Stu Bykofsky: Commish Ramsey, the 'best thing.' Really?

CLIFF LEE TURNS down more money and says "no" to New York.

Chuck Ramsey turns down more money and says "no" to Chicago. Who can we get to say "no" to Los Angeles?

Is the good news actually happening in Philadelphia - City of Losers, home to the fattest, ugliest, meanest, most socially retarded people in the U.S.A.?

If we're blinking in the unaccustomed sunlight, the rest of America must be going crazy. If Philadelphia is as bad as they think it is, how come adopted sons are turning their backs on bigger cities and more money?

I expect the nimble Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corp. to either expand the "XOXO, Love, Philadelphia" campaign, or to launch a new one - "You Can't Touch This: Love Philadelphia." No comma: Love Philadelphia.

I don't know what outsiders are thinking, but I imagine what crossed Police Commissioner Ramsey's mind in the run-up to his decision:

"When did I become a cross between the Messiah and Steve Carlton? How can I even think of leaving if my departure will make Philadelphia more dangerous than Mogadishu? We might even get pirates!"

Such was the vibe I got after reading colleague Buzz Bissinger's superlative-laden column calling Ramsey the best thing to happen to the Police Department in the last 50 years. He spoke for many.

Ramsey's excellent, but hold on. Mayor Nutter promised to slash the homicide rate by 25 percent and Ramsey cut it "only" 15 percent - it dropped to 306 in 2010. Short of goal, yes, but a huge improvement. (It's easy for politicians to promise, harder for police to deliver.)

Homicides reached a staggering 503 in 1990, when Willie Williams was police chief. The lowest number in the last 20 years was 288 in 2002, after John Timoney had been commissioner for four years.

Somewhere, Timoney must be chuckling and rubbing one of his cauliflower ears. It was he who brought the department into the computer age and slashed homicides. Surely, he was a "best thing."

On the list of commissioners over the last 50 years, one name stands out like Everest: Frank L. Rizzo, who ran the department from 1967 to 1971, through some tempestuous times.

Many people felt safe under Rizzo, others felt he ran a police state. Pick your side and your weapon of choice.

Howard Leary was top cop from 1962 to '65 and was hired away by New York Freakin' City, a promotion in money and status. Wasn't he a "best"?

Ramsey "cannot be allowed to go to Chicago to run that city's police department," Bissinger demanded in an open letter to Mayor Nutter.

Was he suggesting house arrest?

Cliff Lee and now Chuck Ramsey demonstrated that it isn't always about the Benjamins, but be real. The Chicago Sun-Times reported that Ramsey asked for $400,000 and Mayor Emanuel figuratively gave Ramsey the remaining part of his middle finger. (Rahm's missing one digit.) Nutter poured a lot of sweetener into Ramsey's tea, but Philly's $255,000 was still well less than Chi-town's $310,000. In Chicago, Ramsey would have been close to relatives, in a bigger city, running a bigger department, and Chicago was home.

That's why the column I started writing last Wednesday fearlessly predicted that Ramsey would return to Chicago. Home is more than a word or a place. It is an emotion.

Because Ramsey has moved before, I speculated, it would be easy for him to move again, especially if the move took him home (and to his beloved Bears).

Then, in a Sally Field moment, Ramsey understood, we like him, we really like him, and decided to stick here.

So now we have one more reason to like him - and one more reason for the rest of the country to puzzle over how this city manages to clench some hearts.

Bissinger was right about one thing. For people like Lee, and Ramsey, and Ed Rendell and Mitch Williams (and Bissinger and me), Philly becomes home.

Email stubyko@phillynews.com or call 215-854-5977. See Stu on Facebook. For recent columns:

www.philly.com/Byko.