In case you were wondering, here's why Rod Stewart threw a hissy fit Friday night during his set at Borgata:

According to a very plugged-in operative, after Rod finished "Maggie May," he asked the mostly standing audience to settle back in their seats so he could bring things down a notch or two. In response, an apparently inebriated guy in the audience responded by yelling, "Boooooooring!" At which point Rod the Mod decided he'd call it a night.

Afterward, he was heard to complain that such behavior can be expected from a "comped" audience. In fairness to the star of the show, our source tells us that Stewart was all smiles during his Saturday night encore, when the (mostly paying) audience apparently showed him the respect he felt was due him.

By the way, Borgata/Water Club may be the most deluxe lodging AyCee has to offer, but it obviously didn't impress Stewart: After the truncated Friday show, he was whisked to a waiting jet which took him New York City, where he laid his feather-cut head that night.

CONGRATS: To everyone involved in Monday night's "Taste of the Quarter" charity bash at Tropicana. A reported 600 people paid $25 each to sample munchies from such Quarter outlets as The Palm, Carmine's Cuba Libre and The Tinderbox (where  I had a blast pouring wine samples for the revelers).

The proceeds are earmarked for theSouthern New Jersey/Shore chapter of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

Don't know how it went Saturday night at Borgata, but Rod Stewart's Friday night gig at the Big B certainly ended on an odd note.

After Old Rooster Top finished "Maggie May," he simply left the stage and the house lights were fired up as the message "Rod Stewart Has Left the Building" flashed on the giant video screen at the back end of the stage.

There was no comment from Rod, no band intros, not even a "Thank you, good night" from the Brit pop star. Was he miffed because the heavily baby-boomered crowd  didn't show him enough love? Whatever the reason for his abrupt departure, it made for a most peculiar moment.

Then again, Rod the Mod didn't do a heck of a lot to merit out-of-the-ordinary applause from the fans who paid a minimum $200 to attend the Event Center gig. When he wasn't performing perfunctory versions of such signatures as "You're In My Heart," "Hot Legs," "Reason to Believe" and "Tonight's the Night," he was serving up some offbeat covers, including a faithful version of Bob Seger's "Still the Same" and a disappointing reading of Cat Steven's "Father and Son."

Perhaps the weirdest cover was "It's A Heartache," the original version of which was marked by Bonnie Tyler's raspy-like-Rod vocals.

In all a rather disappointing evening...

MGM MIrage's planned $4.5 billion Atlantic City projected has been postponed by a year due to the current credit crunch.

The lousy economy has claimed--at least temporarily--another Atlantic City construction-project victim.

In a move that has caused surprisingly little comment or consternation, Las Vegas-based MGM Mirage has put off the scheduled winter, 2009 groundbreaking for its $4.5 billion Atlantic City mega-resort.

MGM Mirage is so tight-lipped about this development that the business world learned of it not from the company itself, but from a second-quarter earnings conference call for financial analysts conducted by Perini Construction, the firm whose shovels are now scheduled to hit the dirt in the winter of 2010, which means the luxe casino-hotel complex probably won't open its doors before the end of 2012 or early 2013.

When (if?) it is built, the facility--which will be AyCee's largest--will encompass more than 70 acres next to Borgata. The blueprints call for 5,000 slot machines, 200 table games a major large poker room, 1,500-seat theater, restaurants, nightclubs, a spa, a half-million square feet of retail space and a convention center.

Don't know if the grass will be greener at Borgata on Dec. 13, but it will be the topic of much conversation--and humor--as Cheech & Chong headline the Big B's Music Box theater.

Tickets for the show by the herb-arrific duo--back together for the first time since Dick Nixon was in the Oval Office--go on sale Saturday. It'll cost you the equivalent of three 1971 ounces ($60) to join in the fun.  To cop the ducats, call (866) 900 4948, or go to www.theborgata.com.

More funny stuff

Tickets also go on sale Saturday for Robin Williams, who returns to Borgata Oct. 24 and 25. Williams is looking for a little more of a financial commitment from those who wish to attend: Tix are $355, $325, $295 and $250. They're available at the above number/Web site. 

