Stan Walters

So,how do you think a game would end if one team had Ron Jaworski at quarterback, Wilbert Montgomery at running back and Dick Vermeil on the sideline and the other had Rodney Peete at QB, Ricky Watters at RB and Ray Rhodes calling the shots. If you favored the first group, you would be right. In Game 1 of the "Best of the Nest," aired last night on WIP (610-AM), the 1980 Eagles beat the 1995 Eagles, 21-7, at Veterans Stadium. "Best of the Nest" is a fantasy tournament of the six best teams in Eagles history.

A former linebacker who once played for Buddy Ryan, Marty Schottenheimer and Jimmy Johnson will bring his expertise to the broadcasting booth for Eagles games this fall. Garry Cobb, 41, who played 11 seasons in the NFL before beginning a local broadcasting career, yesterday was named color analyst for Eagles games by WYSP-FM (94.1). Cobb, who will work with 21-year veteran broadcaster Merrill Reese, replaced former Eagles offensive tackle Stan Walters, who retired. A native of North Carolina, Cobb played three seasons at the University of Southern California, where he twice was named all-Pacific Ten and started on the 1978 national champions.

Three Eagles deserving of serious Pro Bowl consideration have been voted Most Valuable Players by their teammates. They are: Offense: Herschel Walker, who also was so honored in 1993. Defense: Andy Harmon, his first major award as an Eagle. Special Teams: Ken Rose, now a three-time honoree. The three Bert Bell Award winners will be honored next Thursday at the 33rd annual Bert Bell Memorial Awards Dinner at the Wyndham Franklin Plaza. "These are three great football players and excellent, excellent leaders, and I'm really proud of them," coach Rich Kotite said.

The Eagles and WIP radio were a Philadelphia entry. For 23 consecutive years, Eagles fans tuned their dials to 610-AM to hear games. That association ended yesterday when WIP announced it no longer will broadcast the Eagles. The Eagles then signed a four-year contract with WYSP (94.1-FM). WYSP, home of Howard Stern in the mornings, is a classic rock station. But Infinity Broadcasting Corp., which owns WYSP, has experience in sports broadcasting. It owns FM stations that broadcast the Dallas Cowboys and Tampa Bay Buccaneers games.

Gridiron fans of all ages can start the season with a touchdown at the Collingswood Public Library during September. Wednesday through Sept. 27, as the Eagles begins their 60th season in the National Football League, the library, at Haddon and Frazer Avenues, will show the Gallagher Archives, a private collection of Eagles-related memorabilia dating to 1933. On display will be an array of player bubble-gum cards, tickets, game programs, press credentials, game equipment, autographed footballs from past seasons, and game jerseys belonging to Reggie White, Stan Walters, Wilbert Montgomery and Garry Cobb.

Jan. 11, 1981. Wilbert Montgomery takes a handoff from Ron Jaworski, sprints through a hole and into the Dallas secondary. Montgomery doesn't stop until he has run through the end zone for the 42-yard touchdown that helped the Eagles win their only NFC championship. Jan. 19, 2003. Montgomery will take a handoff from Jaworski on the very same spot. As he takes off on the trail he blazed 22 years ago, the Veterans Stadium Phanavision screen will show a replay of perhaps the most famous touchdown in Eagles history.

Two current Eagles players, John Spagnola and Ron Baker, say that the play of several of their teammates was adversely affected in a 1981 playoff loss because of drug use the night before the game, according to a published report. In today's editions of the Inquirer, Spagnola and Baker are quoted as saying that a drug party took place at the team's Philadelphia hotel the night before the Eagles' 27-21 loss to the New York Giants at Veterans Stadium. Spagnola and Baker did not say they witnessed the party, and they declined to identify the players involved.

MIKE QUICK and Donovan McNabb came to their present jobs just a year apart, both facing big hurdles. In 1998 the former five-time Pro Bowler took the place of Stan Walters - a longtime color analyst and himself a former Pro Bowler at offensive tackle - on the Eagles Radio Network. What should have been a joyous transition soon became an extremely stressful one for Quick, who still owns a number of Eagles receiving records set during a 9-year career here that ended in 1990. His first game in the booth was a 38-0 home loss to Seattle, which among other things eventually led to the exodus of coach Ray Rhodes after a 3-13 season that all but killed the morale of football fans in this town.

How bad was it? It was so bad, Merrill Reese and Stan Walters, the radio voices of the Eagles, couldn't think of anyone to give the player-of-the-week-award to. They finally gave it to defensive tackle Mike Pitts "because he hasn't won it this season," Reese reasoned. It was so bad that the usually acerbic Buddy Ryan opened the postgame interview not in a huff but in a soft, halting whimper. "This is, uh, a tough loss, a November loss for us. . . . " It was so bad, Eagles quarterback Randall Cunningham wore black to the postgame interview, black to match the mood of the Eagles, who lost, 10-3, to Washington at Veterans Stadium.

Stan Walters, the 24-hour analyst, chose to look at yesterday's final Eagles broadcast of his 14-season radio career as few others could on such an emotional afternoon. "What broadcasting the Eagles games did was prolong adolescence for me," Walters said. "It took me from my playing days right into my late 40s. I consider myself a very lucky man to have been on the air all this time with Merrill [Reese]. I guess we all can't stay kids all our lives. " Walters and his family are moving from Alpharetta, Ga., to the village of Cobham, outside London, in a couple of weeks.

