On Sunday night, our friends at CSNPhilly.com forwarded an item regarding quotes from Eagles defensive coordinator Juan Castillo, in which Castillo said that his team’s “linebackers will be ready to win the Super Bowl.” On Monday morning, MDS posted a blurb regarding the latest verbal faux pas from the would-be Dream Team.
While making my way from New York back home, I noticed that some of you were complaining about our handling of the quote, claiming that Castillo clearly intended a period to be placed between “ready” and “to”. In other words, the contention is that Castillo said, “The linebackers will be ready. To win the Super Bowl, remember, it takes 16 weeks, and then really whoever is playing their best during the playoffs.”
But here’s the thing. The Eagles’ P.R. staff typed up Castillo’s quotes based on the things he said at the press conference, and the Eagles’ P.R. staff sent it out like this: “The linebackers will be ready to win the Super Bowl. Remember, it takes 16 weeks, and then really whoever is playing their best during the playoffs.” (We have the e-mail, and that’s definitely how the P.R. staff prepared the quotes.)
Some of you claim that the video of Castillo’s press conference reveals an obvious split between “linebackers will be ready” and “to win the Super Bowl.” I’ve watched it, and it’s inconclusive, at best.
In the end, the fact that the Eagles P.R. staff, who routinely interact with Castillo, attached “to win the Super Bowl” to the notion that the “linebackers will be ready” -- and given that the P.R. staff has yet to send out a corrected transcript -- tells us that the quote is what it is, and that the various Eagles fans who are blaming us for using the words as they were transcribed should be blaming the team.
UPDATE: Not long after posting the story, I received an e-mail from Eagles spokesman Derek Boyko. “I just saw your post,” Boyko wrote. “I verbalized this to a couple of inquiring local reporters yesterday. There should have been a period between ‘ready’ and ‘To’. I should have sent this to you yesterday. Sorry for the confusion with you and your readers.” That’s a stand-up move by Boyko, and we appreciate it. That said, I still think the video is inconclusive.