BOTQ – Who are Those “Guys”?

Posted on February 22, 2024 by Thebeerchaser

Beerchaser-of-the-Quarter (BOTQ) Update

Welcome back to Thebeerchaser. If you are seeing this post through an e-mail, please visit the blog by clicking on the title above to see all of the photos and the video at the end of the post and so the narrative isn’t clipped or shortened. (External photo attribution at the end of the post #)

Followers of Thebeerchaser blog know that I periodically do a post about an individual or group that may or may not have anything to do with bars or beers but has an interesting story and made contributions to society.

Admittedly, I have not related these stories with the frequency I’d have liked in the last two years but hope to remedy that in 2024. I’ve known the majority of the individual “honorees” personally.

The lineup includes war heroes, athletes, media personalities, authors, academicians, civic activists and of course, lawyers. Some are pictured below, and their stories are related in the link over their name – and they are impressive.

Clockwise: The 1967 Oregon State Giant Killer Football Team; former NFL defensive tackle, mountaineer and executive, Craig Hanneman; Portland attorney and television personality, Jack Faust; writer and media personality, Amy Faust; the late author Brian Doyle;

Professional oboist (and my oboe instructor) Kelly Gronli; the late Princeton Professor Emeritus and author, Harry Frankfurt; Jan and Jack McGowan – founders of SOLV; developer and civic activist, Mark Edlen; the late Terry “Spike McKinsey, USMC-retired; Jud Blakely USMC. (#1 – #5)

To see a list of the thirty-five “honorees” from 2011 to 2020, check out the following link:https://thebeerchaser.com/2020/12/13/beerchasers-of-the-quarter-who-what-why/

And Then There’s Jay Waldron

One BOTQ – a colleague of mine for twenty-five years when I worked as the COO at the Schwabe Williamson & Wyatt law firm – is Jay Waldron. As stated in the original 2016 blog post featuring him as Beerchaser-of-the-Quarter, he graduated from the University of Virginia School of Law – one of the Nations’s top five at twenty-nine.

The older than average age was partly because he first completed a master’s degree at the school – but also because of his extracurricular activities which included boxing, playing rugby, teaching 7th-grade English in Appalachia and coaching basketball. (#6 – #8)

Counselor Waldron has contributed his time and served in leadership capacities in many civic and charitable activities, in addition to having a thriving Environmental and Natural Resources law practice.

At age thirty-seven he argued a case at the US Supreme Court and he’s also appeared at the Oregon Supreme Court and the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

His legal work has earned him recognition multiple times in the “Best Lawyers in America” and as an Oregon Super Lawyer and by the Oregon State Bar for pro bono service.

And he just received another accolade from his peers with the Oregon State Bar’s Environmental and Natural Resources Section 2024 Award. It recognizes an Oregon lawyer for leadership, service and outstanding contributions to environmental and natural resources law.

Carson Bowler, who was Jay’s partner for many years eloquently summed up why Jay was selected:

“For more than 40 years, Jay has been in the middle of some of the most important and consequential environmental matters and cases in Oregon and the Northwest. His superpower has always been to identify the core of a complicated case, and then to communicate that core to whatever audience was listening, be they legislators, judges or clients.

His career resume is astonishing; he’s been (aptly) called a grandfather of environmental law in Oregon, a title that finally befits his life season. But I think his lasting legacy will be the quiet influence he’s had on so many young lawyers who over the years have had the privilege of learning their craft from him.”

In his acceptance speech, Jay spent most of his time thanking his partners, his wife, Karen (see below) and others. Emphasizing the importance of being a well-rounded person, he stated:

“I’m probably the only environmental lawyer in Oregon who wrote a master’s thesis on “The Poetry of Emily Dickinson.”

(His favorite poem is “Because I Could Not Stop For Death.” – a poem that explores the themes of death, time and eternity.) (#9)

Black-white_photograph_of_Emily_Dickinson2

One of Jay’s attributes emphasized at the reception was his dedication to mentoring. And to further elaborate on Jay’s contribution to his own firm, take a look at this summary from his partner, Brien Flanagan, Chair of Schwabe’s Environmental and Natural Resources Practice Group:

“Jay was a guide and an advocate for young lawyers. A genius on developing the theme to win a case or the politics that wins approval from bureaucratic regulators. And Jay was always happy to tell a tale while sharing a brew.” (#10)

Thebeerchaser joins Bowler and Flanagan on his birthday for a brewski

Brien’s reference to Jay’s story telling fits into this narrative quite well, because Jay has a vast storehouse of tales – and a preponderance of them, upon further research, appear to be true.

