The marvelous Jefferson Survives, who has volunteered to help us catch up, starts us off with this one. I love it. You will, too.

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To China, table tennis is more than mere sport; it's part of their national identity. Mao Zedong declared it to be China's national sport early in his rule, as a means of China attaining superiority in something. It worked. Go here and look for the results from the World Table Tennis Championships. China easily has the greatest numbers.

Zhuang Zedong was China's second world champion in the sport, or in any sport. He went on to attain a hat trick of world championships, remains regarded as one of table tennis's best players, and gained notability outside of sport through what would become known as "ping-pong diplomacy."

Ping-pong diplomacy is covered in every Zhuang obituary, so I'll be succinct. During 1971's table tennis championships in Japan, American Glenn Cowan missed his bus and had to board the Chinese bus. After ten minutes, Zhuang chose to show common courtesy and offered Cowan a silk-screen portrait. Cowan accepted, and soon the American team was allowed to visit China. In 1972, Nixon made his famous trip there, consequently providing us with one of the funniest photos of him. The chance moment between Zhuang and Cowan turned out to be a significant one.

But Zhuang also had a less illustrious side.

A few years following ping-pong diplomacy, the Maoist Zhuang was promoted to sports minister. He allied himself with the Gang of Four, particularly Mao's wfe, Jiang Qing. Zhuang organized large meetings where those perceived as political opponents were beaten and forced to shame themselves. He fell out of power, however, in the wake of Mao's death and the Gang of Four's collapse. He spent several years in solitary confinement, facing the same embarrassment he had delivered earlier.

Talking to Matthew Syed in 2007, Zhuang admitted: "I did many dreadful things that I now regret." Yet he still admired Mao. "There is no such thing as a perfect man, but there are great men."

Syed ends his 2007 piece with: "Villain or victim? The answer is strange but simple, and applies to many of those who put their faith in the monster that was Mao Zedong. He was both." That, I think, is the most apt way to put it. One thing is for sure: Zhuang's life was a fascinating one, both the good and bad.

Zhuang battled colon cancer in his final years. DDT and Gerard Tierney score 8 points, plus another 3 for playing doubles. Total: 11.

— Jefferson Survives

Brand new player Jefferson Survives not only gets a glorious hit, but sends along a glorious update with a little song at the end. Hope he gets a lot more!

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Rock 'n' roll musician Tony Sheridan, best known for a brief albeit significant collaboration with the Beatles, was nurtured by music, listening to Glenn Miller as an infant and counting names like Elvis and Little Richard as his influences. His parents preferred (preferred putting it lightly) the classical genre, and his mother was upset at his interest in the likes of Elvis. One decade he was the violin-playing child who attended schools in uniform, eyed by his mother for art school, the next he donned a rebellious, leather-jacket outfit while delivering brash guitar performances in the Top Ten Club at Hamburg.

Frequent watchers of these performances were the fledgling (as in "Pete Best was there" fledgling) Beatles. The appeal was reciprocal — Sheridan saw great talent and untapped potential in the young band. He mentored them, introduced them to his own influences such as the aforementioned Little Richard, taught them what he called "weird chords," and often used the group as backup for his performances. The first Beatles recordings were done in collaboration with Sheridan, and the first of which to be released — "My Bonnie" as a single — became a success, caught the attention of record shop manager Brian Epstein, and led to greater fame for the Beatles as they parted with Sheridan less than two years after meeting.

Just as interesting as his Beatles influence were his close calls. Months before going to Hamburg, he was on a tour with Eddie Cochran and Gene Vincent. Sheridan wanted to join a ride to the next gig, but the other two refused. Said ride became the crash fatal for Cochran and damaging for Vincent. Later on, as an entertainer for American troops in Vietnam, enemy fire killed one of his band members, and he was falsely reported killed himself. For his time entertaining the troops, the U.S. Army made him an honorary Captain — a very cool honor.

How did Sheridan feel about his prime legacy being not even two years of his career? Nearly all of the obits for him have "Beatles" in the title, whether describing him as the accurate "mentor"/"one-time collaborator" or the rather misleading "one-time frontman." In a 2006 interview with Bart Mendoza, he gave the answer: Once frustrated, but no longer so. The association irritated him as he tried to continue his own musical path, but as time went on, he felt grateful he still could draw a keen fan response in contrast to a fate of obscurity if not for those years in Hamburg. As he grew more appreciative of his Beatles link, he retained an overall humbleness, as reflected by a quote from the Mendoza interview: "I was just a cog in the machinery. And there were a lot of cogs."

Though my list is more leisurely than competitive, mostly including interesting and "can't miss" names and only about a fourth with serious illnesses (that's not to say Sheridan isn't interesting!), I included Sheridan as part of that latter fourth after coming across an article mentioning he was very ill. To my surprise, I was one of only two to have picked him, the other being the very-much-competitive Gerard Tierney. 8 age points lie over the ocean, 3 duet points lie over the sea, ol' Tony lies under the coffin, with 11 points in the AODP.

— Jefferson Survives

Oh, Fireball, you're the best.

