The writing's been on the wall for awhile now, but on Tuesday March 10 the owner finally told us that she was about to make the call to drop NTN after 13 years. She at least agreed to wait until we could spread the word to any absent teammates in time to have one last get-together. As such, we look to be 10-15 strong (compared to the usual 4-6)this coming Tuesday the 24th, then will most likely go silent until further notice.
Various factors have conspired for this to happen, and to be sure, it's been a gradual process.
For one thing, the male half of the ownership team stopped drinking about three years ago (medical reasons), and presumably to avoid temptation has made an effort to be present much less often during business hours (he usually comes in early in the morning then hands it off to staff, leaving before it opens). Also, the site's top bartender (and world class NTN supporter) had a baby, and shortly thereafter took a different bar tending job much closer to home. One of the results of this (or at least that I have observed when coming into the bar in the later hours) is that I will often find that Buzztime is not on ANY of the bar TV screens, or that it's on one screen way off in the corner, and usually on poker at that. Often in conjunction with this I will discover that all the boxes are in the back room. As one might gather, new player recruitment has been almost nil over the last five years, save for those who are actually present during premium game play.
Prior to the bar opening in 2002, it had previously existed as Duffy's, one of the diviest dive bars around. One of their stated reasons for keeping the game so long was as part of an effort to try to shake the dive-bar label (which they did very well for many years), but they are fighting an uphill battle on that front, partly due to the neighborhood they are in (somewhat industrial) as well as the building's owner allowing the building's condition to gradually deteriorate. Without going into detail, let's just say we make a concerted effort not to sit within 30 feet of the restrooms.
So, assuming they go through with NTN's removal, this leaves the nearest site over 50 miles away. I would guess that we'll make the occasional appearance at Buffalo Wild Wings in Oxnard, although that is in the same direction as the heavier traffic, so may be a tall order most weeknights. We'll make a half-assed last stab at Spotlight tonight (only 3 players probably), then leave that board for the Rockin' Crepes and Torry Pines (and their eastern equivalents) of the world. See you all from the boards Tuesday, then who knows when.
Cheers,
Foose
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