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Steak 38 at 3700 Brigantine Blvd in Brigantine, is having a fundraiser for their bartender (and former local 54 official) James "Humphrey" Allen on Monday, April 2nd in the bar from 7pm to 11pm. He suffered a stroke last week. All bar proceeds will go to Humphry. For additional info on the event call 609 266-4400.
Comedians who make popular, funny movies always seem to reach a point where they want to do something with more depth. It is part of growing up and being an adult, even if their audience consists of teenage boys and twenty-something party dudes.
Adam Sandler, Jim Carrey and Chris Rock have all tried a change of pace the last few weeks. Sandler has the toughest transition to make. He is the ultimate “boys night out” star, a man who has done a lot of movies that make the female population recoil in horror, like Little Nicky, Anger Management and Happy Gilmore.
His sweet romantic comedies (The Wedding Singer, 50 First Dates) have earned a wider audience, but in his first foray into serious art house-style filmmaking, Punch-Drunk Love, he bombed big time. Frankly, the flick made art house cinema look bad.
Reign Over Me is a much better step into adulthood, but the very nature of his core audience makes it an impossible sell. His fans don’t want to see him serious. Does he give a good performance in Reign Over Me? He’s okay, and better than okay in spots, but when he shares the screen with the tremendous Don Cheadle, your focus is on DC. That said, I would rather see Adam Sandler trying to do something that challenges him rather than making Click 2. And keep in mind that a certain other manic stand-up/TV star managed to become a movie star who is respected for his ability to do comedy and tragedy.
When you first saw Robin Williams in Mork And Mindy, did you ever think, now there’s an actor who will one day win an Academy Award? If you did, take over for Allison on Medium immediately.
It may be a cruel April Fool's joke, but hopefully not. Donald Trump, who has been in the news of late in connection to the potential selling off of his Atlantic City casino empire, will be featured in an upcoming WWE wrestling event — that's right, wrestling event— on April 1. Wrestlemania 23 — that's right, 23 — to be broadcast live on Pay-Per-View Sunday, April 1, will apparently include the Battle of the Billionaires featuring The Donald squaring off against legendary wrestling impresario Vince McMahon. Unfortunately, wrestlers have been picked to represent the two in the ring (Bobby Lashley for Trump, Umaga for McMahon). However, the losing billionaire of the match is to have his head shaved — that's right, head shaved — by the winner. Please, please win Mr. Umaga.
Watching the A-10 tournament live made me appreciate the atmosphere created when you have college students cheering for their teams, with pep bands, cheerleaders and mascots keeping the fans riled up and rooting hard. Having felt that excitement made me feel especially sad that with all the fun and great basketball generated by the NCAA tournament, tragedy has struck. Jason Ray, the 21-year-old student who was Rameses, the University of North Carolina’s ram mascot, has died from injuries sustained after being stuck by a car three days ago in Ft. Lee, N.J. The mascots are part of the atmosphere on the court and my heart goes out to the students, players and fans from North Carolina who now have more than a lost basketball game to mourn over.
Cinderella stories are fun during the excitement of March Madness, but this year’s tournament has showed us that the best basketball takes place when the favorites keep winning. That was some amazing basketball that took place this week as the Elite 8 was winnowed down to the Final Four. My top pick on three of my five brackets, Georgetown, had the most amazing victory. UNC had the game won when they went on one of the coldest streaks a major program has ever had, making only 2 of their last 24 shots. Georgetown was partly responsible for their lack of success with their defense, but a lot of it was also North Carolina losing their poise and launching quick, ill-advised shots, handing Georgetown the comeback opportunity. And damn, they did take it.
With props to my pal and Atlantic City Weekly colleague Chuck Betson, the Gators are looking good too. Their game with UCLA is going to be amazing. Chuck, no more betting against the Gators. I’m picking them to beat UCLA for a second year in a row, although this game will be much closer than last year’s championship blowout. UCLA plays some serious defense. Even though UCLA allowed Kansas a lot of inside looks, they were often contested looks, and the Jayhawks couldn’t convert. I had Kansas winning in several of my brackets.
