Temple fans celebrate last year's victory.
I am so excited about the return of A-10 basketball to Boardwalk Hall starting tomorrow.
I’ll be blogging all weekend from my perch on press row to let fellow hoop heads know what is happening as Temple goes for the three-peat against a strong field of A-10 teams including Xavier, Richmond and Dayton. Go here to check out my preview of the tournament.
As if we didn’t have enough great basketball happening with the Atlantic 10 Men’s Basketball Tournament this weekend, the field was announced today for the 2010 Legends Classic taking place at Boardwalk Hall Nov. 26-27. Syracuse University, currently ranked No. 3 in the country and expected to make a splash in the NCAA tournament this year out of the Big East, is in the Legends’ field, joined by Michigan out of the Big 10, UTEP (University of Texas at El Paso) out of Conference USA and Georgia Tech out of the ACC. Last November Florida won the tournament beating Michigan State and Rutgers. Tickets go on sale Thursday, March 11, at noon.
The McClatchy-Tribune News Service has an article on Atlantic City’s Mixed Martial Arts explosion in recent years and the sport in general. The article ran in today’s Montreal, Canada newspaper, The Gazzette. All we can say is, Hey Canadain MMA fans — come on down!
Pete Sampras
The Caesars Tennis Classic, a series of exhibition matches featuring current and former greats from the tennis world, just got a whole lot more interesting with the announcement that 14-time Grand Slam men’s singles champion Pete Sampras will be participating. Sampras, who retired in August 2003, won seven Wimbledon titles and five U.S. Open titles, and is considered one of the best tennis players of all time. Since his retirement, Sampras has played in some exhibitions and in a few events on the Outback Champion Series, a group of tournaments for former ATP players, a sort of seniors’ circuit for former tennis greats. He will take on a current player, U.S. Davis Cup star James Blake.
“Caesars is ecstatic to add Pete Sampras and James Blake to our already impressive lineup for the Caesars Tennis Classic,” said Joe Domenico, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Caesars Atlantic City. “This will be the first time these six past and present tennis stars will compete in the same event and we are honored to bring them together in Atlantic City.”
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
The Winter Olympics are in full swing, but except for the Canadians who are hosting the event, and the family and friends who have a vested interest in the Games, it doesn’t feel like the world is all that thrilled about the Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
Of course an athletic competition doesn’t exactly get off on the right foot when a 21-year-old competitor dies in a practice run on the luge. That young man, Nodar Kumaritashvili from the country of Georgia, lost control of his luge and hit a metal post. The official investigation concluded that he died from making a mistake. Some of the best lugers in the world also crashed during practice runs, a dozen or so crashes prior to Kumaritashvili’s fatal run. The Olympic Committee did the right thing, shortening the course, and building a protective barrier, but I like what the president of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili, said: “No sports mistake is supposed to lead to a death.”
Even before the X-Games sports like snowboarding and snowcross were added to the Games, the Winter Olympics have always seemed more dangerous. One of the most famous crashes of all time took place on March 21, 1970, when ski jumper Vinko Bogatai lost control. It became famous because it was shown in the weekly opening montage of ABC’s Wide World of Sports when Jim McKay said “…and the agony of defeat.” Bogatai of course survived his crash. Downhill skiers reach speeds of ninety miles an hour, and there have been plenty of spectacular crashes in that sport. These are elite athletes and we should salute them, but is a sporting activity really worth dying for?
The United Way of Atlantic County’s 7th Annual Auction for the Community will take place Friday, March 19, from 6-10 pm at Bally’s in Atlantic City. The event will embrace renowned master chefs Georges Perrier and Chris Scarduzio, partners of the celebrated Mediterranean Bistro Mia who will meet on stage for an energetic demonstration of their expertise in fine cuisine around 7:30 pm., a live auction hosted by Flyers Hall-of-Famer Dave Schultz around 8:30 pm, an extended silent auction and honoree Ms. Alyce Parker, Vice President of Public Affairs for Harrah’s Entertainment.
