PLAY BALL!!!

So tomorrow, is a personal holiday for me. Well, up until this year, to tell you the truth. Monday, April 5th, is the opening of the Major League Baseball season. Yes, it's a time of optimism and hope that your team will have that magical run to the post-season, ending with a World Series Championship. It's that time of year when every team is tied for first place in the division, and everyone is (presumably, unless you're the Mets or Phillies) healthy and ready to strike people out or hit home runs. Yes, Baseball is back, and I'm trying to be excited about it.

Anyone who knows me would wonder what the hell happened to me to end that last paragraph in the way I did. "How could Brad, a through and through Baseball guy, be having a hard time getting excited about this season?" I don't know why, specifically, but I have my theories.

The number one thing that is making me inattentive to the upcoming season is I'm not working at the Casino. There, I would talk about the upcoming season with any number of coworkers to pass the time, namely Melka. Even if he was more concerned with betting on the NBA or College Basketball or the also-upcoming NFL Draft, he was knowledgeable enough about all major sports enough to be able to talk baseball. Phil O'Neill was also a good person to talk MLB with, but that was a long time ago. Mike Barry as well, but as was also the case with Phil, they only talked about the Tigers, which is fine. I like the Tigers...But not as much as my beloved Braves.

After a season like last, when the Braves were in contention for the playoffs for most of the second half of the season, you would think that I would be jumping for joy at the prospects of the upcoming season. Oh believe me, I am, to a point. But the number two reason I'm not freaking out about the onset of another wonderful MLB season is that my Nashville Predators are on the verge of entering the Stanley Cup Playoffs. I have devoted so much of my time to the Predators this season that my focus is squarely on them at this time.

I believe that after I read this latest issue of Sports Illustrated, which is a 2010 baseball preview edition, I will be much more excited about the upcoming season. And I'm sure that when the first pitch is thrown at 3:05 CST-ish on Monday afternoon at Turner Feild against the Cubs, I will be watching. I will be freaking, a little. Because no matter what, I love baseball and I love the Atlanta Braves.

A Trip Down Memory Lane

You're never gonna believe this people, but I miss the Ojibwa casino more than I thought I ever would.

That's right, I miss just about everything. I'm not saying that I'm getting all sappy and down-in-the-dumps about being away from home. I just miss everything about the casino. Even the addicts. Let me go into detail of a few things I miss/remember about my days at the Casino.

I miss running up the stairs to the break room/time clock area like a speed skater.

I miss stopping over at the coin booth to chat with the lonely looking casher that got stuck there.

I miss watching sportscenter over and over again with Melka.

I miss betting on stupid shit with Melka.

I miss talking about baseball with Mike Berry.

I miss playing Cribbage in the Cashier break room with Mikey, Duke, Guy, Big Dave, Crawford or A-Webs

I miss watching someone play a slot machine and pretending it's my money.

I miss stopping into the bar, watching what's on TV, drinking some Diet Pepsi chatting with Bartenders and Waitresses

I miss spending an unnecessary amount of time watching YouTube videos in the Tech Office.

I actually miss getting yelled at by Seymour. (just a little, but not totally)

I miss working midnights, getting my paycheck right at six a.m. even though I can't leave to cash it for 2 hours.

I miss troubleshooting a problem on a slot machine

I miss talking about Softball and the League

I miss the Onion Rings. Seriously, those were damn good.

I miss talking Basketball with Ryan Higgins.

I miss hearing Duke play the same 3 System of a Down or Fall Out Boy songs.

I miss guessing the number on the Roulette wheel.

I miss Melka talking about how much he loves Aerosmith.

Most of all, I miss every single person that worked there. Every last one of them. I thought of Chris Hillier yesterday. How he's all weird on the outside, but really, he's just a computer nerd and harmless. BJ, Dewey, Garm, Butt, Duke, Mikey, Goob, Jay, Mary, Rob, Tom and Kim VanLinden, Jesse, Shawn, Jake and Dawn, Rick, Super Sarka, Michelle, Gabe, Ryan, Plesh, Chris Higgins, Big John, Lil Johnny and Christine, Dave from Housekeeping, hell, all of housekreeping, All the Cashiers, All Security, All attendants and supervisors, all Bartenders and Waitresses, all techs that have come and gone, all the Dealers, all the pit bosses, all the Guest Services people, even Surveillance.

Yes, I can't go back, and I will always have my memories. I hope to see you all again soon enough. Really, It's only been a mere 10 months since I worked my last shift at the casino (the night of May 14th, 2009) but it really feels like ages ago. It's funny, this started out being a normal blog about missing the casino, not in an emotional way, but now that I think about it, it's hard not associate any feelings to these things. I miss em all. I hope they feel the same way about me.