PHILADELPHIA — It was a disappointing year for sports teams in eastern Pennsylvania as the Flyers, Phillies and Eagles failed to live up to enormous expectations.

The only goal for those clubs in 2011 was to win a championship. And each team underachieved.

Yet nothing was more shocking than the disturbing events that unfolded at Penn State in November. In the fallout, Joe Paterno got fired after 46 seasons as the Nittany Lions' head football coach.

School trustees dismissed Paterno in the aftermath of child sex-abuse charges filed against retired defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky. Sandusky says he is innocent.

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And Paterno, who just turned 85, is currently fighting what his family calls a "treatable" form of lung cancer.

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