Foxwoods or Mohegan Sun - You Make the Call

Foxwoods or Mohegan Sun?  We were trying to decide on a place to meet that was closer than Las Vegas, but more interesting than Boston.  It was a guy's day trip, after all.  Frankly, I had never really thought about the question before.  There was always a reason to go to one or another – and never having to make the choice.  Foxwoods was closer to home so a day trip was decidedly easier.  Mohegan Sun had the WNBA’s Connecticut Sun - my daughter’s favorite team - so we would go there to see a game live.  The shows at Mohegan Sun - such as my wife's recent induction into the Basement Bar Hall of Fame, Chelsea Handler - were decidedly less geriatric than Foxwoods, too.   But I’ve never really thought about which casino is better.  Frankly if I come away winning, it could be a hellhole or pit and I’d be OK with it.

Let's decide this once and for all, not because my opinion matters, but because I like to think about gambling, and this is a cost effective way of doing so.

These guys were NOT excited about March Madness

Gaming Experience.  Foxwoods has casinos housed in two different distinct casino areas – what I like to call the “Old” Casino and MGM Grand.  The old casino brings back a lot of memories for me since it opened right around the same time that I turned 21.  And it’s clear we’re growing old together.  Even the new carpeting in the old gaming room couldn’t mask the smell of stale cigarettes and mildew from spilled drinks.  The Racebook (and for God’s sake never call it the Sportsbook!) was enormous considering the place contained approximately 5 people inside gambling on horse racing, greyhound racing and jai-alai.  We watched a recent UCONN tournament game there and were surprised by the lack of people.  The MGM Grand was much better and was clearly where the young and rich went.   Despite having one of the largest and most expansive casinos (364,000 square feet) in the world, Mohegan Sun’s atmosphere seems more authentic than Foxwoods.  A little bit more dark, which lent to the mystery of the place.  It didn’t hurt that the craps table had favorable dice. Advantage:  Mohegan Sun. 

Food and drink.  Michael Jordan’s at Mohegan Sun was pretty good.  Not the best steak I ever had, but I didn’t send it back.  On the other hand one of the best meals I’ve ever had was at Prime Steakhouse.  That beat anything I’ve ever eaten in Vegas, California or New York.  Mohegan Sun's Margaritaville is offset by the grease at Foxwood's Hard Rock Cafe - either are fine to ward off a hangover.  The buffets at both casinos are horrible. Stomach-churningly awful.  Slight Advantage: Foxwoods.

Affordability.  Some one has to explain the prices at the Mohegan Sun hotel.  While even hotels at the MGM can run under $200, I’ve never seen rooms at Mohegan Sun for under $350.  Checking out rooms for the Chelsea Handler New Year’s Eve show gave me a chuckle.  I know it was New Year’s Eve, but really $500 for a crappy 150 square foot room?  It would have been easier to rent an apartment in New London or Norwich for the year.  I’d rather sleep at a table in the Sports err I mean race book.  Advantage: Foxwoods

Mystique.  Foxwoods is well known for its poker room.  The WPT always plays its tournament here at the WPT Poker Room, well-attended by the greats of Poker that draws thousands of players and spectators on an annual basis.  I’ve tried the WPT Poker Room, but have never found the sucker at the table (so you know what that means).  Mohegan Sun, as I mentioned before, is the home of the WNBA’s Connecticut Sun.  Not that that would tip anything over the edge, but any time I hear people talk about Mohegan Sun, my ears always perk up.  Maybe 'm hopeful they will talk about that Night Ranger Concert from a couple of years back in the Wolf Den.  Honestly though, if DLG like Mohegan Sun because of the WNBA, then that is reason enough to give the edge to the “Sun” in this category.   And I didn’t come across any homeless dudes looking for a chicken tender in Uncasville.  Advantage: Mohegan Sun.

Overall, I’d have to choose Mohegan Sun over Foxwoods.  The games are better (what the hell is Sic Bo?), the atmosphere is better and like I said, any place where I can win money is nice place to be.  Now when are we going to get gambling in Massachusetts?  On second thought...maybe it’s better that we don’t get gambling here.

JMR's 2011 Basement Bar Hall of Fame Induction

If you know anything about the JMR Journal, you know that Halls of Fame are family friendly go-to destinations. Whether it be enjoying the confetti blast at the Hall at Patriot Place, or wishing Providence had a Sports Hall of Fame, nothing says sports history to our family like a Hall of Fame. But we're running out of destinations.  Not to be deterred, we (all right, me) have decided to create our own Hall of Fame in our basement bar.

