Denver Post sports columnist Woody Paige posts Woody’s Mailbag every Thursday on DenverPost.com.
To drop a sports-related question into Woody’s Mailbag or visit DenverPost.com’s . And to browse the archive of videos in Woody’s World, .
What is wrong with the Rockies?! Our Padres are HORRIBLE. There is no way that the Rockies – with all of those sluggers (even without Troy Tulowitzki) – should have any problems playing against this horrible offense. Your batting coach needs to find his mojo immediately.
— Pat Thomas, San Diego
Pat – Your Padres indeed are horrible. Should make you want to throw up and move to Detroit. I’m sorry. What was the question?
Alan Cockrell is not my batting coach. He’s a guy who went to the same college I did. We didn’t take “Mojo” at Tennessee. We took underwater basket-weaving.
What’s wrong with the Rockies? I don’t have all day. Starting pitching (), relief pitching, offense, defense, overpriced hot dogs.
They made a mistake on Jayson Nix. I didn’t think he could hit yet, or ever, at the major league level based on his minor league marks. And Troy Tulowitzki’s start, then his injury, hurt deeply. Todd Helton and Brad Hawpe aren’t hitting much, and I wonder if the Rockies’ players and management got too comfortable because of the World Series. They could have gotten Dan Haren, but they’re so in love with guys who probably will never play in the bigs, they weren’t willing to make the deal.
How about them Chargers?
Hey, Woody. I saw your column and poll about the Nuggets’ next step. Do you really think a deal with Kiki Vandeweghe or a good draft pick can make this team play up to its talent level next season?
— Leo, Lakewood
Yes and no, Leo. And, uh. A 20th draft pick will not make the Nuggets much better. A trade with Kiki could make the Nuggets much better. But you say “this team.”
If they make trades, sign free agents and add a No. 1 draft choice, it won’t be “this team.” Truth is, if Stan Kroenke is willing to go $30 million over the salary cap, he can improve “this team” with a No. 1 and a couple of free agents, an Elton Brand and a Chris Duhon, or a Baron Davis and a DeSagana Diop. But I don’t believe Kroenke will just keep spending money on top of money.
With “this team,” the Nuggets probably will be a bit improved – if Carmelo Anthony acts like a real person and an occasional defender – but look at the Lakers and the Hornets and the Spurs and the Jazz. The Nuggets are not there. . This is a paid advertisement, and I, Woody Paige, have approved it.
Who will the Broncos regret the most not drafting in a few years?
— Andrew, Tulsa
Andrew – LaDainian Tomlinson. I don’t know. Glenn Dorsey is going to big big big, and K.C. got him. He wasn’t there for the Broncos, obviously. Jordon Dizon, I think.
Woody – I am a big fan of yours from ESPN’s “Around the Horn.” As the new racing secretary at Arapahoe Park, I would like to invite you to come out and enjoy the races if you are free on Friday, Saturday or Sunday during the summer.
— Stuart Slagle, Aurora
Sure. I love racing at Arapahoe Park, the taste of the mint juleps, the old tires and the dump in the distance. When’s Big Brown coming?
Seriously, Stuart, I used to go out to Arapahoe in the early days, but racing here has waned so much, and, actually, I forgot about it, especially when I lived in New York and could go to Belmont Park.
I am free on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Is the admission free on Friday, Saturday and Sunday? Let’s have a day when everybody who brings a copy of my column, or a DVD of my ESPN show, gets in for a dollar, and we can all sit together, and I’ll give tips.
I had elderly friends who used to go to Hot Springs, Ark., to the track and stand on the rail at the finish line, and they would bet the daily double. One day a couple of them bet a long shot (35-1) in the first race, and he came from way back to win. One of the fellows jumped up and down, grabbed his heart and collapsed. One of the other retired guys walked over, felt his pulse, looked at the ticket and turned back to his friends. “Is he alive?” one man asked. The guy sighed and said: “Only in the Double.”
Hey, Woody. What is the most underappreciated overachievement in the sports history of our state? Thanks.
— Chuck, Denver
Me getting a job.
Chuck – I really believe it was Colorado winning the national championship in football in – what, ’91 – for several reasons. The Buffs started the season, if I remember, and I don’t look this stuff up, with a tie with my team (Vols) and lost to, I think, Illinois by a point, and it was over. Supposedly. But the Buffs came back and won the rest, and beat Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl.
I remember writing after four or five games how they could win the national championship, passing about 15 teams in the rankings, and, lo and behold, it happened, and I said to myself: “Self, you were so full of it, or something like it, and look what happened.”
