Boardwalk Hall

There he was, Bruce Springsteen, high priest of Jersey cool, finally bestowing his blessing on Atlantic City, but also - unexpectedly - on newly restored Boardwalk Hall. "It's nice to see these old buildings refurbished and brought back to life," Springsteen told the crowd of 12,500 earlier this month - the historic building's fourth sellout show in 30 days. "There's a soulfulness. They always remain a little bit on the funky side, but it's hard to come by. " For Atlantic City officials, who have insisted to the skeptical that $90 million would turn the crumbling, cavernous home of the Miss America Pageant into a magnet for top entertainment, this was a true showstopper.

Atlantic County Prosecutor Jeffrey S. Blitz is asking for help from anyone who may have witnessed a fatal stabbing during a boxing event at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City early Sunday. Keith J. Butler, 32, of Fort Washington, Md., was stabbed seven times in a crowded corridor as he was leaving. A plumber's apprentice and the father of a 5-year-old boy, Butler died from a wound that punctured his heart. Blitz asked spectators at the event, particularly those in the corridors near Sections 210 and 211, to call the Atlantic County Major Crime Unit.

ROBBINSVILLE, N.J. - NJSIAA executive director Steve Timko knows that Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City is a popular venue for the state wrestling championships. But Timko said on Thursday that the NJSIAA will consider moving the event to another site, starting in March 2013. The organization is planning to issue a "Request for Proposals" by the end of the school year to see if another facility in the state might make for a more profitable site, Timko said. "We can't keep losing money on wrestling," Timko said.

ATLANTIC CITY — The Retirement Cha-Cha is a favored dance step of aging fighters who can't quite decide whether they want to remain in the ring for as long as they can, or step aside because recent results and possibly common sense dictate that they do so. Following his majority decision defeat at the much-younger hands of Chad Dawson, and with it the transfer of his WBC and The Ring light-heavyweight championship belts, 47-year-old boxing legend...

ROBBINSVILLE, N.J. - NJSIAA executive director Steve Timko knows that Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City is a popular venue for the state wrestling championships. But Timko said Thursday that the NJSIAA would consider moving the event to another site, starting in March 2013. The organization is planning to issue a "Request for Proposals" by the end of the school year to see if another facility in the state might make for a more profitable site, Timko said. "We can't keep losing money on wrestling," Timko said.

The Atlantic Ten Conference will announce today that its postseason men's basketball tournament is returning to Atlantic City for the next three years, a source said last night. The Jersey Shore resort prevailed among five sites bidding for the tournament. The others were Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Dayton, Ohio; and Springfield, Mass. The tournament has been played for the last three years at Boardwalk Hall. This year's event, held over four days, averaged 4,814 spectators for the six sessions, including a crowd of 6,823 that saw Temple defeat Duquesne for the championship.

The sun won't be the only thing generating heat on the Jersey Shore this summer. Musical star power will be in full force, as acts ranging from '70s disco stars K.C. & the Sunshine Band to jazz piano whiz kid Jamie Cullum makes stops in Atlantic City. Boardwalk Hall will host pop-classical superstar Andrea Bocelli in June and, the next month, the Queen of Reinvention herself - Madonna - will get the faithful on their feet. R&B fans can groove to the sounds of James Brown and Aretha Franklin, both appearing at the House of Blues.

Ending a Philadelphia winter tradition, Mummer string bands are going down the Shore. The annual String Band Show of Shows, an indoor extravaganza performed in Philadelphia every year since 1938, will be held Feb. 26 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. Two performances are scheduled: at noon and 5 p.m. In addition to the bands' reprising their New Year's Day performances, the event always has been a social affair for Mummers to meet, greet and toast competitors in other bands.

A match between Pete Samptas and James Blake has been added to the inaugural Caesars Tennis Classic at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City on April 10. The event, being hosted by Venus Williams, has three matches in a team format. The first features Ivan Lendl, in his first match since his 1994 retirement, against Mats Wilander in a one-set no-ad scoring match. The second match has Andy Roddick, currently the top-ranked American men's player, facing Marat Safin in a best-of-three-set match.

Time was, before DVDs and VCRs and even good audiotape, if you missed the Mummers on New Year's Day, there was little you could do but wait until next year to get your banjo-and-sax fix on Broad Street. In the late 1940s, though, as the boys trickled home from World War II and family fun became the paramount entertainment, the String Band Association decided to extend the Mummers season beyond the first of the year. For a week in the late winter, the bands basically moved into the Civic Center at 34th and Spruce streets and gave a dozen or so renditions of their street performances, calling it "The Show of Shows.

