Special message to our WIP listeners and the readers on this website:
The response to our Dec. 21 show was so extreme – and so negative – that I would like to address right now the many concerns that are being expressed. I won’t be back on the air until Jan. 3, and it will be too late to capture the passion of this unusual moment in time.
Basically, the complaints encompassed three themes. First was my supposedly tepid reaction to the stunning allegations against Hall of Fame sportswriter Bill Conlin, especially after my livid response to the Penn State case. Second was the perceived lack of emphasis that day on a child-sex case far closer to home than the Penn State tragedies. And third was an imbalance between my reaction to Conlin, an accused child sex offender, and Joe Paterno, a legend whose only failing was silence.
Before the show, I realized this was going to be one of the most challenging of my 24 years at WIP because I was not in my usual role of an objective commentator. I knew Bill fairly well, and I regarded with awe his 46 years at the Philadelphia Daily News. In many ways, he was a hero to me because he was fearless in his coverage, for over a quarter-century, of the Phillies. He valued his readers more than his relationship with the teams.
Yet, I honestly don’t think I was soft in my reaction. I began the show by explaining that I was still struggling with the first phase of this emotional process: shock. It was nearly impossible for me to rationalize the charges being made – very specific, very believable charges – with the man I knew and admired. I also admitted on the air that my feelings were a work in progress as I learned and processed more.
At the same time, though, I grilled Conlin’s lawyer, George Bochetto, about his client instantly retiring when confronted with the allegations. I said, point blank, that it looked like an admission of guilt to me. And then I asked Bochetto if Conlin was professing his “complete and total innocence” – to him or to anyone else. The lawyer would not reply directly to that question.
The bottom line is that I was reacting to the facts that I had in front of me at that moment in time. If the response was not as angry as that against Jerry Sanducky, it is because the Penn State case had already passed through a 12-year investigation, a Grand Jury probe and then a series of indictments before the revelations were ever made public. Conlin’s story at that point consisted of four people telling their stories of his alleged criminal behavior.
The fact that our entire show was not consumed by the Conlin story was one that will surprise most of my critics. More than half of our calls that day were on other topics. The callers had the same reaction I did. They were still absorbing the impact of the charges.
On a more practical note, we also were committed to our announcement of Takeru Kobayashi competing in Wing Bowl 20, an interview with Oakland closer and Haddonfield native Andrew Bailey for a charitable event in our area over the holidays, and our weekly Eagles film session with Mike Lombardi.
When we had fulfilled those commitments at 8:20, I steered the conversation right back to Conlin. Then we had Bocchetto and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Buzz Bissinger on the show to discuss the story. In all, more than 60 percent of our show involved the Conlin allegations. Ultimately, my first goal every day is to talk about what the people are talking about. Anything else is suicidal for a talk-show host.
The third issue – the Paterno comparison – is probably the basis for most of the complaints. It has become more and more apparent to me that a surprisingly large percentage of our audience still loves the former coach. They acknowledge his failure in not doing enough after learning of Sandusky’s alleged transgressions, but they see him now more as a victim than a villain. I will never agree with this perspective. Paterno was a leader like no other in college sports. For him to look the other way will always be unforgivable to me.
If I had returned to the show Thursday – with two more detailed accounts of Bill Conlin’s alleged sexual misconduct with kids – I am certain that I would have grown even more vocal and more livid, just as I did when the Sandusky story developed. As I write this, I am nauseated by this new wave of horrific revelations. Whom can we trust now? Does everybody have some dark secret they’re hiding? Is everything in our lives becoming a cruel deception?
My best pledge to you is that I’ll always react as honestly as I can, just as you respond when you feel I am falling short in that regard. Thanks for your strong opinions and for your loyalty to our show. I wish you all happy holidays – though I know it will be harder than usual this year.

Angelo Cataldi, Dec. 22, 2011

In the end, it was all just a big misunderstanding. The 2011 Eagles really are the Dream Team. Hey, you saw them destroy the New York Jets Sunday, 45-19. They are every bit as dominant and talented and explosive as we imagined. They just needed a few months to blend their amazing skills. That’s all.
And so the spin begins. Soon, it won’t even matter whether the Eagles make the playoffs. It’ll be about next year — with Andy Reid back for his 14th season as head coach and — ugh — maybe even Juan Castillo returning for an encore as defensive coordinator. The big winners of the 2011 season will be Andy Reid and his best buddy, Status Quo.
Reid is not great at managing the clock or overseeing the hurry-up offense, but he is a master at surviving. In fact, there is nothing Reid is better at than pulling his neck out of the noose and retaliating with a big win and then a barrage of clichés. After the Jets rout, Reid couldn’t contain his appreciation for Michael Vick, Juan Castillo and the fans – always, the fans.
Of course, these were the same fans he claims he didn’t hear three weeks ago when they chanted “Fire Andy.” Now that they’re cheering again, his ears are back in working order. Just don’t ask him a question about the team’s still-precarious playoff position or his still-tenuous job status. And, above all, don’t ask him the most important question – the one he absolutely refuses to answer: Why is a team with all of these talented players only 6-8 this season?
The Eagles have the top running back in the NFL, LeSean McCoy, who has set a team record for touchdowns with 19. They also have the top pass-rusher in football, Jason Babin, whose 18 sacks are closing in on Reggie White’s team mark of 21½. They have a dynamic quarterback, a troika of stud cornerbacks, a dominant defensive line, two exceptional wide receivers . . . . and a 6-8 record.
The only thing the Jets victory proved on Sunday was just how much the Eagles have underachieved this season. Yes, they are the Dream Team, in terms of pure talent, but it took Reid 12 games to employ their skills – and only when there was no longer any pressure to contend for the Super Bowl. The demolition of the Jets only made losses to pitiful Arizona and lousy Seattle that much more unimaginable.
Bill Parcells has said many times that a team is what its record says it is, nothing more or less. Unlike Reid and his invisible bosses, the Giants legend was too busy winning Super Bowls to make excuses or to redefine reality to suit his purposes.
The Eagles, one of the most talented teams in the NFL, will not have a winning record this season. Isn’t that really all that matters?

Joe Paterno, football legend, decided not to act after learning of a sexual assault against a child because he didn’t want to ruin anybody’s weekend. That’s where we are right now in the horrific case at Penn State. Paterno waited a couple of days because, hey, it was a Saturday.
There are many tentacles in this monster of a story, but the essence of it has never changed. This is the story of Joe Paterno, the moral compass of American sports who turned out to be a total fraud. It is the story of a man who valued the refuge of a weekend over the well-being of a child.
Just try to imagine for a moment the impact of aide Mike McQueary’s eyewitness report, a sobbing description of former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky pinning a child to the wall of the shower room and producing rhythmic slapping sounds as their bodies met. Now imagine – if you can – that you would take no immediate action because it was the weekend.
Not only did Paterno sit on the information for two days before reporting it to his bosses, but his Grand Jury testimony reveals that he actually found that decision perfectly reasonable. He offers the explanation without any sense of regret. In Paterno’s kingdom, his decision was beyond challenge, even though it was cold and irrational.
Of course, now Paterno knows just how outrageous his thinking was, but it took a massive public outcry for him to receive the message – far too late to preserve any part of his legacy. Joe Paterno, football legend, has vanished for good, but the memory of his insensitivity will live on forever.

