Trading places: From Philly to Boston

The not-so-happy news: McCarthy is leaving NBC10 and, sadly, Philadelphia. The 29-year-old is about to land at Boston's New England Sports Network, where she'll serve as an anchor and specialty program host. McCarthy's contract at NBC10 runs through November, and she won't begin working at NESN until early next year.

Part of McCarthy's duties at NESN will involve discussing the Patriots (or Pahts, in local parlance), which sounds pretty grim to me. Bill Belichick's personality makes Andy Reid seem talkative and cuddly. But McCarthy grew up just outside of Boston in a town called Newton, so the move doubles as a homecoming for her. She's been away from the Hub for about 10 years now - four of which were spent here in Philly.

"It's a little bittersweet. It's a little melancholy," she said. McCarthy took a break from wedding preparations yesterday to confirm that she does indeed have a new job. I felt sort of bad about pestering her so close to the big day. I'm sure every soon-to-be bride dreams of fielding a meddlesome phone call from Page 2 shortly before getting hitched. Something borrowed, something blue, something with a formerly tilted head . . .

"I've really come to love Philly," McCarthy continued. "The city is great. The fans are great. I work in a fantastic department at a wonderful station. I can't say enough great things about the people I work with."

The question now is what happens at NBC10 when McCarthy decamps for New England. Station sources told me that, much like many local TV news outlets across the country, NBC10 is struggling financially and, as a result, might not replace McCarthy. (For all you college kids out there, it's a great time to get into the media. Business is booming, baby.) Instead, it's possible that NBC10 sports director Vai Sikahema and sportscaster John Clark will simply work more shifts. (Attempts to reach Chris Blackman - the station's vice president of news - were unsuccessful.)

There's another, more-frightening possibility here. A station insider speculated that NBC10 might also ask 610 WIP's Howard Eskin to fill in as needed once McCarthy leaves. Eskin is a regular on the station's Sports Final program on Sundays.

Personally, I think that sounds like a bang-up idea - swapping a sweet, talented young woman for a hirsute curmudgeon who loves to insult people by calling them "genius" and "moron." That ought to produce ratings gold right there.

I don't know about you, but I miss Jade already.

No one puts Andy Reid in the corner.

Not surprisingly, Big Red was in a bad mood at yesterday's day-after-debacle news conference at the NovaCare Complex. When we got to questions about the Wildcat, he became even more condescending than normal.

A reporter, someone I respect as fair and smart, asked a perfectly reasonable question about the Wildcat and Kevin Kolb, but Reid didn't seem to like that too much.

"Let me help you out with the Wildcat," Reid said snidely. Then he went on to outline how that particular variation of the offense averaged 5.7 yards per carry and totaled five first downs against the Saints. Reid also called the Wildcat "very prodeeuctive." (Oddly, he failed to note that the team that put the most points on the scoreboard on Sunday wasn't the squad running the Wildcat.)

Now keep in mind that the reporter in question didn't offer an opinion or editorialize when asking the question. He simply wanted Reid's take. Reid used it as an opportunity to put the scribe in his place.

"Do you remember how many times we ran [the Wildcat]?" Reid asked, staring at the reporter. It wasn't a rhetorical question. He actually wanted an answer.

"Nine," came the reply, not just from the scribe Reid singled out but from a lot of us.

"Yeah, it was 12," Reid said.

I don't know if Reid was trying to embarrass the guy or if he simply doesn't like reporters questioning his brilliant new offense, but it made the head coach seem childish and supercilious.

That's the thing about bullies. When they get smacked around the way Reid and the Birds did Sunday, they feel compelled to pick on someone else and reassert themselves. But it never makes the bully look tough - just small.

Since Stacy Andrews isn't playing much, how long until he joins his brother's YouTube efforts? . . . At 7:30 this morning, Betsy Ross will place the final stitches in the Sixers new uniform outside of her home on Arch Street. Once more, with feeling: bad team, clever PR staff. . . . Despite Al Michael's fawning review on NBC the other night, Jerry Jones and his garish new stadium aren't so wonderful after all. According to Fox down in Dallas, thousands of Texans paid for parking and $29 "party passes" that they thought would grant them standing-room-only access to Sunday's game. Nope. Instead, they were forced to stay outside and watch it on the stadium's giant monitors. Everything's bigger in Texas - including the bait and switch.

Contact columnist John Gonzalez at 215-854-2813 or gonzalez@phillynews.com.