Boss

In 1991, Msgr. William J. Lynn wrote a memo outlining his interview with a man who said he had been molested by the Rev. Michael McCarthy, a longtime teacher at Cardinal O'Hara High School. But Lynn made a mistake, at least in the eyes of his boss at the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. Lynn had told the accuser that his was not the first complaint against McCarthy. "Unnecessary statement," the Rev. James E. Molloy, then the assistant vicar for administration, scrawled in the margins of the memo.

Q: Charles, what's your opinion on professional soccer? I've got friends who absolutely hate it, curse it whenever they see it on TV. I've got others who think it's the greatest thing since sliced bread. I've never played, but I find myself getting sucked in when it's on TV now, especially when it's one of the really good European teams. Is there something wrong with me? — A Soccer Lover in Chester A: Dude, there's no law that says you have to like what your friends like.

RE STUART Caesar's letter "The Boss blows in the wind": Which Bruce Springsteen are you talking about? The "millionaire rock star" you're imagining never existed. Bruce's message has been consistent for 30 years. He wasn't a "flag-waver" in the '80s (though the Reaganites tried to co-opt him). Actually listen to the lyrics of "Born in the USA. " Bruce is far from anti-American. He's anti a government that tries to use fear and lies to push its agenda. Why aren't you? Jim O'Neill, Philadelphia

Boss fans need no longer fret - he is on the road to recovery. No, not Bruce Springsteen, but a 7-year-old Abington police dog who attained local celebrity status during a recent hospital stay. Boss, a badge-toting German shepherd, was recently released from the Veterinary Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania after a monthlong illness that led to a call for blood donations from area canines. "I'm really happy to have him back," said Daniel Buckley, Boss's handler and partner of six years.

DAVID BRADLEY'S op-ed "The Boss Sounds the Alarm" tries to paint Bruce Springsteen as a heroic poet-activist, trying to warn fellow Americans against the evils in our system of government. According to "the Boss," there are lies and deceit in the heart of every politician and capitalist who dares profit from this land. This millionaire rock star, who capitalized big-time on our system while waving the flag back in the '80s, is now sour on this country and its people? Cry me a river, Bruce.

Guess who's coming to dinner? The boss, that's who, and this is no movie with a guaranteed happy ending. It's real life, where the souffle can fall, meat can burn and vegetables turn to mush. Yes, dinner with the boss can be a truly traumatic experience, as awkward as asking for that well-deserved raise, and producing results that are just as disappointing. You can, of course, write a happier script, and all it takes is coaching from people who know how. But before we start preheating the oven and chilling the wine, let's toss out a few half-baked stereotypes.

IT DOESN'T take a doctoral candidate to realize that the Board of Revision of Taxes needs work, but it sure didn't hurt when Wharton School researcher Kevin Gillen illustrated to the Tax Reform Commission Wednesday how inaccurate BRT's assessments can be, and why BRT should shift to 100 percent valuation. Gillen's was one of the more impressive voices raised on the BRT's work. City Councilman Michael Nutter, for example, introduced a bill last year that called for a major reform of the BRT. That bill is stalled on the Council calendar.

You didn't have to be a Yankees fan to feel George Steinbrenner's impact on Major League Baseball. "The Boss" died Tuesday at age 80. Steinbrenner broke the mold when it came to spending whatever it takes to build a championship team. Just ask the Phillies, who got an up-close lesson in the Steinbrenner philosophy in losing last season's World Series. Also witness the complaints this season because Phillies management didn't take a Steinbrenner approach in pulling out the checkbook to put two Cy Young Award winners, Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay, in their pitching rotation.

Is Chicago Mayor Tom Kane, the titular character in Starz's addictive new political drama, Boss , a good man? Is he a bad man? An evil man? Created and written by Farhad Safinia, Boss is a compeling, intimate, behind-the-scenes look at a larger-than-life big-city mayor and how he, his aides, his cronies, and his political enemies run their town. Happily, the show stays out of partisan politics - it never mentions party names or affiliations. Boss ' first of eight episodes premiered Friday (and is available through Video on Demand)

Q: Charles, what's your opinion on professional soccer? I've got friends who absolutely hate it, curse it whenever they see it on TV. I've got others who think it's the greatest thing since sliced bread. I've never played, but I find myself getting sucked in when it's on TV now, especially when it's one of the really good European teams. Is there something wrong with me? — A Soccer Lover in Chester A: Dude, there's no law that says you have to like what your friends like.

