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. . .

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!

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.

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

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

Rest in peace, Keith.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

RESPONSE TO TROY'S MESSAGE by Kevyn Curry

I felt I should add my sympathy and condolences to the family and loved ones of Keith, and pass on memories of my one meeting with him, oddly enough, before I'd ever heard of Badbart. I believe it was in 1997, when a couple of teacher friends, and fellow NTN Showdown teammates and I decided to take a road trip to Las Vegas during spring break for a little desert fun.