Jimmy Rollins handled his contract negotiations with the Phillies the way he approaches a lazy pop-up to second base. No need to hurry. He knew he was going to get there eventually – and he did over the weekend with a three-year, $33-million deal.
Unfortunately, his sluggish style didn’t serve the interests of his team very well because now it’s too late to find another way to improve the fatal flaw in this 102-win ballclub, the offense. So what we’ll be getting is a slightly less talented but still stellar pitching rotation – minus Roy Oswalt – and the same lineup that couldn’t score a run in the deciding game of the divisional playoffs.
The decision to retain Rollins was a popular move, but not nearly as popular as the team or the player believes. The fact is, there is a growing army of fans willing to see Rollins and his now-fragile 33-year-old body leave town for good. I know. I’ve been taking their calls – in droves – for the past month on WIP.
There are two basic problems with Rollins staying here for his 34th, 35th and 36th birthdays. First, he plays shortstop, a position that requires quicker reflexes than most players have when they reach the back half of their 30s. And second, it gives the Phils an infield that is just plain old. Placido Polanco is 35, Chase Utley celebrated his 33rd birthday on Saturday and Ryan Howard is the baby of the group at 32.
Jimmy Rollins will always be a hero in Philadelphia because of his role in the sacred 2008 championship, but – make no mistake – his signing over the weekend did not improve the chances of the Phillies winning another.

Idle thoughts . . . .
• So now, after the devastation of the Phillies and Eagles seasons, we learn that Flyers captain Chris Pronger is out for the year with “severe concussion syndrome.” Is it too late for Philadelphia sports fans to ask Santa for some long-overdue good luck in 2012?
• Gary Schultz testified last week that he didn’t think an adult man touching the genitals of a child was a crime. The former senior vice-president of Penn State said, under oath, that he didn’t know the definition of sexual conduct. And this guy was in charge of the campus police for 17 years? Really?
• Now that the new Sixers owners have bonded with the fans by slashing ticket prices, boiling Hip Hop and holding a free scrimmage at the Palestra, do you think maybe they could start working on revising the roster? Somebody needs to tell president Rod Thorn that the lockout is over.
• The best part of the Denver Broncos’ unexpected success this season is not Tim Tebow. Not to me, anyway. The best part is that former Eagle great Brian Dawkins is back playing relevant football in December. Every once in a while, when you least expect it, the good guy wins.
• Andy Reid said he has no regrets about wasting $2.3 million on Steve Smith, who caught 11 passes before ending his season on the injured-reserve list. Nope, no regrets at all. Yeah, we really need at least one more season of this brilliant thinking and honest communication.

Welcome to Philadelphia, home of the biggest child in sports, DeSean Jackson. In the past month alone, the tiny wide receiver with the big ego has short-armed a touchdown pass, been suspended and benched and then stormed out of a news briefing.
It’s a shame Jackson bailed on the media when he did last Thursday night in Seattle. The very next question was, “What do you want for Christmas, little boy?” Of course, we already know the answer to that question. He wants a shiny new contract. What he deserves is a boot right out of town.
That’s right. The most exciting Eagle should not be re-signed, and he most certainly should not be guaranteed a huge salary with the franchise tag. When he becomes a free agent at the end of this dreadful season, it’ll be the city that is truly free – from his diva demeanor and from his gutless play.
Yeah, I know. He saved last season with that punt return against the Giants. He has provided more thrills than any other Eagle in his four-year career here. Blah, blah, blah. The truth is, on a team of selfish players, Jackson is the ultimate me-first guy. All you needed to do was watch his three-hour pout-fest on the NFL Network during that humiliating 31-14 loss.
At one point, Vince Young was trying to talk to him after Jackson messed up a play, but little DeSean looked straight ahead, stone-faced. When he did speak with any animation that night, it was to members of the Seahawks. Throughout the debacle, Jackson wore the expression of a player who didn’t care. The TV screen doesn’t lie.
However, the same cannot be said for coach Andy Reid, who launched an angry screed against the NFL Network the next day for drawing false conclusions. Yeah, right. The NFL Network is notorious for its shoot-from-the-hip style. Analyst Mike Mayock, president of the Andy Reid Fan Club, is a real hatchet man. Please.
This is the case against DeSean Jackson: He cost the Eagles the Arizona game by getting suspended for blowing off a team meeting. He wimped out on the TD pass against New England before dropping another, forcing his benching. And then he blew off dozens of reporters when they challenged him over his sulking in Seattle.
DeSean Jackson wears the number 10 – and he acts it. The argument that all of this bad behavior is a result of the Eagles not rewarding him with a new contract is absurd. He signed the original deal. If he had flamed out like so many other top Eagles draft picks, would he have given the money back?
Real Eagles fans – the ones who won’t rest until they win a championship – no longer just want Andy Reid to leave. Now they want Big Red to take the little boy with him.

In a season of indignities, there can be no lower point than the moment last week when Casey Matthews – a total bust on a putrid team – thought it was a good idea to attack Eagles fans. Well, at least now we know what resides under that helmet full of hair. Nothing.
Matthews has adopted the hairstyle of his far more talented and famous brother, Clay, but that is clearly where the comparison ends. Forget all of this babble about Casey needing a full off-season to realize his fourth-round linebacker potential. He could not play when he got here, and he will depart as soon as management is willing to admit yet another draft mistake.
Still, Matthews couldn’t help himself when fans vented their anger at him as he left Lincoln Financial Field after the New England fiasco. Howling that “they don’t know me,” he said “I don’t think anyone will ever understand these fans. When we win they love you, but when we lose, it gets rough. That’s just how it is here.”
Yeah, that certainly is a complicated concept. Fans pay thousands every year on tickets, seat licenses, jerseys, hats and Eagles-sponsored products, and then they get upset when the team stinks. How dare they. How can these people ignore the 17 tackles Matthews has made in 12 games? Don’t they realize that’s an average of more than one tackle per game?
Matthews eventually apologized for his outburst, but his words had all the sincerity of an Andy Reid news conference. It’s a pretty safe bet Casey Matthews will not be heard from again, on the field or off it. In fact, we really only need him to say one more word. Goodbye.

The rumors are not true. Jeff Lurie, Joe Banner and Howie Roseman are not in Hollywood right now remaking The Three Stooges. If the Eagles executives ever do make a film together, you can bet it will be a silent one.
For 12 weeks now, the owner, president and GM have been unavailable for comment, as their “all-in” team went all-out. The Eagles are out of the playoffs, out of hope for the immediate future, and – we can only assume – out of patience with coach Andy Reid.
The problem is, we aren’t even being given the usual clichés associated with crises like this. With the exception of Lurie poking his head out long enough after the Giants win to say his team was poised for a late-season run, none of them has said a word in months. The last time they spoke – and, boy, did they speak – was after their free-agent signing frenzy in July.
And it’s not as if they haven’t been asked. Banner has turned down requests for interviews for at least the past several weeks, leaving everyone to guess what he’s thinking about the mess his team has become. Is he as sick of Reid’s “gotta do a better job” mantra as we are? Is he trying to convince Lurie to make the only move that matters now?
Mum’s the word on the Eagles. And when the team asks you to buy a jersey for Christmas this month, or to renew your season tickets for next season, or to support their many fine sponsors, you might want to adopt a similar strategy. Don’t say yes or no. Don’t say anything. Let’s see how they like it.

