What you witnessed during the 2011 season did not happen. The Eagles did not squander five fourth-quarter leads in a devastating 8-8 season. The defense was not pitiful in the red zone under novice defensive coordinator Juan Castillo. There is absolutely no reason for change.
Stubborn to the very end, Andy Reid said all of the above yesterday when he decided to bring Castillo back to run the defense – to be joined by a far better defensive coach, Todd Bowles, working with the secondary. It was one final insult to every Eagles fan who suffered through last season, one last gasp of arrogance by the man who thinks he invented football.
The bad news is that the Eagles will underachieve again next season, falling far short of owner Jeff Lurie’s open demand to make it to the Super Bowl. The good news is that Reid sealed his doom yesterday, unless you happen to believe Castillo can suddenly run a championship-level defense. And if you believe that, seek mental-health aid immediately. You have misplaced your mind.
Reid will finally break his silence today, and – if the suspense is killing you – here’s exactly what he will say at his first news conference in a month: Castillo really grew into the job as the season went along. The last four games showed what he can do. His work ethic and enthusiasm are the perfect recipe for success in the NFL. Blah, blah, blah.
What Reid won’t say – because his massive ego is blocking his view – is that Castillo got better only when the opposing quarterbacks got worse. The last four wins came against Matt Moore, Mark Sanchez, Stephen McGee and Rex Grossman. The two quarterbacks in the Super Bowl, Tom Brady and Eli Manning, destroyed Castillo’s defenses for 1,069 yards and 77 points in three games. You can expect more of that in 2012.
Andy Reid is never happy unless he mixes in a sweet little twist, and his hiring of former Temple star Bowles was a master stroke. You see, Bowles went 2-1 as the interim head coach of the Miami Dolphins last season after Tony Sparano was fired. Bowles has interviewed for five head-coaching jobs in the NFL and has been a defensive coach for 15 years in the NFL. Castillo has coached defense for one year, and has never interviewed for a head job. And now Bowles will work for Castillo. Perfect.
In the course of 10 hours last Friday, I was greeted by a card dealer in a casino and by the GM of a fine restaurant with the exact same unsolicited message: “Fire Andy Reid,” they said. So have literally hundreds of fans calling into my WIP radio show in the past few months.
Well, there’s no need to worry anymore. Because yesterday, Andy Reid fired himself.

Brad Lidge, the World Series hero who slammed the door on opponents 48 consecutive times in 2008, got the rudest of sendoffs last week. In fact, he got the door slammed in his face this time, by a Phillies team with a cold heart.
Now please don’t interpret the above words as a lament that the Phils didn’t re-sign their closer of the past three-and-a-half seasons. Lidge has lost his fastball, and with it his effectiveness. Even at the $1-million figure he accepted in Washington, he is a luxury the Phillies had no reason to indulge.
The issue here is not what GM Ruben Amaro did in saying goodbye to the most likeable and accessible Phillies player in this current era of unrivaled prosperity. The issue is the way Amaro dumped him, with a broken promise.
According to Lidge, Amaro told him there would be a place for him on the Phillies if the pitcher couldn’t find a closer’s job in the free-agent market. It is hardly a secret that the Phils no longer value Lidge’s declining talents. The honest and fair thing to do was to tell Lidge the truth, right then. Instead, Amaro strung him along for close to three months, and then reneged on his original pledge.
If Lidge didn’t deserve better treatment than that, who does? The Phillies have won two championships in their history, and he was directly responsible for one of them. He was also the player who best understood the fans, absorbing their criticism with grace and dignity throughout the past three frustrating seasons.
Even in this instant-gratification world, there has to be room for someone who did something so spectacular – and in such an engaging way – that he elevates himself beyond the numbers on a budget sheet or an age on a birth certificate. Brad Lidge was that man.

