After losing the annual New Year’s Eve game to the Calgary Flames, the Edmonton Oilers dropped the gloves with the staff of Osteria de Medici, an upscale Calgary restaurant.
After a group of almost 50 people racked up a bill of $14,234.06 before tip (16.796.19 after an automatic 18% gratuity), they demanded a break on the bill, according to manager Maurizio Terrigno. Staff members even claim some of the players became threatening during the dispute.
Reports show that half of the Oiler’s tab was on alcohol, ranging from shots of tequila to expensive wines and champagne (they lost, right?).
The Edmonton Oilers Bill at Osteria De Medici
Restaurant staff claims that only after the fact of calling in the tab did the group request bottle-service prices. (Keep in mind that any restaurant owners who want to provide bottle service must apply for a permit through the Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission. Although an upscale restaurant, without evidence of Osteria de Medici having this permit, it may have been part of this issue.)
Reading many online reports, many people have stepped forward with their two cents from both sides of the table:
Wayne Leong, owner of Melrose Cafe and Bar in Southwest Calgary said, “Out of the blue I don’t believe you can say, ‘Can I have bottle service?’” He continued, “I think that if they were to negotiate it at the beginning … but not after, whether they were a regular customer or celebrity.”
Oilers spokesman Allan Watt (although biased from being directly connected to the dispute) stated the bill was “outrageous” and had earlier said the players had a pre-arranged menu on the evening in question. However, Watt has little ground to stand on for some areas of their dispute. He also said the restaurant tried to charge for an imported bottle of expensive brandy after one of the players took a swig from it. Ok, somebody drank directly from the bottle, and are all pissed they’re being charged for the whole bottle? My firm understanding of the Health Code is that the restaurant can no longer serve that bottle to anybody else now that a player was drinking from the bottle. But the all-too-common sense of entitlement and arrogance that comes with being a high-rolling NHL player - such as drinking from the bottle of what was a $200 imported brandy - then crying about being charged for it because you’re an NHLer, makes you a bag of shit.
But alas, there are unbiased opinions floating around the Internet claiming the players have been treated unfairly and accused the eatery’s management of trying to gain publicity by going public with the allegations.
On the Oilers’ team message board, user “Hillcat” stated, “This guy sounds more like a hardcore Flames [fan] just looking for an easy way to give the Oilers a black eye”
IMO, the Oilers should have better managed their evening’s events beforehand to avoid this mishap after the fact. Discover the facts about the restaurant’s bottle service existence/rules and sort it out ahead of time.
From the restaurants perspective, going public with a report did nothing positive for their business. If anything, they lost some seriously paid customers - the entire Oilers organization, plus players and friends, and by going public, any loyal fans as well.
One thing for sure, as someone who doesn’t give a shit about the team nor the restaurant, I’m no more enticed to go there now than I was before all this went down.
The Edmonton Oilers Bill at Osteria De Medici
The general opinion however, is not one of sympathy for the Oilers. Most people side with the fact that the Oilers and players are very well-paid athletes and shouldn’t be disputing a tab for the team’s night out. The team’s eventual bill was trimmed to $12,381 by restaurant management - almost one-third less.
On the same team message board, username “Lilfrnz” suggested that perhaps the players should have chosen another restaurant if they didn’t want to pay a hefty bill, or the large tip that went with it.
“It was a group of nearly 50 people who refused to pay 33 per cent of their bill. If anything, it sounds like they objected to the 18 per cent (automatic gratuity) which means they shouldn’t have gone to the restaurant.”
Regardless of opinion, the bottom line is that ANY player on the Oilers’ roster (let alone the organization itself), could have paid that bill in full, without question, and not even missed the money. This season’s combined salary for the Oilers roster is a staggering $56.8 million. If it was perfectly split among all 26 players, I’m accurate in stating that the “average” Oilers’ player annual salary is nearly $2.2M, or $42,011 a week - A WEEK!!! Now put all of them together and watch them go “ballistic” (as restaurant manager Terrigno stated) over a <$17,000 bill. Give me a break.
Looking at some of the forum posts, it appears that 2009 was a year that many beyond members wanted to forget about. It was a rough year for many people, as the job market took a dip. Many people also “lost” a lot of money in the stock markets. I put the word lost in quotations because it was only a loss on paper. During the second half of 2009, those that kept their hands off their investments recovered most of the losses. Either way, 2009 was not fun for many people.
