ASL Bell Tolls

Ken Hampel

Member
Joined
Jan 28, 2003
Messages
151
Reaction score
16
Location
Vermont
Country
llCanada
Gary Trezza’s passing is a gut punch. I attended Albany several times and Gary was always a great host. I didn’t know him as well as many on this forum, but he seemed to me the classic gruff exterior, heart of gold kind of guy. He’ll be missed.
 

bendizoid

Official ***** Dickweed
Joined
Sep 11, 2006
Messages
4,630
Reaction score
3,244
Location
Viet Nam
Country
llUnited States
One time at Albany Gary came up to me and said “Hey Bendis, keep this on the low down but do you think so-and-so has loaded dice ?” I gave the matter a little thought because this person had some incredible luck. I said “His dice glass is right over there and he’s not around, let’s test them.” We slyly walked over and gave the dice a few drops: 9, 7, 11, 8 ... we shrugged and walked away.
 
Last edited:

Actionjick

Forum Guru
Joined
Apr 23, 2020
Messages
7,466
Reaction score
4,992
Location
Kent, Ohio
First name
Darryl
Country
llUnited States
One time at Albany Gary came up to me and said “Hey Bendis, keep this on the low down but do you think so-and-so has loaded dice ? I gave the matter a little thought because this person had some incredible luck. I said “His dice glass is right over there and he’s not around let’s test them.” We slyly walked over and gave the dice a few drops: 9, 7, 11, 8 ... we shrugged and walked away.
The proof is in the pudding.
 

Tooz

Elder Member
Joined
Sep 17, 2004
Messages
1,338
Reaction score
1,061
Location
York, PA
Country
llUnited States
I didn’t know about Pat Flory, so sad. Used to spend a lot of time (and money) in his 1st store (1992ish) when it was on the hill. He had just finished playtesting CdG. RIP Pat.
Pat was always a good natured guy with a hearty laugh. My best story is when we were testing KGP II and me and Pat came up with a great ambush as the Americans. We sprung the trap and knocked out twelve German tanks by Turn 3. We were cheering and high fiving with our German opponents just bowing to our tactics. Game over and we both reveled in a plan working out to perfection. Yep, Pat was one of those many hobby enthusiasts who did much to promote our fun hobby. It has been my honor to have known him and considered him my good friend.
 

semenza

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 21, 2005
Messages
961
Reaction score
432
Location
Poplar Ridge , NY
Country
llUnited States
The color commentary that Gary brought to the tourney and game table scene was fabulous! And he will be missed for sure. :(
I can't imagine anyone coming away from a Gary encounter and not having a story.

The first time I met him was on a visit to my in laws on LI. I got together with him for a game at his place. He was fairly new to the game at that point. I was doing something (maybe digging a FH, something, I don't remember exactly) ..........

Gary- "you can do that? ! "

Me- "sure it's in rule xxx"

Gary- "J$&#@, F^*^ing, Ch#$% ! How the F&^% do you guys remember all this Sh$# ! "

Me - ... stunned silence

Gary again - "alright, gotta write that one down"


Seth
 
Last edited:

bigm82ab

Recruit
Joined
Dec 7, 2009
Messages
9
Reaction score
37
Location
New York
Gary Trezza learned how to play ASL in my basement. I was the first one to comment that he resembled Mussolini...which he definitely did. I remember during one of his first games he felt the dice were being very kind to me. I kind of shrugged it off and the very next roll I made was snakes......he looked at me and said "Puccio those dice love you like your Italian mother......" and then uttered some colorful Italian curse words that the said Italian mother would utter before giving me a smack. He was a character and he will be missed.
 

JOS

Member
Joined
Feb 2, 2003
Messages
315
Reaction score
58
Location
abcdef
Country
llUnited States
Gary was great fun in our many VASL games, for all the reasons noted above by others. After my 1 FP residuals kept knocking out his SS troops in Cat's Kill, he (profanely) reminded me of it every other time I'd put down a resid counter. He also had a sense of humor: when I suggested the 'Chimp with a gun' avatar as a perfect one for him here on gamesquad, he quickly adopted it. Here's to you, my friend.
 

Carln0130

Forum Guru
Joined
Mar 25, 2006
Messages
5,980
Reaction score
2,584
Location
MA
Country
llUnited States
The color commentary that Gary brought to the tourney and game table scene was fabulous! And he will be missed for sure. :(
I can't imagine anyone coming away from a Gary encounter and not having a story.