Roy Halladay is the best pitcher in baseball, and he was relieved 24 times last season. Ilya Bryzgalov is most definitely NOT the best goaltender in hockey, so why is it so terrible to replace him in shootouts?
I know, I know. Baseball is not hockey. Pitchers are not goalies. I get it. But none of those lazy generalities address the simple proposition that the Flyers have the best chance to win overtime games – and improve their playoff seeding – by removing a totally inept shootout goaltender and installing an exceptional one, Sergei Bobrovsky.
Don’t take my word for it. Just listen to Claude Giroux, by far the best shootout scorer in Flyers history. He said last week that, in practice, Bobrovsky is impossible to beat in a breakaway or on a penalty shot. The Flyers had just won the last game before the All-Star break after the backup goalie had stoned Florida on all three shootout attempts.
“Yου saw hοw gοοd hе іѕ,” Giroux said after that victory.
Yes, we did – and we have seen how terrible Bryzgalov is, too. The goalie was undressed twice in a loss last week to Colorado, making him 0 for 5 in shootout attempts this season. Right now a Bernie Parent statue would have a better chance of stopping the puck.
Flyers coach Peter Laviolette is just the kind of independent thinker to name Bobrovsky his shootout goalie, despite the potential emotional blow to Bryzgalov. My best advice to Bryzgalov is to study all of the big numbers on his overly generous $51-million contract. If that doesn’t end his depression, nothing will.

Idle thoughts . . . .
• Will Smith sitting courtside last Friday night was more proof that the Sixers are back. Not only is Smith a part-owner of the team, but he’s a way bigger star these days than Knicks mascot Spike Lee or even Lakers stalwart Jack Nicholson. Now all we need is some of that star power on the court.
• Am I the only fan who believes the best part of the Sixers season just ended? The next five games are against Chicago, Miami, Atlanta, the Lakers and San Antonio. Oh, well. It was nice while it lasted.
• There is no hope left for all-star games. The NFL is at an all-time high in popularity, and the Pro Bowl Sunday still inspired only sleep. The NHL has some amazing stars, but its showcase was another dud. The players are just trying not to get hurt, and the fans don’t care who wins. What’s the point?
• As we all wait with bated breath for Andy Reid to speak later today, one jarring thought just occurred to me. When is the last time he talked and we were satisfied? This news conference might be a really bad idea, after all.
• Against all odds, the final goodbye to Joe Paterno was pretty close to perfect. His former players were eloquent in explaining his profound impact on their lives, and all of the rhetoric over the scandal was quieted, at least for a week. Finally, Happy Valley got it right.

Andy Reid, the NFL head coach who is never wrong, was right again. Despite every shred of available data – including a dismal 8-8 record – Juan Castillo is a terrific defensive coordinator. Once again, the alternate universe where Reid resides is in direct conflict with the rest of the world.
Last week, one of the best NFL coordinators of the past decade, Steve Spagnuolo, agreed to run the defense in New Orleans, even though he has a long (and reportedly positive) history with Reid, and still maintains a home here. Why would Spagnuolo choose Bourbon Street over Broad Street, crawfish over cheesesteaks?
It’s very simple, really. Andy Reid never wanted Spagnuolo to return here. In fact, there is no evidence that Reid seriously discussed the job with him. All we know for sure is that Reid went on a weeklong vacation and then ducked back into hiding behind the thick, soundproof walls of the Novacare Center.
Reid has not spoken to the “best fans in the NFL,” as he calls them, in 23 days. His last words on the direction of his underachieving team were: “I’ll think about (the future) when I want to think about it.” And he wonders why he has become the most disliked coach in a generation in Philadelphia?
Well, the coach may be mute right now, but the fans are not. Their frustration with Reid is unprecedented. It is beyond the darkest days of Rich Kotite and probably even Joe Kuharick. At least those bumblers didn’t pretend they were smarter than everybody else.
Reid has now taken his idiotic decision to move Castillo to defense and amplified it into a full-blown fiasco by failing to hire Spagnuolo. And make no mistake: Reid could have had Spagnuolo if he had wanted him. The Eagles have already proven they’ll spend whatever it takes; the organization shed its reputation for cheapness in their free-agent frenzy last summer.
All things being equal, there was really no decision for Spagnuolo to make. The Eagles have the money, the talent (especially on the line and in the secondary), the comfort of a previous working relationship and the pull of a wife whose family lives here. If Reid had really wanted Spagnuolo, there was no question the best defensive coordinator in the NFL would already be working here.
But we all know that didn’t happen, and now we know why. Because Andy Reid, one more time, decided that he knew more than everybody else. In his warped mind, Juan Castillo will be a more effective defensive coordinator in 2012 than Steve Spagnuolo.
Hey, at least this time there is good news ahead. When Juan Castillo fails again next season – and he will – the overburdened assistant will not walk out the door alone. Accompanying him, finally, will be his arrogant, delusional boss.
And even then, Andy Reid will be convinced he was right.

