Board game monopolizes some Panthers’ free time
“Skill comes in when it comes to trading,” Medure argued.
“Especially once it gets later in the game, every time someone else is up, it’s just, ‘Hey man, you wanna trade this?’ It gets hectic,” Herndon says. “It’s like 10 minutes before the next person rolls.”
The group’s origin began with the purchase of PittOpoly — a University of Pittsburgh-themed edition of the classic version — by former walk-on linebacker Brian Popp, whom Herndon calls “the instigator” behind the new tradition last summer.
“No matter how much you didn’t feel like playing, you still wanted to play because of Popp,” Herndon says.
“We joked about it for years, saying we’d play Monopoly instead of taking our usual nap,” Popp said by phone from Chicago where he now resides, as does the Pitt-Opoly board with so many hours of gameplay on it, which he took with him.
“It was selfish,” Medure said, possibly joking.
But Dintino stepped up as the new leader in Popp’s place, buying the original Monopoly a week before camp kicked off.
Bookser laments that some of the player pieces are different — “I won four games last year as the shoe, and there’s no shoe in this one,” he griped — but they’ve all settled on new tokens. Bookser is the cat, Dintino the T-Rex, Herndon the penguin, Jonov the dog and Medure the rubber ducky.
“The penguin needs a big roll here,” Herndon says, but falls short. “Well, that’s not big enough.”
The banker role rotates, but Bookser is usually in charge of doling out real estate. Lest you wonder whether there are any parallels between their football abilities and Monopoly careers, Dintino declares that the most improved player award he won after spring camp goes beyond the field. There’s no consensus No. 1 Monopoly player, but Dintino was widely regarded as the Mediterranean Avenue of the crew before making major strides this month. Now, he even has a couple of victories in 2018.
“Dintino was garbage last year,” Bookser said. “He was by far the worst player.”
The informal club doesn’t keep standings, but everyone claims to have won at least one game this year. As the newcomer, Jonov — a Bucknell transfer and Franklin Regional graduate who also took over Popp’s stall in the locker room — frequently comes in second place, and insists he’s holding his own despite having big shoes to fill.
“I guess Jimmy just asked me one day, and I said yeah, sure,” Jonov recalled. “Jimmy also told me that I took Popp’s locker, so I kind of just became the new Popp.”
“You can’t replace Popp,” Dintino assured him. “You’re Colin.”
While strategies differ somewhat— Herndon steers clear of anything other than two-way trades, for instance, while Dintino likes to develop the light-blue properties, second-cheapest on the board — it’s more about the quirks that make the player. Medure tends to call his shot before he rolls the dice and always seems to nail it. Bookser often manages to escape disaster thanks to some musical mojo.
“When Books is lacking money or he’s in a pinch, he finds a theme song for every roll,” Dintino says. “And then he gets it, threads the needle through everyone’s properties and doesn’t pay a thing.”
It’s also one of Bookser’s go-to moves to secure the green property trio, a tier below Boardwalk and Park Place. When he does, he dubs it “The Thunderdome” and plays “Thunderstruck” by AC/DC as a player approaches.
On this day, Dintino owned The Thunderdome, landing on all three spaces himself — a “self-made Monopoly,” acquired by sheer luck rather than trading, which is a major boost.
“The one thing I do dislike about The Thunderdome is it’s so expensive. It’s $200 a house,” Dintino reasons, then pauses to think. “Let me buy five houses.”
A couple minutes later, starting center Jimmy Morrissey calls Dintino via FaceTime from an undisclosed location, and is asked why he doesn’t play with his fellow linemen.
“I’ve got more important things to do,” Morrissey responded.
While this bunch is the core, occasionally teammates join in. Last year, offensive tackle Brian O’Neill played once in a while, as did cornerback Avonte Maddox and defensive tackle Shane Roy. Tight end Tyler Sear played once this summer, as did walk-on wide receiver Kellen McAlone, and everyone groans when his name comes up.
“Oh, my gosh,” Medure said.
As Dintino puts it, McAlone didn’t think it would be so competitive and came in expecting a fun, friendly round of Monopoly. But leave it to football players to even add a physical element to a board game: There’s nothing in the way of a gentleman’s agreement, and, if the next player rolls before a landlord notices that someone rolled onto one of his properties, too bad.
While a cameo from fellow Panthers is rare, a Pitt coach has yet to sit down and try his luck.
“They’re afraid to lose,” Dintino said, with a laugh.
“No, not at all,” Herndon disagreed.
“Yeah, they’re pretty busy,” Dintino admitted.
Indeed, first-year offensive line coach Dave Borbely doesn’t have the time. But he wishes he did.
“I never get that invite, but I told ‘ em what our schedule was, because we have no free minutes,” Borbely said. “But I’d whip all their [behinds] in Monopoly. I’d buy up all the railroads, and they’d be done.”
With training camp ending Thursday, the end of Monopoly season also draws near. It’s strictly an August ritual, so the dice don’t roll during the season. As the only non-senior in the game, Medure intends to do everything he can to keep it alive next year, either with incoming freshmen or current teammates.
“When I inherit Pitt Monopoly, I plan on refilling these seats with worthy players,” Medure said. “It’s gonna be a big year of recruiting in the offseason. It’s gonna be whoever is committed and will invest in Monopoly.
“I can’t have guys leaving mid-game. That’s something that’s an honor system. You can’t, like, sell all your properties in the middle of the game and leave. It could get real messy. That’s a big nono.
“But, with that being said, I’d like three hotels, please, because it’s gonna get ugly over here real fast.”