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The obituary of country singer Mindy McCready, written by Fireball.

Let that sentence sink in for a few seconds.

Yeah, I know. I'm just as surprised as the rest of you that I'm writing this. Normally, the only time that my name ever gets mentioned at the beginning of an obituary is when somebody bags a rap artist. Asking me to write an obituary on a country singer is like asking John Travolta to write an article on vaginas. But I picked McCready in the deadpool, so I'm pretty much obligated to do this. Besides, I need to expand my range a little.

I've never owned a country album. I've never listened to a country radio station. The only country songs on my MP3 player are those pop-friendly songs from the 1970s and 1980s by artists like Ronnie Milsap, Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers. I didn't even know who Mindy McCready was until five years ago, and by that time she was already a decade past her fifteenth minute of fame.

But I'm not alone, because most Americans aren't familiar with her music either. She was more famous for being engaged to Dean Cain while he was playing Superman on TV. And for maybe or maybe not having sexual relations with Roger Clemens while he was maybe or maybe not on steroids. Mindy definitely wasn't on steroids. She was on Rush Limbaugh's drug of choice, OxyContin. Her drug habit eventually became more famous than her music. The same was said about Amy Winehouse, but at least most Americans are familiar with her music.

Malinda Gayle McCready was born in 1975 in Ft. Myers, Florida. At age 18, she moved to Nashville to pursue a singing career. By age 21, she had released her debut album, "Ten Thousand Pills" [1]. The title track quickly became a top ten hit on the country singles charts. She matched that success with two follow-up singles, "I Do Hillbilly Heroin All the Time" [2] and "A Girl's Gotta Screw (Who a Girl's Gotta Screw)" [3]. She released four more albums after that, including "I'm Still High" [4] in 2010, but they all failed to match her debut.

From 2004 to 2008, McCready was a recurring guest star in Nashville police stations, arrested for various drug charges and parole violations. In 2007, she was arrested back in her hometown of Ft. Myers for allegedly assaulting her mother and resisting arrest afterward. A drugged-out woman in Florida resisting arrest ... come to think of it, I'm pretty sure I watched that episode of COPS.

In January 2013, McCready was in the news again after her most recent boyfriend shot and killed himself on her front porch. Devastated by the discovery, she released a statement to the media, calling David Wilson her "soulmate" and "life partner." That must have been true because, almost exactly one month later, it ended for her the same way it ended for her soulmate: She shot and killed herself on her front porch.

It was a suicide that shocked America ... because we all just assumed that she would OD like Winehouse.

Denise and Jazz Vulture join me in a country music trio called 21 Points. Be on the lookout for our first single, "That Pistol Packin' Mama Fell In Love With Me and She Blew Her Mind."

— Fireball

[1] Actually "Ten Thousand Angels."
[2] Actually "Guys Do It All the Time."
[3] Actually "A Girl's Gotta Do (What a Girl's Gotta Do)."
[4] Actually "I'm Still Here."

WEP gets the hit, gives us the update, and earns our thanks.

* * *

Zheng Cao's voice was described as inspiring, as was her spirit in fighting her cancer, but maybe the most confusing fact in her life was her partnership with Troy Donahue, whom she was with for a decade before Troy's death in 2001.

Before that, Shanghai-born Zheng sang on international and U.S. opera stages, mainly in San Francisco, in the mezzo-soprano pitch. Her singing career started in 1994 at the San Francisco Opera, presenting Siebel in Faust, Idamante in Idomeneo, and Baba the Turk (not to be confused with Jabba the Hutt) in The Rake's Progress during the following years. Her most important role was Ruth, a young American-born woman with Chinese roots, in The Bonesetter's Daughter.

Zheng's own life story was one of those "dishwasher turns billionaire" tales. She was born during the Cultural Revolution in China and moved to the U.S. at the age of 23. Two suitcases and $45 were everything she brought to the States. After years on opera stages, the two suitcases wound up pretty much filled with dollars.

But no money could save Zheng from cancer, which was diagnosed in 2009 and found in her neck, spine, liver and lung. Said to have six months left to live, Zheng went on singing for more than three years. During this period, she made her illness public, and she became an inspiring special guest on cancer fundraisers.

In those later, cancer-stricken years, Zheng Cao was married to David Larson, an oncologist, who survives her, as do her parents. Worldwide operas mourn the loss, while one AO Deadpooler takes the 23 points for the win.

— WEP

Eternity Tours made me laugh out loud. You made my fuckin' day.

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God dammit! Five fuckin' years, Dale Robertson. Five fuckin' years you were on my list! One year I even had to endure the public chastising of Amelia for not capitalizing your name on my entry form! But the year I mistakenly leave you off my list, you have the audacity to croak! So damn your Clark Gable-esque good looks. Damn your long and storied almost 45-year Hollywood career. Damn your good sense to retire to Oklahoma and raise horses. Damn, damn, damn! But do enjoy eternity. You have now truly begun your Death Valley Days. Congrats to RH Draney for the solo points. Should have been duet points. Fuckin' Dale Robertson!

— Eternity Tours