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, .
Dear Mr. Paige – I just read your . As a baseball fan, I felt that you made some excellent points, except for one: Do you think a Holliday-for-Cliff Lee trade could ever happen? If I were a Rockies fan, I’d love to see it realized, but what are the odds that a team that’s very much in playoff contention in June would deal one of the best left-handed pitchers in the game? We don’t know if Lee has found himself, or if he’s just enjoying an abnormally stellar season, but if I were the Indians’ GM, I wouldn’t trade him for anybody … at least not now, with the season he’s having.
— Jamie Yates, Seattle
Jamie – The last time I checked, you weren’t general manager of Cleveland. General managers make dumb deals all the time. Check the Rockies.
I don’t know if a Holliday-for-Lee trade will happen. They don’t let me conference call when they’re talking deals. The Indians, the last I checked, aren’t in first place. Holliday would be a great player for them, and as you said, Lee might be having an abnormally stellar season. Holliday has had three or four stellar seasons.
How about them Mariners? They’re as bad as the Rockies.
Will the Nuggets and Rockies ever win a championship or are they forever doomed to be Colorado sport’s redheaded stepchild?
— Wes, Austin, Texas
The Rockies, the last time I checked, won a National League championship last year, Wes. Great barbecue place in Austin, and I love Sixth Street. Where were we?
The owner of the Nuggets is trying. They’ll win someday. The Rockies will, too, long after I’m dead and shortly after the owners sell.
Do the Rockies lead MLB in playing the most night games? I know bats are an important feature of the game, but sheez! Do the players and fans need to be bats also?
— Michael E. Jones, Bloomington, Ind.
I don’t know, Michael. Do you think I sit around comparing how many night games teams play? If you live in Bloomington, what do you care? How many night games are played by Indiana University’s basketball team, more than any other college team? Wait a second, and I’ll look it up, which you could do.
In April, the Rockies played seven night games at home, seven more in May. … I don’t have time for this. I would guess they play about the same number of night games as every other team, except one, which plays most of its home games in the afternoon. You can look that team up. Thanks, Michael E. Jones. I am always suspicious of people who put their middle initial in their e-mails. Thank you. Woodrow W. Paige Jr.
Do you think that San Antonio’s reputation for falling down on every play prevented the Spurs from getting the last call in Game 4 against the Lakers?
— Ronald Coomer, Lafayette, La.
No. Brent Barry didn’t fall down. If he had, he would have gotten the call, Ronald Coomer. He tried to stay up and shoot the basketball. Did you get a different game from me in Louisiana? The NBA said a mistake was made by not making the call. When was the last time the league office fessed up like that?
They shouldn’t have had Joey Crawford officiate that game, given his relationship with the Spurs. I will say this: The Spurs have never committed a foul, if you watch their reactions to every foul called. Let’s move on to the NBA Finals, shall we? The Spurs are last week’s news.
Hey, Woody! Do you think Hunter Cantwell of the Louisville Cardinals has a realistic chance of making a run at the Heisman Trophy this upcoming college football season? Rumor has it, he actually is a better QB then Brian Brohm.
— David B., Louisville, Ky.
No, David. Sorry. I think there’s a QB at Florida, who won it last year, who will have an even better season and repeat. Cantwell was special when he replaced Brohm, and he probably will be the No. 1 quarterback chosen in the NFL draft next year. Heisman? No, man. Top five? Yes, man.
Hey, Woody. Do you think this will be the breakthrough year for CU football?
— Todd, Boulder
Not quite, Todd. Tough schedule, off the top of my stupid head. West Virginia in Boulder (on a Thursday night). At Florida State. Tough place to play. I’ve been there with them before, or maybe it was CSU. I’ve seen too many games and taken too many blows to the head. Lose at Texas A&M, lose at Missouri, lose at Nebraska. Seven victories. Eight is a very slight possibility, and that would be a breakthrough, but they’re shy at too many positions: offensive line, wide receiver and across the defense.
I’m thinking the 2009 season, when Hawk will have had enough recruiting classes to restock the team. They’re headed in the right direction, but it took Bill McCartney a few years, and given the support by your friends in Boulder, and the problems CU’s had, if you recall, has hurt its reputation nationally. They will be entertaining, and I hope Dan Hawkins keeps going for it on every fourth down. This is Division I football.
Hey, Woody. What was your first assignment at The Denver Post? Thanks.
— Neil, Lakewood
To get the editor coffee, Neil.
One day I was at the Rocky Mountain News, the next at The Post. Now the story can be told. When the Los Angeles Times bought The Post in 1981, I was called in by the editor of the Rocky Mountain News, who told me he knew Times-Mirror would be coming after me, and he was giving me a raise to make sure I stayed. When I got my check, I saw I had gotten a $25-a-week raise. Wow!!! That’s how much they thought of me. If they had given me $100 a week more, I would have been excited.
Executives from Times-Mirror asked me to talk to them, and I had dinner with them. They offered to make me one of the highest-paid sports columnists in the country. I accepted. The Rocky then tried to offer me more money. I declined. So they had security guards grab me and escort me from the building immediately, and tore up my press card. Classy. And the Rocky has tried to get even with me ever since, even though the paper tried to hire me back from The Post years ago. Their bad.
My first assignment? I wrote a column, which was what I had done since I was 24 at The Commercial Appeal in Memphis and at the Rocky Mountain News, a paper I loved. My column started: “Now, where was I?” And I picked the Broncos to win at Seattle, and I actually predicted the exact score. My second assignment was to get the coffee.
Hi, Woody. What do you think about Tony Reali being so stingy with points toward you on ESPN’s “Around the Horn”? You can make a great argument and get no points; the next analyst makes the same argument and she/he gets four points. We have a group on Facebook called “that tony reali has it out for woody paige.” We use it to voice our concerns and frustrations. And the blackboard is the best; I’m inspired by everything you write on it. Good luck with everything.
— Christina, Atlanta
Reali recently gave an interview to a national website, and he said he didn’t understand the scoring system on “Around The Horn.” Oh, really. He wants to replace Alex Trebek on “Jeopardy.” Imagine how messed up the dollar amounts would be on that show if Reali was the host. “You wagered 100 dollars. You are correct, and you get 12 dollars.” Reali and Jay Mariotti, notice that both their names end in “i.” There is no “i” in “Around the Horn.”
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 .