At least my CBS Bracket challenge has the Final Four intact. Again with apologies to Gator grad Betson, after seeing that game vs. UNC, I’m picking Georgetown to defeat Ohio State, then beat Florida for the national championship. Greg Olden might be the best big man in the country, but his freshmen mistakes lead to too many fouls and too much time on the pine. Georgetown’s Roy Hibbert, with the help of Jeff Green, will keep him in check in the final.
March Madness has lived up the hype. It always does. Check out this great column by my favorite basketball scribe Dick Jerardi of the Philadelphia Daily News.
It can be a scary thing when a doctor looks you in the eye and tells you that you have Type 2 diabetes. Four years ago, I was given that news. Naturally I was upset and scared, but I learned all I could about the disease, got my diabetes under control and have kept it under control.
Pitcher David Wells of the San Diego Padres recently learned he has diabetes. He is in the process of learning what that means. However, in an interview, a quote credited to him made me wonder if his doctors are explaining the disease properly.
A story in the San Diego Union Tribute quoted Wells as saying, "This is a major lifestyle change. I don't want this going to Type 1 diabetes."
Let’s hope his doctor explained to him the difference between Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. Type 2 is adult onset diabetes and that Type 1 is juvenile diabetes. Wells was probably referring to the idea that right now his diabetes is being treated with pills, exercise and dietary changes, not insulin. Type 2 is very different from Type 1. Some Type 2 diabetics need insulin; some don’t. I’ve found the Diabetes Self-Management website very helpful with updated info on the disease.
I am annoyed at CBS for their choice of games for March Madness coverage.
The Pitt-UCLA game was relatively close, but it was ugly basketball. Meanwhile, Ohio State, down 20 points to Tennessee, was staging an incredible comeback. All I got to see was the score changing in the upper right hand corner of the screen. I was concentrating on that more than the shots cutting to Bill Walton in the stands as UCLA took command of their game as expected. I thought Tennessee would be a tough match-up for Ohio St. and they were. Finally, I was able to see the last four minutes of a remarkable game when the UCLA-Pitt slugfest was over and CBS switched to the Ohio-Tenn. showdown.
Please CBS, switch to the most compelling game tonight, or at least cut back and forth more often.
I thought I had done pretty well with my brackets. I picked a couple of upsets (VCU over Duke; Winthrop beating Notre Dame) but I underestimated Tennessee. I also went with my heart and had 1-10 champ George Washington winning two games. Silly me, but my niece is going to school at GW next year. I also knew that the Xavier would give Ohio State a tough battle. The X-men had the win, but let Ohio State tie it by not fouling with a three-point lead. Anyway, my final total in Week One was 36-12. Not bad but in checking on-line I saw I was pretty pathetic compared to a dude that went 45-3. At least my final four are still in play: Oregon, Kansas, Georgetown and Ohio State.
The major disappointment was Texas losing to USC and eliminating Kevin Durant.
My Sweet Sixteen/Elite 8 pics are as follows:
Midwest
Florida beat Butler easily and Oregon has a tough battle, but gets by UNLV. I’m still going with the Ducks vs. Fla.
West
Kansas rolls by Southern Illinois while UCLA stops Pitt in a wild game. Kansas then beats the Bruins more easily than expected.
South
Tennessee and Chris Lofton have left an impression. Despite Greg Oden, Ohio State will fall to the Volunteers. Texas A & M defeats Memphis is a high-scoring affair, then goes on to defeat Tennessee and make the final four.
East
I didn’t get to see much of Southern Cal but I’m going with North Carolina to win. Georgetown will then smoke Vanderbilt and beat Carolina in a fantastic game.
A final note: After seeing the Sixers get smoked by 50 points, I’m back to wishing they keep getting better but keep losing. We need a serious shot at Durant or Oden in the lottery. After seeing Georgetown center Roy Hibbert playing his best ball in a long time, he wouldn’t be a bad consolation prize.
