For those without access to cgp (which will soon include me--see below), here is the list admin's post which prompted several other nasty replies, as well as my response above [NOTE: Some editing was necessary for space considerations]:

For more than one and one-half years, there has been a blight in
our community, and one that must be resolved, immediately.

A Wisconsin-based player, Steve Hartsman, decided to undertake a
rotisserie (a way of betting on player performances, like a lottery)
to coincide with the 2005 National SCRABBLE Championship (NSC)
held in August of 2005. The web site for the roto is still up at:

http://www.waukeshascrabble.com/roto/default.asp

There were 336 paid entries at $5 each, for a total prize pool of $1,680.
The prize money was to be split among the roto winners this way:

50% for 1st
30% for 2nd
10% for 3rd
10% for the roto organizer...

This worked out to be:

1. Mike Early $840
2. Jason Ubeika $504
3. Albert Hahn $168
Steve Hartsman $168

But, what actually happened was far different and Steve made off with the
winnings, saying he would pay the winners after he'd double-checked the
event results.

A full 18 months later and these monies still have not been fully paid out.
Not only this, but Steve Hartsman continues to play in and win
SCRABBLE tournaments and walks by these people he's stiffed, finding
excuse after excuse for why he is not paying them, despite holding
winnings in his hand as he goes back to his seat.

NONE OF THESE EXCUSES WERE EVER ACCEPTABLE AND THEY WILL NO LONGER WORK.

All three of these winners made great efforts to be congenial about the
affair, even going so far as forgiving Steve for making off with their
winnings. And each tried to set up a reasonable system of paying off the
debt.

I won't go into the pitiful excuses that have been sent my way, trying
to explain away what happened, nor will I bore you with the payment
schedules that were not honored.

What I will say is this:

Mike Early reports he is still owed $180.
Jason Ubeiksa [sic] reports he is still owed $224.
Albert Hahn says he was paid off in total one year after the tournament.

Steve Hartsman not only stole from these roto winners, he stole from
every person who entered that roto, and EVEN WORSE he has created
ongoing problems for legitimate rotos and their organizers.

Steve Hartsman simply cannot get a pass any longer about this affair.

He must pay back these embezzled funds immediately...

I tried to send a nameless post to cgp, but it did little to move things
foward. And this mess really needs to be resolved. Why? Well, first and
foremost, because it is the right thing to do. And secondly, legitimate
roto organizers are being hurt by Steve's actions...

The only other card I can play is removing Steve from cgp forever if these fees
are not paid within the next week, as in before next Friday, this is
exactly what I will do...

The timer is ticking,
sherrie

=================================

Here is my reply to her, which I'm unable to post to cgp:

My public reply, for what it's worth (since I can't post here), is at http://hartsman.livejournal.com/

Personal attacks on your own forum violates your own rules. You most certainly could have contacted me directly instead of this public shaming.

I'm not proud of what has happened, but I can't change the past, nor can I change my current job status. However, I will eventually land a job, and this matter will be settled.

Your "threats" to "pay or else" won't change my current financial picture. I'm unable to meet your "conditions", so if you choose to make a "lifetime ban", there's not much I can do about it.

I've apologized profusely and sincerely to all parties, and will eventually put this matter behind me, hopefully soon.

Common decency would dictate that you offer a similar apology for your harshness and personal attacks. Or are you immune to your own posting rules? I know how much you despise me (or, more precisely, my actions), but I deserve to be treated with basic dignity and respect.

(Reply) (Thread)

If I were able to pay off the roto debt, I obviously would. The simple fact is that I can not. As soon as I'm able, I will.

cross-tables says you have played in 15 tournaments since NSC05. I estimate that means you have paid at least $300 in entry fees based on $20/tournament. You have also won over $400 in those tournaments. These facts may cause people to distrust the sincerity of your above remarks.

In a previous post you were considering Netflix at $15/month and disconnecting cable which would save you "a ton of money." If it is true that "I remain deeply in debt and struggling to survive" then neither cable nor Netflix is a luxury you can afford (and if your description of your financial condition is accurate, then they ARE luxuries, and so are Scrabble tournaments).

Unless I am wrong about the amounts involved, if you had saved judiciously you would have already been able to pay off the NSC roto debt by now (or at least use it to pay off higher priority debts and expenses you have -- I do not mean to imply that the roto debt is the most important, of course).

However you have chosen not to. This may have been out of a misguided but well-meaning attempt to get out of debt faster by winning Scrabble prizes, but since that plan obviously is not working, it should have been abandoned a long time ago.

(Reply) (Thread)

Yeah, I fucked up. Imagine if everyone's worst fuckup were made public. This would certainly pale in comparison.

I'm not trying to minimize anything, or play the "victim". I'm simply saying that all that I can do is right the wrong. Which simply can't happen tomorrow. But I have a promising interview Monday, and if the job comes through, I'll start digging out of this deep hole, a bit at a time.