Idle thoughts . . . .
• For a future Hall of Famer who was treated so shabbily in Philadelphia, Donovan McNabb sure has taken a plunge since leaving our city limits. And if he thinks his release last week by the Vikings was humbling, wait until he takes his goofy faces and dopey remarks into the broadcast booth.
• The Phillies ending up with Jimmy Rollins for another three or four seasons has become the worst-case scenario this winter. One of the best ways to change the culture of recent post-season failure is to remove one of the biggest causes of it, the bad attitude of our overrated shortstop.
• Now that the Sixers have dumped former GM Ed Stefanski and mascot Hip Hop, the next cuts should be Andre Iguodala and Elton Brand. If they don’t unload one of those two contracts under the new amnesty clause, the Sixers will be missing a huge opportunity to improve.
• Jagomir Jagr is 39 and brittle, but there are times when he’s still one of the most dangerous players in the NHL. How far the Flyers go this year might just come down to the tenuous condition of Jagr’s aging hamstrings.
• If you’re making out your Christmas list, don’t forget Andy Reid. After last week’s latest clock mismanagement issues, he could use a really nice wristwatch. In fact, if we’re really lucky, it can serve as both a holiday gift and a going-away present.

You will hear and read much this week about the sudden rebirth of the Eagles. Believe none of it. Their 17-10 win over the New York Giants on Sunday night may have provided a temporary reprieve from this dreadful season, but it proved nothing. They remain deeply flawed and thoroughly unlikeable.
Vince Young’s dramatic drive that saved the season – at least for now – was remarkable in every way. Six third-down conversions with the game on the line, against a formidable defense, are cause for celebration, as is the blind-side sack by Jason Babin that preserved the victory in the final minutes.
But that’s it. Twelve minutes of joy after a season of frustration is not enough for me, or for you. Before and after that unexpected spree of positive developments, the Eagles were the same muddle of disjointed talents and bad attitudes. Their final destination this season is already programmed into the GPS. They are going nowhere.
For example, the revived defense that held the Giants to 10 points was rescued not by defensive coordinator Juan Castillo but by Young himself, who held the ball for close to nine minutes and prevented the biggest chokers in football from blowing their sixth fourth quarter lead of the season. Not only had the defense already given away the lead in a five-play, 73-yard drive, but it ended up allowing 143 yards on just 10 plays in the final quarter before Babin’s big turnover.
The notion that Castillo was somehow vindicated because the Eagles won the game is almost as absurd as Castillo’s original appointment to his new job. What exactly did the Eagles prove on Sunday? They stopped the run against a team that cannot run, and they were in the process of another fatal swoon when Young rode to the rescue. Does anyone really believe the Eagles’ defensive problems are behind them?
And then there is the case of DeSean Jackson, who appears to have won his power struggle with Reid. Before the game, Jackson compared himself to Larry Fitzgerald and the other top wide receivers in the NFL, then he cost his team a 50-yard gain by taunting a Giants assistant, and ended his busy day by proclaiming that he was “the light I bring and shine on my teammates.”
Jackson learned nothing from his benching against Arizona. In fact, he was empowered by it. Now he thinks the Eagles cannot win without him, and Reid did nothing to discourage that idea after the game. Jackson is a child – out of control, selfish, boisterous and absolute poison in the locker room.
So, yes, the Eagles won a big game on Sunday. They saved their season, for one more week at least. But nothing has changed. Andy Reid is still lost. Juan Castillo is still clueless. And DeSean Jackson is still playing for DeSean Jackson.
The end is near for these overindulgent underachievers – and the sooner the better for all of us.

When Ilya Bryzgalov stoned the Phoenix Coyotes last week, it wasn’t just a big victory for the Flyers, it was a welcome – and rare – triumph for the truth, too. You see, Bryzgalov was hated in his final days in Phoenix last season, basically for one reason. When asked a question, he answered it honestly. Imagine that.
Of course, his candor led to a few fractured relationships when he publicly referenced a bad play by a teammate – something he did several times in his final months in Phoenix. That’s how the Russian goalie got a bad reputation. He spoke the truth. We already got a glimpse of this rare honesty ourselves when Bryzgalov trashed himself last month, saying he couldn’t stop a (beach) ball.
Well, here’s one vote of support for the refreshing new addition to our sports community. We already have enough sneers from Andy Reid, enough hiding from Jeff Lurie and Joe Banner, enough tired clichés from Chase Utley and Ryan Howard.
If we have learned anything at all from the Penn State tragedy still unfolding, it is that honest remains the best policy. If Mike McQueary had said something publicly about what he had witnessed in 2002, would the alleged abuse have continued for another nine years? If Joe Paterno had used his powerful voice to halt the insanity, would his legacy have withstood the current assault?
Sports figures who prefer the safe route to popularity should carefully study Ilya Bryzgalov. Either because of a cultural gap or just his own honest nature, he is showing the public something that has become almost extinct. It’s called respect.

In the deepening cesspool at Penn State, there are still just two themes that require our undivided attention. One is Jerry Sandusky, the former defensive coordinator accused of sexually abusing children. The other is the army of gutless people, led by Joe Paterno, who enabled Sandusky to do what he allegedly did.
Just think about all of the other stories that have emerged since the darkest secrets of Happy Valley became headlines. Politicians were more interested in filling their campaign coffers than in seeking justice for the victims. A judge violated the ethics of her job and took care of a friend. Eyewitnesses were discouraged to tell the truth, and then vilified when they tried. The police favored the powerful over the powerless.
Is any of that behavior surprising? It happens every day. Granted, the scope of the corruption is alarming, especially in a sick little place like Happy Valley, but it is just a diversion from what really matters. And what really matters is that a man is accused of the worst crime possible, and many other people – including the college football coach most associated with moral behavior – enabled it.
The only things we all need to remember from the past week involve Sandusky and Paterno. In a national TV interview, Sandusky required a full 17 seconds to deny that he is sexually attracted to children. Seventeen seconds. Ask a friend that question. You will find none – not one – who needs that long to respond.
As for Paterno, it was revealed that he has hired one of the top criminal lawyers in the country, he has switched the title of his home to his wife in anticipation of civil lawsuits, and then – in another shocker – he has lung cancer.
Sympathy is a powerful emotion, but if Paterno enabled Sandusky, nothing is going to help the coach now, not even that.

Idle thoughts . . . .
• Juan Castillo answered almost every question last week with the words “work hard.” Marty Mornhinweg said Kevin Kolb knowing the plays had no bearing on the Arizona loss. Isn’t it comforting to know when Andy Reid needs a day off from insulting us, he’s got two great replacements?
• The Phillies didn’t just add an accomplished closer when they signed Jonathan Papelbon earlier this month. They also gave their bland team a much-needed infusion of personality. Philadelphia is going to love this guy.
• Jimmy Rollins invited the media to his charity event “Havana Nights” – a benefit to prevent child abuse – last week and then snapped at reporters when he was asked about his contract negotiations. Even when doing good, Rollins just can’t stop himself from acting like a spoiled brat.
• Baseball’s decision to add two wild-card teams seems like wretched excess until you understand that a one-game playoff among the also-rans enhances the value of winning the division. In other words, the sad fate of the 2011 Phillies is less likely to happen in the future. Bravo to that.
• Baseball bad boy Jose Canseco is charging $2,000 for interviews now. Hmmmm. How much does it cost to get him not to speak?

