KEITH DONNELLY

[Keith is standing in the center of the back row]

Monday morning, February 21, 2000, we learned that Keith Donnelly, a legendary Las Vegas NTN player and great person, had passed away in his sleep. Keith's untimely passing was a shock to those who had been blessed with his friendship, to those who had the opportunity to meet him, to those who had only heard of his legendary prowess with a playmaker, and to those who learned of Keith from the many tributes posted on BadBart in the hours following Troy's announcement.

As a small tribute to our friend Keith, I've collected some of the early BadBart posts expressing the shock and disbelief that he could be gone. For those who didn't have an opportunity to meet Keith, these posts provide a glimpse of Keith, how special he was to those who knew him, and how well regarded he was within the NTN community.

DISGUSTED by Troy

I'm absolutely disgusted to let you all know the Keith (MRDATA) passed away
last night in his sleep apparently from heart trouble. I'm speechless, he
was the happiest person I've ever known and I really know not what to say.

He was just recently married and just found out that he was going to be a
father. Tami asked that I tell all of you as she knows how much we all meant
to him and how much he loved this forum. More later. . .

Troy

RESPONSE TO TROY'S MESSAGE by Ron Philo

My God. I'm speechless, too. I only met him once, but I thought right away he was
a great guy.

Ron, shaking his head

RESPONSE TO TROY'S MESSAGE by Don Denton

Unbelievable! I'm sure that I speak for the whole National West Covina team when I express our deepest sympathies to Tami, Keith's family, and his many friends.

On a personal note, Keith was so good at keeping me updated on where the Las Vegas team played Showdown and what score they got when it wasn't posted properly. He was a big help in keeping the team rankings as accurate as possible. I'm going to miss him big time. Such a shame to lose someone that had so much to live for!

Take care, Don

R.I.P. MR DATA by Bob Blake

Keith came to Tampa last year and gave us an amazing demo
of serious multibox play.

He was a terrific guy, a real player and a class act.

Here's to you, Keith my friend, I hope all the playmakers work
where you are now.

JJBBOB

R.I.P. MR DATA by John Carter

Never had the good fortune to meet MRDATA, but have read what y'all said
about him.... Thanks to all previous posts for the marvelous insight....

Sorry to lose a great person, magnificent triv player and all-around
good guy....
Condolences and kind wishes to his family.
Dr. Gonzo

R.I.P. MR DATA by Brian Sarver

How sad! And what a shock. We will all miss his voice on BadBart and I
will miss our private correspondence. On behalf of myself and the teams at
SHUCKERS and 3 CHEERS I would like to extend our deepest sympathies to
Keith's family and friends.

Brian

RESPONSE TO TROY'S MESSAGE by Rick Kitchen

Oh, My God! Oh, Troy, I don't know what to say. Keith was a great guy, and
one hell of a fast trivia player. Give my best to all of his friends and
family.

Corvus, shocked and saddened

RESPONSE TO TROY'S MESSAGE by Mark Boazman

Our condolences as well.

Sarge

RESPONSE TO TROY'S MESSAGE by John Bychowski

I certainly was amazed at his performance when I paid a visit to Vegas about
two years back. Keith practically inspired me to take on so many boxes since
then.

My condolences to Keith's family, his friends and the Vegas bunch. He will
be missed.

Rest in peace, Keith.

John

RESPONSE TO TROY'S MESSAGE by Peter Bauer

Our deepst sympathy and condolences go out to the family and friends of
Keith
Donnelly. MRDATA will be missed not only by his teammates in Las Vegas and
the West, but all over the country. We'll raise a glass to him at Teaser's
tomorrow
evening.

CLIPPR

STUNNED DISBELIEF by Joel Suzuki (LILJOL)

Those were my words in answer to HAPPY's IM earlier this afternoon
informing me of the untimely passing of Keith Donnelly, MRDATA of Las
Vegas. Apologies to those of you who will be seeing some of the
following twice.

As some of you were aware i was in Las Vegas this past weekend.
Saturday evening some of the Las Vegas players, including Keith,
gathered at one of the PTs Pubs. Around 9:00 PM we called it a night.
Keith and i spent a few minutes chatting about this and that. Keith
then invited me to join him for lunch Sunday at The Mirage, where he
was the manager of their Sports Book.

I arrived just a bit before noon, to see Keith and the rest of the
Sports Book staff looking rather busy. However, when he saw me nearing
their work area, up came that great smile of his. He managed to break
for a few minutes and we more or less picked up where we left off the
night before. He then let me know that we wouldn't be able to join me
for lunch since business had picked up. Little did i realize, that
would be the last time i'd see him.

liljol, joining the rest on BadBart in expressing sympathy to Keith's
wife, the rest of his family, and his extended family, the Las Vegas
NTN players.

