. Only one man has equaled that feat.
  
• 11. Master Mind/Hidden Persuader/New Year and Drinks All Night
  Long time members of the forum will recall Banshees long held dream to win the DDP. He came closest in 2009, matching the champion with all five of his final picks, Eunice Kennedy turning out to be pivotal in their race a whole six hits back in August. Banshees has had 3 other top ten places. Another name change has him on 94 points this year, a title winning run any other year but this, where it's good enough for 14th place so far.
  
• 10. Thomas Jefferson Survives
  Despite being a long term Deathlister, Death Impends only joined the DDP in 2013. On his history, he would otherwise be much further up. This year will be their 3rd top five placing in 4 years. They've been unlucky to debut in the era of Spade, but there's a sense of a young Novak Djokovic about Tommy J - he'll win the title one day, and when he does, he might not let go.
  
• 9. JoeRam
  The 2002 champion was a top ten finisher on four occasions.
  
• 8. Stab in the Dark
  Twice runner up (2006 and 2007), the second time only losing out to an obscure unique joker nabbing an Independent QO. Equal 5th on the all time Hits list, 7th on the points list, and organiser of the Hartlepool Deadlypool. Ali's statistical analytic lists make mine and Bibliogryphon's look positively calm. Gone off the boil in recent years due to some whim/old age picks not coming off, but certainly one of the best DDPers of all time, and arguably the finest to never win the title.
  
• 7. Big Iain
  Founder of the DDP. The big man has seven top ten finishes, the equal most top ten finishes in DDP history. He came third in 2000.
  
• 6. They're Dead, Y'Know
  TMIB did get two top ten finishes in 2006 and 2008. However, he is about to become the longest serving host of the DDP so far, and is essentially DDP's Tom Baker. Although - hopefully temporarily - retired, TDYK was no lean team, knocking up 60 hits in a decade.
  
• 5. Meet Your Maker
  Won the DDP twice in 2006 and 2007, had four top ten finishes, then disappeared. He's not posted here since January 2014, although I believe his fantasy football league is still running.
  
• 4. Octopus of Odstock
  Host, winner, leading tips pundit, OoO had five top ten finishes, three of them in the top five. He ran the DDP from 2008-2009, and helped to shape some of the modern rules. (The Windsor Execution Rule, to give but one example...) Handing the reigns over to TMIB due to the birth of his daughter in early 2010, Odstock promptly won the title. He came very close to a second title in 2013 with some deft picks, but a few open goals missed led to one of the greatest come from behind wins in DDP history. More on that later
  
• 3. Drunkasaskunk
  My fellow Glaswegian won the DDP twice in 1998 and 1999, and came within a QO of a third in 2002. In 2014, he nearly won the coveted third, and was tricky for DQSP up till the end. His finish in 1999, with unique picks on Desmond Llewellyn dying in a car crash and Curtis Mayfield dying of long term health issues in his 50s, both in the last 12 days of the year, might be the best DDP title coup de grace in history.
  
• 2. David Quantick's Showbiz Pals
  It's hard to believe now, but at one point, Spade was nearly 50 points behind OoO in the 2013 DDP. He had the misfortune of his joker not dying. He even publicly conceded the race (though, caveat, it IS Spade we're talking about here) in March 2013. What he did have was hits, and hits and hits, and ten hits in the first half of the year added to five hits in the last four months to break a long standing record. He had actually finished top ten in 2012, so a title run wasn't a huge surprise. He's Roger Federering the DDP since, however, being the first to win three straight titles. Deft-picks, unique knowledge (are we sure he didn't make up Andrew Millwall?), and the old "luck favours the brave" have made DQSP nearly unbeatable. Look at this year, where everyone has thrown their best bombs at Spade, and yet, who is still on top? It'll take an atom bomb to dislodge him, and even then he might finish December 31st on top with a shrug and a "just a flesh wound" snark.
  
• 1. The Living End
  It's difficult to separate the top two these days, which is testament to Spade, but DDT just hangs onto his title as The Greatest. For now, anyway. His three titles were equalled last year, but DDT still has six top ten finishes to his name and 110 hits to his name which is ridiculously ahead of anyone near. He leads the most points all time, and is winner of probably the only landslide victory in DDP history, the massacre of the innocent deadpoolers which was 2011. He is Sampras to Spade's Federer, and while Federer over took the old master, and beat him in their 2001 face to face, we've not quite reached that yet.
  
  Well, not for another four months anyhow...

[msc 18,421]

 

 

This whole thing reminds me to construct the "Archive" so we can all see what the old pages looked like...

Are the really old team lists still around?

 

 

Yeah, knocking about somewhere. I never got rid of them, just put them aside to make way for the newer stuff.

 

I am concerned about space being taken up on the server, particularly when you consider the pictures that are added every year. They may individually be anything from 4k to 13k but they all add up and there are thousands!

 

There will be some reconstruction work done on past years pages in the next few months, rolled out over time which will mean less pics of celebs - only the ones who passed away in a particular year, as is the case from 1996-2003...

 

 

Genuine question - do we actually need the pictures? Sounds like it could be less strain on the website AND host if they weren't there.

 

I mean in the "List of Celebrities" each year.