Glen Macnow: the Eagles first round pick, the Flyers reemerge and St. Joes gets hosed

Glen Macnow: the Eagles first round pick, the Flyers reemerge and St. Joes
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Of all Howie Roseman’s dramatic moves in the past 10 weeks, none tops his heist of the Dolphins, dumping two unwanted players while moving from 13th to eighth in the draft.

NFL draft wizard Mike Mayock joined Ray Didinger and me on WIP Sunday and projected that the Eagles choice at Pick 8 will boil down to one or two of these studs: Notre Dame tackle Ronnie Stanley, Ohio State RB Ezekiel Elliott, UCLA linebacker Myles Jack or Florida cornerback Vernon Hargreaves III.

I’d be delighted with any, but happiest if the 320-pound Stanley ends up in midnight green. The Eagles could then convert the aging Jason Peters to guard. While current reports have Peters resisting such a move, he did concede last August that he expects to finish his career inside.

If it works out that way, it would give the Birds an imposing left-to-right lineup of Lane Johnson, Peters, Jason Kelce, free agent guard Brandon Brooks and Stanley. Even Sam Bradford could look good behind that protection.

Flyers a hot ticket again

One great aspect of the NHL is that a sluggish team can catch fire at season’s end and make an unexpected deep run in the post-season. The 2010 Flyers snuck into the playoffs in a shootout after the last game. They advanced all the way to Game 6 of the Cup Finals, when goalie Michael Leighton ended the dream by allowing a soft one over his shoulder.

Can they find late magic this year? Logic says the Flyers don’t have the secondary scoring, front-line defense or playoff-proven goaltending. But, as I said, it’s the NHL. For now, enjoy Tuesday’s home contest against the Red Wings, the first meaningful pro sports event we’ve had in town this year. It’s good, for once, to focus on what one of our teams is actually playing, rather than what they’ll do in the off-season.

Grumpy old sports stars

I want to produce a reality TV show in which Goose Gossage, Oscar Robertson, Mike Ditka and Don Cherry sit around bitching while watching live sports. This follows, of course, Gossage’s rant last week scorching bat flippers and stats geeks, and Robertson’s recent dismissal of Steph Curry’s greatness. The Grumpy Old Men could point to the screen and rail against anyone born after 1970.

What it is about old-timers that spurs them to condemn the next generation as soft prima donnas? We all fear growing old. I’m sure the sense of irrelevance is compounded when you once owned that spotlight.

The Hawks got screwed

I’m a Big Five fan, but always partial to St. Joe’s where I’ve taught writing. With that disclaimer, can we agree the Hawks got hosed on Selection Sunday?

Phil Martelli’s team went 27-7, won the A-10 title, finished with an RPI of 23 and went 10-2 on road campuses. For that, they got an 8 seed and a schlep to Spokane, WA., where they’re a first-round underdog to a nasty Cincinnati squad. If they win that game, they’llface 1-seed Oregon.

They Hawks deserved better.