How are we supposed to feel? We all love sports because of the escape it provides, a refuge from the harsh realities of life. And then the story over the weekend of Joe Paterno dying yanks us out of our fantasy world and forces us to deal with a jumble of conflicting emotions.
The first instinct when an extraordinary man like Joe Paterno passes away is to feel a deep sympathy not just toward him and his family, but also toward ourselves. If an ageless icon like Joe Paterno cannot escape – or at least temporarily deny – death, then what chance do the rest of us have?
And there are all of the people he has helped through his brilliance as a coach and his generosity as a philanthropist. For generations into the future, his contributions to Penn State will reverberate. A new library, a spiritual center, a sports museum . . . they are all a part of his campus legacy.
But then two words jar the senses: Jerry Sandusky. Can one horrific mistake in judgment undo over 60 years of achievement? Should it? The crimes are so unthinkable that it is too soon to consider the answer, and yet words must be spoken now, today, that can bring some closure to an incredible life.
How are we supposed to feel? Right now, it has to be a mixture of appreciation for all that he achieved, but also a deep sadness that nothing is ever really sacred – inside or outside of sports. Not even Joe Paterno.

One of the very first lessons of sports journalism is to visit the losers’ locker room, because that’s always where the best stories reside. And so it was in a championship weekend that proved once more that the NFL provides the best drama, and the best villains.
Billy Cundiff will never escape one brief moment in time late Sunday afternoon when he hooked an easy 32-yard field goal and ruined an entire season for his Baltimore teammates. Neither will Ravens wide receiver Lee Evans, who cradled a victory in his hands until the ball was swatted away at the last possible instant by the victorious New England Patriots.
And then there was the demoralizing story of Kyle Williams, a backup punt returner who fumbled twice for the San Francisco 49ers and handed an NFC title to the New York Giants. There is nothing worse in sports than an overtime fumble in the NFL playoffs – unless it happens to be your second fumble of the game.
It was not surprising that teammates rallied around their newly-spawned goats after the massive gaffes; players are required to do so, regardless of how they really feel. All three chokers have received a fair dose of venom from fans since their meltdowns – Williams even received some death threats – but this, too, shall pass. San Francisco and Baltimore are not exactly demanding sports towns.
Well, since I’m always at the service of the modern athlete, I hereby offer some words of consolation to Cundiff and Evans and Williams: Things could be even worse today. You could play in Philadelphia, a place that – I’m proud to say – never forgets.

Idle thoughts . . . .
• Cole Hamels signed a one-year deal with the Phillies last week, avoiding a contentious arbitration hearing. But the agreement will not prevent the 2008 World Series hero from becoming a free agent after the 2012 season. The Phillies must not lose Hamels. The Phillies CANNOT lose Hamels.
• The most poignant story in Philadelphia sports right now is the condition of Flyers captain Chris Pronger, who is still suffering the effects of a concussion he received three months ago. This is no longer just about Pronger’s future as a hockey player. Now it is about his future – period.
• Terrell Owens, in his final interview before total irrelevance, told GQ Magazine last week that Jeremiah Trotter convinced him not to apologize to Donovan McNabb during their feud in 2005. Trotter has angrily denied the story. Hmmmm. This is a tough one. Who’s lying?
• Spencer Hawes must be made of ceramic. He is 23 years old and has played well on those rare occasions when he could play at all. Twice he has been slowed by back issues, then the flu, and now an Achilles issue. The Sixers need him. Four different health issues in the first 17 games is ridiculous.
• NBA commissioner David Stern visited Philadelphia last week and credited the previous ownership for the team’s surge. He did this with a straight face. None of his fingers were crossed. Shouldn’t this guy be on the pro poker tour, or doing stand-up comedy?

