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I started playing trivia with BIG AL around 1998 at Spoons in Fullerton, CA. When that establishment removed the game, we started meeting at National Sports up the street. We got out of touch for a few years when I was working out of town, but were reunited at TGIF in Orange. When they removed the game we played at Black Angus, Santa Ana for awhile. When the game left there, we did also and took up seats at the Pineapple Hill Grill in Tustin. I always looked forward to seeing Al on Tuesdays and at Danny Kay's on Sunday.
The first thing that those who know Al at all will probably tell you is that he is one of the most genuinely warm and nicest persons they have ever met. He was always cheerful and laughed easily, but never at anybody. I never heard him say a bad word about anyone. He was always glad to see his friends. Al was tall and well-built, but the “Big” in his moniker “Big Al” really describes his heart more than anything.
The second thing his friends would tell you was that he loved sports. When a sports question would appear, he would shout, “Sports!” It has become a common cry among his trivia buddies. After SportsIQ he loved playing Six because you were guaranteed to be shouting “Sports!” at least once per round. His favorite teams were USC and the Lakers. I'm glad the Lakers won the championship last year for Al's sake.
When it came to trivia, Al might have been as good at soap operas as he was on sports. (It's a bit hard to tell because the answer is usually General Hospital.) Seriously, whenever there was a soaps question I just pushed whatever button Al said. Yet his most amazing quality was that he was a fantastic guesser. He had an uncanny ability to pick the right answer on subjects about which he admitted he didn't know. If he said, “I'm gonna guess two; just guessing,” you would most often be wrong guessing something else.
A little while ago BIG AL transferred his points to Danny Kay's. That was when you had to create a new account at your destination site and request the transfer. He didn't put in the space, so his handle became BIGAL. This, of course, was immediately misread as “bi-gal.” We've teased him about that with little mercy ever since. He never took offense. Instead he laughed along with us. Of course, he got it changed back to BIG AL. I was still kidding him last Tuesday. Al couldn't come to play Showdown because his mother had passed away. Before the game I sent a text message to all my trivia friends, saying, “Thoughts & prayers with Big Al 2nite. Look for BI GAL in the standings.” His reply, and his last words to me, was by text, “Thank u bob”. (A BI GAL login played brainbusters and didn't make the standings, but then we needed the board for another player.)
Al had a dream. He would win the lottery and open his own restaurant. It would be called, “Big Al's” of course. He would have Buzztime trivia and never take it out. All his friends could come and play anytime, and they would never have to pay for food or drinks. Out of anyone who has ever told me what they would do if they won the lottery, that was the best I ever heard bar none. I know in my heart that if he ever struck it rich, that's exactly what he would do.
It is an honor to me to have spent time with this big-hearted guy for more than a decade. I'm a lucky person to have known him, and I hope that some of him has rubbed off on me. I will miss him every time we play trivia (in other words, an awful lot!) We will still yell, “Sports!” It will hurt, but I know Big Al would want us to keep doing that.
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If you can't both have your cake and eat it too, choose to eat it.
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