He is a frequent commenter on the bars and breweries I feature in my blog posts including the Ship Tavern, Jake’s Place, Jake’s Famous Crawfish bar, the Horse Brass Pub and most recently Malachy’s Irish Pub in downtown New York City.

I wrote about Malachy’s in my most recent post “Don’t Jump When You Can Dive – Part III”. Jay’s comment was:

“Was Malachy’s named after Malachy McCourt? He was a full-of-shit Irishman who played rugby and drank with me in NYC in the late 60’s and I also had a pint with his more famous author/brother Frank in McSorleys ,my then favorite NYC bar. Jay”

After researching, my response was:

“You never disappoint me, Counselor. Malachy’s in New York City, was in fact, opened by Malachy McCourt, who was indeed, a rugby player. See this video interview on the 50th anniversary of Fairfield Rugby Club. (#11 – #12)

Since the Topic of Rugby Arose….

I’ll start winding down this post by further exploring Jay’s athletic and related “activities” – chief among these being rugby. In 2017, he was admitted to the US Rugby Hall of Fame.

A 2017 article in the Providence College News (his undergrad alma mater) stated:

“(His contributions span) nearly five decades as a player, coach, TV broadcaster, and ambassador of the sport. He began his rugby career in 1968 as a University of Virginia graduate student, where he received his master’s degree, worked on his Ph.D., and then received his juris doctorate while serving as a player, president, and captain. Waldron played on numerous rugby representative teams and won the university boxing championship.”

Fortunately, when Jay was in the office, he chewed gum instead of glass, but his rugby gigs also included coaching the Portland Pig’s Rugby Club for five years. He announced rugby matches aired on Fox and ESPN in a four-year stint. (13 – #14)

You will have to check out the original blog post for the details, but Jay’s other pursuits give credence to Emily Dickinson’s theme of death:

River Rafting – three trips down the Colorado River and in 1996, he became the first Caucasian to row a “cataraft” through all the rapids of the Great Bend of the Yangtze River in China. Other trips included South America and Canada.

Motorcycle Trips and Racing – Twenty-one different road trips throughout the US have been supplemented by a journey around both South Africa and New Zealand and a trek from Chile to the southern tip of South America. He was also once clocked at 155 mph on his Ducati.

Wild Horse Riding – After a long and serious discussion at a bar with two rugby buddies, they decided to compete in the wild-horse ride competition at the Pendleton Roundup. (#15 – #17)

Death Wish?

Could Jay’s instincts and perhaps latent death wish be tamed? The answer to that question is in the affirmative. In 1966, Jay met his now wife of fifty-five years, Karen, while he was serving as a bouncer at a bar at Horseback Beach in Westport, Mass on the Atlantic Ocean.

“It was a Sunday night and she was not 21, but with that blonde hair and tan, there was no way, I wasn’t going to let her in.” (#18 – #19)

The Next Generation

Karen is also an athlete – both she and Jay have won Multnomah Athletic Club Decathlons in their age groups. And their son, Shane inherited their athletic talent and interest. He played college football at Tufts University as a tight end and long snapper from 1999 through 2002.

Starting as an operations intern in 2002 for the New England Patriots under Coach Bill Belichick, he then began what has become a very impressive coaching resume in college football – Notre Dame and UMass – eventually followed by the NFL including the Patriots, Washington Redskins, Los Angeles Rams and as Offensive Coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks from 2021 to 2023.

Early in 2024, he was named Offensive Coordinator for the Chicago Bears and as stated in an article on ESPN.com: https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/39368486/what-hiring-oc-shane-waldron-mean-bears

“The Chicago Bears know who will be calling offensive plays in 2024, and now they have to figure out which quarterback will be executing them.”

Chicago, with the first draft pick in 2024, is expected to draft former USC quarterback, Caleb Williams and Waldron will be a key figure in deciding whether he or current starter, Justin Fields will be calling signals when the season starts.

Based on the comments of sports commentators and media, don’t be surprised to see the younger Waldron as an NFL head coach in his next job.