The Eagles are run by football people with decades of experience, a proven record of success and an impeccable national reputation. The Sixers are guided mostly by novices who know a lot more about Wall Street than building a sports franchise.
So why did the Eagles completely botch the NFL lockout, while the Sixers handled the NBA lockout brilliantly? Could it be that the Eagles, once again, allowed their own arrogance to sabotage another season? Is it possible that the new Sixers’ brain trust already has a better idea of how to run a successful team?
Keep these numbers in mind as we explore how two of our major franchises confronted the challenge of a league shutdown. The Eagles started the 2011 season 1-4 and sunk to 4-8 before four meaningless wins. The Sixers are an astounding 10-3 right now, having outscored opponents by an average of 15 points per game.
It is no secret that the Eagles have a much stronger roster than the Sixers; no one would ever have the chutzpah to call the Sixers a Dream Team, unless the dream was inspired by hallucinogens. In fact, the Sixers have no stars – not one. The Eagles have Michael Vick, LeSean McCoy, DeSean Jackson, Asante Samuel and new post-lockout additions Nnamdi Asomugha and Jason Babin.
The problem is, that array of stars was not good enough for the Eagles, who decided an off-season with no workouts, no mini-camps, and no contact with players was a perfect time for major changes. Why would coach Andy Reid choose that moment to promote Juan Castillo to defensive coordinator? For that matter, why would he radically change the roster after the lockout?
An outsider would assume the people making these major decisions – president Joe Banner, GM Howie Roseman and Reid – were new at the game, unable to see the value of stability after the chaos of a lockout. We know better. The tired act of that trio is painfully obvious by now. The only rules they play by are their own, even when there is no logic behind them.
Meanwhile, a consortium of investors led by New York financier Joshua Harris bought the Sixers in October during the lockout and then resisted the urge for roster changes, despite slow ticket sales. I asked new Sixers CEO Adam Aron – as I gazed out at thousands of empty seats last Friday night in the owners’ box – why he didn’t order his only experienced executive, president Rod Thorn, to do more.
His answer was something the Eagles needed to hear, but wouldn’t have if he had screamed it in their ears. He said it didn’t make sense to shake things up when the NBA was already in disarray after the lockout.
Imagine that. A logical response to a difficult problem, with no I’m-smarter-than-you-are agenda. Is there any way we could get these new Sixer people to run our football team, too?

Just when it seemed impossible for Penn State to look more delusional, more in denial, president Rodney Erickson began a PR assault that was both a shock to the system and a punch in the stomach. Have these people lost all connection to reality?
And by “these people” I am including the legions of Penn State alumni who refuse to acknowledge the essence of the worst sports scandal in decades. No, this tragedy is not about the firing of coach Joe Paterno or his shattered legacy. It is about the alleged sexual assault of children – many children – and the appalling cover-up that followed.
Erickson, who was hired to control the damage, had the unmitigated gall to tell 650 alums at a town meeting in King of Prussia last week: “It grieves me very much when I hear people say ‘the Penn State scandal.’ This is not Penn State. This is the Sandusky scandal.”
Two Penn State administrators are under indictment for lying to the Grand Jury, accused child molester Jerry Sandusky had the run of the campus for years after his retirement, and at least one of the assaults reportedly happened in the Penn State football shower room. Now the new president – who is there because the previous president was fired over the scandal – says “This is not Penn State.”
The worst part of the story was the reaction to Erickson’s remark. He received a loud ovation from the alums. They actually cheered. I have always revered Penn State – not for the bogus image of moral superiority its football team created, but for the quality of education it represented. Now, I feel nothing but shame for everyone associated with the school.

