brandon Longtime member & friend/contributor of AngelsWin.com (Brandon) has passed away

[Tank]

brandon was a fascinating person for me. he lived a life far different from what conservative little me had lived, and i was fascinated by his stories. we hung out a few times, mostly at aw softball games and a time or two at throwbacks. at one of the softball games i brought my daughter along. she couldn't stop looking at his tattoos (he had two full sleeves and they were both very colorful). but he was really chill with her, and it was a moment to see part of his softer side, something that didn't always come through in his posts here.

we had an aw beerfest at throwbacks one friday, and he and adam were determined to drink one of each of the 17 different beers they served. one of the pictures from @Chuckster70 shows adam and brandon after about beer #13 or 14, and their eyes were just hilarious at that point. brandon also brought his poker chips and a deck of cards, and at one point in the afternoon he asked if i wanted to play some poker with him, just for fun. i'm pretty much a novice and i knew that he was a fairly regular player, but i agreed. i started off well, winning the first couple of hands and feeling like maybe i was gonna be okay. and then, bam! i think he wiped me out in the next three hands. it was made more impressive by the amount of alcohol he had consumed by that point. i was thankful we were just playing with chips and not cash.

i hope his family is okay. his sister used to post here several years ago, and she was a good person. they could certainly use your prayers if you feel so inclined. 

[Spirit]

44 minutes ago, Tank said:

i thought that came from you. apparently not.

 

Man, I wish.  Truly one of the funniest moments in AW history.  I still laugh about it sometimes.

 

[Blarg]

31 minutes ago, Adam said:

When you get married and have kids, your priorities change and you lose touch with some and with others, you correspond less and less frequently. You think you're doing the right thing - pouring your life into your wife and kids because "that's the way it goes." Everyone understands that, right? Well fuck man.

One of my closest friends from high school, Tim, was like Brandon's older blond brother. We did everything together and too much of everything when we're there. I got married, had three kids and Tim faded away because we both knew we weren't going to be the same. He showed up for my 30th birthday, gave me a call out of the blue a few years later then completely disappeared.

I miss the guy so I can feel your pain right now. You have a family, they are your rock but Brandon will always be your muse for those days. Hope that helps but I doubt much right now. 

[Tank]

Just now, Spirit said:

 

Man, I wish.  Truly one of the funniest moments in AW history.  I still laugh about it sometimes.

 

same. it was the perfect post.

[Kotchman]

Damn this sucks. I figured at some point we would have some beers in kc. He was so young figured there was plenty of time to make it happen. Unfortunately I was wrong. Prayers for his family. 

[notherhalo]

Yo yo we workout with no malarkey (workout peeps)

That was a good thread he started

[notherhalo]

He also had good contributions to how to breakup with a girl, or forget about

The Cory thread

[Chuck]

Just now, notherhalo said:

He also had good contributions to how to breakup with a girl, or forget about

The Cory thread

Yeah, unfortunately those two threads were on our old website and database which we were unable to bring over. 

That had a ton of old classics. Lou's A-Hole Actions of IEBRUIN was classic too.

[Blarg]

Just now, Chuckster70 said:

Yeah, unfortunately those two threads were on our old website and database which we were unable to bring over. 

That had a ton of old classics. Lou's A-Hole Actions of IEBRUIN was classic too.

The webmaster truly failed not finding away to migrate the old board. I hope you fired him. 

[Chuck]

1 minute ago, Blarg said:

The webmaster truly failed not finding away to migrate the old board. I hope you fired him. 

I literally fired him and took the entire website over myself. I started here with GoDaddy and then migrated over to a AWS Cloud service which I'm really happy with. I'm equally stoked with the amount of bells & whistles I get with this forum software I purchased. 

[Lhalo]

3 hours ago, Chuckster70 said:

If you have any stories of your times with Brandon and pictures to share, please post them here as Brandon's family has this link.

I randomly saw this at his local watering hole last year so I sent it to him and jokingly told him to pay up!

[Blarg]

I heard he tipped the waitress well. 

[WicketMaiden]

Oh, bloody hell. Why does it always have to be the good ones?

So sorry for those of you who knew Brandon well. I liked his posts and his takes, he was a funny guy, and he was clearly a genuinely good person who was there for a lot of people. A top, top bloke as we would say over here. But too, too young. Just tragic.