Now here are the ground rules. Each of us, yours truly, MM, DLG, C and G will nominate one “person” to be enshrined in our JMR Basement Bar Hall of Fame. His or her picture will adorn our basement bar until 2012, or until we run out of room. We’re not Cooperstown for Christ's sake. There are no qualifications for enshrinement, and the lucky recipients of this honor don’t even have to be a real people (The Boxing Hall of Fame is getting jazzed up right now). Each of them will receive an official letter from JMR welcoming them to the JMR Basement Bar Hall of Fame and inviting them to the festivities on the First Saturday in May 2011.

It's a Man, Baby!

MM:  Chelsea Handler.  MM says she was torn between picking a hot guy (AKA Desmond from LOST, to commemorate the finale of her favorite show, okay, favorite character of all time. I've mentioned she saw him running without his shirt while our family vacationed in DC in 2009, and she nearly veered off the organized tour in pursuit.)  Then she tried going with a successful female sports figure of 2010, and thought maybe Venus, Serena or Maria (though as she tells me this, she appear hard pressed to come up with Maria's first name, never mind SPELL her last one), but none of them really did it for her.

So anyway, she went with Chelsea Handler, a stand-up comedienne with her own late night show on E! that she has beaten me over the head with for so many months of 2010, that I finally have been converted and actually even DVR it for us to watch in case we miss it.  She's funny, successful and likes the rappers.  Just like a younger MM.  And don't worry, I will have no impure thoughts as she adorns the walls of my bar -- since whenever I see her, I feel compelled to remark in my best Austin Powers persona, "It's a MAN, baby!" Good choice.

It was an honor just being nominated!

DLG: Spongebob Squarepants.  It was a choice between the dreaded yellow sponge and her stuffed animal named Torty. When I asked her why she picked SpongeBob she answered me in her own words "Because I love him! And because my brothers love him.  And he is great!!" She didn't notice my attempt to have her pick someone else to have a picture in MY Basement Bar.

G: Shaquille O’Neill: "I like fizzy water." G! focus! "OK OK. I want him to be in the Hall of Fame because he’s a Celtic, he’s big and 7 feet tall; he’s good and he’s a good singer."  If he ever watches Kazaam, Big G might change his mind about the singer part. And somewhere Kobe Bryant is wondering how is backside tastes.

C. Shoeless Joe Jackson. Dad has converted another one into Field of Dreams. If you ever want to see some man tears shed, put this movie on. We watched it a couple of days ago and I had to fight back the obligatory tears when Kevin Costner is playing catch with his old man at the end of the movie because he refused to play catch when he was a teenager. This movie even has me using words like allegory and symbolism like I’m a two-bit English professor. Oh yeah, Joe Jackson was a pretty good hitter in his day. And his legacy produced the funniest part of the movie when describing Jackson, Costner’s character eloquently states that while Jackson DID take the cash from the gamblers, there was no proof that Jackson actually threw any games. That doesn’t make him a good guy, it just makes him really, really stupid.   In C's words though he's one of the best baseball players in the world.  He had never heard of him though last week. 

JMR. Kevin Dineen.  I thought long and hard about this one. I had considered Hickory High’s 1953 basketball team, Wade Boggs (Did I tell you that I had 9 of his 1983 Topps Rookie Cards at one point?) and even the legendary crooner, Jimmy Buffett. But in the end, my first inductee had to be a Hartford Whaler. Now I could have chosen Gordie Howe, but after he wanted to charge me $40 for an autograph (and his book!) at the Hartford Whalers Fanfest back in August, I said “No thank you, Mr. Hockey.” I could have inducted Brendan Shanahan, but I burned his #94 jersey back in 1995, so I couldn’t forgive him that easily.

Ultimately, it came down to my two favorite players. Rick Ley and Kevin Dineen.  Ley was a star for the team when I was growing up in 1970’s and 80’s.  Growing up in central Connecticut - a stone’s throw away from where the Whalers practiced - I was lucky enough to have a Dad who did business with the team and the local rink.  I had the opportunity meet Mr. Ley, and receive an autographed stick, puck, hat, everything. By the way, I’m still pissed that I lost that stick. But there’s only one person who scored the last goal in franchise history and there’s only one guy who stood out on the ice at that last game cheering the fans and throwing things to us. And there’s only one guy who, while he was trying to leave the aforesaid Whalers Fanfest, stopped what he was doing, signed my daughter’s poster and asked if she was a Whalers fan. (She shook her head no, but only because she didn’t know what the Hell he was talking about). For that, Kevin Dineen is my choice for the 2011 Class of the JMR Basement Bar Hall of Fame.

Now I know we aren’t talking about Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Christy Mathewson, Honus Wagner and Walter Johnson here, but we’re not the BBWAA either. Come back to see the letters that were sent to each of inductees. And yes, I have no idea how I am going to get letters to Joe Jackson and Spongebob, but I’ll find a way.