The Pie and Bovril Dead Pool 2024

[Fullerene]

Be interesting if his autobiography came out now entitled "Yeah I did it".

[TxRover]

Roberto Cavalli has drawn his last design.

[Zen Archer (Raconteur)]

No design for life.

[Miguel Sanchez]

Week 15 update

One death this week, OJ Simpson: OJ Simpson, ex-NFL star who was acquitted of murder, dies aged 76 | OJ Simpson | The Guardian

Quote

One of the most successful and popular sports stars of his generation, Simpson’s career with the San Francisco 49ers and Buffalo Bills, as well as his post-retirement starring roles in Hollywood movies such as The Naked Gun, was ultimately overshadowed by the 1994 murders and their aftermath.

From a low-speed car chase across Los Angeles, broadcast live, in which Simpson attempted to flee pursuing police officers in a Ford Bronco, to the televised trial that captivated the attention of millions of viewers in the US and globally on a daily basis, the events heralded a blending of celebrity and crime that has become a staple of media ever since.

My knowledge of recent American cultural history is based near exclusively on things which have featured in The Simpsons. I've just discovered he was originally intended to be in Last Exit to Springfield, widely regarded as the best Simpsons episode, but he turned it down. What a change in history that would be. Outside of that there's probably an understandable reason that someone born in the UK in the early 90s probably hasn't seen much of his media presence.

Anyway, the point is that outside of a vague general idea of who he was or what he's known for, I didn't really appreciate how significant his trial was when it happened. Seeing the clips on the news of his trial and reading recollections from Americans this week though, I've really been taken aback by how current it all seems. His trial, the TV coverage of it, it feels like the sort of media circus that we're all too used to nowadays. 

I don't really have any opinion on the trial or the question of his guilt, but from my brief exposure to it this week it seems to me that OJ Simpson's most significant cultural impact goes well beyond his sporting prowess, his acting or images of him wearing gloves or driving a truck. I don't even want to think about what a similar case would be like now with social media. Oscar Pistorius is probably the closest recent comparable and that was nothing to what I've seen of OJ this week. If Donald Trump ever reaches a courtroom, would he compare? Could the trial even happen?

Simpson died at 76 so he's worth 49 Base Points for @BillyAnchor and @doulikefish. @ICTChris gets a Vice-Captain bonus to give him a total of 74 points.

As a result, the standings look like this:

1. mozam76 402
2. Billy Jean King 380
3. lolls 316
4. Forest_Fifer 297
5. psv_killie, sparky88 291
7. Indale Winton 284
8. Ned Nederlander 282
9. lichtgilphead 279
10. Moomintroll 263
11. The_Craig 254
12. pub car king 238
13. The DA 228
14. JustOneCornetto 225
15. Arch Stanton 207
16. parxyz 206
17. cdhafc1874 204
18. Oystercatcher 198
19. weirdcal 191
20. Melanius Mullarkant 176
21. amnarab, The Naitch 169
23. El Guapo, mathematics 164
25. Salvo Montalbano 163
26. alta-pete 156
27. blackislekillie, Bully Wee Villa, choirbairn, Desp, peasy23 150
32. tamthebam 144
33. Savage Henry 134
34. Arbroathlegend36-0 126
35. Arabdownunder 117
36. buddiepaul, chomp my root, scottsdad, Trogdor, TxRover 113
41. sleazy, Sweaty Morph 100
43. Craig fae the Vale 95
44. ThomCat 94
45. pawpar 90
46. invergowrie arab, Karpaty Lviv, Ray Patterson 78
49. DG.Roma, Lofarl, Mark Connolly, qos_75, sensorsoupe, Sergeant Wilson, Shotgun 75
56. ICTChris 74
57. D Angelo Barksdale 71
58. Raidernation 60
59. Florentine_Pogen 58
60. Aim Here, Darren 51
62. BillyAnchor, doulikefish 49
64. stanton 25
65. Everyone else 0

The spreadsheet has also been updated with these scores: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1CsroU6IlQNJOesOqCc5gsI7SCw8ywBS-PUzQwLTJe4g/edit?usp=sharing

[Miguel Sanchez]

I also think this is the first year since I started running this that nobody picked Akebono Taro or Peter Higgs. You know the longer somebody's alive the more likely they are to die, right?

[JustOneCornetto]

28 minutes ago, Miguel Sanchez said:

I also think this is the first year since I started running this that nobody picked Akebono Taro or Peter Higgs. You know the longer somebody's alive the more likely they are to die, right?

