I am awaiting word from one of the Philly alumni organizers about what happened/their side of things, so if you know Chad Heffner or what happened shoot me an e-mail to update.
As it stands, now, the event was forced to scramble at the last minute and is at a Fox & Hound in King of Prussia. Sorry guys.
In the meantime, let’s review based on what we do know.
Pitt’s Philly Alumni group wanted to have a pre-game party for the Pitt-Nova game this Saturday night. The usual approach is to try and have it relatively near the location so those with tickets can go to the game and the rest end up staying for watching the game with fellow Pitt grads. If you look at the form the Philly alumni group (PDF) offered, it was clear that there was primarily a pre-game event with what would have been an impromptu gamewatch for those without tickets. There was no drink special for the group beyond the voucher (as part of the cost of the pre-game buffet). The event was listed as only running until 9pm.
This is why bars do this. They get more people staying during the game drinking.
So far, so good.
That is, until, Chris at Nova Blog got ticked about it. He took offense to the “Gamewatch” aspect of it, mostly. He posted on it, ticked that the place — run by a Villanova alum — would rent a room for a pregame event. Apparently Kelly’s owner got a lot of complaints (or enough to get nervous). He e-mailed Chris about it to defend the move. Chris was kind enough to share the e-mail. Here’s the explanation of
…
This group was referred to us by the university and live in this area.The group has a happy hour from 7-9 for 45 people. They had called in December to let us know 100 people were coming and we said no. In order to avoid any issues we put these people on the third floor, limited to 45 people , and are forced to leave at 9pm to make room for anyone wanting to watch the game which we hoped would be Villanova fans.
…
Uh-huh.
Well, apparently a deal with this particular Villanova alum is worth very little. By Wednesday afternoon, Kelly’s had posted a statement on their website proclaiming their fealty to Villanova. Acting as the victim and announcing that they were screwing the Pitt Philly chapter at the last minute. Here’s the full screen shot for posterity, since this duplicitous Nova alum will no doubt try to make this disappear down the memory hole at the first opportunity (click to enlarge).
The relevant portions:
…The reality is that a group of Pitt fans who live in this area that were to have dinner before the game have now been told they are not welcome in our establishment.
So why exactly would you go back on a deal only a few days before the event?
These fans were referred to us by Villanova, and Kelly’s did not actively recruit or invite them on our own. They originally asked to have a party for 100 plus people, which we promptly declined, but we did allow them to have a dinner/happy hour that ends promptly at nine.
Yes, anyone disagreeing with that? That seemed to be what was happening. It was right on the form.
It was news to us that they consider it a pep rally and after discussing with them, they confirmed it is just a pregame event….
What else can you call an event that takes place right before the event? That’s splitting hairs as to what it is called. It’s not like there is pep band present.
And just to be clear, you even confirmed with the Pitt alums that it was a pregame event. Yet Kelly’s still went back on the agreement? Why?
Unsurprisingly, there is no answer or explanation. Just bloviating on what a loyal Villanova alum and bar they are.
The only conclusion to draw is that Kelly’s is operated by an idiot, coward and not a person of his word. Values, pass it on. Clearly that proud Villanova alum got a valuable Jesuit Augustinians education.
Now I’m not saying that instant karma paid back Villanova as a whole last night, but that loss at Rutgers could be seen by some as a message from the universe.
The whole thing is kind of a mess, and Pitt fans with tickets to the game probably can’t go to the pre-game event for all too long. King of Prussia isn’t too far from the Villanova campus, but traffic on game night could make it take an hour.
The crazy thing is that if you read the original post on The Nova Blog, the author does not even go to Kelly’s anymore–in fact, he hates the place.
I think last night’s Nova loss is “instant karma” for this whole situation.
Another “thank you” for following this situation. Looking forward to sending this DB an email inviting him to Oakland for a lesson in hospitality and letting him know that I will be looking elsewhere for pregame dining and drinks.
good for him!
again, any chance that Pitt had to hold on to some of these great recruits were for Haywood to hire Walker, Gattuso or Angelicho. I know he went after Hafley but didn’t even bother to give seriuous interviews to anytone else .. but instead to bring his crack staff from Miami OH.
In the end, we probably lose these recruits anywy with Haywood’s arrest/firing … but I still wouldn’t mind if SP got the axe for toally botching December
Our Club has hosted an event prior to any Pitt v. Villanova basketball game for over 15 years when the game is played in Philadelphia. Our Club has hosted a pregame event at the bar and restaurant located where Kelly’s Taproom is now operated dating back over 15 years. We have hosted successful pregame events at the Wild Onion as well as at Flip & Bailey’s. So when the basketball schedule was released showing a game at the Pavilion, we contacted Kelly’s to arrange an event. We entered into a contract with Kelly’s to have a pregame dinner from 7-9, and a television game watch following our dinner, for those who were unable to get tickets. No controversy or objections were ever raised by Kelly’s or anyone else about this event. Interest in our event apparently became an issue, when a poster here raised it by way of a blog post, complaining about Pitt alumni coming to Kelly’s and threatening a boycott of the bar and restaurant.
As this post gained circulation, Kelly’s apparently became concerned about how it may affect their business. Kelly’s contacted our Club representatives indicating our Club would not be able [or discouraged] to stay after our dinner to watch the game, as set forth and provided for in our contract. We decided rather than fight about our contracted right, as well as the enjoyment and safety of our guests, that we would move our event to a venue that would welcome us. Understanding that Kelly’s was a place where we and our money were no longer welcome, we contacted Kelly’s to negotiate out of our contract for the event. We are pleased to report our event will not go forward at Kelly’s on February 12.
I am frankly surprised and disappointed that the greater Villanova community is apparently so threatened by our Club’s proposed event. Our members are respectable citizens of Greater Philadelphia, some of whom also have degrees from Villanova. We have partnered with their Villanova Club to run a number of successful joint events over the years. We hope that the discrimination and overtly nasty things said about us were the shallow and thoughtless comments of some ill-mannered minority, rather than the consensus of Villanova fans, students, and alumni.
Our event will go forward on February 12 at The Fox and Hound in King of Prussia. We welcome any Pitt or Villanova fans or alumni to join us. If you have an interest in joining us, see our web site at: link to alumni.pitt.edu for details. We are looking forward to a great game and Panther victory. Hail to Pitt!
It’s been my experience with alumni groups, that they are well mannered and that they typically spend a lot of money. Even though a Pitt fan, I attended the Navy Alumni event with friends, before the Pitt-Navy football game, when the game was in Pittsburgh and we all had a good time. Several of the cadet/midshipmen were from the area.
I can’t beleive that he felt so threatened that he had to write that letter. It’s foolishness and it’s his loss.
They are Augustinians, of which there are only 2 colleges in America which are. So they feel they’re ‘special’. Now you understand.
Villymanilly’s school motto is: Truth Unity & Love.
Isn’t that special. Nice to see their alumni practice it.
