PHILLY SPORTS CORNER

Weekend thoughts..

VILLANOVA-

The Cats choked. Up 7 with 5 minutes to go. Hard to repeat as NCAA champs. They had a great year, etc..but the bototm line is, they just weren't good enough.

At least get to the Sweet Sixteen..Elite Eight..Final Four. To get knocked out so early..memories of past Villanova tournament teams.

Nova fans will blame the bad bracket, with underrated teams like Wisconsin and Duke. But your'e gonna have to beat those team anyway to win a title, be it in the second round or later.

Villanova students must be in shock tonight. They were too cocky, too confident in the last few days. One clueless student didn't care that the Wildcats won the Big East tourney, saying "Who cares? We're national champs!"

Not anymore.

PHILLIES-

The prospects are slowly being assigned to their minor league teams as spring training winds down. But youngsters like Roman Quinn, Brock Stassi and Andrew Knapp remain. I get it, adding professional hitters to the line-up lime Howie Kendrick and Michael Saunders. But give the fans a taste of the future, a little hope, a reason to watch this summer, by bring players like Quinn, Stassi and Knapp north.

Quinn and Atherr could be the extra outfields. Both are excellent defenders. Quinn can steal a late-game base. Altherr offers pop off the bench. Better the kids then washed-up guys like Chris Coughlin who isn't part of the future.

Do we have to worry about struggling pitchers such as Aaron Nola and Jeremy Hellickson, or are they simply fine-tuning their game for Opening Day? I most worry about Nola, since he is coming off elbow problems. When his control isn't there ( he walked 4 yesterday) Nola doesn't have the stuff to power his way around a line-up.

The good thing is, if any of these pitchers fail, the Phils do have starting pitching depth at Lehigh Valley. Guys like Jake Thompson or Zach Efflin can easily come to Philadelphia and pick up the slack. Plus, Hellickson won't be in Philly next year ( or, maybe as soon as late summer).

The final bullpen and bench jobs will be interesting decisions in a few weeks when spring training ends. Young guys like Hoskins, Cozens, Crawford , Alfaro and Williams acquitted themselves well in Florida. Looking forward to seeing each called up soon.Give them some experience this summer, before turning the page to a new crop of Pihllies in 2018.

EAGLES_

Not much Eagles news this week, after a flurry of activity in free agency last week. News broke that safety Malcolm Jenkins will be owed $10 million next year. Would the Birds trade him by then, even if he's still playing well? Would the team draft not only a pair of corners this spring, but a top-notch saety as well?

When-not if- will vets like Kendricks, Kelce and Mathews be cut or traded? My guess is around the draft. GM Howie Rossman will try to get something for these players in a trade before releasing more players to make cap room space.

The team may be pretty well done in the free agent market. Next is the draft. Rumors swirl about who the birds will take in the first round.Receiver? Running Back?Corner? Defensive End? Will the Eagles trade up or down?

FLYERS-

 I'm tired of the Flyers, their stepford fans, and the media saying the team is in "do or die" mode and still clinging to faint playoff hopes.They aren';t good enough, and even if they sneak into the playoffs as a wild card, they won't last long. This team still needs major repair. As they bring up more promising  prospects, their core vets  seem to be at the downhill side of their careers. Will the Flyers trade more vets during the off-season, or build around their current crew? What will happen with the goalie situation? Will Mason, Nurweirth, or both-or neither- return, while the goaltenders in the minors wait?

I say, clean house. What you've got now isn't working, and the aging players won't be getting any younger.