The sad part about Joe Paterno’s imminent exit after 46 years as head coach at Penn State is not just that it happened under such horrific circumstances. It is also that so many people, for so long, worshipped a hero who was not worthy of their adulation.
The rules have always been different for Paterno. He hadn’t won a championship for 25 years – a quarter century – and still he was regarded as the greatest of all coaches. As the list of criminal charges against his players grew, he somehow remained the ideal for moral behavior. And when he snapped at question after question, it was never seen for what it really was – bullying.
But now, of course, we know the truth about Joe Paterno. He protected the reputation of a longtime friend and assistant, Jerry Sandusky – and of his own football program – while risking the well-being of innocent, defenseless children. Paterno will face no criminal charges because he reported the one incident of sex abuse he was aware of directly, but he is already guilty in the court of public opinion.
Paterno, the moral conscience of college sports, the Pope of Happy Valley, did the unthinkable. He looked the other way. When extraordinary action was required, Paterno did nothing. How could he? How could a man who had made such a commitment to young people for so long fail them when they needed him the most?
No one will ever really know the answer to that question because the case will be tied up in court for many years now – first the criminal charges against Sandusky and his enablers at Penn State, and then the civil cases against everyone close to the case, including Paterno. It’s hard to imagine that Paterno will ever tell his side of the story, if there is one to tell.
All we can say for sure right now is that he fought to the end, either because he’s still in denial that he did anything wrong or because his survival instinct is that powerful. His last public comment was a dubious statement claiming shock at Sandusky’s indictment – shock despite an ongoing nine-year investigation and Grand Jury probe that included Paterno’s own testimony.
Of course, to the public, there was no real shock over an assistant we hardly even knew, nor over the Penn State bureaucrats who allegedly perjured themselves to protect Sandusky, themselves or their university. Those people are all mortals. None of them are named Joe Paterno.
In the end, the record will show that Paterno was really not much different than all the others stomping the sidelines over the past 46 years, a flawed man who was just more talented at convincing us he was better than everybody else.
Joe Paterno will leave coaching now with an indelible stain on his record, and in our memories.

Andy Reid’s winter brainstorm has become a tsunami for the Eagles. The idea of turning a 16-year NFL offensive assistant into the defensive coordinator, absurd at the time, is a full-blown disaster now. Juan Castillo is ruining this football season.
The latest indignity unfolded on Monday night, when the Eagles defense unraveled late again, turning a 24-17 lead into a 30-24 defeat. Castillo’s underachievers have blown four fourth-quarter leads already this year, more than any other NFL team. The playoffs are nothing more than a pipe dream now. At the halfway point, the Eagles are losers at 3-5.
Great coaches are supposed to make their players better. Castillo has done the opposite. Nnamdi Asomugha was the biggest free-agent signing of the off-season, a shutdown cornerback among the elite in the game – until Castillo got his hands on him. Now Asomugha appears deflated, out of rhythm, all but useless. Our $60-million player is worth about ten cents.
And Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie has become the saddest case of all. An elite cornerback as recently as last season, DRC appears dazed and confused on almost every play. He’s stopping as ball-carriers rush past, he’s one step behind most of the time, and he’s clearly playing out of position in the slot. DRC is DOA in Castillo’s defense.
Juan Castillo spouts a mindless mantra of hard work, hard work, hard work, but nothing is working right now. In fact, nothing will work until Andy Reid ends this ridiculous experiment and finds a real defensive coordinator.

An old friend came back to town last weekend. You may remember him. Jim Thome, the man who lifted the Phillies with his Popeye forearms into the stratosphere eight years ago, is a member of the Phillies again.
Of course, he is not the same player he was when the Phils wrote him a huge check to commemorate the opening of Citizens Bank Park. A new era of big spending and even bigger winning was upon us, and the poster boy for those first few years was the affable country boy with the majestic home-run swing.
When he was reintroduced to Philadelphia last Saturday, the electricians union workers who had greeted him outside the new ballpark in 2002 were not there. The price tag was just $1.25 million this time, not $85 million. And Thome is 41 now, not 33. But one thing hadn’t changed. Manager Charlie Manuel was still thrilled to have a player who is more like a son to him than merely a bat off the bench.
Manuel is one of the worst strategists in the game. He appears befuddled every time he steps in front of a microphone. But this is the kind of story that has won him a legion of fans, and a World Series. No one in sports is better at building a relationship with his players, and no one is better at bridging the inevitable gap caused by age.
When Thome was here the first time, he won a lot of games for the Phillies, but no championship. He left three years before the parade, a victim of the sudden emergence of Ryan Howard. This time, in his final season, Thome has some unfinished business. He needs to win it all – for a city that still admires him, and for a manager who gave him one final chance to go out on top.

Idle thoughts . . . .
• Joe Frazier passed away Monday night, the victim of liver cancer. He embodied the spirit of Philadelphia as much as any athlete, with his toughness, his quirkiness and his smile. If we’ve got a statue for a fictional hero like Rocky, don’t we need one for a real hero like Joe Frazier?
• The Eagles did something special Monday night. They honored Buddy Ryan and his teams of the last 1980s. Seth Joyner, Keith Byars, Keith Jackson and lots of the other beloved players from those teams were back. The only thing those Eagles won was the love of the fans. Sometimes that’s enough.

• For a guy who went totally unnoticed for three seasons as the Phillies bench coach, Pete Mackanin has suddenly become a hot commodity on the managing market. His predecessor, Jimy Williams, hasn’t worked since the 2008 parade, and Mackanin, 60, is a top managing prospect. Go figure.

• It’s a shame Phillies assistant Scott Proefrock didn’t get the Baltimore GM job. If Proefrock is anything like Ed Wade, Phils GM Ruben Amaro would have been able to pick clean the Orioles the same way he fleeced the Astros the past few years.
•  Just like the Phillies, the Union was eliminated in the first round of the soccer playoffs last week. First, the Phillies can’t score, and then the Union has the same problem. Is there no end to this pain?

I did something incredibly stupid last week. I became a Dallas Cowboys fan. In my twisted mind, I thought I was hastening the departure of a coach I can no longer stand, Andy Reid. But it was stupid just the same. Rooting for the Cowboys is an act of desperation reserved only for the drunk and the insane.
Of course, my reward for quietly cheering Tony Romo, Rob Ryan and (gulp) Jerry Jones was a thorough 34-7 spanking by an Eagles team that finally matched its preseason hype. Wouldn’t you know it? As soon as I bail on the Birds, they play a clean, efficient, dominating football game. Just my luck.
Looking at the game from a different sideline did give me a new perspective. What I saw in the Eagles was a club unrivaled in talent – yes, including the Green Bay Packers – and maybe even still a threat to reach the ultimate goal established during the free-agent frenzy last summer. The Eagles are very good – especially when their coach is using common sense.
For example, is there a better running back in the game right now than LeSean McCoy, who had a career game with 186 rushing yards? After weeks of neglect, Reid has given McCoy 58 carries in the past two games – both wins. Is it possible Reid finally realizes that there are other ways to score points than constantly to risk injury to Michael Vick?
And what about Nnamdi Asomugha? A bust for the first few games after signing a mammoth $60-million free-agent contract, he smothered Dez Bryant all night Sunday. Oh, so this is the cornerback we heard so much about. Maybe he really can play at a Pro Bowl level if he’s simply asked to provide his specialty, man-to-man coverage.
While we’re talking about adjustments, did you happen to notice the wide-nine defense that was such a disaster the first month is now the much-narrower-nine, with far fewer of the huge holes for opposition running backs? Suddenly, new defensive coordinator Juan Castillo doesn’t seem so clueless anymore.
What I saw in my brief time as a Dallas fan was an Eagles team that had finally corrected many of the mistakes of August and September, all of which the fans had identified long before the coach did. What I also saw as a Cowboys fan is a rival that deserved the hype, a foe that may still be the class of the NFC East.
What happens next will tell the real story of this season. If Reid gives these players a chance to excel – if he doesn’t outsmart himself again – the Birds might still surprise a lot of people who had written them off.
Especially people who were so dumb, they became Dallas fans.