During the holiday season, we gave out many prizes to try to brighten up the last few days of 2009 and to ensure that as we all enter 2010 things start on a good note. We hope everyone that won a prize enjoys it. If not, there is always the marketplace ;)
Here is a list of winners of all the prizes:
Calgary Flames vs. St. Louis Blues Tickets - Jeremy Pollock
The Keg $50 Giftcard - Ian Pangilinan
Best Buy $25 Giftcard - Shawna Somerville
Forza 3 Xbox360- Matt Hakkola
Sony Ericcson T303a - Will Brodziak
Happy Hippo Bath Bakery Bubble Bath - Kate Kaminski
Dead or Alive Xtreme 2 - Bobby Clark
GT5 Prologue PS3- Nick Bourbeau
Singstar w/ Mics PS3 - Simon Bertram
iTunes $25 Giftcard - Jovan Heer
Starwars Darth Vader USB Stick - Chris Sun
Starwars Yoda USB Stick - Errol Tan
Singstar Volume 2 PS3 - Kyle Gilmar
Calgary Flames vs. Nashville Predator Tickets - Curt Livingston
We do have one final prize to give away, but we want to make sure more people get a chance so we are extending that one for a few days!
Happy New Year everyone, and thanks for making beyond sun a great community to be a part of. Looking forward to seeing the community grow as we continue to participate in social networks such as twitter and facebook. It will definitely be interesting to see what 2010 has in store for beyond! :)
In this weekly segment, we cover the top discussions going on in the automotive forums. These threads may be the most recent hot topics, or epic threads that we just wanted to dig up and feature.
If you have a suggestion for a thread to be included on the forum weekly review, e-mail it to info@beyond.ca. If you have not joined our forums, register today its free!
Winnipeg Heights Car Forum Members Thwart Car Theft; Media Sees Hate Crime
A group of Winnipeg car enthusiasts from the forum Winnipeg Heights has been thrust into the spotlight after they spotted a car prowler in the neighborhood as they left a house party. Instead of just holding the suspect there until the police arrived, a few of them took it upon themselves to serve up a little old fashioned justice. Unfortunately for them, the media is portraying the event as a hate crime because of the aftermath that took place on Winnipeg Heights. Racial slurs, and discussions of what some members wanted to do with the car prowler was enough to get the media salivating with a juicy story. The thread in question has been removed (thats too bad), but it has not silenced the critics of the attack.
Solution for the Condensation Issue on Inside of Windshield
I’ve never experienced this issue but I’ve seen the question pop up on beyond quite a few times now so I thought I’d do everyone a favor and showcase this in the weekly review. If you have excessive condensation on the inside of your windshield after trying more conventional solutions like turning on the air conditioning while setting the temperature to hot (this enables the dehumidifier built into your vehicle, and will NOT damage your AC) and ensuring that the recirculating air option is disabled (set it to fresh air intake) then try this new solution. Excuse my run-on sentence ;)
Beyo9d: Welcome to 2009
Its 2009 now and all the ’08s are all excited as they expect the more senior members to pick on the new ’09s as they register. However, I suspect that 2008 was a messed up year not only in the world financial markets but also in terms of the users our beloved site attracted. I think the ’09s will actually be some decent users and the ’08s will never be able to shake their “rep”. Sorry fellas. To celebrate the New Year, our logo has been updated with a new theme but our regular logo will return in the next few weeks :)
2008 has been a crazy rollercoaster ride for the world. This year we saw oil prices reach nearly $150 per barrel and matching prices at the pump. Sales for sub compact cars like the Smart Car and Prius jumped while truck sales took a huge nosedive. Now, just on the eve of 2009 oil prices have retreated by over $100 and gas prices are at the lowest point in recent memory as the world enters a recession. The world financial machine has ground to a halt despite the efforts of various Governments around the world pumping in financial aid.
This year we saw China host the Olympics which many people saw as China’s chance to step onto the world stage and be recognized as a world leader ahead of the almighty United States of America. Speaking of the USA, they elected the first Black President, Barack Obama. Obama will be taking over a nation in desperate need of change in early January. 2009 will be an interesting year indeed.
Beyond has also gone through a lot of changes this year and we’re looking forward to 2009 as we continue to build and add services for all of our members. Despite a lot of rumors on the site, perhaps fueled by a few of the moderators and administrators, Beyond has NOT been sold to anybody. We have entered into an agreement for content sharing and advertising sales with Canwest. What this means for us is that we will be able to provide the latest automotive news to you in a more timely fashion, create a large video library with the latest car reviews and previews and some other treats we can’t share until they are ready. The user experience both on our blog and forums will be improved with our increased access to fresh content from the Canwest network. At the very least, we’ll see less ads for breast augmentation and more automotive related advertising.
Way too many hilarious moments occured in 2008 and it simply would have been impossible to do a thorough review of 2008 so with that, I’m off to get ready for New Years celebrations and I hope everyone has a great night ringing in the new year by celebrating with friends and family and look forward to a great 2009! Happy New Year!
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