My daughter’s soccer practice ended at 7:30 pm Thursday, March 20th, the same night that Cal State Fullerton was to play in the NCAA tournament. The last time the CSUF basketball team played in the NCAA tournament was 30 years ago. I had graduated from that school and worked as a staff member for over 30 years and thus tied to that campus. I wanted to see that game. It was televised by KDOC. Just days previous I received the following e-mail:

Calling All Titans!

Cal State Fullerton Men’s Basketball team is a No. 14 seed and will face No. 3-seeded Wisconsin on Thursday night at approximately 6:30 p.m. Pacific Time from the Qwest Center in Omaha, Nebraska. The contest will be televised locally on KDOC-TV (please check your local listings for channel information).
For Titans in Omaha
The CSUF Alumni Association is hosting a pre-game reception at inPlay from 4:00 – 5:30 p.m. Titan fans can enjoy complimentary food and non-alcoholic beverages. There will also be a non-hosted bar. inPlay is located a few blocks from the Qwest Center at 1502 Cuming Street, Omaha, NE, 68102, 402-991-7400. www.inplayusa.com <http://www.inplayusa.com/>
For Titans on Campus
Titans living near campus are invited back for a game watch gathering at the Titan Student Union. Four big screens, comfortable seating, snacks and soft drinks will help make this game one to remember! http://asi.fullerton.edu/tsu/ <http://asi.fullerton.edu/tsu/>
For Local Titans
A game watch is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Brian’s Beer and Billiards located in the Albertson’s shopping center on the corner of Yorba Linda Blvd and Placentia. Brian’s Beer and Billiards is an official Titan Athletic corporate sponsor and will be airing the game on their five plasma screen TV’s. Patrons must be 21 years of age or older with proper identification.
For more information, please contact the Alumni Relations office at (714) 278-2586.

My daughter was all tuckered out from practicing soccer and wanted to stay home. My son, 18 years old, wanted to go to Claim Jumper for dinner. We could not go to Brians because of the age restriction. I called Claim Jumper and was assured that the CSUF basketball game was showing on two TV sets in the bar. I was told that there were empty tables in the bar. We arrived and took a table with clear view of a TV showing the CSUF game. Within 5 minutes the someone behind the bar changed the channels to the TV we were watching. I walked over and asked that that the CSUF game be put up. He said he was looking for the game. I told him that it was showing on the TV set, to go back to the channel that was up before. When I got back to my table, we found that both TV sets were switched to UCLA basketball. I asked a buss boy to have a TV set put to the CSUF game but my request was ignored. For the rest of the evening I did a slow burn.

• Why is it that any restaurant, just a few miles from a local school campus, allegedly fail to support the local team?
• Why is it that that any restaurant would fail to be sensitive to local sport fan interests?
• Why is NOT Claim Jumper in Brea “an official Titan Athletic corporate sponsor”?

Maybe school and college alumni should favor businesses that support their schools. My next visit to a restaurant will be to Brians’ Beer and Billards.

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I was called by a Shannon Powers, Assistant Director of Guest Services. She was a lot of fun to talk to and she sincerely apologized for our experience at the Claim Jumper in Brea. She recommend to management that their restaurant, in Brea, form a partnership with CSUF. She said she would send a written letter to me. I was pleased with her call and her apology.

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I received a very nice letter, dated April 14, 2008, from Shannon Powers, Assistant Director of Guest Services. In the letter, she again apologized for our experience. She went on to add the following:

“I also want you to know that I appreciate your suggestion for a partnership between CSUF and our restaurant. I spoke to Steve Rezner, our director of Marketing, and Larry Bill, our director of Community Relations, about your idea. (Both) were enthusiastic about partnering with CSUF and will be contacting Mel Franks to start talks about exploring the possibilities.”