After three weeks in a deep depression, Phillies fans can now emerge with renewed hope that 2012 will have a better ending. Hey, at least we’re not the Texas Rangers, who were one strike away from their first World Series title twice, and still found a way to lose to St. Louis.
Finally, the Phillies can begin the process of making some tough decisions about their aging roster, and – of course – I’m offering my services at no charge. Here’s what I would do if I were GM Ruben Amaro Jr.
Step 1: Say goodbye to Jimmy Rollins. Yes, it’s hard. He is the face of the most successful era in team history. But now that Amaro and manager Charlie Manuel are on the record looking for patient contact hitters with high on-base percentages, Rollins simply doesn’t fit. At this point, even a three-year deal seems too much.
Step 2: Use a big chunk of the available money to sign a closer. Most fans are assuming Ryan Madson will be that man, but he’s only third on my list. First, I’d make a call to Jonathan Papelbon, then Heath Bell. Both have more experience closing games, and both are free agents just like Madson.
Step 3: Find a new third baseman. Placido Polanco is done as an everyday player. He gets hurt too much, and he doesn’t provide nearly enough power at a corner infield position. The Phillies need to generate more runs. Polanco will help them do that better as a utility player.
Step 4: Light a fire under Charlie Manuel. As a renowned hitting guru, Manuel was AWOL in 2011. He needs to know that the window is closing on an amazing pitching rotation, and a first-round failure will not save his job next season. It’s time for Manuel to earn his undeserved folk-hero status.

The angry snarl of Philadelphia sports fans has claimed more than a few weak-hearted players over the years, but never one with $51 million and a Stanley-Cup dream at stake. Meet Flyers goalie Ilya Bryzgalov, either the latest victim of our demanding nature or a troubled soul seeking escape from a nightmare.
After one month of the new NHL season, it’s too early for us to draw any conclusions about the signing of the Russian goaltender to a mammoth contract last summer. Unfortunately, he may already be drawing some conclusions himself.
In one of the most honest and painful confessions ever by a Philadelphia athlete, Bryzgalov said last week: “I have zero confidence in myself right now. If you throw a ball instead of a puck, I’m not going to stop it. I’m terrible and I want to apologize in front of the fans, in front of my teammates. I have no answer for you guys. . . . I’m lost in the woods.”
Bryzgalov at least temporarily found himself with a 5-1 win Saturday night, but his exploits so far show just how fragile the psyche of a goalie can be. In fact, the team announced yesterday a bizarre series of restrictions on when he will and won’t talk to the media, a ridiculous overreaction to his sincere appraisal of a painful situation. The Flyers, who were behind this semi-ban on talking, are worried that Bryzgalov is getting swept up in the demands of a new environment.
Well – despite yesterday’s announcement – here’s one voice of support for the struggling Russian. Anybody who respects the fans enough to say what he did last week deserves the benefit of our doubt. Bryzgalov may still be trying to find himself, but he has already discovered the best antidote for fan dissatisfaction. It’s honesty.

Idle thoughts . . . .
• Am I the only one who, while watching Nelson Cruz cruise toward the fly ball that would have won Texas a championship, thought of Bobby Abreu? Some players will not sacrifice their body near the outfield wall, even if it means blowing the World Series.
• Rex and Rob Ryan take great pride at being the offspring of Buddy Ryan, but they are cheap rip-offs. Rex is constantly saying stupid things that require apologies. Rob is a louder, dumber version of his twin brother. Buddy never apologized. Buddy never started a fight he didn’t finish. His sons are frauds.
• Eric Lindros shocked everybody last week when he said he‘d play in the Winter Classic alumni game – as a member of the Flyers, no less. Just one question: Has anybody run this by his parents, Carl and Bonnie? Because until they give their approval, it’s definitely not official.
• The Phillies are going to rue the day they let Ryne Sandberg leave their organization. He is already a candidate for managerial jobs in several cities, after a season at Lehigh Valley. I would offer him the bench coach’s job here right now, with a promise to take over as manager soon.
• Terrell Owens can’t find a job, Donovan McNabb is on the bench, Julius Erving is selling all of his NBA mementos and Lenny Dykstra is facing four years in prison. Mama, don’t let your kids grow up to be superstars.

Joshua Harris and Adam Aron came to Philadelphia last week, defibrillation paddles in hand, and brought back to life the corpse of the 76ers. The new owners are everything the old owners weren’t – people who care about basketball and have an actual plan on how to revive it here.
Even more interesting was what their debut revealed about the owners we already have: likeable Dave Montgomery, outdated Ed Snider and elitist Jeff Lurie. Billionaire businessman Harris and resorts entrepreneur Aron unwittingly said a great deal about all of those owners, and, in so doing, a great deal about themselves, too.
The new management face of the Sixers is Aron, who grew up in Abington immersed in the world of Wilt Chamberlain, Julius Erving and the greatest public-address announcer of all time, Dave Zinkoff. Aron can rattle off some of Zinkoff’s old lines effortlessly, and he doesn’t need much prodding to do it. The CEO and co-owner is one of us – a fan – with two Harvard degrees and an undefeated record in business.
The first thing Harris and Aron did upon their arrival was to slash the ticket prices on over 9,000 seats, some by 50 percent or more. If they had rented a neon billboard calling the previous owners clueless, the message would not have been any clearer. Comcast and Ed Snider are gone, and so is the clueless way they ran the Sixers. Hallelujah.
Less tangible but just as impressive was the way Harris and Aron took a page from Montgomery’s manual and built an immediate bond with the fans. They made their new ownership about the people, setting up a website (newsixersowner.com) where fans have direct contact with the bosses. They even reached out for advice from former president Pat Croce, a man who knows more about fan bonding than anyone.
In the process of their introduction to the city, Harris and Aron showed us a quality that we all undervalue in the high-stakes, cut-throat world of professional sports. They showed people skills – something the Phillies have in abundance and something the Eagles don’t have at all.
During separate interviews with both Harris and Aron, I pinned them down on their accessibility to fans. Specifically, I asked them if they’d be as available after a five-game losing streak as they were last week. Of course, they both said they would be, but then they proved it – at least to me – by adding that it’s their responsibility to talk to the fans. It’s their job. Meanwhile, the Eagles bosses, Lurie and Joe Banner, remained unavailable for a seventh straight week.
Just two days after the impressive debut of the new Sixers owners, talks broke down again in the NBA lockout. For the first time in memory, I actually gave a damn. I’m disappointed that we’ll have to wait longer – maybe a lot longer – to see the new Sixers. Congratulations to the new guys for starting to make us care again.