RESPONSE TO TROY'S MESSAGE by Steven Watanabe

My deepest condolences to his family, relatives, friends, and the NTN
players that he knew.

I never met MRDATA, and don't know a whole lot about him, but as a
fellow BadBarter, and I will drink a toast in his memory.

The timing is terrible: he was about to become a father, and was
probably in otherwise decent health.

Geez, I just came back from San Diego a few minutes ago and was about
to tell you guys about my trip over there, and this sad news happens.

Well, if we ever have a BadBartBash 2000, we should dedicate it to
MRDATA. Whaddaya think, gang?


Steven (SEKA)
Sacramento, CA

RESPONSE TO TROY'S MESSAGE by James C. Dobbs

I remember seeing MRDATA's name on the boards and knowing there was a
fellow trekkie playing. I'm saddened to hear of his passing. My deepest
sympathy to his family and all that knew him.

Gypsee

RESPONSE TO TROY'S MESSAGE by Jim McKelvey

He has always been well respected here in Toronto, to his friends and family
we offer our condolances.

Biff@Pegasus

RESPONSE TO TROY'S MESSAGE by Bobby

i also never had the pleasure of meeting keith, from what i have heard about
him he was a great guy. if anyone is up to it? Romany is going to play all
our boards with his handle in. MRDAT2,MRDAT3,MRDAT4 and so on. I hope this
isn't too much to ask. I believe this would be a great gesture from all the
badbarters out there to let him know he will be missed.

my personal sorrow for Keith and his family.
bobby(LEWSER/MENSA-TEAM ROMANY)

RESPONSE TO TROY'S MESSAGE by Jason Wilson

My deepest sympathy to Tami, Keith's family, his many friends and all of the
NTN players in Vegas.

In my book, Keith was one of the nicest guys ever to push a box. I first ran
into Keith in late 1996 or early 1997 when he and Tami (then his girlfriend)
visited us at NWC. Keith and Tami shared their picture collection with us
(which included one purportedly of a laptop at Nick). More importantly, the
prized picture was one of Samstown at #1 in Showdown--and as I recall NICK
was 2nd. I got a kick out of Keith playing 8 boxes (he worked up a big
sweat) and he was great at hedging his boxes (hedging=splitting up his
answers on the best choices).

Keith and Troy returned several times. I remember one time playing very late
into the night with them and having a great time. Keith had a great time no
matter how well we did (and as the night progressed, we did worse--for the
obvious reasons). Keith told a number of funny stories about the "fleas"
the non-stop gamblers who would never leave the sports book.

In late 1998, I played the horses at the Mirage Sportsbook and visited with
Keith. Sportbooks are serious places. There are big bets and people lose
big money. When I spotted Keith in the distance, Keith had the demeanor that
went with his position as a supervisor at a top casino. He was serious and
watchful. If you have every seen the movie Casino, you know what I mean by
serious and watchful. When I caught his eye, he broke into a big smile and
immediately reached under his desk. Keith pulled out the Showdown rankings
and begin to tell me where he and his teammates hoped to finish the year.
He voice rang with joy. I remember that joy and his excitement, it was
infectious. And the contrast between Keith Donnelly, serious casino
supervisor and Mr. Data, joyful NTN player, now, in retrospect, seems very
poignant.

The last time I saw Keith was last October. I played a few races at the
Mirage. Over my protests, Keith insisted on giving me and my friend a comp
lunch. Later that night, after his shift ended, Keith showed up at ESM
Vegas where I was playing QB1 with Airkev. It was out of Keith's way: he
does not play QB1. Keith watched the last quarter of the game with us. I
guess he had shown up just to be friendly on behalf of the Vegas players.

I will miss him.


Jason Wilson

RESPONSE TO TROY'S MESSAGE by Laura French

I didn't know Keith aka MrData, but it is always sad to lose any family
member.... and that's what NTN players are... FAMILY. On behalf of the gang
at McGees in Citrus Heights, CA... our thoughts and prayers are with him, his
wife, his baby-to-be, and his family........ god bless.

Laura French (aka LALA)

MRDATA by Bill

For those those of you who knew Keith and want to see him again, I've
attached a picture from the Sam's Town days. For those who didn't have
the good fortune to ever meet him, Keith is the guy standing in the
middle.

Keith buddy, you will be missed. It won't ever be quite the same
without you.

