Rants and raves about burning topics that have caught my attention midweek, be it greedy corporate shenanigans, frustration or joy in regards to the Philly sports teams, a movie, show or DVD that has fired up my imagination, an intriguing personality, or my on-going battle to lose weight in our fast food world. — Lori Hoffman, Associate Editor, Atlantic City Weekly

This is the best time of the year to be a Philadelphia-area sports fan. Despite a few stumbles down the stretch, the Phillies will be in the hunt to repeat as World Series Champions. With the Eagles three games in, the Flyers opening their season this Friday (Oct. 2) and the Sixers soon to follow on Oct. 28, we could have a

I hope to carve another pumpkin this year.

four-team day of victories, assuming the Phillies make it to the World Series, scheduled to begin on Oct. 28.
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In addition to all the excitement generated by the Eagles and Phillies, we have some exciting sports news in the Atlantic City region. It has just been announced this week that ice hockey is returning to Boardwalk Hall. It is not a pro team, but college’s ECAC Hockey will have its Men’s Championship at the Hall rink in 2011 through 2013. The event will bring the elite ECAC Hockey conference, comprised of 12 of the most prestigious men’s ice hockey programs in the nation, to town. Schools in the ECAC are Brown, Clarkson, Colgate, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton, Quinnipiac, Rensselaer, St. Lawrence, Union and Yale.  The two most recent sites for the tournament have been Albany and Lake Placid, New York. Tickets for the tournament are expected to go on sale mid-2010. For more information about ECAC Hockey, visit here

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Last year Atlantic City’ city council initially voted to completely eliminate smoking anywhere on the city’s casino gaming floors. This came after an exception to a statewide ban on smoking in public places permitted it in 25 percent of all the Atlantic City casino gaming floors.
The idea to initiate the complete ban was met with opposition from casino owners who said that it would severely hamper gaming revenues, so city council postponed the ban indefinitely, or at least until the economic recession began to show signs of recovery.
A year has passed since that decision to postpone the complete ban, but an online article on a gaming Web site indicates that the idea to bring it back might serve as a stimulus to better gaming business.
“The surrounding states to New Jersey do not have full smoking bans for their casinos,” says market analyst Gregory Belfour in the article. “If A.C. casinos went to a full ban, they would attract thousands of customers from neighboring states that do not want to gamble with their health.”
That’s not the view everyone in the gaming industry takes, however. Some see the smoking ban as potentially making a bad situation even worse.
“A 100 percent smoking ban would be catastrophic,” says Mark Juliano, CEO of Trump Entertainment Resorts. “Right now, we just can’t face another negative.”

Ice hockey has been a significant part of the history of Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall, having served as home to two organized clubs — the Atlantic City Seagulls (1930-’52) and the Boardwalk Bullies (2001-’03) — and once hosting the largest crowd ever to witness a game. That occurred in March 1933, when the New York Rangers defeated the Seagulls 6-2 in a charity benefit in front of 22,152 (then a record).
Those who thought they might never experience hockey in the Hall again after the Bullies split town for more fertile ground on the West Coast, fear not. Boardwalk Hall announced on Tuesday, Sept. 29, that it will host the ECAC Division 1 college championships for three years, starting in March 2011. “ (more…)

As MTV.com reports, Adam Goldstein’s (aka DJ AM) death in August has been ruled accidental according to the New York medical examiner. DJ AM, who helped open a nightclub in Atlantic City in July — Dusk at Caesars — was found dead in his Manhattan apartment Aug. 28. According to MTV, “After a battery of toxicology tests, the New York City medical examiner’s office has determined that AM’s accidental death was caused by acute intoxication brought on by a cocktail of prescription drugs and cocaine, a spokesperson from the office confirmed.

DJ AM

“The toxicology report released on Tuesday says that the 36-year-old celebrity DJ (born Adam Goldstein) had cocaine; painkillers OxyContin and Vicodin; anti-anxiety meds Ativan, Klonopin, Xanax; antihistamine Benadryl and Levamisole (a drug used to cut cocaine) in his system when he was found dead on August 28.”

(Photo by Nick Valinote)

Champ Oliver Busquet.

With the finale of its annual WPT Borgata Poker Open, the casino set a record for the highest participation in a World Poker Tour® event with 1,018 participants generating a $3,359,400 prize pool. Olivier Busquet of New York was crowned the 2009 WPT Borgata Poker Open Champion, earning $925,514.

Busquet was short-stacked at the beginning of the heads-up match with Jeremy Brown of Medford, NJ, but Busquet battled back from an almost $16 million chip deficit and clinched the victory as his all-in with trip 4s bested Brown. Brown took home $453,519 for second place.

This year’s Borgata Poker Open tournament series saw nearly 15,000 participants in the 50 events, and paid out over $8 million to winners. Many poker greats were in the field, such as Gavin Smith, Bernard Lee, Kathy Liebert, JC Tran, Bill Gazes, and David “Chino” Rheem.