An alarming thought occurred to me last week after reading and hearing for the umpteenth time how the Eagles had saved their season against Washington. The general theme after that shaky 20-13 win was that the Birds would be fine now, that they had survived the premature demise of their promising season.
What if the Eagles won that game not because of their newly redesigned defense but because of the dreadful performance of Rex Grossman? What if the Eagles are spending this bye week deluding themselves into thinking again that they’re better than they really are? What if – perish the thought – Tony Romo exposes them on Sunday night?
These Eagles are never very good at dealing with reality, but here’s a dose of it for them anyway. Kurt Coleman is not going to make three interceptions in a game again this season; he probably will not get three more this season. The linebackers still aren’t big enough or fast enough to scare anybody. The heralded cornerbacks can’t tackle. The defensive coordinator, Juan Castillo, still has shown little evidence that he knows what he’s doing.
And that’s just on defense. Michael Vick is still getting hit way too much, the big-play offense is not making anywhere near enough big plays, the placekicker is not trusted in big situations and Andy Reid is still the coach.
The Eagles saved the season in Washington, you say? I doubt it. I have a really bad feeling that the only thing they actually did is prolong the agony of a lost cause.

Ruben Amaro Jr. did a brilliant job of building the 102-win Phillies, but we now can finally see what his team lacked the most. It’s the ultimate intangible in sports. Luck.
Just go back to the ninth inning of Game 2 of the World Series last Thursday. The Cardinals were leading 1-0 at the time, with the top Texas hitters due to bat. Does that situation call to mind any recent moment for the Phillies? Like, say, the ninth inning of Game 5 of the division series, same score, big hitters scheduled to hit?
In St. Louis, Ian Kinsler led off by blooping a base hit into left field, triggering a two-run rally that tied the series. In Philadelphia, Chase Utley crushed a ball to the base of the center-field wall, where it died in the glove of John Jay. Kinsler hit the ball 200 feet. Utley hit it 400. Kinsler won the game. Utley lost the season.
I was talking to coach Peter Laviollette last week after his Flyers had lost to the Capitals, 5-2, on four deflected goals. He said he hadn’t slept much the night after that game. He kept seeing the puck snake through a throng of skaters and ping-pong into the net. Three of the four tainted goals had actually struck Flyers on their way in.
You can’t coach luck, he said. And you can’t general manage it, either. You can put together one of the best starting rotations in history, but you can’t tell the ball where to land with the game – and the season – on the line.

Idle thoughts . . . .
• The Phillies have already made their first mistake of the off-season. They retained hitting coach Greg Gross for another year. Ruben Amaro and Charlie Manuel both said they didn’t like the approach of the hitters last season. And then Gross got rehired? It makes no sense.
• When is a trade a matter of life and death? When the player is Jerome Harrison and his physical right after the deal turns up a brain tumor. Bravo to the Eagles medical staff for catching the problem early, and even to Ronnie Brown for making the dumb play that saved Harrison’s life.
• A recent poll shows that two out of three fans want Sixers mascot Hip Hop bounced. In a city with the incomparable Phanatic, there’s just no room for a far inferior mascot. Boil the water. It’s time for some rabbit stew.
• Paul Holmgren stopped the housecleaning one player too soon. The Flyers GM should have dumped Scott Hartnell along with Mike Richards and Jeff Carter. Hartnell already has a reduced role, and if he makes a few more plays like that giveaway against Washington, he’ll have no role at all.
• After his third straight benching in three seasons, Donovan McNabb said he has “a lot more football to play.” Is this why he was seen in the front row of a Lingerie Football League game recently? Is he looking for his next job already?

The Eagles won a football game on Sunday. That’s the bad news. The good news is, coach Andy Reid did not fix his broken team, despite a 20-13 victory over Washington. The coach simply found an opponent less talented and more clueless than his own. Reid is still on course to leave at the end of the season.
If those words seem like the bitter lament of someone who’s no longer rooting for the Eagles, well, they are. I decided late last week to root for something much more important than the final 11 games of an already doomed season. That’s why I was hoping they’d lose on Sunday – and every game after that until Reid is gone. I still love the Birds, always will. I love them so much, I’m sacrificing 2011.
While the city was applauding the revival of a team that had carried so much optimism just a few weeks ago, I had a new perspective when the Eagles faced the Redskins. And what I saw was nothing dramatically different than the four pitiful losses that preceded it. Yes, the run defense was better, and – for once – the Birds didn’t blow a lead in the fourth quarter.
But look at the rest of it, through my refocused eyes as a former Eagles fan. The team still started horribly, with two penalties on the opening drive and a snap over Michael Vick’s head that narrowly missed being a safety. Will Reid ever find a way to motivate his players before a game? What exactly does he say in his pregame speech? Does he sing them lullabies?
And before we send new defensive coordinator Juan Castillo to Canton, let’s consider the Washington quarterback , Rex Grossman. Somehow, Grossman managed to throw four interceptions before his benching, three to safety Kurt Coleman, who had amassed the grand total of one pick in his previous 20 NFL games.
The Eagles offense was hardly the explosive touchdown machine that had been advertised before the season, either. Because of a makeshift offensive line, Vick resorted to three-step drops for most of the game, thereby negating the deep speed of DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin. The Birds won the game because LeSean McCoy simply refused to lose, especially on the final drive.
Think about it for a second. Reid escaped with a win despite a still-unreliable offensive line, still-unreliable linebackers, a still-unreliable defensive coordinator and a still-unreliable placekicker. The only thing we can count on for sure right now is Reid’s insulting attitude. Even after a win, he said the Eagles “have to do a better job” of scoring in the second half. Ugh.
Philadelphia was happy that the football season didn’t end on Sunday. There will be more meaningful games to play after the bye week, maybe a whole season of them. But not to me. No, I’ll wait for something more significant to cheer. I’ll save my joy for the long-overdue departure of Andy Reid.

Every once in a while, a rookie comes along who acts so stupidly, he needs an instant education. Such was the case last week with Eagles center Jason Kelce, and I had the enviable task of serving as his instructor.
After their abysmal loss to Buffalo, Kelce and linemate Evan Mathis stopped outside the gates of the Novacare Center and strongly urged a couple of fans to take down a sign that suggested the it was time for coach Andy Reid to leave. Exactly what was said between the players and protestors is in question, but Kelce did admit on local TV that he threatened to pull down the sign himself if they didn’t remove it.
The idea of suppressing fan criticism is idiotic on the surface – this being America, and all – but the notion of trying it in Philadelphia is downright infuriating. I screamed my lungs out in making this point on my radio show last Thursday. This was certainly not the first time I went bonkers in my 22-year stint on WIP, but my tirade got an unusual response. Kelce apologized for his behavior.
The young lineman came on my show the very next day, explained that he was just being loyal to Reid, and then acknowledged his mistake. He expressed sincere regret to the protestors, and then he said he was sorry to all Eagles fans.
So what was the lesson of this incident? The lesson was that no one is going to come into Philadelphia and tell the most passionate fans in America how to act. Those protestors were well within their rights to post a sign calling for Reid to leave. In fact, they were expressing the opinion of a majority of the fans.
Our city has gotten a bad reputation – and an unfair one – because we care enough to boo and howl and erect insulting signs when our teams disappoint us. If the players want to stop the criticism, there is really only one solution. Win.

