Friday, May 08 2009
By Hayward Tenney
Famous retail store Manager Tim Carr takes promises seriously. Just ask Pete Johnson from Tatuaje.
"On February 7th, Pete Johnson came and did an event at our store. Based on how he connected with our customers, I knew that Pete and Tatuaje would be a perfect fit for the 2009 Famous Smoke Shop Cigar Expo & BBQ event this summer," Tim said.
The two struck a "handshake agreement," according to Tim, wherein Pete committed to exhibiting at the event. But handshakes mean more to some than to others.
Several weeks later, Pete called Famous Smoke Shop’s Humberto Gonzalez to tell him that he wouldn’t be able to attend the Expo.
"When I pressed him...Pete admitted that a 'third party' had persuaded him not to participate,” said Gonzalez. “I reminded Pete that he had a handshake agreement with Tim …but he wouldn’t budge. [W]hen I told Tim about the conversation, he was really teed-off that Pete hadn’t called him personally."
Tim's calls to Pete in the following weeks went unreturned.
"Was I pissed? Of course I was! Pete didn't stick to his word, like a man," Tim admits. "And when I finally got him on the phone, he hung up on me. Who does that?"
At the end of March, Tim flew to Miami to meet with Christian Eiroa of Camacho Cigars. After explaining the situation, Christian offered to support Tim in any way he could. It wasn't long before word of their conversation got back to Pete.
Tim got his return phone call, after all - on-air, no less, during Famous Smoke Shop’s weekly Happy Hour broadcast live on ESPN Radio of the Lehigh Valley, 1230 and 1320 AM. The argument culminated in a blood pact: the two would settle their differences in the ring.
Details of the fight have been released at www.cigarfight.com, where you can also listen to the original broadcast. The site will be updated as this develop. (_[ca]__{{{