Ryan Madson, a pitcher who helped the Phillies win a championship in 2008, is no longer speaking to his former team. He signed a one-year, $8.5-million contract with Cincinnati last week – after refusing to accept the last-ditch phone calls of the Phils – ending an off-season of ugliness between his agent and GM Ruben Amaro Jr.
And now that the drama is ending, the only thing left to decide is who the villain is here, and who the victim is. It’s obvious that Madson lost the most, since no one is denying he was close to a new deal with the Phillies that would have paid him at least $30 million over three years. So, at the very least, Madson blew $22.5 million during the dispute.
Basically, superagent Scott Boras claims he had a verbal agreement for a fourth year and a total of $44 million before Amaro had second thoughts – or his bosses did – and signed Jonathan Papelbon to a four-year, $50-million deal back in November. Amaro says there was never a final agreement at those numbers, just the usual give-and-take in a high-stakes negotiation.
Whom should we believe? I say Amaro. With the superior Papelbon still available, why would the GM lock down Madson so early in free agency? And also, with that much money on the table, an agreement isn’t final until ownership signs off anyway, and it’s pretty clear president Dave Montgomery wasn’t happy with that deal.
On the other hand, does Boras have reason to twist the truth? Yeah, about 22.5-million reasons, actually. He clearly misread the situation, so now he needs a good explanation. The Phillies reneged. That’s his new version of the truth.
So there you have it. An agent appears to be lying. Who says we never break any big stories in this column?

Idle thoughts . . . .
• The biggest shocker of the week was the revelation that embattled Eagles defensive coordinator Juan Castillo has a job waiting for him in Minnesota if he gets fired by coach Andy Reid. The position is defensive coordinator. That’s right, defensive coordinator. This is not a series of typos. This appears to be the truth. Wow.
• After two straight horrible drafts, the Eagles director of player personnel, Ryan Grigson, was hired as GM in Indianapolis last week – proving once again that it’s never what you know in the NFL, it’s only who you know.
• Let me get this straight: The Flyers spent $51 million on goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov, and now last year’s bust, Sergei Bobrovsky, is the clear No. 1 in the nets? Aren’t you glad you’re not GM Paul Holmgren right now trying to explain to chairman Ed Snider how this happened?
• Speaking of Ed Snider, it’s going to take years to undo the damage his apathetic ownership did to the Sixers. The current team deserves far better than the 8,000 and 10,000 crowds it has been getting, but this is what years of benign neglect brings. The worst thing that ever happened to the 76ers was Snider’s ouster of Pat Croce.
• Andy Reid is back from a week’s vacation. Word is, it started badly, but the last four days were amazing.

When Jeff Lurie finally broke his silence last week, we all expected the owner of our football team to shed some light on a dark season. What we got instead is a new insight into the rage spreading across the Eagles landscape.
Fans who have filled every seat of Lincoln Financial Field since it opened in 2003 – and have made Lurie a billionaire in the process – are sick of waiting for a championship, sick of the smug attitude of coach Andy Reid and sick of the dishonesty that has enveloped the organization.
I can make these statements with complete confidence because I felt the wrath of the fans myself when I had the audacity to suggest after Lurie’s memorable news conference that the owner had performed effectively. After all, Lurie had made it clear that he was appalled by the failure of the current team, so much so that Reid will be coaching for his job in 2012. Wasn’t that enough?
No, it wasn’t enough. In fact, all of the fans who called into my WIP radio show after the news conference – every single one for four straight days – said Lurie had taken an already bad situation and made it even worse. They found Lurie’s damnation of the season insincere, his decision to give Reid one more chance illogical and his defense of Reid’s public demeanor infuriating.
This is the exact quote that most enraged the fan base: “I don’t think you’re ever going to meet a coach who is less arrogant than Andy Reid.” Lurie’s words came exactly two days after Reid had refused to answer all questions about his job status and, when pressed, snarled: “I’ll think about it when I want to think about it.”
Instead of appeasing the fans with some consoling words, Lurie tapped into a deeper sense of resentment than any in his 17 years as owner of the Eagles. The fans believe nothing now from Eagles management – not the weekly insults that have become Reid’s news conferences, not the grandiose proclamations of president Joe Banner and not even the empathetic efforts of Lurie himself.
Jeff Lurie believed what he was saying last week. He really was disgusted by his underachieving 2011 team. He truly is getting tired of defending Reid’s indefensible behavior. He genuinely wants to win as badly as the fans of his team. All of those conclusions are fair and reasonable in the aftermath of Lurie’s honest and candid news conference.
And none of it matters anymore. Eagles fans have finally become spin-proof. Words no longer have any effect. The lesson of last week was a simple one for the Eagles. If they really want to make peace with their angry fans, there’s only one thing left for them to do. They have to win a championship.