ROBBINSVILLE, N.J. - NJSIAA executive director Steve Timko knows that Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City is a popular venue for the state wrestling championships. But Timko said Thursday that the NJSIAA would consider moving the event to another site, starting in March 2013. The organization is planning to issue a "Request for Proposals" by the end of the school year to see if another facility in the state might make for a more profitable site, Timko said. "We can't keep losing money on wrestling," Timko said.

ROBBINSVILLE, N.J. - NJSIAA executive director Steve Timko knows that Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City is a popular venue for the state wrestling championships. But Timko said on Thursday that the NJSIAA will consider moving the event to another site, starting in March 2013. The organization is planning to issue a "Request for Proposals" by the end of the school year to see if another facility in the state might make for a more profitable site, Timko said. "We can't keep losing money on wrestling," Timko said.

ATLANTIC CITY — The Retirement Cha-Cha is a favored dance step of aging fighters who can't quite decide whether they want to remain in the ring for as long as they can, or step aside because recent results and possibly common sense dictate that they do so. Following his majority decision defeat at the much-younger hands of Chad Dawson, and with it the transfer of his WBC and The Ring light-heavyweight championship belts, 47-year-old boxing legend...

Chad Dawson wants what he believes is rightfully his. He had the technical knockout victory over Bernard Hopkins. He had the WBC light-heavyweight title in his hands. But both were stripped from the 29-year-old Dawson before he had enough time to savor his TKO against the ageless Hopkins in their October bout in Los Angeles. Dawson had turned the fight into an amateur wrestling match when he lifted Hopkins and tossed the 47-year-old Philadelphia fighter to the canvas late in the second round.

Bernard Hopkins will meet Chad Dawson on April 28 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City for Hopkins' WBC and Ring Magazine light-heavyweight title. Hopkins and Dawson met in October. The bout originally awarded to Dawson via TKO but was later ruled a no decision by the California State Athletic Commission. The Atlantic City fight will be 12 rounds. "Chad Dawson can say whatever he wants, but I am not going to trash talk this one," Hopkins said today. "Everyone knows what I am capable of in the ring.

PARTY THERE HE IS The Miss America Pageant may have abandoned Atlantic City (for Las Vegas), but the annual "Miss'd America," drag pageant remains loyal to the city of its birth. Tomorrow, the raucous takeoff on the Miss A program returns for its third edition since its 2010 revival. Presented by the Greater Atlantic City GLBT Alliance, Schultz-Hill Scholarship Foundation and Resorts Casino Hotel, the show at Boardwalk Hall will again be hosted by Carson Kressley of "Dancing with the Stars" and "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" fame.

ATLANTIC CITY - Officials say plans are being made to repair cracks on the Boardwalk Empire facade on the Boardwalk. The Atlantic City Press reported that some cracks have appeared there in the past few weeks, emerging in the vinyl along the edges of the facade's panels. Officials say the problem should be corrected "in the very near future. " The 180-foot facade, in front of Boardwalk Hall near Florida Avenue, was erected in July. The majority of the mural is still visible and unblemished.

Bally's Atlantic City, Boardwalk at Park Place, 609-340-2000, ballysac.com. The Trammps/Harold Melvin's Bluenotes, 9 tonight and tomorrow (Grand Ballroom), $30. Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, 1 Borgata Way, 609-317-1000, theborgata.com. Caesars Atlantic City, Boardwalk at Arkansas Avenue, 609-348-4411, caesarsac.com. Usher, with Akon, 8 tonight (Boardwalk Hall), $127-$29.50. Eric Benet, 8 p.m. Sunday, $65, $50 and $45. Harrah's Resort Atlantic City, 777 Harrah's Blvd., 800-342-7724, harrahsresort.com.

ATLANTIC CITY - A great boxing matchup - not necessarily the fight itself, but the anticipation of it - is like a sauce prepared by a renowned chef. You need the proper ingredients in just the right proportions, and the allowance of enough time for the mixture to simmer to mouth-watering perfection. When Cuba's Yuriorkis Gamboa and Puerto Rico's Juan Manuel Lopez successfully defended their respective featherweight championships in separate bouts on Oct. 10, 2009, in New York, Top Rank founder Bob Arum, who promotes both undefeated fighters, was asked when he would pair them in a much-anticipated showdown, or at least a showdown that would be of interest to hardcore boxing purists.