There were other reasons. Nebraska was so good for so long, and CU had problems recruiting against the major schools, and Bill McCartney was still building a program, and students at CU didn’t really care, and there were so many quirks, like five downs against Missouri, and “Rocket” Ismail’s touchdown return being called back at the end on a phantom penalty, and everything went CU’s way that year. I don’t think that will ever be repeated.
The Broncos’ winning the Super Bowl twice wasn’t underappreciated or an overachievement, and the Rockies were lucky last year, but it was appreciated. And the Avs, we didn’t really know about when they got here and won the Stanley Cup. I’ll go with the Buffs, and live with that answer.
After looking at the Broncos schedule this year, 10 wins isn’t out of the question, right?
— Tommy, Lakewood
Tommy – I don’t know. I don’t know if it’s “”10 wins aren’t out of the question” or “10 wins isn’t out of the question.” I went to Tennessee.
Peter King of Sports Illustrated rated all the teams in the league after they drafted, and the Broncos were 23rd. My guess is the Broncos could win 10 games, but that means they have to run better, catch better, play defense better, play special teams better, and have Brandon Marshall come back, which is not a given, and all the young players grow on the defensive line, and the linebacking corps be good, and they avoid injuries, and blah, blah.
One year the over-under in Las Vegas on the Broncos – this was many years ago – was 8. Eight victories. I never bet. I don’t even order takeout. A friend of mine asked me about the over-under, and I told him it was the biggest lock in the world that the Broncos would win more than 8 games. Bet your house, I said. The Broncos won 6.
I couldn’t pick my mother out of a police lineup. I’d have a better chance of picking Broncos and Nuggets out of police lineups.
Woody – The Nuggets drive me crazy. One week they play great, and then they go and lose to the Kings and Sonics. I adore Melo, and I would HATE to see him leave. Is there even the slightest chance he leaves? Also, I say trade Marcus Camby for Jose Calderon or T.J. Ford.
— Joe S., Rhode Island
Carmelo won’t leave on his own. Can’t. Will he be pushed? Despite my own feelings, no. The Nuggets won’t trade him. They’ll hope he grows up on and off the court, and takes a slight interest in defense and passing and rebounding and some of the other qualities of the game.
What I’m hoping, Joe, is that Carmelo goes to the Olympics and plays well within a team and learns what the game is all about. When he won at Syracuse, he was a one-man gang, and still believes he is. He might ask some of his friends to go out and get lives. And he should get a driver. And a 4-iron.
Hey, Woody. What REALLY happened between Mike Shanahan and Ted Sundquist? Also, what role did Ted play in the “war room.”
— Clint, Grand Junction
Clint – I’m not allowed in the “war room” any more than I was allowed in the Oval Office when Nixon was talking to Kissinger.
Here’s what I believe, based on fact and speculation. Sundquist wanted to have a higher profile and wanted to be “THE” general manger. Wasn’t going to happen with Shanahan here. Sundquist sort of cozied up to members of the media, became an inside source and was dropping hints about his role.
Let me pause and tell you Sundquist hated me. Don’t know why, other than I’m easily hateable because I’m not a homer, and I occasionally write bad things about the Broncos. When I saw him once at Wimbledon, he was very friendly. Honestly, I never wrote about him. I didn’t think he was important enough. Maybe I should have written what an important person he was.
Anyway, he got his own radio gig and was doing all this work to get his name out there, and Shanahan had enough, and didn’t like a lot of the deals he had brokered, anyway, so he told him to quit the radio show (during last season). And Shanahan doesn’t care for guys in the organization leaking stuff. An assistant coach used to tell me things, and that assistant coach got dumped. Anyway, where was I?
So, when the season went south, Shanahan thought Sundquist had gotten too big for his britches, and that he wasn’t such a great help in that war room you’re referring to, so he fired Sundquist. Have you noticed no other team hired him before the draft? There, Ted. Should have been nicer to me. (Oh, God, he’ll write me an e-mail now blasting me.)
By the way, Shanahan calls me at home when I make a mistake. Last year, I wrote after some game that they had scored two times out of five in the red zone. He let me know that they scored three times out of five and said I added about as well as they scored in the red zone. He actually has a sense of humor when you get him away from that football stuff, which is about three times a decade. (Oh, God, he’ll call me now.)
See, don’t you love all this inside stuff. Until next week, drink your Ovaltine.
Woody Paige first joined The Denver Post in 1981 as a sports columnist. To drop a question into Woody’s Mailbag or visit DenverPost.com’s .
