The 5th Crowdsource Deathlist (2020 edition)

[Death Impends 7,976]

STILE-ISH SCORER FOR CSDL

 

21/50

 

 

30th October 2020

 

The 2020 Crowdsourced DeathList has had a bit of shite luck with the dementia bedblockers. While Jill Gascoine and John Hume both had enough backing to make the provisional top 50, both fell afoul of the "only 25 carryovers" rule and died as CSDL misses. Not the case for football hero Nobby Stiles, who qualified easily at 8th place and has died aged 78. Stiles cut an unusual figure for a footballer - short, balding, nearsighted, missing many of his teeth. But though toothless in the literal sense, he certainly was not toothless in skill or character. A star player for Manchester United in the 60s, the defensive midfielder served as a key component of England's World Cup win in 1966, with his skills complementing offensive crux Bobby Charlton. Though his aggressive, roughshod approach displeased many journos and the FA wanted Stiles removed from future games after an awry tackle injured France's midfielder, Alf Ramsey kept faith in Stiles, drawing a firm "if Stiles goes, so do I" line which Stiles himself hadn't known of till after Ramsey's death. Ramsey was vindicated - Stiles nullified juggernaut Eusebio in the semi-final against Portugal, paving the way for England's win against West Germany in the final. The once-maligned Nobby Stiles was now beloved as England celebrated their crowning football achievement, and the sight of him dancing with false teeth and Jules Rimet Trophy in hand remains an enduring image of their victory. He also won the 1968 European Cup with Manchester United, and later delved into managing with less success than his playing days. Among many former footballers to suffer from dementia in his later years, Stiles was ill for so long he was among the survivors of the inaugural 2016 CSDL. Despite this, he still outlived four fellow Boys of '66 since said debut, leaving some to wonder if he'd end up outliving all his teammates. That prophecy did not materialize, as Stiles notches a remarkable 21st hit for the CSDL, in his fourth appearance.

[Death Impends 7,976]

JAURN BUT NOT FORGOTTEN

 

22/50

 

 

8th November 2020

 

Beloved Jeopardy! emcee and peculiar enunciatior of the word "genre", Alex Trebek, has died of pancreatic cancer aged 80 in another Crowdsourced DeathList success. The Canuck's career started off as a CBC broadcaster, but he soon moved to America, where he spent much of the 70s as something of a game show journeyman, hosting a range of shows that typically only lasted for a season or two. It wouldn't be until Merv Griffin tapped him to host the 1984 revival of Jeopardy! that Trebek established himself as an American cultural institution. Though the "answer and question" trivia program existed before him - it was first hosted in the 60s by fellow pan can fatality Art Fleming - Trebek's erudite, calm demeanor arguably defined Jeopardy! as much as the Daily Doubles, the "who is...?" responses, and the wide-ranging minutiae that peppered each episode's board. He hosted for over 36 years, starting off as a quicker-paced mustachioed host before becoming a steadier (and mustacheless, at his wife's insistence) presence with age. He probably did not know what the third-largest lake in Malaysia actually was, but such was the way he conducted himself you believed he knew every Jeopardy! answer. His long tenure as host gave him an eternal feeling which was shattered by his pan can diagnosis in early 2019. A class act till the end, he hosted Jeopardy! until weeks before his death, lived for many months with a disease that often kills within weeks, and even outlived his SNL nemesis Sean Connery by a week. Trebek making this year's CSDL would not be in the form of a question - he romped it, debuting at 2nd place.

 

Part of Trebek's greatness was his humbleness. Iconic as he was, Trebek was insistent that the players, not him, were the stars of Jeopardy!. And proving his point, some of the game's greatest players have seen their performances as a launchpad to celebrity. Ken Jennings's remarkable 74-win streak from 2004 remains unparalleled, but in 2019 James Holzhauer came tantalizingly close to outdoing Jennings's regular-play cash winnings total (about $2.5 million) with a much more aggressive playstyle. The CSDL has experienced a similar sensation. 2017's record of 22 hits seemed unbreakable, and yet three years later that total has been reached once again. Now the question remains if with less than two months left, the CSDL can break the record. Hopefully the rapidly declining health of Valery Giscard d'Estaing doesn't leave us rueing the forum consensus he seemed too healthy at the start of the year. Or say, the fact that everyone assumes Chuck Yeager will see 100 easy. And so on...

[Banana 859]

“Who is dead?” was a missed opportunity