Charlie Manuel made a stunning admission last week, but many fans missed it in the depression that followed the playoff ouster of the best Phillies team ever. He said his players are not listening to him.
The manager didn’t mean to say it. He didn’t want to say it, either. In fact, he would deny saying it if pressed today. But he said it. Oh, he definitely said it.
Ruben Amaro Jr. began the exchange that led to Manuel’s revelation when the GM said the team needs to change its hitting style – to work counts better, to use all parts of the field, to adapt to the different situations that crop up in a game. In other words, to be smarter at the plate.
Manuel immediately agreed with his boss, before reminding everyone that his specialty is hitting. “I know how good of a hitting coach I am” were his exact words. Then came the moment of truth. Manuel said he has been trying all year to get his hitters to change their style, with no apparent success. Is there another way to interpret this but that, after seven years, the players are tuning him out?
The fact is, Manuel just handed a loaded gun to Amaro, an on-the-record public admission that he is losing his effectiveness as a manager. If Manuel doesn’t win it all with the Phillies in 2012, don’t be surprised if Amaro pulls the trigger.

Idle thoughts . . . .
• Mr. Charisma moved 3,000 miles away, but he’s still the most boring man in pro sports. Mike Richards set up the winning goal in overtime for the Los Angeles Kings Saturday night, and then the former Flyer captain had nothing more to offer than his usual droning, nervous mumblings. Good riddance.
• If you want to see how a really good coach does his job, check out Peter Laviolette of the Flyers. His strategy is logical, his approach is consistent and his answers to questions are respectful and intelligent. Andy Reid and Charlie Manuel could learn a lot from this guy.

• Joshua Evans just spent $280 million on a Sixers franchise with no star attraction, a tepid fan base and an NBA lockout threatening an entire season. Hey, at least he must really want the team – unlike the previous owners, Ed Snider and Comcast. Good luck to the new guy. He’ll need it.
• Jimmy Rollins needs to check his birth certificate. He wants a new five-year contract. He’s a soon-to-be 33-year-old shortstop with a lousy on-base-percentage, dwindling range and a bad attitude. He doesn’t deserve a day over three.
• Embattled Eagles defensive coordinator Juan Castillo said last week that he was totally unaware of all the harsh criticism he has been receiving. Clueless on the field, clueless off it. Well, at least he’s consistent.

The crowd was clamoring for a miracle as Ryan Howard took one last mighty cut and then stumbled down the first-base line before landing in agony just a few steps from the batter’s box. I was in section 214 as the feeble ground ball became the final out of a disastrous loss. Howard was seriously hurt. Nobody cared.
Has there ever been a clearer snapshot of the fleeting nature of fame than that moment last Friday night? Howard was the hero of Game 1 of the division series, he was the poster boy for a half-decade of unprecedented success by the Phillies, and nobody gave a damn – including me – as he endured a pain deeper than any in his remarkable career.
As I drove home in silence after the worst loss in Phillies history, the word was already circulating that Howard had ruptured an Achilles tendon in his left foot, raising doubts about his immediate future in baseball. Even then, I felt no great sympathy for the big slugger, and neither did any of the fans who called my radio show to talk about it yesterday.
With the wounds still throbbing after the defeat of the best Phillies team ever, it’s hard to draw any sweeping conclusions about how we will feel about this era and these players months or even years from now. But I have a strong suspicion that things will never be the same, that the harsh glare of this historic loss will change the way we see many of these heroes.
For example, will manager Charlie Manuel seem as charming and lovable now that he failed to win with this amazing team? Who deserves more blame for the failure of the offense than the manager, whose specialty is hitting? Is one championship in seven seasons with the best talent in Phillies history good enough?
And what about Cliff Lee, who blew a 4-0 lead in Game 2 and changed the direction of the series? His love affair with Philadelphia may not have ended that night in Philadelphia, but will it ever be so passionate again? Will he ever be embraced the same way after that shocking collapse?
There are questions at every locker now. Will Roy Halladay still be as brilliant next year, at 35, as he was this season? Will Chase Utley ever again be the player he was just a few years ago? Is this the end for the hero of 2008, Brad Lidge? Will Jimmy Rollins ever play another game for the Phillies? Should he?
All of these questions can be answered only by the passage of time, but the one moment in 2011 frozen forever is Ryan Howard on the ground, in horrible pain, and 46,530 people leaving the ballpark in silence. Many of them never even looked back. I know I didn’t.
Baseball can be a very cold sport, and this promises to be an especially frigid winter for all of us.

Juan Castillo must be removed as defensive coordinator of the Eagles immediately. The experiment must end. Every aspect of this overpaid, underachieving defense is broken – shattered – and it will remain that way until someone who knows what he’s doing is running the defense.
What happened Sunday in Buffalo was not at all surprising – a 31-24 loss to another inferior opponent – but it was infuriating just the same. Every member of the defense, including Pro Bowlers like Nnamdi Asomugha, has forgotten how to tackle. Every opposition running back looks like Walter Payton.
The one moment that best captured the current state of the defense came on the last meaningful play of the game, when defensive end Juqua Parker jumped offside on a fourth-down fake snap that wouldn’t fool a Pop Warner player. This Eagles defense is not just inept, it is dumb.
And all of its shortcomings point directly at Castillo, who was, is and always will be nothing more than an offensive-line coach. Yes, the Eagles turned the ball over five times, they screwed up the time management at the end of the half again, they committed stupid penalties and they appeared lost and disinterested until their fierce and futile rally.
But the only thing that really matters is that Buffalo scored 31 points, after 24 by San Francisco, 29 by the Giants, 35 by Atlanta and 31 by St. Louis. Those are the numbers of a losing team, a lost team. They demand immediate action. Juan Castillo must go.

On the trek out of Citizens Bank Park after the crushing Game 5 loss to St. Louis, the somber fans tried several times to start a “Let’s Go Flyers” chant. They were just as futile in that effort as the Phillies had been all night at the plate.
In the months ahead, however, we can expect those chants to grow as loud and strong as the team they represent. In the new power rankings of Philadelphia sports, the Flyers present the best hope for our next championship, and they did nothing in the first week of the season to discourage that optimism.
What was so appealing about the Flyers in their first two games – both wins – was the freshness of their boldly reshaped roster. Ilya Bryzgalov has already posted one more shutout than the goalie carousel did in the entire regular season last year. Claude Giroux is approaching superstar status, James van Riemsdyk is maturing quickly and the new additions – Jaromir Jagr, Wayne Simmonds, Sean Couturier, Matt Read and Jakub Voracek – are providing speed and depth.
Equally important is the absence of the two overrated and overpaid stars, Mike Richards and Jeff Carter, who were banished in the off-season purge. Is there a single sober fan who believes the Flyers were better off with the dour Richards as captain than the feisty Chris Pronger? With Pronger as the unchallenged leader in the clubhouse, the Flyers will not fade the way they did at the end of last season.
The Flyers are the best pro team in Philadelphia right now, and – as predicted on these pages a few weeks ago – they will prove it by winning the Stanley Cup this season.