Regardless, Karen and Jay Waldron will be making a lot of trips back to Chicago with good tickets at Soldier Field in addition to seeing their two grandchildren.

Odds are that Jay also knows some good Windy City bars which ruggers frequent and they can share stories – many of which will be in accordance with reality. (#20 – #22)

Karen told me that Jay doesn’t like small talk with strangers so I would tell him “Ask if they have a connection with rugby, rafting or motorcycles and the conversation always explodes.”

Well, that will not be necessary on his Chicago visits because one of his best long-term rugby buddies happens to be one Donald H. Haider – another member of the US Rugby Hall of Fame. (And looking at both of these guys made me wonder if the term Renaissance Man and Rugger is really a contradiction in terms.)

Haider, was on the rugby team during undergraduate school at Stanford. He played and coached rugby throughout his adulthood and earned his MA and PhD at Columbia University. He is now a business professor at Northwestern University‘s Kellogg School of Management. The professor has had an amazing career in government, business and academia. (#23)

And does he have ties to the Windy City! According to Wikipedia:

“Haider had worked as an advisor to Richard J. Daley during his mayoralty. Haider also worked as the Chicago city budget director (chief financial officer for the City of Chicago) under Jane Byrne from 1979 until 1980.[1][4][6][10]

In 1987, Haider won the Republican mayoral primary…During the campaign, in a desperate bid for press, Haider rode an elephant (an animal often used to symbolize the Republican Party) down State Street.”

The Weather Mark Tavern is a great rugby sports bar within walking distance of Soldier Field. I can see Waldron and Haider pre-function and post-function at this watering hole and telling tales of past scrums. (Fans cannot leave the Stadium during halftime…..)

Go Bears!

External Photo Attribution

#1 – #2. Oregon State University Athletic Department (https://osubeavers.com/news/2017/11/27/football-giant-killers-the-legend-50-years-later)

#3. Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jack_faust.jpg) I, the copyright holder of this work, release this work into the public domain. This applies worldwide. Author: Timlyman.

#4. University of Portland Magazine (https://sites.up.edu/portlandmagazine/brian-doyle/).

#5. Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Harry_Frankfurt_at_2017_ACLS_Annual_Meeting.jpg ) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license. Author: American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) 29 October 2018.

#6 – #8. Courtesy Jay Waldron

#9. Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (Black-white photograph of Emily Dickinson2 – Emily Dickinson – Wikipedia) By Unknown author – https://s3.amazonaws.com/amherst-wsg/ED-dag-case-720dpi_big.jpg, This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author’s life plus 100 years or fewer. (1846-47).

#10. Schwabe Williamson & Wyatt (https://www.schwabe.com/professional/brien-flanagan/).

#11 – #12. Malachy Irish Pub Website Photo Gallery (https://www.malachysirishpub.com/gallery).

#13. Portland Rugby Club (https://www.portlandrugby.org/about).

#14 – #18. Jay Waldron

#19 – #22. Karen Waldron Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/karen.waldron.12).

#23. Kellog School of Management (Donald Haider – Faculty – Kellogg School of Management (northwestern.edu).

#24. Weather Mark Tavern Facebook Page ()https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=510230207773421&set=a.510230187773423).

#25. Wikimedia Commons (Soldier_Field_S.jpg (4000×2250) (wikimedia.org) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Author: Sea Cow – 2 July 2022.

Everything’s Jake(s) – Part II

Posted on September 25, 2023 by Thebeerchaser

Photo Sep 24 2023, 11 09 10 AM

Welcome back to Thebeerchaser. If you are seeing this post through an e-mail, please visit the blog by clicking on the title at the top to see all of the photos so the narrative is not clipped or shortened. (External photo attribution is at the end of the post.)

In my most recent post – Part 1 of this series, I told you about my two notable Beerchasing companions and friends – David Dickson and Matt Love. I briefly touched on the bar Matt selected for us to meet – a great dive named Jake’s Place.

When I asked him why he selected this watering hole – other than it was close to his home in Sellwood – he responded:

“Jake’s was my choice because of Cassie, the weekday bartender who I had observed for over a year dealing with the various homeless people of the neighborhood who routinely wandered into the joint and utilized it as a de-facto service center once they spent a buck in the slot machines or bought a beer with change.