The first time I met him was on a visit to my in laws on LI. I got together with him for a game at his place. He was fairly new to the game at that point. I was doing something (maybe digging a FH, something, I don't remember exactly) ..........

Gary- "you can do that? ! "

Me- "sure it's in rule xxx"

Gary- "J$&#@, F^*^ing, Ch#$% ! How the F&^% do you guys remember all this Sh$# ! "

Me - ... stunned silence

Gary again - "alright, gotta write that one down"


Seth
Yup. When Gary was learning the game and I would pull some rule out, he would always say: "f*(&^ing veterans".
 

BattleSchool

Elder Member
Joined
Jan 9, 2010
Messages
5,110
Reaction score
1,924
Location
Ottawa GMT -5/-4
Country
llCanada
Gary will be sorely missed. He contributed a lot to the community and was a very colorful character. Played him at Ottawa tourney, first shot activated my sniper. It KIA'ed his best leader and broke the squad with MMG covering a critical area. He turned all kinds of shades of red. I thought he was gonna explode but he kept it together, for the most part. RIP
Gary's outbursts were legendary. He first came to my attention at ASLOk in '07, where, as Bob noted, he marched into the game room in full referee uniform, blasted his whistle and commanded everyone to attend the Albany tourney in a few months time. I did as told and duly lost to Tom Morin in my first game in the NY state championships.

Gary was a helluva character. After I picked him up at the Ottawa airport to attend CASLO 2010, he insisted on seeing the nation's capital again from the air. I explained that we risked being late for opening ceremonies. He wasn't having any of it. So I drove to the Aviation Museum where we caught a flight in a rickety biplane. As we flew over the parliament buildings, I pointed out various landmarks, including the Canadian War Museum. He was having a blast. I never saw him smile so much.

My memory is fuzzy, but I think we were matched up in Round 1, having arrived late to the party. Early in the game, a squad guarding his right flank Cowered when trying to lay a Firelane, allowing my stack to slip by unmolested. A moment later the entire room knew Gary had suffered a setback. He cussed, threw the offending squad off the table, cussed some more, and finally stormed out of the room, while I laughed and laughed. He returned after his blood pressure returned to its normal elevated state. He remained on his heels until the last turn when I made a couple of fatal errors. He cussed his way through four more rounds, winning the CASLO. It felt like his swan song. And maybe it was.

I can see Gary now, haranguing the big TD in the sky for allowing his opponent to use "unbalanced" dice, in a sugar bowl no less.
 

Martin Mayers

Elder Member
Joined
Jul 29, 2008
Messages
4,569
Reaction score
1,989
Location
The Gulag
First name
Gulagwanker
Country
llUkraine
Guys a quick question on 'etiquette'.

Am I safe to assume that I can use words and pictures that people type on this open forum for my 'in Memoriam' section of my annual tournament magazine? Rather than mithering people individually for permissions? It would be a lot easier for me, but I don't want to upset or annoy anybody.

Best wishes

Martin
 

Actionjick

Forum Guru
Joined
Apr 23, 2020
Messages
7,466
Reaction score
4,992
Location
Kent, Ohio
First name
Darryl
Country
llUnited States
Guys a quick question on 'etiquette'.

Am I safe to assume that I can use words and pictures that people type on this open forum for my 'in Memoriam' section of my annual tournament magazine? Rather than mithering people individually for permissions? It would be a lot easier for me, but I don't want to upset or annoy anybody.

Best wishes

Martin
Nor really sure but feel free to use anything I may have posted.
 

Larry

Elder Member
Joined
Oct 29, 2003
Messages
5,383
Reaction score
1,735
Location
Guada La Habra
Country
llUnited States
Guys a quick question on 'etiquette'.

Am I safe to assume that I can use words and pictures that people type on this open forum for my 'in Memoriam' section of my annual tournament magazine? Rather than mithering people individually for permissions? It would be a lot easier for me, but I don't want to upset or annoy anybody.

Best wishes

Martin
Probably yes. Posting pictures and words on a public forum for public consumption without a statement of copyright claim should generally be viewed as waiving any claim to rights. They are in the "public domain." I would include an attribution of words to the author and pictures to the poster. That is "fair use."