My deepest sympathies to his family and those close to Brandon. I can't imagine the sense of loss and shock you must be feeling.

 

[ten ocho recon scout]

2 hours ago, Kotchman said:

Damn this sucks. I figured at some point we would have some beers in kc. He was so young figured there was plenty of time to make it happen. Unfortunately I was wrong. Prayers for his family. 

Trust me, and this goes for anyone reading this. Life is short.... tragedy doesn't just hit someone else, or old people.

Make the most of everyday, and don't neglect the important people in your life...

[James]

1 hour ago, Lhalo said:

I randomly saw this at his local watering hole last year so I sent it to him and jokingly told him to pay up!

Haha, thats great. Man loved an Irish bar. He has a mug at Shamrocks in Corona. A stop later this evening nor over the weekend may be in order. 

[Tyler]

This is crazy, that's two OG's gone in the same week. I know I don't post as much as the other OG's here, but from what I've read over the years Brandon definitely lived a busy, eventful life. So kudos to him for interacting with others and leaving an impact.

[Catwhoshatinthehat]

What a shit week.  I never met him in person but I remember years ago in a thread asking posters who they would grab a beer or bite with he mentioned me among others.  I never got a chance to do that thinking I would see him at one of the future meet ups especially since he's my age.  Haven't read all the posts in the thread yet or seen what happened not that it matters.  RIP dude and my condolences to his family and friends.

[ettin]

Rest In Peace Brandon, my condolences to his loved ones and family, what a terrible time.

[ScottT]

1 hour ago, James said:

Haha, thats great. Man loved an Irish bar. He has a mug at Shamrocks in Corona. A stop later this evening nor over the weekend may be in order. 

Hit me up if you go.

[James]

5 minutes ago, ScottT said:

Hit me up if you go.

Will do. Probably tomorrow between hockey practice and the game. 

[ScottT]

I wasn't sure about Brandon at first.  Maybe it was the way he introduced me to the cocktail waitress at The District...  a night that likely included Keith and Phil Shane.  Hot damn!

He grew on me and I ended up admiring him.   I don't think he ever knew that, though.  I'm not sure I did.

Brandon was the catalyst for one of my favorite stories.   A bunch of people from this message board made the trek to my area for 66ers opening night many years ago. Derek had qualified for at least a share of a jackpot at San Manuel earlier in the day.  So, naturally, Brandon, Derek, James, and myself left in the middle of the game for the casino.

"If I win this hand of blackjack, we're going to Vegas"  said Brandon 

He was dealt a six. Dealer showed a ten.  I don't remember the rest of the hand, but he won.  Nobody seemed thrilled, but nobody said no.

Nobody had a change of clothes, a toothbrush or anything.

We rolled into Vegas at some absurd hour. 5am maybe?   Ended up at a roulette table... picking numbers like 27, 15, 16, and 40.  

I had worked somewhere for more than ten years.  Rarely missed a day and until then, always had a good reason.  I had to call in sick after 7am.  I went outside, made the call, and the woman the answered asked if it was windy where I was.  Bye, I said.  Fun fact that I didn't remember until last night.  I didn't want to leave my car in the stadium lot.  Instead of going home, I left it at my work a few blocks away.  So, I called in while my car was at work. 

I had never done anything like that and never would have if it wasn't for Brandon.   More good times are coming to mind,but this one is the most memorable for me.

See you at Frankie's Tiki Room, Brandon.

Edited August 11, 2023 by ScottT

[Chuck]

Jason who owned Throwbacks from Facebook

[mtangelsfan]

This breaks my heart.  

[St1ck]

21 hours ago, Chuckster70 said:

Jason who owned Throwbacks from Facebook

He gave Brandon and myself tickets to a day game once when we were at Throwbacks. No cool stories about the day but I remember it was like 105° and Brandon was wearing jeans. 

Edited August 12, 2023 by St1ck

[Spirit]

Most of the pictures in Chuck's first post are from Throwbacks and specifically from "Beerfest."  It was the first time I met everyone in person.  I flew into town specifically for that event.  I got there after the guys had already been at it for 3 to 4 hours and it was clear there was no chance I was ever going to catch up.  Such a fun night!