Idiot on the left in white t-shirt grabs the fucking remote and tries to change the channel during the Green Bay-Chicago game. This man is about to be dealt a savage beating.
I’m having trouble breathing right now.
Some selfish-ass motherfucker just stormed into the lobby of the hotel, and tried to change the television channel. No big deal, except the program a few of us were watching was the game between NFL rivals Green Bay and Chicago!!!
What a jerk!!!
Doesn’t this clown have a television set in his hotel room? And, what fucking show would you dare turn to when there’s an NFL game on???
Let’s back up. Begin story.
I’m sitting here working on my laptop in the lobby of the Courtyard Marriott in Bossier City, Louisiana. Internet connection is strong here, so I’m camping. It just so happens there’s a big screen television with the Green Bay-Chicago game being shown. Nice!
So, there are perhaps 3-4 people watching the game, minding their own business. Then, out of nowhere — this middle-aged jerk barges into the lobby and grabs the remote. He starts flicking through the channels like he’s standing alone in his underwear at 3 am, totally oblivious to the danger he is putting himself in.
“Heeeeeeyyyyyy, wooooaaaahhhh!”
I thought the man was pulling a bad joke.
But no. He starts flicking the channels and I am sitting there speechless. Finally, the words come.
“Hey, we’re watching that game, man!” I say.
“Yeah, I just want to check out something else for a minute,” he says.
So, the prick starts with the remote and like watches each channel for 30 seconds before flicking to the next channel. I’m not believing what I am seeing. Does this man have a death wish?
I’m like shaking by this point. I decide to grab my cell phone and take a picture of this prick (see above) because this might end up as the lead story on the 11 o’clock news.
I decide to give the idiot another 3-4 minutes to get his rocks off. That passes. He’s still channel surfing!!!
“What in the hell are you looking for?” I ask.
“I don’t know,” he says. “I just wanted to see what else was on!”
Are you fucking kidding me????????????
By this time a few others have mustered up the courage to run this lout out of the room. One of the guests insists that we were all here first, so we have control of what gets shown on TV. If he wants to pick the show, he needs to get here earlier and stake out his territory.
Finally, the man sitting to the right (in the photo) simply walks over and grabs the remote out of the fool’s hand. He shifts the TV back to the game.
The snake slinks away like the loser he is and now all is right with the universe.
No lead story about a homicide on the 11 o’clock news. But it was close.
ALERT! Be advised the following items, consumer products, programs, and personalities are NOT permitted at the Dalla residence. Any guest who shows up with any of these items will be denied entry. For further explanations, see “footnotes” below:
Note: Last week, Stu Ungar would have celebrated his 59th birthday (Birthdate — September 8, 1953).
The short-lived Players Television Network debuted at the 2005 World Series of Poker.
I was asked to moderate two panel discussions, which were later broadcast via “On Demand.” The first show was on the late-great poker legend Stu Ungar. The second show was a panel discussion about the business of online poker.
I wasn’t at all prepared to assume the role of moderator. I recall leaving the rigors of my job at the WSOP for an hour or so, getting abruptly fitted with a microphone, and then walking out and taking a seat in front of a live studio audience and rolling television cameras with no script.
The good thing about the unrehearsed format is that everything was spontaneous. The bad thing is the show could have been much crisper had I been prepared. Looking back now, I certainly would have asked more penetrating questions than what appears here.
Fortunately, the four guests who appeared on the Stu Ungar segment were outstanding. Madeline Ungar (Stuey’s former wife), Stefanie Ungar (Stuey’s Daughter), Larry Grossman (Las Vegas radio personality and gambling authority), and Peter Alson (writer and my co-author on Stuey’s biography One of a Kind) were all in top form.
In the coming weeks and months ahead, from time to time, I’ll be writing more about my personal recollections of Ungar — particularly during that tragic final year of his life when I spent the most time with him. I look forward to telling some stories that were not included in the book which might interest poker fans.
In the meantime, here’s the panel discussion from 2005 that runs about 30 minutes in length.
Writer’s Note: This marks the first time I’ve written about the events of September 11, 2001. I resided at 1201 South Eads Street, located in the Crystal City section of Arlington, Virginia. My ninth-floor residence at The Bennington overlooked the Pentagon. I remember that morning.
“It’s like the story of the Golden Temple: A guy fell in love with it and burned it down. He couldn’t stand the idea of it falling apart as it got older, and now the Golden Temple exists in perfect form forever. It became a myth.”