After seeing George Washington play such great defense here in AC at the A-10 tournament while winning it, it was a shock that they were ousted by Vanderbilt in the worst Day 1 blow-out, 77-44. What happened? Who knows, because we didn’t actually get to see the game. GW had the “dinner game,” the game that gets no coverage because CBS takes its dinner break and hands off to local and national news.
Perhaps it was for the best. Xavier, on the other hand, came from behind to beat BYU in a thrilling 79-77 game of which we got to see about four minutes. Four minutes of Drew Lavender was enough, however. He bested Austin Ainge, as daddy Danny Ainge looked on. As a Sixers fan, I still take great satisfaction in seeing an Ainge get beat.
There was only one real upset, when 11-seed Virginia Commonwealth, out of the Colonial Athletic Conference (remember George Mason last year?) beat Duke 79-77. Led by super soph Eric Maynor, the Rams came back from a 13-point hole in the first half to oust the Blue Devils in the first round for the first time since 1996.
Maynor gets my vote as the top player of the day. Other outstanding players included Lavender and freshman Stephen Curry, whose 30-points almost earned 13-seed Davidson an upset win over Maryland. Curry’s dad Dell Curry used to kill the Sixers from the 3-point line when he played for Toronto. Check out Yahoo's site for great game shots.
My picks did okay. I picked the VCU upset on three of my five bracket entrants; of course I picked GW to win in all five so that hurt. I also thought Marquette was a shoe-in but they got smoked, and Indiana proved they really belonged as a 7-seed with the relatively easy victory over “America’s Team,” Gonzaga.
Best Bet: the all-Ohio battle between Columbus-based Ohio State and Cincy’s Xavier on Saturday should be a doozy. State should win, and even through it would screw up my brackets, I’ll be rooting for the X-men upset.
Today’s top game: The battle between Wildcats of course, Villanova vs. Kentucky. Naturally I’m going with the local ’Cats in a game sure to loaded with scratching and clawing.
The death of Richard Jeni was a shock. He took his own life, and according to a statement by his family on his Website, he was diagnosed with severe clinical depression coupled with bouts of psychotic paranoia.
Over the years I had a chance to interview him several times for stories, the last in 2005. As with most comedians, he was intense and deadly serious when talking about his career.
I always liked his intelligent style of humor. While doing an interview is not like talking with somebody you really know, because that person is selling himself and is therefore on his best behavior, some nuggets of truth can be found in the answers.
Here, for example, is what Jeni said about what he does to relax when he’s not working:
I don't go out a lot at all. I don't go out after the show to bars, and during the day I do a lot of this [interviews]. It's ironic. Most people who become comedians do so because they don't really work well and play well with others. They are loners and a little quirky most of them. Then if you are successful, you wind up running a corporation with managers, lawyers, agents and a publicity department. To keep the whole Richard Jeni circus going you are on the phone all day.
Here is how the NCAA shapes up to me as the party really gets started tomorrow. I picked Niagara to win so officially I'm 1-0 so far.
Midwest: Overall No. 1 seed Florida will make it to the Elite 8, getting by Arizona and Maryland, but I smell an upset after that. Oregon is on a roll after winning the PAC-10 tournament and their uptempo game will give Fla. problems.
Upset Special: I'm going with 11-seed Winthrop beating Notre Dame, which plays lousy on the road. After that they can't duck the Ducks.
Winner: OREGON
West: Kansas always seems to falter before reaching the Elite 8, but I have them getting there this year. Their conference championship win over Wisconsin convinced me of that. That, and they have great guards, Brandon Rush and Mario Chalmers.
Upset Special: Illinois is not really an 11-seed and I think they'll knock off Virginia Tech. I've also picked 11-seed Virginia Commonwealth to knock off the Dukies, who are not up to snuff this year. Naturally I'm picking local favs Villanova to beat Kentucky, but I don't see them knocking off Kansas.