More blasts from the past

Also on sale Friday are tickets for Riders On the Storm, the band featuring original Doors members Ray Manzarek (keyboards) and Robbie Krieger (guitar). The group, which will feature Fuel's Brett Scallions taking the late Jim Morrison's place, performs Sept. 27 at the Xanadu room inside Trump Taj Mahal.

Admission is $49 and $39. For tickets, call (800) 736-1420, or go to www.ticketmaster.com.

The rumor mill is grinding overtime these days about the future of Trump Marina.

To recap, in late May, it was announced that Trump Entertainment Resorts had agreed to sell the bayside gambling den--historically the red-headed stepchild of The Donald's gambling operation--to a New York-based group, Coastal Marina LLC. Coastal Marina, in turn, announced it had cut a licensing deal with Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville empire to re-theme the property Buffett-style.

Since the deal was "Trump"-eted, virtually nothing has emanated from the obviously press-shy folks at Coastal Marina. And, as usually happens in the absence of facts, rumors have begun to fly around AyCee like so many French fry-seeking seagulls.

But what's really interesting is that the rumors are so contradictory.

At and around the Marina itself, word is that Margaritaville will undertake a significant expansion project that will see new hotel rooms added to an existing tower, as well as the construction of a new tower. There is some contradictory thoughts circulating, however: Some believe the work will be accomplished without closing the existing casino-hotel, while others insist a temporary shutdown of operations is in the cards.

While this all sounds very promising--the Margaritaville concept would be a home run for Atlantic City--some industry in-the-knowers are whispering that, for reasons unknown, Coastal Marina may be facing an unwinnable fight when it goes before the Casino Control Commission to get a gaming license.

Stay tuned...

Simple curiosity had me planning to see Kevin Costner and his band, Modern West, Friday night at House of Blues inside the Showboat. After all, how many times does one get to see an honest-to-God movie superstar warbling in the flesh?

But because the Costner gig was not set to begin until 10-ish, I was able to make it a doubleheader by catching most of the wondrous Tom Jones' 9 p.m. set next door at the Taj Mahal.

"Wondrous" is but one adjective that perfectly fits the Welsh pop legend. "Amazing" is another. That's because at age 68, the guy still has it. Friday night, he sounded great, his throaty baritone unfailingly nailing a repertoire that covered a mind-boggling number of styles and genres, from R&B (Eddie Floyd's "Raise Your Hand") to country (George Jones' "He Stopped Loving her Today") to swing/big band ("Fly Me To the Moon," "That Old Black Magic") to blues ( "I Only Wanna Get Me Some") to classic-rock (Van Morrison's "Cry For Home").

And of course, he had many women in the audience (including a booty-shaking, gray-haired senior sitting a few feet away from me) swooning with his own '60s signatures, including "Delilah," "What's New Pussycat?" and "I'll Never Fall in Love Again."

Quite a show, from quite a showman...

Then it was on to HOB for Costner's surprisingly competent set.

Backed by a six-piece band that featured three guitarists and a fiddle player, Costner (who also strummed a six-string acoustic) delighted a nice-size, but hardly packed, audience with a set of mostly original tunes that can best be described as Tom Petty meets John Mellencamp at a southern honky-tonk.

Overall, Costner's material is somewhat one-dimensional (a lot of major-chord rock riffs and pump-your-fist choruses), and his voice lacks range. But the songs were rendered with plenty of enthusiasm and technical proficiencey, including a "bitchin'" (a word Costner used to describe the audience) garage-bandy version of "Mr. Tambourine Man").

And it was nice that the movie star spoke regularly to the crowd (mostly to introduce the songs).

In all, a pretty cool evening of sounds from two pop-culture titans. 

YOU BETTER LOOK SHARP: That's because British singer-songwriter Joe Jackson (like Jones, quite the musical chameleon), is making his Atlantic City debut Nov. 8 at the Taj. Tickets go on sale Friday. Go to www.brepresents.com for more info.

GIVE A HOOT: And returning to Borgata's Music Box are Philly's own The Hooters, who'll be at the Big B Aug. 30. Tickets are on sale now and can be had by calling (866) 900-4849, or by visiting www.theborgata.com.

A WARM WELCOME: That's what I've mostly received so far from some who read my initial CasiNOTES posting the other day...NOT!

But hey--better to be hated than ignored, right?

Note to George Tomezsko: Yo George! Assuming you're who I think you are, nice to hear from you after all these decades!