MIKE QUICK and Donovan McNabb came to their present jobs just a year apart, both facing big hurdles. In 1998 the former five-time Pro Bowler took the place of Stan Walters - a longtime color analyst and himself a former Pro Bowler at offensive tackle - on the Eagles Radio Network. What should have been a joyous transition soon became an extremely stressful one for Quick, who still owns a number of Eagles receiving records set during a 9-year career here that ended in 1990. His first game in the booth was a 38-0 home loss to Seattle, which among other things eventually led to the exodus of coach Ray Rhodes after a 3-13 season that all but killed the morale of football fans in this town.

So,how do you think a game would end if one team had Ron Jaworski at quarterback, Wilbert Montgomery at running back and Dick Vermeil on the sideline and the other had Rodney Peete at QB, Ricky Watters at RB and Ray Rhodes calling the shots. If you favored the first group, you would be right. In Game 1 of the "Best of the Nest," aired last night on WIP (610-AM), the 1980 Eagles beat the 1995 Eagles, 21-7, at Veterans Stadium. "Best of the Nest" is a fantasy tournament of the six best teams in Eagles history.

RON JAWORSKI started the week after the brutal Mike Hartenstine hit, and that's all you really need to know about Ron Jaworski. Eagles-Bears, 1980, Eagles in the middle of what turned out to be an eight-game winning streak, Jaworski back to pass, fades to his right, looking, looking, looking downfield until Hartenstine thumps him from behind, burying his blue-and-orange helmet between the quarterback's shoulder blades. Stan Walters, the Eagles' beefy left tackle, still wakes up in the cold sweat of anguish, thinking about how Jaworski's head snapped back, how he plummeted, face-first onto the unforgiving surface at Veterans Stadium.

Jan. 11, 1981. Wilbert Montgomery takes a handoff from Ron Jaworski, sprints through a hole and into the Dallas secondary. Montgomery doesn't stop until he has run through the end zone for the 42-yard touchdown that helped the Eagles win their only NFC championship. Jan. 19, 2003. Montgomery will take a handoff from Jaworski on the very same spot. As he takes off on the trail he blazed 22 years ago, the Veterans Stadium Phanavision screen will show a replay of perhaps the most famous touchdown in Eagles history.

The Eagles' season-opening WYSP broadcast is interrupted by "a word" from one of the zillion game sponsors, this one hyping a chocolate milk mix as "better than Quik. " The radio spot ends with a group of chocolate milk drinkers shouting, "For us, no more Quik. " You won't be hearing that from WYSP listeners this Eagles season. The more Mike Quick, the better. After a confusing, controversial summer deciding who would and wouldn't be succeeding Stan Walters as Merrill Reese's radio partner, it already is clear that 'YSP has drafted a star rookie analyst in Quick, the ex-Eagles receiver.

A former linebacker who once played for Buddy Ryan, Marty Schottenheimer and Jimmy Johnson will bring his expertise to the broadcasting booth for Eagles games this fall. Garry Cobb, 41, who played 11 seasons in the NFL before beginning a local broadcasting career, yesterday was named color analyst for Eagles games by WYSP-FM (94.1). Cobb, who will work with 21-year veteran broadcaster Merrill Reese, replaced former Eagles offensive tackle Stan Walters, who retired. A native of North Carolina, Cobb played three seasons at the University of Southern California, where he twice was named all-Pacific Ten and started on the 1978 national champions.

Stan Walters, the 24-hour analyst, chose to look at yesterday's final Eagles broadcast of his 14-season radio career as few others could on such an emotional afternoon. "What broadcasting the Eagles games did was prolong adolescence for me," Walters said. "It took me from my playing days right into my late 40s. I consider myself a very lucky man to have been on the air all this time with Merrill [Reese]. I guess we all can't stay kids all our lives. " Walters and his family are moving from Alpharetta, Ga., to the village of Cobham, outside London, in a couple of weeks.

Friction gets a bad rap. Think about it. Without friction, you'd be sitting in the dark, shivering. Friction creates sparks, which are heat and light and energy. Those are all good things, necessary things, so why does everyone think of friction as a bad thing? The Beatles made some of their greatest music when Lennon and McCartney were barely speaking. Hemingway might have decked Fitzgerald, but their rivalry pushed each writer to do his best work. Gauguin and van Gogh might not have been the friendliest housemates, but their paintings turned out all right.

The scientists behind the Manhattan Project managed to unleash the power of the atom in just a few short years, with a world war raging around them. President Kennedy promised in 1961 that America would win the race to the moon. Eight years later, Neil Armstrong made good on that promise. In April 1985, the Eagles selected an offensive tackle named Kevin Allen in the first round of the NFL draft. They were so determined to solidify their left tackle position, they passed on Jim Lachey, whom they considered a guard, and a wide receiver by the name of Jerry Rice.

Contrary to what you might have heard, read or thought, Rich Kotite's successor as Eagles head coach will not find a bare cupboard when he shows up for his first day of work in 1995. Quite the opposite, in fact. An examination of the Eagles' roster reveals 18 of the 22 starters in last Sunday's game against the New York Giants are signed for next season, and a 19th starter, cornerback Eric Allen is a designated "transition" player who can become a free agent only if the Eagles fail to match an outside offer.