Winner: KANSAS
East: Most hoop fans are praying for a Texas-Georgetown battle in the Elite 8. Count me in on that prayer. G-town is on a serious roll, but will have a tough battle in the second round vs. Boston College. Texas should beat USC, then have a whale of a game vs. North Carolina before facing G-town.
Upset Special: I'm going with A-10 champs George Washington, an 11 seed, topping Vanderbilt in the first round. Then I have them beating Washington St., mostly because I am dying to see a GW-G-town match-up in the Sweet 16.
Winner: GEORGETOWN
South: Ohio St. isn't a lock, but they appear to have the easiest path to the Final Four. Not that Texas A&M is a pushover but the Buckeyes should win.
Upset Special: Xavier, out of the A-10 will beat BYU to set up an all-Ohio match-up with Ohio State. Xavier will battle but lose a close game.
Winner: OHIO STATE
Final Four: I have Kansas beating Oregon and Georgetown beating Ohio State, then Kansas beating Georgetown for the title.
It is the best time of the year for sports fanatics and hoop junkies. Since I fall into both those groups, I've got my brackets going. I have more interest than usual in the NIT because of my exposure to the A-10 tournament live in Atlantc City last week. I was hoping that fiesty Rhode Island would get a bid, but that was not to be. However, UMass did get in with an automatic bid for winning the A-10 regular season title, tied with Xavier. A school with local interest, Drexel, also got in and lost last night in the first round to the Wolfpack of North Carolina State, 63-56.
Is it just me or did the now CBS-controlled NIT give Drexel such a tough first round game to prove that their NCAA selection committee was correct in passing on Drexel for the Big Dance?
If they just missed the Dance shouldn't Drexel have received a first or second seed, instead of a third? Seconds went to bubble teams Kansas State and Syracuse as well. Not to mention that I was bummed out that ESPN put the Drexel game on ESPNU which my cable company doesn't carry. Instead I watched Niagara beat Florida A&M 77-69 in the NCAA play-in game. Niagara, if they are hitting the 3s, should give Kansas a scare in the first half of their game Friday.
UMass was terrific in the toughest game of the night, beating Alabama 89-87 in overtime. However, I have them falling to West Virginia in the next round. For the record I'm picking West Virginia to defeat Syracuse in the NIT final.
The basketball was spectacular, the attendance was decent, and the atmosphere was amazing. Chalk up the A-10 Men’s Basketball Tournament at Boardwalk Hall March 7-10 as a major success for the conference and for Atlantic City.
When Xavier was upset by the upstart Rhode Island Rams in the quarterfinals, it meant that two teams would make it into the NCAA March Madness field from the A-10.
That came to pass as the George Washington Colonials, with their passionate fans in tow, are headed to the Big Dance after defeating Rhode Island 78-69 in the championship game Saturday night at Boardwalk Hall. GW, in wins over St. Joseph’s, St. Louis and Rhode Island, used its excellent pressure defense to great advantage. The hot Rhode Island Rams, who pulled an upset victory over Xavier in the semi-finals, 79-71, could not duplicate their success against the Colonials.
In a hard-nosed battle that featured tough defense, the Colonials forced 14 first-half turnovers and held Rams’ stars Jimmy Baron and Kahiem Seawright to 10 and 8 points. Carl Elliott had 17 points for GW. Maureece Rice has 12 points but did most of his damage as a defense stopper. Will Daniels scored a career high 29 for the Rams, but did not have enough help on the offense end.
The Coloniels were given an 11th seed in the NCAA East bracket and will play Vanderbilt. An upset would not be a shock and if they were to win two games they could face fellow Washington, D.C. rivals Georgetown in the Sweet Sixteen.
Xavier, with its 24-8 record, earned an 8th seed in the NCAA South bracket. They should beat BYU, and if they do they would face state rivals Ohio State in the next round.
