Strategy

It's summer in the city and these guys are about to get a line on the fish in the water at Franklin Roosevelt Park in South Philadelphia. Jason Andreola, 11, (left) and Angelo Flagiello, 12, were betting they could catch something yesterday.

Coach Dave Hoch thought that if his Germantown Academy team could outrebound Malvern Prep's Friars, hold their best player to a reasonable number of points and get its own best player some good shots, it had a chance to win. The Patriots did all three, but the Friars won Tuesday's Inter-Academic League game anyway, 36-31. "I don't know what to say," Hoch said after the game at GA. "We were within 1 point (32-31) with 1 minute, 15 seconds to play, and we were forced to foul their best player.

Collingswood yesterday used a diamond-and-one defense designed to contain Haddonfield's two Division I players, Brian Zoubek and Blake Wilson. The strategy backfired, however, as Haddonfield's less-heralded starters sparked an easy 68-52 Colonial Conference boys' basketball victory. "I thought we did a good job neutralizing Zoubek and Wilson," Collingswood coach Joe McLoughlin said, "but their other guys stepped up. " They especially stepped up during a 15-0 run that gave Haddonfield a 19-4 lead and set the tone before a sellout crowd at Collingswood.

Economic-development consultants from HyettPalma Inc. in Alexandria, Va., have quizzed the merchants of Bryn Mawr, surveyed its residents and gathered its shoppers in focus groups as they prepare a business-enhancement strategy. HyettPalma will present its findings at 7 p.m. tomorrow at a public meeting in the second-floor board room of the township administration building. The 90-minute session, led by firm principal Doyle Hyett, also will be televised live on Lower Merion's government-access cable Channel 7. The Bryn Mawr enhancement strategy will include proposals for clustering businesses, marketing Bryn Mawr, managing traffic and improving pedestrian access.

Pittsburgh Steelers' president Dan Rooney had some harsh words for Chuck Noll's coaching strategy and sideline communication in an interview published in yesterday's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Rooney said he disagreed with some of Noll's play strategy in Sunday's loss to Cleveland and labeled some plays "stupid. " The Steelers lost the game, 27-7, which dropped their record to 2-10. "At the end of the season, we have to evaluate everything we're doing," Rooney said. GIANTS Phil Simms did not suffer a serious shoulder injury against the Eagles and the New York Giants quarterback probably will play Sunday against the New Orleans Saints, coach Bill Parcells said.

WITH NEITHER the fanfare, flash nor controversy of Mayor Street's Neighborhood Transformation Initiative, City Councilman Wilson Goode has been quietly working on a strategy to revitalize struggling communities. We don't know yet what results will come out of NTI, but we're willing to bet Goode's efforts will have some lasting effects on Philadelphia. Goode's thesis is simple, if unexciting, in its obviousness: People in neighborhoods need better access to money and credit if we expect communities to flourish.

As New Jersey moves to take over the troubled city of Camden, the debate about responsibility and strategy flows back and forth between Trenton and Camden, Democrats and Republicans, executive and legislative branches. The state has little choice but to act. But which of two choices will be made? Continue business as usual: Drip an unending stream of ineffective subsidy, ensuring that the state can never extract itself from the morass that is Camden? Or make a complicated one-time investment loaded with sticks and carrots that connects Camden to the regional economy and provides a real exit strategy?

Owner George Steinbrenner summoned his top executives to Tampa, Fla., for meetings yesterday, less than a week after his New York Yankees became the first major-league team to waste a lead of three games to none in a postseason series. Five vice presidents met among themselves during the afternoon at the team's spring-training complex, then were scheduled to attend a night meeting with Steinbrenner, team president Randy Levine, and general manager Brian Cashman. New York is expected to pursue outfielder Carlos Beltran after he becomes a free agent and to resume talks with Arizona on acquiring lefthander Randy Johnson.

Brian Devine of La Salle had been working diligently on his finishing kick the last few weeks in practice. On Saturday at an indoor meet at East Stroudsburg University, his work paid off. In the Division I (larger schools) distance-medley relay, Devine - running the mile anchor leg - came from third to win the race for teammates Joe Hohenleitner, Greg Ryan and Dave Devine. The Devines are twins and the sons of La Salle coach Pat Devine. Central Bucks West (Greg Dattner, Steve Casale, Mike Petry and Todd Wiley)

Producing master plans to combat blight and revive rundown neighborhoods has practically become a cottage industry in Philadelphia. But comebacks, when they happen, rarely turn out the way planners script them. So it is with Point Breeze, which begins south of Washington Avenue on the west side of Broad Street, and extends well past Snyder Avenue. Once a working-class area of stalwart brick rowhouses, dramatically punctuated by cathedral-size churches that seem worthy of Rome, Point Breeze began coming apart at the seams with the '80s crack epidemic.