Cassie always dealt with these customers with a no-nonsense style laced with kindness and compassion. She also was the only bartender I’d ever seen who dusted the blinds of a window, in Jake’s case, the only window.”

Matt and Cassie at Jake’s Place

Jake’s Place is a former biker bar that used to be named “The Hole-in-the-Wall” and is now primarily patronized by locals. There are not too many social media reviews and a number of them – especially older ones – are very critical.

But I prefer to rely on my experience on two visits and the observations of Matt – a frequent regular for the last few years. As I reported in my last post, he is probably Oregon’s foremost authorities on the topic of dive bars as evidenced by his book – Oregon Tavern Age:

“Oregon Tavern Age (OTA) is a 64-page tabloid size book-with-in-a-magazine featuring original illustrations that culminates 22 years of writing about the crazy and poignant life that unfolds in Oregon Coast’s dive taverns and bars.”

For example, this Yelp review of Jake’s Place from quite a few years ago stated, in part:

“……it’s one of the only bars I’ve walked in to in Portland where I immediately put my guard up. Usually dive bars are inhabited by harmless drunks or ironic people, but last night it felt like it might as well have been full of drunken longshoremen itching for a brawl.”

One wonders why longshoremen of their equivalent would be in the vicinity of Sellwood – a middle-class community.

However, I always keep in mind this truism: (Supplied by my long-time friend, Hap Ziegler, a legal consultant in the Santa Barbara area)

I prefer to rely on this more recent (August 11, 2022) Yelp review which echoed my experience even though I’m not a “Sellwood local”

“This is a place where the more years you go here, the more rewarding it is ….Salt of the Earth staff and patrons ….Tracy is MVP, Deb is the hard outer shell with the heart of gold, Cassie, her daughter, is always there with the clever quip, and Bonnie is the tall goddess . (Note: All of these women are bartenders.)

Great service and food. They call this a dive bar….but no, it is a ‘neighborhood bar…it might take a bit of time to fit in, but if you’re a Sellwood local, it should be a first stop.”

My own take on Jake’s Place was that it had a nice vibe with regulars enjoying themselves at the bar, chatting at tables or playing pool.

The bar was long and attractive and there were tables spaced throughout an expansive setting. (One often occupied by Matt who likes to write here.) (#1)

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And while some of the reviews are very critical of the service and the attitude of the bartenders, both Cassie and Katie, who I met on the weekend during my second visit, were wonderful. Katie, who has worked there for eight years, is employed part-time while she’s getting her nursing degree.

And Cassie showed a common sense and compassionate perception of the world based on her own challenging life experience as described by Matt:

“Cassie was from the neighborhood and used fake ID when she was 17 to patronize Jake’s as her first bar. Her mother, Deb was the evening bartender. (and still is)

She had once been homeless herself, years ago, after having a baby and giving it up to the father. She treated the homeless people who came in with unconditional love and she’d had only one problem with the homeless in the four years she’d worked at Jake’s Place.”

The bar is an expansive space with a number of classic pinball machines, video machines (which were were not intrusive), three wide screen TV’s, a good “juke box” and two pool tables (one being used by a friendly guy named Kevin who chatted while clearing the table).

The “juke box” even has college school fight songs although I didn’t check to see if there was an Oregon State one in the mix. (Unfortunately, there was a neon Oregon Ducks sign on the wall and not a comparable one for the Beavs.)

They have a good selection of reasonably-priced pub food including appetizers (no salads) and the tap list is good – nine beers, two ciders and wine in addition to some great cocktails as you might surmise from the photo of their liquor inventory below.

A pint is a very reasonable $5.50 and $5.00 at Happy Hour. (Matt and David each had a Breakside RPM and, of course, I availed myself of a PBR.)

Jake’s Place is not the watering hole of the same name in Maryville or Hendersonville Tennessee; Denison Texas, Bedford, Virginia; Shawnee Kansas or Monroe, South Dakota.

But the bar is a vital part of Sellwood – a wonderful neighborhood just five miles south of downtown Portland. And Jake’s Place is right across the street from Bertie Lou’s:

“A tiny, funky breakfast & lunch joint with napkin art on the walls serving classic American dishes.”

What About the Other Jakes?