Less than three months into their first year, the new owners of the 76ers have already accomplished their first goal. Their team is relevant again, both in Philadelphia and in the NBA. Joshua Harris and Adam Aron are the answer to a prayer for basketball fans here – accessible, enthusiastic and creative. Thanks to them, it is impossible right now not to root for the Sixers.
Their first game at the Wells Fargo Center last Friday night provided all of the bells and whistles expected of a new era, and much more. The new guys made an instant connection with the glorious past of the franchise by inviting back – to thunderous applause – Julius Erving, Moses Malone and, yes, even Andrew Toney from 1983 championship team.
The current team is a long way from the exalted status of that unit, but the best way to measure the franchise right now is from its more recent low point, not its high. Twenty-one months ago the team was doomed by a three-Ed’ed monster: disinterested chairman Ed Snider, incompetent GM Ed Stefanski and Professor Clueless, coach Eddie Jordan.
Instead, now we have Harris, a totally committed business wizard from Wall Street; Aron, a relentless Harvard idea machine with extraordinary people skills; and Rod Thorn, a proven roster manipulator. Even more important, we have people running the team who understand us. One of the first calls they made for advice was to former Sixers miracle worker Pat Croce. They get it.
Nobody knows where all of this leads, of course. The new guys may be better at managing this honeymoon stage of their tenure than the far more demanding challenges ahead. But this much we can say right now: When it comes to first impressions, the new Sixers are winners already.

My favorite Flyer this season is an undependable, eccentric, outspoken Russian who isn’t worth the money he’s being paid and may ultimately prove to be the undoing of his team. Ilya Bryzgalov is an absolute mess of an NHL goaltender – and the most intriguing Flyer to come along in many years.
Bryzgalov was clearly the star of the 24/7 reality show on HBO that took us inside the NHL Winter Classic, as he openly shared his philosophy on the creation of the universe, the importance of free speech and – in his finest moment – announced that he would not actually be playing in the game that had made him a TV sensation.
“The great news: I’m not playing,” he said. “The good news: We have a chance to win the game tomorrow.” Later in the same press gathering, he said he had just wasted 30 minutes of the media’s time saying nothing – clearly not true in this case – and then proclaimed that sports hasn’t really changed since the Roman Empire. People want “gladiators and bread” – always have, always will, he said.
Really, the only time not to embrace Bryzgalov is when he’s on the ice, botching easy saves and driving high-strung Flyers coach Peter Laviolette crazy. Even there, Bryzgalov is totally unpredictable, however, struggling for two weeks and then saving Saturday’s win over Ottawa with a couple of dazzling plays in the final moments. One day later, he blew a two-goal lead in a 6-4 Ottawa disaster.
Bryzgalov has all of the ingredients of a $51-million free-agent fiasco. He is unbalanced, divisive and moody. But I love the guy, and you should, too. It’s very rare in any sport that we encounter a player so willing to share himself with us, warts and all.

Idle thoughts . . . .
• The new Penn State coach, Bill O’Brien, spent an entire weekend talking about the unique challenges of the job, and he never once publicly mentioned the scandal or Jerry Sandusky. In other words, O’Brien is off to a very bad start replacing Joe Paterno.
• Well, at least now we know who was responsible for the disappointing 8-8 season. Johnnie Lynn, the Eagles secondary coach, got the pink slip over the weekend. All this time we thought it was Andy Reid or Juan Castillo, and the big problem was Johnnie Lynn. Who knew?
• The back end of the 2008 Phillies bullpen – Ryan Madson and Brad Lidge – is still unemployed, and it’s only a month until spring training. These guys won a world championship a little more than three years ago, and now they can’t find a job. Fame really is fleeting, isn’t it?
• Spencer Hawes came back from the NBA lockout a new man. The 7-1 Sixers center is clogging the middle, cleaning the glass and is among the leaders in shooting percentage. Either the new owners have inspired him, or Hip Hop was holding him back. I’m not sure which.
• Andy Reid has disappeared since his defiant post-game news conference nine days ago, but already he is making good on Jeff Lurie’s desire for a more pleasing public demeanor. After all, this is the first week in months that the Eagles coach has not insulted our intelligence.