Not so, I had the big Sumo man as a Solo Shot in 2019 & 2020, Enigma had him as a Solo Shot in 2021, a Deadly Duo for Enigma & Melanius Mullarkey in 2022 and a Solo Shot for Melanius last year. Unfortunately for us we came to the conclusion he must be indestructible.

[Aim Here]

57 minutes ago, Miguel Sanchez said:

I also think this is the first year since I started running this that nobody picked Akebono Taro or Peter Higgs. You know the longer somebody's alive the more likely they are to die, right?

I picked Higgs on my first go here, before I realised that ill people die faster than old people. And nobody told me Peter Higgs was ill.

[BillyAnchor]

Usually I am pretty up on my picks but did not remember I had OJ Simpson so seeing my name tagged and the resultant 49 points fair warmed my cockles. And the Ross County score.  I need to buy a lottery ticket.

[Mark Connolly]

4 hours ago, JustOneCornetto said:

Not so, I had the big Sumo man as a Solo Shot in 2019 & 2020, Enigma had him as a Solo Shot in 2021, a Deadly Duo for Enigma & Melanius Mullarkey in 2022 and a Solo Shot for Melanius last year. Unfortunately for us we came to the conclusion he must be indestructible.

Unless I've missed something, Miguel said nobody picked him this year, and that was a first under his regime.

Your post surely just backs up his assertion, despite it starting "Not so"?

[JustOneCornetto]

38 minutes ago, Mark Connolly said:

Unless I've missed something, Miguel said nobody picked him this year, and that was a first under his regime.

Your post surely just backs up his assertion, despite it starting "Not so"?

Yeah you're right. note to self - read the thing properly

[Sergeant Wilson]

5 hours ago, Miguel Sanchez said:

My knowledge of recent American cultural history is based near exclusively on things which have featured in The Simpsons.

Don't we all.

[TxRover]

7 hours ago, Miguel Sanchez said:

Week 15 update

One death this week, OJ Simpson: OJ Simpson, ex-NFL star who was acquitted of murder, dies aged 76 | OJ Simpson | The Guardian

My knowledge of recent American cultural history is based near exclusively on things which have featured in The Simpsons. I've just discovered he was originally intended to be in Last Exit to Springfield, widely regarded as the best Simpsons episode, but he turned it down. What a change in history that would be. Outside of that there's probably an understandable reason that someone born in the UK in the early 90s probably hasn't seen much of his media presence.

Anyway, the point is that outside of a vague general idea of who he was or what he's known for, I didn't really appreciate how significant his trial was when it happened. Seeing the clips on the news of his trial and reading recollections from Americans this week though, I've really been taken aback by how current it all seems. His trial, the TV coverage of it, it feels like the sort of media circus that we're all too used to nowadays. 

I don't really have any opinion on the trial or the question of his guilt, but from my brief exposure to it this week it seems to me that OJ Simpson's most significant cultural impact goes well beyond his sporting prowess, his acting or images of him wearing gloves or driving a truck. I don't even want to think about what a similar case would be like now with social media. Oscar Pistorius is probably the closest recent comparable and that was nothing to what I've seen of OJ this week. If Donald Trump ever reaches a courtroom, would he compare? Could the trial even happen?

Given that the overall opinion (in the Community) is that about 70-80% of the African-American community felt O.J. WAS guilty, but were just cheering because a Brother finally got away with killing a white person, the comparison with the upcoming Trump trials is interesting (and what that figure says about racial relations in the U.S. then is scary too).

The societal and cultural impact of the O.J. trial was insane. I was in the Control Room at Fort Worth ARTCC when the verdict was released, and it was actually broadcast to aircraft in flight because so many pilots were requesting updates (because the passengers were demanding updates from them). You have to remember that there was no option for staying connected while in flight in the early 90's, other than slow updating dispatch messages and AYC radios. 

[Miguel Sanchez]

11 minutes ago, TxRover said:

Given that the overall opinion (in the Community) is that about 70-80% of the African-American community felt O.J. WAS guilty, but were just cheering because a Brother finally got away with killing a white person, the comparison with the upcoming Trump trials is interesting (and what that figure says about racial relations in the U.S. then is scary too).

The societal and cultural impact of the O.J. trial was insane. I was in the Control Room at Fort Worth ARTCC when the verdict was released, and it was actually broadcast to aircraft in flight because so many pilots were requesting updates (because the passengers were demanding updates from them). You have to remember that there was no option for staying connected while in flight in the early 90's, other than slow updating dispatch messages and AYC radios. 

This just goes along with what I said about memories I've seen from other people. People skipping lectures to watch the verdict announcement. The only case of news having that sort of immediate cultural impact I can think of is 9/11. It's ludicrous.