Ryan Madsen

I’m old enough to remember the Phillies collapse of 1964. I was only eleven so the details are fuzzy, but I remember the pain most of all. My dad was a sportswriter covering the team so like the rest of the Phillies fans, I thought the World Series appearance was in the bag. I felt fortunate. This was my first year as a Phillies fan. The year before I was devastated when my beloved Yankees (Mantle, Maris, Whitey Ford, Yogi Berra) lost the World Series to the Koufax and Drysdale-led Dodgers. I had switched teams and leagues.

I’ve been feeling just a hint of stale ’64 around the edges this past week as the Phillies remained a team with no closer they could depend upon, while the Braves have been on a tear, winning fourteen of sixteen. It helps that the Phillies inflicted their only two losses in that stretch. The Fightins’ 5-5 road trip has reduced their magic number to three games with seven left to play. The Braves have conceded the division; they are concentrating on overtaking the Rockies for the wild card spot.

The starting pitching remains solid, but it seems that every pitcher audition for the closer role is suffering from a case of stage fright. Brad Lidge was not going to be perfect in 2009 but who could have imagined 11 blown saves? Ryan Madsen has looked decent in the role; he certainly has a strong enough fastball for the job.

With seven games at home to go, against Houston and the Fish, the Phillies should wrap it up in the next few days.

Forgive me, however, for not counting on it until the magic number is zero.

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The Eagles were awfully lucky to have such a weak opponent to face this week, following the horrible outing against the Saints. The Kansas City Chiefs were just what the doctor ordered to the tune of 34-14.

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Ray Kot, the popular, long-time Trump Taj Mahal employee who was murdered May 27, will have Ray Kot Memorial Park dedicated in his honor on Friday, Oct. 16, 11am, on Pacific Ave. between Pennsylvania and Virginia aves. Join Mark Juliano, CEO of Trump Entertainment Resorts, Rosalind Krause, GM of Trump Taj Mahal and the Kot family in honoring him. A luncheon follows the ceremony. Donations can be made to The Ray Kot Memorial Fund, to benefit his son, Drew Kot,  c/o TD Bank, 15 N. Pennsylvania Ave., Atlantic City.

According to reports, the Atlantic City Marathon, scheduled for Oct. 18 and the third longest-running marathon in the country, won’t happen this year due to lack of organization. What a shame.

According to an online article at stockhideout.com, Taubman Centers Inc. plans to turn over to its lender The Pier Shops at Caesars, as well as one of its properties in Virginia. The reason for the move is to stem a negative cash flow caused by the sagging economy, it was reported.
“Taubman has made the decision not to fund the negative cash flow, and we’re going to start talking to the lenders about restructuring the debt,” said Lisa Payne, Taubman Centers’ chief financial officer, in the article.
“In the past year, traffic has not met expectations due to a weakened economy and the challenges of the significant new gaming competition in Pennsylvania,” said Robert S. Taubman, Taubman Centers’ chief executive officer.
The 282,000 square-foot Pier Shops are about 80 percent occupied, Payne said. Taubman has a $135 million mortgage and discussions with CenterlineCapital Group, the debt servicer working on behalf of bondholders who bought securities backed by the loan, are imminent. Negotiations could lead to an auction of the property, Payne said.
“We’re happy to manage it while it goes through this transition,” she said. “We’ve got to have them move towards taking control and ownership of the asset.”

Cesar Millan, star of the hit National Geographic series, The Dog Whisperer, is coming back to Resorts for another Q&A session with dog lovers on Nov. 7 at the Superstar Theater. Tickets are $40, $50 and $75. Fans who would like a more personal experience will have a chance to bid on front and center tickets, plus a meet and photo opportunity with Millan after the show, through a special auction on Ticketmaster . The auction will begin on Friday, Sept. 25, at 10am, with the bidding ending on Thursday, Oct. 8 at 5pm. There are a total of 5 pairs of tickets available for this auction. Minimum bid for the auction is $150 for two tickets.

Millan has devoted his life to the care and rehabilitation of canines. Before his first trip to Atlantic City last April, he explained his philosophy. “The best teacher is a dog itself. I was 13 when I decided I wanted to be the best dog trainer in the world after watching Lassie and Rin Tin Tin. In the city I learned that a lot of people work against the nature of a dog. People practice affection before exercise or discipline. This makes the dog confused because the nature of the animal is to be challenged. They love the challenge. That’s why I say exercise, discipline, affection. I never met an aggressive dog growing up; I never met an anxious dog, a fearful dog. I realized America has a lot of dog trainers, but what they don’t have is someone that teaches them common sense. Not the dog — the human. So that’s why I focus on training the humans and rehabilitating the dogs.”