I have to admit that when I first heard Matt say “Let’s meet at Jake’s,” I was taken aback. Matt and I have a mutual respect and admiration for dive bars but I thought he meant the historic bar which is part of Jake’s Famous Crawfish in downtown Portland – one of, if not the, premier seafood restaurants in the Rose City.

Now, as you might expect, Jakes has an ambiance distinctly different from Jake’s Place. There’s $10 Valet Parking, white-coated waiters and a beautiful long bar in a long, narrow room on one side of the restaurant. There are no pinball machines, juke box or video poker terminals.

Generally, just urban professionals knocking down highballs in business attire after work. (#2 – #5)

Matt and I quickly cleared up that confusion, but this gives me an opportunity to retell part of this history from a 2013 Beerchaser post with a “bar scuffle” story involving the Portland Rugby Club and their counterintuitive adoption of the bar at Jakes downtown.

For that post, I got background information from Jay Waldron, a colleague of mine at the Schwabe law firm and one of Oregon’s top environmental and energy law and litigation lawyers.

He’s also a member of the Rugby Hall of Fame (Class of 2017) and former Beerchaser-of-the-Quarter. (https://thebeerchaser.com/2016/03/29/jay-waldron-rugger-rafter-rider-and-lawyer-beerchaser-of-the-quarter/)

When I was writing the post in 2013, Jay urged me to visit the “shrine,” of sorts, to ruggers in the bar at Jakes. I was skeptical, but discovered there is, in fact, an alcove leading into the men’s room which preserves some rugger nostalgia – thanks to John Underhill, Jake’s former manager and also a rugby player.

One of the best mementos is a letter (see image below) to Jake’s written by Steven G. Hayford on April 29, 1982.

He took umbrage with his experience in the bar in what was a synergistic attack which could have been orchestrated by Jay’s son, Shane, who is now the Offensive Coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks. (#6)

The text of the letter is essentially as follows:

“….. we were assaulted by 5 to 8 of your largest patrons. My arms were pinned behind my back while a third cut my tie with a pair of scissors…..one mustached individual bounded over the bar to break up a possible ensuing riot.

As each offending participant was twice as large as (we were) and a full four times as large as your bartender, a riot did not ensue, and my party bid a hasty (although loud) retreat.

I believe the ‘gorillas’ that attacked us belonged someplace other than at a high-class place like Jake’s and should have been evicted……I would like to consider the incident closed…but my bruised ego is preventing me from making a clean break……

I would appreciate it, if you would reimburse me for the nominal amount of $20…. for my silk tie. If you decline, I’m afraid people who wear ties will start avoiding your restaurant. Please consider my flippant tone a measure of my sense of humor and not as a lack of seriousness of this matter.”

silk tie

Since the statute of limitations for assault has tolled, Waldron is pretty candid about the incident and provides this perspective:

“We placed the cut portion of the tie on the bar with a double margarita as compensation —I cut it with the scissors from a Swiss army knife — A warm night in Jake’s after rugby practice, we in shorts and practice gear, he and others were in suits.

He made a loud remark about the inappropriateness of our attire. We reacted immediately. Two 250 lb. players lifted him off his feet and pinned his arms, a Swiss army knife appeared on car keys from one of the player’s pocket and I cut cleanly.”

A Response from the “Victim”

I was amazed several days after I posted the story to see a response on Thebeerchaser from one Steven G. Hayford. I guess it’s a comment on both the breadth and reach of social media as well as Hayford’s perspective and good humor:

“Hey! I’m Steve Hayford and I remember everything except disparaging what the gorillas were wearing. That tidbit must remain in dispute. Anyway, all is forgiven. Amazing what you find when you google your own name.”

In Closing…

A maxim propagated by those who don’t like dive bars (and I have not found true after twelve years frequenting them) is that the best way to get involved in a fight, is to “invade” the “territory” of the regulars.

Jay Waldron and the ruggers provide evidence, however, that lack of judgement in assessing your surroundings can invite that result in any establishment.

Regardless, I would suggest that you can enjoy your experience; consume good beer, wine, cocktails and food at either Jake’s Place or the bar at Jake’s Famous Crawfish. That said, the menu, tap list, price, ambiance and drinking companions will be distinctly and refreshingly different!

I also have some more to relate about David Dickson and Matt Love, but will save that for another post,

Cheers (#7 – #8)