SAN DIEGO - A widely touted Border Patrol initiative to send migrants back to Mexico far from the points they are caught entering the United States illegally has one of the worst track records at discouraging people from trying again, according to a new study that offers a detailed assessment of how the agency's new enforcement strategies are working. The aim of the so-called lateral repatriations is to make it more difficult for migrants to reconnect with smugglers. The Congressional Research Service, drawing on previously unpublished Border Patrol data, found those migrants were among the most likely to get caught again.

NEW YORK - Pet food isn't cheap. Americans are expected to spend $21.3 billion on pet food this year, up 3 percent from $20.6 billion in 2012, according to the American Pet Products Association. Walk through any pet shop and you can see why. Store shelves are stocked with high-end meals, from organic cat food to frozen raw dog food. While pricier options might have less filler and more protein, and can be healthier, they are not always necessary, says Liz Hanson, a veterinarian at Corona Del Mar Animal Hospital in Newport Beach, Calif.

WHEN EAGLES general manager Howie Roseman and head coach Chip Kelly went to sleep early yesterday morning, a few hours after the first round of the draft ended, the name at the top of their draft board was Stanford tight end Zach Ertz. When they went on the clock with the third pick in the second round last night and Ertz still was unclaimed, they took him. While Kelly regularly uses two and often three tight ends in his offense, the position hardly was a crying need. They have Brent Celek, Clay Harbor and newcomer James Casey, whom they signed away from Houston last month.

WASHINGTON - Proceeding cautiously, President Obama insisted Friday that any use of chemical weapons by Syria would change his "calculus" about U.S. military involvement in the two-year-old civil war - but said too little was known about a pair of likely sarin attacks to order aggressive action now. The president's public response to the latest intelligence reflected the lack of agreement in Washington over whether to use America's military to intervene...

The 1987 New York Post headline - THE MAN WHO GAVE US AIDS - was arguably one of the most influential of all time. "Patient Zero" - a promiscuous gay Canadian flight attendant - had spread AIDS from coast to coast. The story sparked sensational media coverage, drove a book onto the best-seller lists, pushed the "gay disease" onto mainstream America's radar screen, and helped jump-start an activist movement, all of which eventually focused more money and scientific brainpower on an epidemic that had already killed tens of thousands.

A Kentucky Democrat said Thursday that two activists connected to a local political group were responsible for recording a private conversation between Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) and his senior campaign staff. The recording was disclosed earlier this week by Mother Jones magazine, prompting McConnell to request an FBI investigation and accuse liberals of bugging his office. On the tape, McConnell's campaign staffers discuss using comments made by actress Ashley Judd about her faith and her mental health against her in a possible Senate run. Judd has since decided not to run for Senate.

What in the name of value creation has Strategic Diagnostics Inc. done? Like many other companies, the Newark, Del. company has decided to sell off a business unit. However, the company, which rebranded itself SDIX in 2010, is apparently selling its last remaining business unit. OriGene Technologies Inc. , of Rockville, Md., will pay $16 million for the assets of SDIX's Life Sciences business. SDIX said OriGene has agreed to offer employment to a "substantial majority" of SDIX's employees.

When the Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Care Act and President Obama won reelection last year, the die was cast: "Obamacare" became the law of the land. While Republican players want to re-litigate the issue, the new federal guarantee of health-care insurance for every American family is here to stay. Until Republicans embrace this reality - and persuade the voters that they can deliver universal coverage on far better terms - the Party of Lincoln will never sustain a comeback.

1 BUCKLE UP EVERY TIME Every year thousands of lives are saved because of seat belts - about 30 percent of highway deaths are attributed to the occupants' not being restrained. 2 ANNUAL CHECKUP See the doctor at least once a year for a physical. When you go to the doctor have your blood pressure, blood sugar, triglycerides and cholesterol tested. Ask for the results and maintain a file with the numbers. This way you can see where you're trending and manage a problem before it starts.

A public briefing on the progress of Delaware County's still-forming local economic development strategy will be held Wednesday by the County Council. Once complete, the strategy will be a 10-year plan to promote job growth, opportunity, and community vitality, according to county spokeswoman Trish Cofiell. The Redevelopment Authority of the Delaware County Commerce Center has been working with the Delta Development Group Inc., a Mechanicsburg, Pa.-based planning firm hired for about $107,000, to conduct the study to form the strategy.