Idle thoughts . . . .
• There’s only one member of the Phillies I refuse to rip after the division-series debacle: Ruben Amaro. Not only did the GM deliver the best pitching rotation in team history, he also got Hunter Pence before the trade deadline. Amaro did his job. The players and manager didn’t. End of story.
• Now that Roy Oswalt has made it clear he wants to come back next season, the Phils need to exercise his option and then trade him. The Phils already have a better No. 4 starter, Vance Worley, and they can find a much better way to use the $16 million owed to Oswalt in 2012.
• Andy Reid said for the fourth straight week that he had to do a better job after losing again on Sunday. Just as an experiment, try telling that to your boss for four straight weeks. Then let me know if you get a chance for a fifth straight week.
• As usual, Eagles owner Jeff Lurie and president Joe Banner have vanished from sight during the past month. They smiled for every camera when assembling this team, and now they are invisible when it falls apart. Why do they think they can get away with this? Why do we let them?
• Hey, not all of the news is bad this week. At least Phillies fans won’t have to hear Dick Stockton broadcast another game on TNT, or watch umpires Jerry Meals and Angel Hernandez butcher any more calls, or stay up past midnight. That’s just like me, isn’t it? Always looking for the silver lining. . . .

After 13 years of arrogance and pomposity, Andy Reid is getting exactly what he deserves. His Dream Team is a nightmare, and his coaching has become a national embarrassment. Tick, tick, tick goes the clock as it finally runs out on his overrated career as Eagles coach.
The 24-23 loss Sunday to San Francisco was much more than just a bad afternoon at Lincoln Financial Field. It was a harsh indictment of an offseason riddled with terrible decisions. Reid’s new defensive coordinator, Juan Castillo, is a disaster. The kid placekicker is unreliable. The recent draft record is catastrophic.
How far have the Eagles sunk this season? So far that they gave up 442 yards to the worst offense in the NFL, 289 in the second half. Study those numbers very carefully. They tell the whole story of this dreadful football team. In the decade when Jim Johnson ran the defense, the Birds never lost three straight fourth-quarter leads. In fact, his defenses gave up more than 442 yards only five times.
The sheer audacity of rejecting all of the experienced candidates for defensive coordinator and choosing Castillo as the new guru may be – and should be – the fatal blow to Reid’s career here. While his unit was collapsing for a third straight week, Castillo was flailing his arms and jumping up and down like a candidate for the cheerleader squad. He has no idea what he is doing. Absolutely no idea.
Of course, Reid’s humiliation didn’t stop there. The Eagles still would have won the game if not for the meltdown by his rookie kicker, Alex Henery, who missed from 39 and 33 yards in the fourth quarter. David Akers was standing on the opposite sideline, probably wondering what we all were: How could they dump their best kicker ever for a novice?
Reid has never explained that decision because he doesn’t care what you or I think. Heck, even after that brutal loss, he set aside a moment at his postgame news conference to chastise a member of the media who had the gall to ask if any changes were planned. Once a bully, always a bully.
The best thing that came out of the disaster Sunday at the Linc is that the focus can finally move away from Reid and onto the people above him, owner Jeff Lurie and president Joe Banner, both of whom signed off on the biggest spending spree in their 17 years running the Eagles.
Reid said after the loss that he had done an “absolutely terrible job,” a rare moment of honesty that was unanimously endorsed by a city that has seen enough and heard enough of him.
The bad news Sunday was that the Eagles suffered a loss from which could destroy their season. The good news was that no one can ignore any longer the hideous performance of Reid this season – not even Lurie and Banner.

By all accounts, the atmosphere at the Phillies playoff game Sunday night at Citizens Bank Park was different from that of any recent postseason game. It was so subdued toward the end, even Phils shortstop Jimmy Rollins later Tweeted that the crowd was “waaaay too quiet.”
Is success spoiling Phillies fans? Have five straight division titles – and five straight playoff appearances – made the annual autumn drama seem less suspenseful? Are the Phillies too good?
It’s still too early to answer those questions, but there are some worrisome signs. The worst, by far, was the ovation provided for Cliff Lee after he was knocked out of the game, having squandered a four-run lead. Since when do Philadelphia sports fans reward failure? The man is making $25 million a year, and he gets cheered for blowing a big playoff game?
Also bizarre was the lack of venom directed at home-plate umpire Jerry Meals, who butchered the strike zone all night – including a called third strike to Chase Utley in the fifth inning that was criminal. If the umpires are not stirring our passions these days, who is? No city has ever been less forgiving of the men in blue than ours.
The strangest twist on a horrific Sunday happened across the street from Citizens Bank Park, at Lincoln Financial Field, where fans began a thunderous chant of “Let’s Go Phillies!” in the final seconds of a third straight Eagles loss. Fans who attended both games said that chant was louder than any sounds heard at Citizens Bank Park after the second inning.
So let’s get this straight. Eagles fans are loudest when cheering for the Phillies. And Phillies fans are loudest when applauding for a pitcher after he blows a big lead in the playoffs. Hmmmm. After the baseball and football seasons are over, I think we might all need a long vacation.

Hunter Pence and Nnamdi Asomugha landed in Philadelphia at almost the exact same time this summer, joining the Phillies and Eagles, respectively, to provide the missing pieces to two championship puzzles. Since then, however, their differing fates offer a fascinating insight into how their teams are conducting business these days.
Pence has provided a shot of adrenaline on a Phils roster that needed it – a wide-eyed bundle of awkward energy who has made winning seem special again. Pence is a perfect fit, in temperament and style, on an extraordinary team. He’s batting third now, and quickly making people forget the dour Jayson Werth.
“I never had a bigger adrenaline rush in my life,” Pence said after his first playoff game Saturday. “The whole game, my body was tingling.”
Meanwhile, Asomugha is trying to adjust to an Eagles defense that has no idea how to use him. A lockdown corner in Oakland, Asomugha is playing in a zone most of the time now, with predictably mixed results. Why would the Eagles pay one of the top three cover men $60 million over five years and then change his role? Good question. Just don’t hold your breath waiting for an honest answer.
Pence and Asomugha are living proof that it takes more than talent to succeed in the sports world. It also takes a team that knows how to use that talent. The Phillies do. The Eagles don’t. And that’s why the Phils are in the playoffs, and why the Eagles are 1-3.

Idle thoughts . . .
• If the Phillies lose tonight in St. Louis, they should start Roy Halladay on short rest in Game 4, but they won’t. Manager Charlie Manuel will stick with Roy Oswalt, and we will all regret that decision. Look at it this way: Do you want this season to end with the best pitcher in baseball on the bench?
• Donovan McNabb is refusing all attempts by the Vikings to improve his throwing mechanics? Hold on a second. They’re saying McNabb is an uncoachable know-it-all? Where did I hear that before?
• The biggest shock should not be that Terry Francona parted ways with the Red Sox last week, but that he lasted eight years there. In the end, he said the Boston fans cared too much, created too much pressure. Francona is a living example that even a bad manager can win championships.
• Jose Reyes, the poster boy for selfishness in sports, outdid himself last week when he demanded removal from the last game of the season to secure his National League batting title. It’s a shame he’s going to be leaving the Mets as a free agent. They deserve each other.
•Opponents are already complaining about fan behavior at Lincoln Financial Field. One said a seven-year-old was throwing beer cans at his team bus. Another grumbled that he had never seen so many middle fingers. Don’t you just hate it when our fans are more aggressive than our team?