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 what’s happening in the region. — Lori Hoffman, Associate Editor, Atlantic City Weekly.

I’ve been back from my working vacation at the Toronto Film Festival for a little more than a week now and I’m still trying to get back into the routine. It was so much fun spending the day watching movies and attending celebrity-filled press conferences and frankly, not-so-much fun returning to the 9 to 5 grind. Still, one has to earn a paycheck.

So what happened while I was away? I was surprised to learn that Aaron Gomes left town for greener pastures in Australia where the 30-year-old will get to run a casino himself. I can’t blame him for wanting a fresh start with the death of his father and brother in the past year plus the changes at Resorts brought on by his father’s death. I went through that very same horrible situation in 1979-80 when my brother Gary, who was 27, was killed by a hit and run driver, and a year later my father died of a heart attack at age 56. I was in a very depressed state for several years afterwards; if I had been give the chance to take a job in Australia I would have jumped at it.

And how about my sports teams while I was away? Thanks to MLB’s Gameday, I was able to keep up with the Phillies while in Toronto via my computer. They were doing so well, I was afraid to return to the United States and jinx them. Well I’m back and after looking like they might pull off a wild card berth, the team is all but eliminated from post-season play. That was too big a hole they dug for themselves, but I’m still hopeful that next year the team will be back in the post-season hunt.

I checked out the Eagles during my annual vacation from the film festival to watch my Birds at Toronto’s Hoops Sports Bar. That was the most depressing victory I have ever watched over Cleveland. While the turnovers continued, somehow the Eagles managed to beat the Ravens the next week, but the Cardinals took full advantage of more turnovers for an easy victory last Sunday. Who knows what will happen as they host the Giants this Sunday.

The hockey lockout was big news all the time in Toronto, shocking as that might be, but back in the States, the outcry about no hockey this year is deafening in its silence. I’m in the latter camp, who cares?

Andrew Bynum.

Finally, the Sixers news continues to be all good, including the chance to see new center Andrew Bynum right here in Atlantic City for a pre-season game vs. the Brooklyn Nets Oct. 13 at Boardwalk Hall. I am jazzed about just how good the Sixers could be this year with a legit center, the addition of good perimeter shooters (Jason Richardson, Dorell Wright) and the continued improvement of Jrue Holiday and Evan Turner, now that they will be hoisting more of the load with the trade (finally!!) of Andre Iguodala. Training camp starts Tuesday.

ATLANTIC CITY — Veteran marketing guru Dave Coskey (Mediaworks, Philadelphia 76ers, the House of Blues, the Borgata) is leaving his four-year post as VP of marketing at the Borgata Casino Hotel & Spa.

According to a published report, Coskey (pictured), who has a residence in Avalon, Cape May County, is the new president of Longport Media, LLC, a company that purchased five of the Atlantic Broadcasting radio company’s stations for $4.2 million earlier this month.

The five local stations, based in Linwood, include WOND 1400AM, WBSS-AM 1490,  WTKU-FM 98.3, WWAC-FM 102.7 and The Shark: WMGM-FM 103.7.

Reached via e-mail, Joe Lupo, senior vice president of operations at the Borgata, says that Coskey will be missed.

“I would like to thank Dave for the numerous contributions he has made to Borgata over the last four years,” Lupo tells Atlantic City Weekly.  “The expertise, passion and integrity that he brought to our management team, as well as his leadership within Borgata and the community, have contributed to Borgata’s continued success. We have been fortunate to have been associated with Dave, who is universally well-liked and well known within both the Atlantic City and Philadelphia regions. While we will certainly miss him, we wish him much success in his new position.”

Lupo says for the “immediate future, he will continue to oversee the marketing department as has been in the past.”

It has been tough for Philadelphia sports fans this week. The loss of Harry the K cast a shadow on everything sports related in the Delaware Valley. There was already plenty of gloom prior to the loss of “The Voice.” The Sixers looked horrible as they barely limped into the playoffs. The Flyers were inconsistent all year and went down in the first two games of the playoffs to Pittsburgh. The Eagles were having a quiet off-season and seemed to be in “tweak,” mode, as in, “We just have to tweak here and there to get back in the Super Bowl hunt this season.”
Finally the Phillies were off to their usual slow start, a start that was not helped by the emotional loss of Kalas.
Well, a ray of sunshine blasted through the clouds Sunday, as the Philly sports teams had a very good day. First came the news that the Eagles had signed a stud offensive tackle, Jason Peters, to protect Donovan McNabb’s blind side.
Even better was a particularly thrilling trio of victories for the sporting franchises. The Flyers enjoyed the home cooking to the tune of a 6-3 tune-up of the Pittsburgh Penguins. The snarl was back in the Broad Street Bullies.
At The Bank, the Phillies exploded out of their early season funk with a tremendous come from behind victory over the San Diego Padres. The starting pitching still stinks (it’s the worst in the National League), but the lumber company worked overtime. First Chase Utley hit a two-run homer to get the team with two runs in the sixth, 4-2. In the eighth, Jimmy Rollins delivered a pinch-hit home run to reduce the lead to 4-3. In the ninth, Ryan Howard blooped a single and the Phillies’ newest hero, Raul Ibanez, delivered again. His walk-off two run blast for the 5-4 win signaled that the Phillies’ mourning for Kalas might continue, but that it was time to get back to playing the type of baseball Kalas would have appreciated. Ibanez not only has been hitting for average (.386, tops on the team), but he leads the team in homers with five.

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