Offseason

Jim Phelan is retiring because he wants a real offseason. Phelan, who has coached in 1,312 games and amassed 824 wins since taking over as the head coach at Mount Saint Mary's in 1954, announced yesterday he will retire at the end of the season. The 73-year-old coach battled prostate cancer in 2000, but said his decision had nothing to with his health. "What used to be your offseason is no longer your offseason," he said at a news conference. Phelan's 824 career wins is the most among active coaches and fourth on the career list behind Dean Smith (879)

CLEARWATER, Fla. – The baseball offseason has not always been kind to Laynce Nix. Even though the 31-year-old outfielder has more than six years of major-league experience, he had never received a phone call from his agent in the offseason saying, "Hey, this team would love to sign you to a big-league contract, what do you think?" A year ago, he had to wait until February before he received a minor-league offer from the Washington Nationals. Then he hit 15 home runs in 324 at-bats, marking the third time in his career that he put up double-digit home runs as a part-time player.

If Andy Reid enters 2012 on the hot seat, he won't be alone. Quarterback Michael Vick will be right there with him. Vick signed a five-year contract in August, but any significant financial guarantees from the Eagles end after next season, and so far they can't be thrilled with the early results of their investment. At the end of 2012 the team will have to decide whether to pay him big money in 2013 or move on. So if Reid returns to face a make-or-break season - and it seems he will - Vick, too, will be under intense scrutiny.

TEMPLE COACH Steve Addazio wants it known that offseason boot camp is officially open for business. And he's playing the role of bad cop. That's what happens when you don't make it to a bowl game, even in a year when logic suggested you probably weren't supposed to. The Owls, after being picked to finish last in their first season back in the Big East since 2004, went 4-7. They lost five of their last six. The end came Friday, at home against Syracuse....

SIXERS FORWARD Elton Brand spends his summers at his home in the Los Angeles area. He calls it his "vacation spot," though he rarely allows himself to kick back and chill. Brand, who will be 33 in March, knows that the end of his NBA future is like an oncoming wave at the beach - it can't be stopped. He does his best each summer to stall the inevitable - riding his bike for endless hours and miles, swimming lap after lap after lap in the pool and working on his basketball game at a local gym. He wants to squeeze as many seasons as he can out of his body, and that is why the potential of losing this season to a lockout is so bothersome.

There were wide receiver Victor Bailey's noticeable new muscles and center David Alexander's bulk-up to 290 pounds. Guard Lester Holmes, the first of two No. 1 draft picks in 1993, looked more chiseled at 300 pounds than the Rocky statue at the Spectrum. Nothing, however, was more visible to those at the Eagles' rain-shortened weekend minicamp than the upper body of defensive tackle Leonard Renfro. The offseason strengthening of the Eagles' other 1993 first-round pick appears to be right on schedule.

WASHINGTON - Benjamin Cooper Utley had not taken his first step as of Tuesday afternoon. But the 10-month-old son and first child of Chase and Jen Utley will most likely be on the move before the holidays. And that actually works out pretty well for his soon-to-be 34-year-old dad. "It's probably not going to hurt," Utley kidded before Tuesday's 4-2 loss to the Nationals. The Phillies' season will come to an end on Wednesday afternoon, but Utley has no plans of slowing down.

Jrue Holiday and Jodie Meeks walked out of the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine together, neither wearing 76ers gear because they'd worn nothing but team gear for the previous seven months. The Sixers' season is over. And as Holiday and Meeks, the team's starting backcourt, walked toward their cars Thursday, so too was the final obligation of this 2010-11 season: the team meeting and exit interviews. Now the unofficial work begins. By most people's standards, this season was a success.

Mike Anusky showed his commitment to Archbishop Ryan's football team by not playing summer baseball. "My teammates had been working hard since Day 1 of the offseason," the senior quarterback said. "They were weightlifting, running sprints, doing drills. I felt like I had to step up and do my part. " The extra effort has paid dividends. After going a combined 3-19 over the last two seasons, the Raiders are off to a 3-1 start. On Saturday night, Anusky completed 8 of 11 passes for 163 yards and three touchdowns, all in the first half, as Ryan eased to a 42-20 triumph over host Archbishop Carroll in a nonleague matchup at humid and foggy Radnor High.

THE SOUL in the offseason added more all-stars than a Miami Heat limousine. Twelve of the 16 players in this week's expected starting lineup were with other teams last year. Five of those 12 were either first- or second-team All-Arena. And another guy, lineman Devin Clark, will make it six All-Stars when he comes off injured reserve in 3 weeks. New coach Doug Plank led Georgia to the Arena Bowl in 2005. New offensive coordinator Clint Dolezel was one of the league's greatest quarterbacks and is one of its brightest minds.

