What's in a name?
A whole lot of grief, if it happens to be "John Duffy."
There are two of them in their 40s in the Pittsburgh area who have worked as commentators for ESPN Radio. One of them -- John Duffy, 46, of Carnegie -- was indicted last week on child pornography charges.
The other -- John Duffy, 42, of Upper St. Clair -- is a sports medicine physical therapist in Scott.
"The similarities are uncanny," the Upper St. Clair Duffy said, noting that the NovaCare South Hills Sports Medicine Clinic, where he is the director, is about a mile from where the accused man lives.
"I treat a lot of kids," the physical therapist said. "That's what I worry about. I don't want anyone to feel uncomfortable if I treat them or treat their children."
His nightmare began Monday night when one of his patients arrived for an appointment and told him the news: John Duffy, an anchor for WEAE 1250 AM, Pittsburgh's ESPN affiliate, told a judge he was innocent of charges of one count of possessing sexually explicit materials of children.
"That's when I realized this might be a problem," the physical therapist said.
Many patients who were treated on Tuesday asked him about it -- particularly after seeing the framed photo of him standing in front of the ESPN sign outside the radio station's Wilkinsburg office. Duffy's secretary even hung a cartoon quote bubble next to his face with the words, "I am not the John Duffy that got busted for kiddie porn."
Wednesday afternoon, however, he received an e-mail with the subject line, "pervert," which people had been forwarding. The e-mail included the biography of him posted on his company Web site. Duffy immediately posted a note on the page explaining that he is not the indicted John Duffy.
"Yesterday, there was a bit of joviality about the whole thing," he said. "Now, it's not so funny."
The physical therapist worked as a commentator on ESPN's Saturday-morning golf show from 2002 to 2005.