UMass, despite losing to St. Louis in the second round of the A-10, earned a berth in the NIT. The Minutemen host Alabama tomorrow night at 9:30, televised on ESPN.
Despite the snowstorm that spoiled the first day of the Atlantic-10 Men’s Basketball Tournament on Wednesday at Boardwalk Hall, enough fans braved the elements for a decent first day’s gate. The official attendance was 4, 406 for the first session and 5,068 for the evening games.
The basketball on tap was worthy of a sell-out crowd at the Palestra, especially the Temple-St. Joseph’s match-up during the 9pm nightcap with St. Joe’s using clutch foul shooting to pull out a 66-62 victory.
St. Joe’s had beaten Temple twice already this season, including a 92-76 whipping Feb. 22. The Owls looked like they were seeking revenge as they controlled the first thirty minutes of the game by keeping St. Joe’s Ahmed Nivens out of the paint with a double team, while hitting their 3-balls. Although the A-10’s leading scorer, the Owl’s Dionte Christmas (7 points) was in a St. Joe’s designed funk, the Owls got unexpected offensive help from freshman Ryan Brooks (15 points, 10 in the first half), along with the usual contributions from Dustin Salisbery and Mark Tyndale.
Down nine with 12 minutes to play, the Hawks began making their move as their energetic freshmen guards Jawan Carter (10 points during the comeback), Darrin Govens, and Garrett Williamson began controlling the tempo, forcing turnovers and quick shots, and getting Nivens (18 points, 11 rebounds) the ball inside. The Hawks also controlled the backboards. Once the Hawks regained the lead, it was foul shooting in the final 90 seconds that sealed the deal for St. Joe’s with Pat Calathes going four of four and Govens and Carter hitting two foul shots each.
In the other entertaining opening round games at Boardwalk Hall, Fordam held off upset-minded Richmond 63-61; the Dayton Flyers flew by Charlotte 81-63, and the pesky, full court press of the undermanned Duquesne Dukes made for an entertaining battle against the St. Louis Billikens 78-77. As a southpaw, I appreciated the left-leaning Billikens led by lefty guards Kevin Lisch and Tommie Liddell, southpaw forward Luke Meyer and center Ian Vouyoukas, a righty equally comfortable using his left hand around the basket.
Today’s quarterfinal games are as follows:
Noon: Dayton vs. Xavier
2:30pm: Fordam vs. Rhode Island
6:30: St. Louis vs. UMass
9pm: St. Joe’s vs. George Washington
I had a chance recently to check out the new Waterfront Buffet at Harrah’s, part of the on-going expansion at the property. The buffet had to be really good since it replaces the Fantasea Buffet, for many years the standard bearer for casino buffets locally.
My first impression was favorable, which is good, since I worked up an appetite walking from the parking area to the buffet. With seating for 630, the buffet is huge, with enough space between tables so that you don’t feel crowded. The 22 ft. high ceiling adds to the open feeling.
Since I was comparing it to the old Fantasea, I leaned toward seafood in my choices from the nine food stations. At the “Down the Shore” station, I selected some delicious Asian steamed clams, a mini crab cake and freshly fried scallops, passing on the U-peel shrimp and Alaskan crab legs. I also scooped up some mussels in black bean sauce from the Asian wok station. All of my choices were delicious — I could eat steamed clams all day and night but restrained myself.
My sister-in-law went for the sushi bar and said her selections were tasty, but a bit dried out, after sitting out too long. I returned to the Asian station to pick my own veggies (I skipped the protein) for my Mongolian grill made to order with a garlic sauce. The veggies and lo mein were perfectly cooked, but the sauce lacked any distinctive flavor. From the Rodizio station featured seasoned meats cooked over an open grill on Gaucho swords, I enjoyed the chicken. I also liked the Portugese stew.