[BFTD]

15 minutes ago, Miguel Sanchez said:

This just goes along with what I said about memories I've seen from other people. People skipping lectures to watch the verdict announcement. The only case of news having that sort of immediate cultural impact I can think of is 9/11. It's ludicrous.

It was all over the news here, so I can't imagine what it must have been like in America.

And I don't mean, "something's happened in the OJ Simpson trial" style news, but the "we're going to be outside the courtroom staring at the door to the building and Sky News will be broadcasting the live feed every day" kind of news. I think maybe BBC2 had a daily feed, thinking about it.

I don't think OJ Simpson was even all that famous here until he murdered the ex he used as a punch bag and her mate. At the time, a lot of those Eighties American sports stars had names that you'd know, but wouldn't be sure which sport they played. Probably better known for The Naked Gun TBH.

[scottsdad]

6 minutes ago, BFTD said:

It was all over the news here, so I can't imagine what it must have been like in America.

And I don't mean, "something's happened in the OJ Simpson trial" style news, but the "we're going to be outside the courtroom staring at the door to the building and Sky News will be broadcasting the live feed every day" kind of news. I think maybe BBC2 had a daily feed, thinking about it.

I don't think OJ Simpson was even all that famous here until he murdered the ex he used as a punch bag and her mate. At the time, a lot of those Eighties American sports stars had names that you'd know, but wouldn't be sure which sport they played. Probably better known for The Naked Gun TBH.

I remember watching the nightly court highlights on BBC2.

They showed the verdict live, about dinner time here. Lunchtime in the states. I remember my old man sleeping through it.

When he woke up I told him the verdict. He, a polis at the time, was shocked. I remember him saying "But he killed them!"

[Mark Connolly]

17 minutes ago, BFTD said:

It was all over the news here, so I can't imagine what it must have been like in America.

And I don't mean, "something's happened in the OJ Simpson trial" style news, but the "we're going to be outside the courtroom staring at the door to the building and Sky News will be broadcasting the live feed every day" kind of news. I think maybe BBC2 had a daily feed, thinking about it.

I don't think OJ Simpson was even all that famous here until he murdered the ex he used as a punch bag and her mate. At the time, a lot of those Eighties American sports stars had names that you'd know, but wouldn't be sure which sport they played. Probably better known for The Naked Gun TBH.

IIRC BBC2 had a weekly round-up on a Sunday night

ETA: no idea why I said Friday originally, I used to watch it when I was packing my school bag for the week ahead!

Edited April 14 by Mark Connolly

[scottsdad]

25 minutes ago, scottsdad said:

I remember watching the nightly court highlights on BBC2.

They showed the verdict live, about dinner time here. Lunchtime in the states. I remember my old man sleeping through it.

When he woke up I told him the verdict. He, a polis at the time, was shocked. I remember him saying "But he killed them!"

 

20 minutes ago, Mark Connolly said:

IIRC BBC2 had a weekly round-up on a Sunday night

ETA: no idea why I said Friday originally, I used to watch it when I was packing my school bag for the week ahead!

Maybe the Mandela effect but I remember watching daily highlights every night at about 11.

[scottsdad]

25 minutes ago, scottsdad said:

I remember watching the nightly court highlights on BBC2.

They showed the verdict live, about dinner time here. Lunchtime in the states. I remember my old man sleeping through it.

When he woke up I told him the verdict. He, a polis at the time, was shocked. I remember him saying "But he killed them!"

 

20 minutes ago, Mark Connolly said:

IIRC BBC2 had a weekly round-up on a Sunday night

ETA: no idea why I said Friday originally, I used to watch it when I was packing my school bag for the week ahead!

Maybe the Mandela effect but I remember watching daily highlights every night at about 11.

[Mark Connolly]

11 minutes ago, scottsdad said:

 

Maybe the Mandela effect but I remember watching daily highlights every night at about 11.

There was probably something on Newsnight every night, but the BBC Genome project only has the Sunday programme in its listings

https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/years/1995

[TxRover]

5 hours ago, Miguel Sanchez said:

This just goes along with what I said about memories I've seen from other people. People skipping lectures to watch the verdict announcement. The only case of news having that sort of immediate cultural impact I can think of is 9/11. It's ludicrous.

Would the Falklands War match in the UK? Plus perhaps the Miners Strike, Suez, Profumo Affair, Cambridge Five, Northern Ireland, Berlin Wall, Brexit vote, Scottish independence vote. Again, mostly before your time. 

Offhand, mainly in the U.S., things that dominated discussion and TV/radio: Civil Rights movement, the Vietnam War, Moon Landing, Watergate, Challenger, O.J., Clinton saga, 9/11, Obama (campaign/election), Trump saga.