The Pros and Cons of CSAs
Snowpocalypse 2010: Metro Strikes Back
Washington Leads the Country in Troubled Banks
Requiem For a Dream Season
Carl Rogers, owner of the Old Pequliar, got in touch to give us his take on the events from last week. He writes:
[Former quiz host] Word, who now lives in California, was in town visiting for about a week. For old times sake, he wanted to host trivia. Sounded like fun- or so I thought. Many people came to see Word- he was a very popular host at the o.p. Trivia rivalry being what it can be, and Word being; 1. stupid, and 2. really drunk, he and [the most recent host] butted heads from the onset. Word grew progressively more drunk as I am sure [recent host] and his friends grew progressively frustrated. The evening ended with a discrepancy in who the winners were. Instead of trying to recount or be reasonable about it, Word shut them down and told them the contest was over. To add insult to injury, he physically threatened [recent host].Seattlest got in touch with that gentleman, who confirmed that he did indeed receive a check from Carl, along with "a nice and extremely apologetic letter." This player does not yet know, however, if his team will be returning to the Old Pequliar, because they have not met as a group since receiving word from Carl.Suffice it to say that Word will never host trivia again at the o.p. I try to never say never, but I doubt if he will ever be allowed to set foot in my pub, either. As he lives in California, the point may be moot. As to the accusations that the o.p. had any ill intent is about as absurd as it gets. The "winner" that night, my business partner, Jeff Flood, was absolutely sick when he heard of the controversy, and returned the money to me immediately. I then refunded the money via check to the gentleman who wrote me to tell me of the events of that evening.
Carl's email to us concluded, "I have worked my entire career to establish myself a man of integrity and honesty. It makes me sick to my stomach and keeps me up at night to think that someone would unjustly accuse me of being otherwise."
Seattlest congratulates Carl for being a stand-up guy in his handling of the situation. It's unfortunate that a tiff between quiz hosts, which sounds like it was one-sided, spilled over and affected a team that had been enjoying the Old Pequliar's quiz for a long while. It's also unfortunate that the reputation of the Old Pequliar was tarnished by a jerk from California who couldn't hold his liquor.
We re-confirmed with our friend, the recent trivia master and victim of Word's threats and verbal harrassment, that he won't be returning. Note, however, that Carl's account directly contradicts Word's parting shot at the other host: "They begged me to host tonight because everybody hates you." We know which one of them sounds more credible to us, and it's not the drunk idiot.
We'll try the Old Pequliar's quiz again, once they have a new host. We'll let you know how it goes as part of our new Trivia Vagabond series. (Interested in being a quiz host? Call the OP at 206-782-8886.)
What do you think, players? Does Carl's response earn the Old Pequliar another shot at your quiz business?
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
tweet this
post to facebook
I would like to add one more question to this controversy. What is Jeff, the business partner who also runs Ravenna Ale House, going to do about the trivia night there? That game has been running pretty terribly for the last couple of months, and since the the o.p. host also did the trivia there every other week, I'm wondering if that game is even happening anymore. Since I realized Jeff was the "friend" who'd walked out with Word and the money, I stopped going to the Ravenna game cold turkey. I've been enjoying reading about the new trivia night possibilities, but wonder if Jeff and Ravenna Ale house are going to do anything to make their game more appealing. Back in the fall they had a pretty happening game, now its just terrible. The fact that the food and the service are also abyssmal really gives litte reason to think of going back. Think they might be able to save the game and the pub? I feel they're in trouble and need a little push.
I'm glad you printed Carl's comments, and impressed with the way he handled the situation. Frankly, I don't think there's much more he could do. I haven't tried quiz night at the OP, but now I want to.
Greenwood15, please refer to the comment I posted June 27th under the original headline "Trivia Scandal at the OP" - it tells the other half of the story.
Do you really think a bar owner would risk his reputation and that of his bar for $130?
He and I walked out of there with the money because we thought we won and did not know Word had defrauded trivia. We were sitting in the back of the bar and heard no contest from the other teams of our win. We left promptly afterwards as it was a school night. Also, we did not walk outside with Word. Maybe we were naive, maybe we were drunk, maybe both. But one thing we did not do was take that money under false pretenses.
Too bad we were unable to post our comments sooner as it looks like OP's integrity and now Ravenna Alehouse's have been marred because only one side of this story has been posted for two weeks.
If you have any suggestions for the Ravenna Alehouse as it pertains to trivia, please by all means pass them along. I'm sure he would appreciate any constructive feedback.