Although I didn’t partake of them this visit, the Waterfront also has an American station with steaks made to order, fried chicken and garlic mashed potatoes; the Italian Market with pizza and assorted pastas; a Dim Sum station and a very fresh looking salad bar. I did indulge in the dessert selection, although I again tried to show some restraint. I’m a Type 2 diabetic and the buffet has a nice selection of no sugar added selections. The carrot cake was the best NSA cake I’ve ever tasted. However, diabetic or not, I couldn’t resist trying a light crepe with cherry filling. Yummy!
The price is a bit steep in comparison to most area casino buffets; only the Borgata costs more. However, the food choices are superior and the service was excellent, so for my money it is worth it.
The cost of the buffet at lunch and dinner is $27.99 + tax for adults, $20.99 + tax for kids up to age 11. The price for Saturday and Sunday Brunch is $15.99/$7.99.
Hours are Monday, Thursday and Friday, 4–9pm; Tuesday and Wednesday, noon-9pm; Saturday brunch 8:30–11:30am; lunch & dinner 1–11pm and Sunday Brunch 8:30am–1:30pm; lunch & dinner 2–9pm.
Now it time to give myself props. I nailed my Academy Award predictions. Yes, I know it didn’t take a genius to know that Helen Mirren and Forest Whitaker were going to win best actor and best actress. Jennifer Hudson was a safe choice too. However, not everyone was sure that Martin Scorsese would win for best director and that The Departed would win as best picture. I predicted the upset foreign language film win for The Lives of Others over Pan’s Labyrinth, and that Happy Feet would be the most popular mode of transportation over Cars as best animated film. I also predicted the screenplay wins for Little Miss Sunshine and The Departed. I did think that if Eddie Murphy were bested for best supporting, it would be Mark Wahlberg, and not Alan Arkin. Not that I mind Arkin’s win, a terrific performance in a career filled with terrific performances.
Hopefully, the Academy Awards will be more unpredictable next year. My first nomination suggestion for 2007 goes to Chris Cooper for his brilliant work as FBI traitor Robert Hanssen, who sold America’s secrets to the Russians, in Breach.
Thanks to a busy schedule at my hard copy newspaper job and several allergic reactions to medications, my blog space has been dormant of late. Now of course, I’m baaaaaack!
In the category of catch-up news and notes, Sara Evans' headline debut at Harrah’s on Feb. 23 was fantastic. Sara, who played Atlantic City as the opening act for Alan Jackson two years ago, has seen her career on a steady rise, leading to her first headline tour beginning this past October.
Her tour is a family affair with older brother Matt Evans playing guitar and back-up vocals and little sister Ashley Evans Simpson singing back-up. In an 85-minute, fourteen song set, she covered all her hits including the soaring “Born To Fly,” “No Place That Far,” “Perfect,” “Real Fine Place To Start” and “I Could Not Ask For More.” The crowd really loved her heartstring-tugging ballad “You’ll Always Be My Baby” and her uptempo rock-tinged “Suds in the Bucket.” I really liked her final song of the night, a dynamic rendition of Carol King’s “I Feel The Earth Move.”
I hope Sara intends to make A.C. a regular stop.
As a hoops fanatic and March Madness junkie, I am beyond thrilled that the Atlantic 10 Men’s Basketball Championship is taking place in Atlantic City beginning today at noon. The gang at the Atlantic City Convention and Visitors Authority has gone all out to make this happen, and hopefully the local populace will join the students from the various A10 schools to make it a box office success. Check out my story in AC Weekly.
Beyond the boost for AC, this tourney should feature some terrific basketball. Although the A10 has slipped in the RPI rankings the last few seasons, most of the teams play solid basketball. While most sportswriters expect Xavier to face UMass in the final game (pictured above is UMass's A10 Player of the Year, Stephane Lasme), there are plenty of teams with upset potential including George Washington, St. Louis and St. Joe’s, the latter if coach Phil Martelli can shake his team out of its current doldrums. The X-men and UMass should earn at-large bids if they both win at least two games in the tourney. Anybody else from the A10 must win the tourney to earn a ticket for the NCAA.
Local sports fans, I hope I see a lot of you at the Hall this week.
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