And to clarify, I had been paying both Mike and Jason monthly. They then both requested payment in full, around the same time, for different reasons (Mike for need, Jason for currency exchange/US cheque cashing issues). I couldn't swing that then, and I can't now. But the total owed is $400--it's manageable.

I wish people would save their self-righteous indignation for W's illegal war, corporate fraud, etc. I'll take my lumps, as I deserve it. But perspective is important.

The lynch mob mentality on cgp at the moment is sad, and all of the personal attacks are in violation of posting guidelines, and won't improve my cash flow in the least...

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

The above was in reply to a comment which was subsequently deleted by the author. By request, I have removed all related posts. My reply stands...

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

I wish people would save their self-righteous indignation for W's illegal war, corporate fraud, etc.

How do you know they aren't indignant about those things also? It's not mutually exclusive. Just because someone complains about something, it does not follow that that is the most important thing that they perceive the need to complain about.

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

I hope things become better for you. I'm sure that the CGP public hanging will subside soon enough. This type of mentality is one of the reasons that I don't post on CGP anymore.

That being said, I think the difference between the roto people and the other people you are in debt to is that the people in the roto didn't ask to be your creditors. It's a balance: there are serious repercussions if you don't pay your creditors that you desperately want to avoid for obvious reasons, whether it be bankruptcy, being able to see your kids, court orders, foreclosure, eviction, etc.

That being said, people make mistakes, and they should generally be forgiven. Some people may not forgive you, but that's their loss. Unfortunately that's not how society works, or society is very selective in how and when they forgive people. I'm sure that at the end of this things will smooth over with most of the people involved though.

(Reply) (Thread)

Steve,

All you can do is continue to pay people what you owe. It has taken you longer than you had intended, there is no denying it. But certainly your intention is not to steal from people. It's a mistake you've made and it'll go away soon enough. People will forgive you once you make things right.

(Reply) (Thread)

I'll actually be very forgiving if you [Steve] promise not to go to any tournaments until all of your roto debts are paid. Promise that, and your pic and profile on the site get restored immediately.

I do understand that your debts are hard to pay back, and I'm sorry that things are hard for you right now. For me, the unacceptable part is the tourney participation. Remove that irritant, and I think you will find a lot more forgiveness from the entire community.

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

Fair enough.

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

Done.

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

thanks

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

So now I'm probably going to have to put everything (and possibly more) back UP? I'm not looking forward to doing that, but I will. It'll go up the moment game 1 starts (along with a CGP post explaining my reasoning), for maximum something-to-think-about value.

You should stay home and send the entry fee and travel expenses directly to Jason. And you know that. It's not borrowed money; it's stolen money. There's a difference.

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

I honestly don't know what you're referring to. And Jason has been paid in full, though there may have been an extra day or two for Canadian mail delivery.

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

I'm referring to your plan to go to the Arden Cup.

If you have paid Jason, great! I'll wait to hear directly from him.

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

I didn't understand your "UP" comment. It obviously means something to you, but not to me.

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

I meant that I'd have to put the "other" picture and profile info back "up" on cross-tables.com.

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

I thought that had already been done, hence my confusion... Please add my name to the list of registrants, also, as I assume you are the one withholding it...

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

No, I left your regular picture up, as I had promised (higher in this thread). Only if you had played in a tournament would I have put the other (bad) picture back up.

And no, I am not withholding your name. It's up to the directors to add people to the lists as the registrations come in.

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

Hi! I don't know you personally, but have been following this saga on cgp and livejournal for awhile now. I didn't want to post this on cgp, since it is mostly intended for you and i didn't see any reason to post somewhere you can't see it. I saw that you took 10% of the roto prize fund for yourself for running the roto. Once you are back on your feet financially and have paid off other more pressing debts, I think it would be a nice gesture to the scrabble community to donate that 10% to the prize fund of a tournament or to a worthy charity or even tack it on to the amount paid to the winners of your roto. This seems fair to me since that juice was paying for a smoothly run, professional roto, when I think we can agree, this was not the case. Good luck and I wish you the best, Paul Cole PS- feel free to reply privately at paulcole@gmail.com

(Reply) (Thread)

Good idea.

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

Sherri just told me you were off CGP. I wrote there assuming you'd get it, but I guess I will have to go this anonymous route.

I understand you paid off Mike. Congrats!

Jason still hasn't heard a peep from you since February though, and now we were just informed that you intend to play at Arden Cup, even after you promised here in this very thread that you would stay out of tourneys until the debt was settled? Does this mean that Jason should be expecting $274 before the tourney? I sure hope so.

(Reply) (Thread)

I owed Jason $224, and sent him a check Monday. All roto debts have now been paid in full.

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

I didn't see this, and I'm very happy to see it now. If this is true, then go and enjoy your tournament.

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

Ditto! And my apologies for the confusion on the amount. It was $274 before that last payment in February. $224 it is. Jason had not received your payment as of Friday, so hopefully it will be there and square before the Arden Cup.

~ Shelley

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)