My last thoughts of him will be of him telling me how Tami was going
around asking him if she was showing yet, and how she was buying
clothes for her pregnancy even though she was still so skinny. He was
just beaming and couldn't get that silly grin off his face.

Bill (RZRBCK)

[Note: The picture Bill provided is shown at the top of this page.]

RESPONSE TO TROY'S MESSAGE by Robby Polinsky

On Tue, 26 Oct 1999, Keith Donnelly wrote:

> With yesterday's tragedy once again proving how fragile life is, stop and
> think of your loved ones and give them a call, say I love you or just talk.
> Go offline and connect with a person, not a server. I will call my mother
> right now.
> Sincerely- MRDATA

Eerie and sad, but true :(.

Keith once played a FPOMAN box during Playback, so, as a tribute
this Sat. nite, I'll play one of my boards as MRDATA.

R.I.P, MRDATA -- you were one of the greats!

POMAN

RESPONSE TO TROY'S MESSAGE by Bob G

Although no longer a member of BadBart I'd like to forward a
thought regarding a small tribute of sorts to the late MRDATA. Even
though I am not playing to the extent I was several months ago, when I get
the opportunity to play for the balance of this week, I will forgo playing
as DA WIZ and play as MRDATA. I had the chance to play a few tonight.
While failing to put MRDATA on the national board, I did manage two scores
onto the local monthly board.

I think it would be a great tribute if all Barters played as MRDATA
through the end of the week. Can you imagine the National boards for
premium games if 15 of the top 20 scores were credited to MRDATA ? A
fitting tribute indeed, if I say so myself. If no one else is willing to
forgo their usual handle, I * WILL * put MRDATA on the National board this
Friday night during Triviaoke.

Bob G

RESPONSE TO JAMES C DOBBS MESSAGE by Didi Magee

Ditto for Didi. --- A new Trivia Angel has been added to the group. Any Bash
will honor MRDATA by it's very nature and we all must still our committee of
the mind to hear his answers clear. Once a Triviot, always a Triviot !!!!
MRDATA, tell me true, I'll listen !!! -SWEEDI

RESPONSE TO TROY'S MESSAGE by Bill Gardner

When I was out in Vegas for the Super Bowl, I spent an entire day
playing the ponies at Keith's Sports Book (Mirage) and we went out and
played trivia 3 of the
4 nights I was there. He doesn't smoke and appeared to be in good
health. Maybe something was up and he just didn't talk about it. I'm
stunned.
Troy, how old?

[Note: Troy was 33 years old.]

RESPONSE TO TROY'S MESSAGE by Ken Zeringue

Although I never had the pleasure of meeting Keith in person, I join with
BadBart in mourning his passing. I wish his family well.

I think "stunned disbelief" also sums up my own feelings about his untimely
demise. I, too will play my machine as MRDATA on Tuesday night in tribute to
this 'Barter.

Not many people have had the chance to visit us out here in the hinterlands,
so I just wanted to tell you all that MRDATA had achieved near legendary
status among the regular triviots out here. I have been relaying stories
about the multiple-machine-play talents of MRDATA to many a newcomer who had
the audacity to suggest that the boxes took away points too fast.

Ken Z. aka BLZBUB @ Slate St & TGIF Albuquerque

RESPONSE TO TROY'S MESSAGE by Bill Rushton

The first time I met Keith was several years ago, late on a Monday night. I
was playing at Sam's Town, on one of my Vegas vacations, and he was playing
at a separate table, with about 4 or 5 boxes, of course. After a few games,
he came up to me and introduced himself, and invited me to join the Showdown
group the next night. Even though he wouldn't be able to make it that night,
he told me about all the people that would be there, and made me feel more
comfortable about joining them for the game.

I would see him every so often at the Golden Nugget, where he worked as a
ticket writer in the Sports Book, and later at the Mirage, where he had moved
up to a supervisor in the Sports Book there. He would always encourage me to
stop by to see him whenever I could when I was out there. We would often
discuss whatever the latest in trivia was, whether it was participating in
the million dollar contest that NTN held or trying to get on the current wave
of tv game shows. He'd always ask for any local insight on his beloved Jets.
When he was supervisor at the Mirage, I knew there was no way I'd leave
before he would invite me to a comped meal at the hotel.

There were many memorable nights playing trivia with him as well. For
Showdown, he would always have his own table with at least 8 boxes. He'd
often manage to get all his answers in before some of us could enter them in
1 or 2 boxes, sometimes deftly splitting answers on various boxes and keeping
accurate track of which box had what. The longest amount of time I spent
playing NTN consecutively was with him, as Troy, he, and I closed Sam's Town early that night.