Tickets are priced at $100 a person and include a dinner buffet and cocktails. Order now by calling (609) 404-GIVE or go here. Proceeds from this event will benefit United Way of Atlantic County. — Kelley Anne Essinger
Kelly "The Ghost" Pavlik (right) in one of his two victories over Jermain Taylor
ESPN.com has reported that middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik and junior middleweight titlist Sergio Martinez will face each other on April 17 in Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall. Although a contract has not yet been signed, the management for both fighters is in agreement on the bout, with a press conference expected to take place in New York sometime after the Winter Olympics.
This bout will headline a new “World Championship Boxing” event on HBO, with super middleweight titlist Lucian Bute scheduled to defend his belt against Edison Miranda at the Bell Centre in Montreal before the main event.
Pavlik (36-1, 32 KOs) won both the WBC and WBO middleweight belts in September 2007 at Boardwalk Hall by knocking out Jermain Taylor in the seventh round. He later defeated Taylor again by majority decision. The Martinez fight will mark Pavlik’s fourth title defense, with his last bout ending in a fifth-round knockout of Miguel Espino on Dec. 19.
Greate Bay Country Club
The Greate Bay Country Club golf course in Somers Point has achieved status as a “Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary” through the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program for golf courses, an Audubon International program.
Kenneth Thomspon, Greate Bay’s course superintendent, has led the six-year effort to obtain sanctuary status on this course and is being recognized for Environmental Stewardship by Audubon International. Greate Bay Country Club is only the 27th course in New Jersey and the 794th in the world to receive the honor — an honor designated to just two percent of the golf courses in the world
“All of the members, management and staff are extremely proud of our designation as a Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary,” said Greate Bay C.C. president Mark Benevento in a release to the media. “It’s gratifying to see the programs that we have implemented with Audubon International’s support and guidance begin to make many positive impacts on the course and to the environment.”
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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
My mind couldn’t come together for one topic this week, so in the tradition of jazz music, I’m going to do a couple of riffs on the two topics floating around in my brain. Let’s start with the Oscar nominations.
I’m feeling pretty good about the Academy Award nominations and my predictions. I pretty much nailed all the major categories; my only miss in the acting ranks was supporting actor Christopher Plummer (The Last Station); he took the spot I thought might go to Oscar co-host Alec Baldwin (It’s Complicated). And while other prognosticators thought
Maggie Gyllenhaal
Julianne Moore would take the final supporting actress spot for A Single Man, I went against that conventional wisdom and decided the Crazy Heart surge would push Maggie Gyllenhaal into that final spot. I was right.
The ten nominees for best picture suggest that perhaps the decision to expand from the traditional five might actually work and bring more viewers back to the Oscar telecast. This was my weakest category, although I’m sure my top five (The Hurt Locker, Avatar, Up in the Air, Inglourious Basterds, Precious) would have been the only five in a normal year. I loved Sandra Bullock’s performance in The Blind Side and it is a solid film but not truly Oscar worthy as a best picture nominee. District 9 was okay but overrated, and while I thought Carey Mulligan was brilliant in An Education, the film was good but not excellent. I have no problem with Up being nominated; it was one of my favorite films of the year. I have to confess I didn’t see A Serious Man.
My one crushing disappoint was that former Margate resident Scott Neustadter failed to get an original screenplay nod for 500 Days of Summer, despite the fact that he earned a WGA (Writers Guild of America) nomination. I loved the film and his screenplay, co-written by Michael H. Weber.
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Peyton Manning
Is it just me, or is the Super Bowl failing to create much buzz this year, especially in our area? I don’t hear many people talking about it, even though it should be an entertaining showdown between two of the most prolific scoring QBs in the game, Drew Brees and Peyton Manning.
If you are an Eagles fan who has been just a tad bit frustrated by the play of Donovan McNabb over the years, you have got to check out this YouTube ode to “five” created by a fan who shares your frustration. It is hilarious!