SAN FRANCISCO - Chase Utley found serenity here, at a baseball diamond named for a coach who accepted a $1 salary for 16 years to save his college's team from abolishment. Dante Benedetti Diamond is squeezed into the corner of a sleepy neighborhood at the edge of the University of San Francisco's campus. Large black netting prevents home run balls from littering Golden Gate Avenue. Two freshman dorms overlook the field from behind home plate. An undergraduate student stuck a cardboard cutout of Mitt Romney in the window, so the smiling politician is always watching baseball.

First in a series OTTAWA - All season, Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren has steadfastly insisted he likes the team he has put together. His attempted offseason moves last year, however, suggest otherwise. By trying to bring free agents Shea Weber, Ryan Suter, and Zach Parise to Philadelphia, Holmgren, in effect, was saying the Flyers needed major upgrades. Holmgren can be applauded for trying to add the marquee players, but when he struck out on those three stars, his Plan B - adding recycled free agents such as Ruslan Fedotenko, Kurtis Foster, and Bruno Gervais - was a step backward.

Former Phillies catching prospect Travis d'Arnaud hit .333 with 21 doubles, 16 home runs, and 52 RBIs in 67 games at triple-A Las Vegas last season before being traded in the offseason from Toronto to the New York Mets as part of the R.A. Dickey deal. This year, d'Arnaud is hitting .250 with one home run and eight RBIs for triple-A Las Vegas. Yes, he is back in the same city even though he was traded in the offseason. The Mets and Blue Jays also swapped triple-A affiliates during the offseason with the Blue Jays triple-A team moving to Buffalo.

While so many top high school juniors are trying to impress college recruiters, Lenape's Courtney Norton has known her destination for some time. A trend in college athletics is to attempt to get oral commitments from recruits as early as possible. Norton thought Rutgers was a great fit, so in August she told the Scarlet Knights soccer program that she would be coming - in the fall of 2014. With the pressure of having to make a decision long gone, Norton has worked on her game, playing at an extremely high level.

1. The Los Angeles Angels already had an unbelievable lineup, which included rising star Mike Trout, from Millville, N.J., and future Hall of Famer Albert Pujols. Now, they have a lineup for the ages with the addition of Josh Hamilton, the prized possession of the offseason. After a disappointing 2012 that included missing a playoff spot, you can bet the Angels are ready to go big. 2. No matter what happens, the New York Yankees will always be the center of attention in baseball.

DENVER - What is the future of the 76ers now that we know Andrew Bynum needed surgery to repair not one, but both of his ailing knees? And just how repaired are they? Bynum will be on crutches for the next 6 weeks, with rehab probably scheduled for many, many months after that. And then, will he/doctors/we know whether he is able to compete on the basketball court anywhere near the level he did last season with the Los Angeles Lakers? Understandably, any talk of Bynum brings a roll of the eyes from Sixers fans, but right now, it is the lead question the organization faces as it looks to move forward.

PHOENIX - It's been a stressful offseason for Ravens coach John Harbaugh. He barely had a month to enjoy his team's Super Bowl victory over little brother Jim and the 49ers before the salary-cap termites showed up and started turning the roster of the Lombardi Trophy champs into sawdust. Their top free agent re-signing priority, rush linebacker Paul Kruger, signed with AFC North rival Cleveland. Another key free-agent linebacker, Dannell Ellerbe, who was being counted on to pick up the slack in the wake of Ray Lewis's retirement, opted for the Dolphins and South Beach.

This is a post by Les Bowen on the Daily News' Eagletarian blog. AT THE MAXWELL Club festivities Friday in Atlantic City, I got in a quick word with Eagles guard Evan Mathis. I asked Mathis what he knows about the blocking system he'll be working in under new offensive-line coach Jeff Stoutland. Mathis said that he knows virtually nothing about it, that he and Stoutland are prohibited from any but the most general discussions right now, at this point in the offseason. It wasn't the first time I'd gotten that response.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - The Phillies' best offseason move was the trade for Michael Young. In need of a third baseman, general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. looked at the crop of free agents and was understandably unimpressed. The only free-agent option aside from Mark Reynolds, with his all-or-nothing swing, shoddy defense, and first baseman's body, was Kevin Youkilis. Would you rather have Young or Youkilis? That's an easy one for two reasons: durability and adaptability. Young plays more and is also more likely to be a positive influence in the clubhouse.

When the Super Bowl finally came to an end late Sunday night, a sense of dread slowly crept over me. It wasn't because the game was disappointing (though the ads - a vital part of the modern-day Super Bowl experience - really sucked, with the sensational exception of Budweiser's trainer/Clydesdale reunion). What really bummed me out: Both of our major bowls are over (including Wing Bowl where Super Squibb let us down at the hands - or stomach - of someone called the "Bear"), and we are entering a dreadful 7-month stretch during which we will not see a meaningful football game.