Man, Joe. Those people are fucking morons. How the Hell do you not "get" Scrabble? You put words on the fucking board. I may not be good at it, but I at least understand it. I also don't get how anyone could hate Trivial Pursuit. That game rocks.
Monopoly is at its most fun when you take it way too seriously. At my first apartment, my roommates and I had weekly Monopoly games. It got to the point where most of us were playing to fuck over someone else rather than actually succeeding (Which meant Jeanette, the one person everyone liked, pretty much always won), to the point some of us were trading real world goods and services (And before anyone asks, no sexual favors were traded, mostly just cooking, cleaning and food).
In the subject of GREAT board games like Scrabble and Monopoly, Cranium is one of the best things ever, especially when drinking.