Are the non-football schools in the unsettled Big East Conference thinking of leaving and creating their own basketball-first league? The answer, according to Joe Bailey on his third day as interim commissioner, is no. In a teleconference with reporters on Wednesday, Bailey - who agreed to become the temporary head of the Big East after John Marinatto resigned Monday - declared he had heard no talk of a mass defection. The managing director of an executive sports recruiting firm and former CEO of the Miami Dolphins, among other positions, he actually poked fun at the claim.

It's an 83-page racketeering indictment designed to cripple the Philadelphia mob, but the U.S. Attorney's Office is playing a last-minute game of who's-the-boss while 14 defendants are awaiting trial. When Joseph "Uncle Joe" Ligambi was busted last year, the indictment described him as a "made" member of the city's La Cosa Nostra family who "rose through its ranks to become its underboss, then acting boss, and then, after the incarceration of his predecessor Joseph Merlino, the boss of the Enterprise.

The Roots will help celebrate our nation's roots on the Fourth of July as the house band for the Philly 4th of July Jam at Eakins Oval on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Mayor Nutter announced on Thursday. "The largest free concert in the United States," as Nutter called the event, is the brainchild of Welcome America! musical director Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson, who has invited an array of headliners, including Pottstown native Daryl Hall and superstahs Queen Latifah, Common, and Joe Jonas.

SAY WHAT you want about the Philadelphia Mafia, but they have a helluva health-care plan. Mob boss Joseph "Uncle Joe" Ligambi, for example, had a gold-plated benefits package that came with his no-show position at Top Job Disposal, a South Philly trash company where he "performed no work or productive services," according to a superseding indictment unsealed Thursday. LigambiCare also extended to his relatives, federal prosecutors say. Because what's the point of leading an organized-crime family if you can't spread the wealth around?

Friday night's episode of Undercover Boss will have a distinctly local flavor — the salty, loamy taste of soft pretzels. That's because the subject of the show is Bensalem native Dan DiZio, the CEO of the Philly Pretzel Factory. The drama on the CBS reality show promises to play out differently as well. Usually, the corporate chieftains haven't lifted anything heavier than a phone their entire careers. So they tend to experience trouble once they take on disguises to perform their companies' most physically demanding, entry-level jobs.

Jailed mob boss Joseph "Uncle Joe" Ligambi illegally collected more than $224,000 in medical benefits for himself and his family while holding a no-show job at a South Philadelphia trash-disposal company, according to an expanded federal indictment unsealed Thursday. Ligambi, who already faced racketeering charges linked to gambling, loan-sharking, extortion, and the operation of illegal video-poker machines, was charged with two additional counts of theft and conspiracy for allegedly falsifying employment records to qualify for medical coverage from a Teamsters health and welfare fund.

Bart R. Mueller is stepping down as executive director of the South Jersey Transportation Authority, the state agency that operates the Atlantic City Expressway and the Atlantic City International Airport. His resignation is effective July 1, the SJTA said in a statement. Mueller, of Oaklyn, Camden County, has been executive director of the SJTA since 2007, a period marked by an expansion at the Airport, including a modern parking facility. During Mueller's tenure, the number of passengers using the airport has increased by almost 50 percent to 1.4 million annually as of last year, the statement said.

From the business side of things, the 76ers have had a very good season, according to CEO Adam Aron. Before Tuesday's game against Indiana, the Sixers' last one at home in the regular season, Aron talked about what this year has been like from the ownership side and what fans can look forward to. "The ownership group is smart, dedicated, committed, deep-pocketed, and we will do what it takes to give Philadelphia the winning team that it wants...

WASHINGTON - The top U.S. military officer said Monday that the nation's military leadership is embarrassed by allegations of misconduct against at least 10 U.S. military members at a Colombia hotel on the eve of President Obama's visit over the weekend. "We let the boss down," Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at a Pentagon news conference. He said he regretted that the scandal, which also involved 11 Secret Service agents accused of cavorting with prostitutes at the hotel, diverted attention from Obama's diplomacy at a Latin America summit.