CAVEAT: not my field. Not legal advice.
 

zcrater

Member
Joined
Apr 27, 2003
Messages
146
Reaction score
116
Location
Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
First name
Zeke
Country
llUnited States
I just learned of Gary Trezza's passing. I only met Gary once, at the ASL tournament at the 2005 World Boardgame Championship. We were matched in the second or third round. Even though I had never met Gary, I had read stories suggesting Gary had a gaming temper. The rumor was Gary had thrown dice and even flipped a gaming table when Gary had encountered bad luck.

As we played it became obvious that Gary was the better player. I played a decent enough game, but Gary had it won. Still, I wanted to give Gary a good game so we played on. Last turn, I had to take a building to win, and I had a street to cross. Naturally Gary had the victory building occupied with sufficient force to hold. Merrily my cardboard warriors charge across the open ground. I prepare to say "Congratulations, Gary. Well played." Gary rolls a twelve. Gary's complexion darkened a bit, but these things happen.

Gary's next roll: twelve. Gary's certain victory begins to be in doubt. Gary's third roll: twelve. Each twelve darkened Gary's face another shade. I'm begging Gary to use my dice. Gary says not a word. Gary's fourth roll: twelve. Now I've seen (and probably you have, too) two twelves in row that really matter. Gary has now rolled four critical-to-a-tournament-game twelves in a row. Lady luck has just stolen Gary's "in the bag" win, as Gary's dice's fourth twelve gave me unlikely victory.

I wanted to crouch down in a 1+5+7 pillbox with a 10-3 and hope not to ELR from the coming tirade, but there I sat in open ground with only a +1 table between Gary and me. And . . .

Nothing untoward happened. Gary handled the loss far better than I would have in similar circumstances. I never did learn if the rumors of Gary tossing dice and tables were true, but in Pennsylvania that day, Gary did not even use undue profanity.

Roll low in peace, Gary.
 

Martin Mayers

Elder Member
Joined
Jul 29, 2008
Messages
4,569
Reaction score
1,989
Location
The Gulag
First name
Gulagwanker
Country
llUkraine
I just learned of Gary Trezza's passing. I only met Gary once, at the ASL tournament at the 2005 World Boardgame Championship. We were matched in the second or third round. Even though I had never met Gary, I had read stories suggesting Gary had a gaming temper. The rumor was Gary had thrown dice and even flipped a gaming table when Gary had encountered bad luck.

As we played it became obvious that Gary was the better player. I played a decent enough game, but Gary had it won. Still, I wanted to give Gary a good game so we played on. Last turn, I had to take a building to win, and I had a street to cross. Naturally Gary had the victory building occupied with sufficient force to hold. Merrily my cardboard warriors charge across the open ground. I prepare to say "Congratulations, Gary. Well played." Gary rolls a twelve. Gary's complexion darkened a bit, but these things happen.

Gary's next roll: twelve. Gary's certain victory begins to be in doubt. Gary's third roll: twelve. Each twelve darkened Gary's face another shade. I'm begging Gary to use my dice. Gary says not a word. Gary's fourth roll: twelve. Now I've seen (and probably you have, too) two twelves in row that really matter. Gary has now rolled four critical-to-a-tournament-game twelves in a row. Lady luck has just stolen Gary's "in the bag" win, as Gary's dice's fourth twelve gave me unlikely victory.

I wanted to crouch down in a 1+5+7 pillbox with a 10-3 and hope not to ELR from the coming tirade, but there I sat in open ground with only a +1 table between Gary and me. And . . .

Nothing untoward happened. Gary handled the loss far better than I would have in similar circumstances. I never did learn if the rumors of Gary tossing dice and tables were true, but in Pennsylvania that day, Gary did not even use undue profanity.

Roll low in peace, Gary.
It's craziness like this that's a major reason to play the game. When I attend tournaments one of the main sources of conversation in the pub/bar is crazy stuff that's happened. In fact my tales of such madness over a 30 year playing 'career' now feature in a game which my friends call "Mayers-Bingo". Many a time will be where I'm telling 'the new guy' the story of my opponent's two duds at game end to hand me victory in a tournament semi final for my compadres to shout "BINGO"

Gary sounded a real character.
 

mallexen

Member
Joined
Dec 28, 2005
Messages
118
Reaction score
102
Location
Mass
Country
llUnited States
Guys a quick question on 'etiquette'.

Am I safe to assume that I can use words and pictures that people type on this open forum for my 'in Memoriam' section of my annual tournament magazine? Rather than mithering people individually for permissions? It would be a lot easier for me, but I don't want to upset or annoy anybody.

Best wishes

Martin
Hi Martin, you have my permission to quote my post.
 
Top