Denver Post sports columnist Woody Paige posts Woody’s Mailbag every Thursday on DenverPost.com. Following a mini-summer break, Woody’s Mailbag returns July 3.
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, .
Hey, Woody. Which of the four major golf tournaments is your favorite? Thanks.
— Ray, Denver
Thank you, Ray. I’m at the U.S. Open this weekend, and this is probably my 20th. I’ve been to more than 30 Masters, but only a few PGA Championships.
My favorite is the British Open because I love being in Scotland or northern England for the week and hanging out with the people and enjoying the country and riding the trains and going to Loch Ness to see the monster or visiting the land where Braveheart hung out and learning more about the history of Great Britain. I love the courses, and I’ve been able to play most of them. I love the fact that anybody can buy a ticket. Unlike in this country, they just keep selling tickets, and if 500,000 people showed up, they’d get in. Love the fish and chips at The Open and how the weather affects the tournament – it can be 30 or 90 during The Open – and driving on the wrong side of the road with a stick shift and staying in a bed-and-breakfast or in a castle (the last time I was at Muirfield) and visiting the castles and the museums in the morning and leaving the courses (after writing) well after midnight.
My first trip to The Open, I stayed in a fireman’s house and asked where I could get some beer to bring home after the tournament that day. He told me to go to the beer store down the lane. I assumed he meant a 7-Eleven or something. But it was a beer store, and people were lined up to fill their containers from a keg. I had no container. They loaned me one, and every night I lined up with the others, now my friends, to buy our beer and take it home.
Silly story, but those are the memories I’ll have – with watching Tiger in his first pro trip to The Open and spending all his time trying to hit out of gorse and off railroad tracks and watching him a few years later totally destroy St. Andrews and the field in The Open to win easily, and watching Colorado’s Hale Irwin whiff on a two-inch putt, and finishing second by a shot, and watching Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus win those Opens and riding on the plane back from Scotland with Tom Wiskopf, and he showed me he had bought a dozen sweaters, just like all the other tourists, and being in line at the airport with Fred Couples and talking about the meaning of The Open.
A few years ago during The Open, I went to the oldest course in Scotland and played with clubs from the 1800s and a gutta-percha ball. And I stayed with a family near St. Andrews once, and we sat up late that night watching an American TV show – which the family members called “Den-a-stee.” “That’s where I’m from – Colorado,” I said proudly.
I love the Masters, and the U.S. Open is difficult, but my favorite three events are the Olympics (because of the countries where they are held), Wimbledon and The Open when the Scottish bagpiper plays to start the round in the morning.
I’m not old enough to have been alive during the heyday of ABC’s “Wide World of Sports.” However, thanks to DVDs, I have seen many of the telecasts. And after , watching those DVDs is gonna go from … “Wow, can you believe this stuff?” … to … “It’s hard to imagine he’s not around.”
— The Lumberjack, Rochester, N.Y.
I assume you are referring to Jim McKay. He was one of the classiest gentlemen I’ve ever met in the sports business. He was a true professional and was nice to everybody, which is, unfortunately, not true of some others.
I believe that Jim McKay, Roone Arledge and Howard Cosell had more influence on TV sports than anyone else in history. Arledge created “Wide World of Sports,” which long preceded ESPN and “Monday Night Football.” He put Jim McKay on one and Cosell on the other. They changed the face of ABC and how sports were reported on television.
McKay began hosting the Olympics when they were tape-delayed a day or so, and he held his position for decades. And he uttered one of the most famous refrains in our country’s history – the thrill of victory, the agony of defeat. We have all known both feelings. When Jim switched seamlessly from hosting the Olympics in Munich to covering the worst tragedy in Olympic history, he proved he was a special journalist.
On Saturday, as I was headed to the Belmont Stakes in New York, I heard Jim McKay died, and was very saddened that we had lost another of the good guys. I knew he would have given anything to be at the race that day.
Woody – When I walk out of Invesco Field at Mile High on Sept. 14, the Broncos are 2-0 after beating the Raiders in Week 1 and the Chargers in Week 2. I believe so, do you? I know you do.
— James P. Palmieri, Bloomfield, N.J.
If you know how I believe, why ask? You’re reading my mind, James P. I do believe they will be 2-0. The Raiders’ kids at quarterback and running back will still be learning to play together and at this level on Monday night, and I genuinely believe the Broncos will beat the Chargers here. But you and I could be so totally wrong.
I was wondering if all you ESPN personalities hung out together. Do you and Stephen A. Smith play poker together? Do you and Jay Bilas go out to the bars together? I am very curious. Thanks.
— Brandon, Columbia, Mo.
Dear Very Curious: Yes and no. During the World Series and the Super Bowl, I hung out with several of the men and women from ESPN. In spring training, Tim Cowlishaw and I had spent an evening eating and watching boxing, and Bill Plaschke and I had dinner during the NBA playoffs and are planning to get together this weekend. So much for my social life, or lack thereof.
I would prefer to hang out with non-ESPN people, and usually do. Most of us try to get as far away from sports as we can when we’re not working. I think you would be amazed that during those “hang out” times, the subject of subjects rarely comes up. Stephen A. Smith and I did an ESPN show in New York called “Dream Job,” and it took about 14 hours to tape it every week, and he stayed on his phone practically all the time. We had dinner a few times. Jay Bilas and I talk at sports events, but that’s about it. Justin Timberlake and I hang out when I’m in L.A. Aren’t we all bored by this topic by now? Let’s move on.
What are Shannon Sharpe’s chances of being elected to the Hall of Fame?
— Chuck Hicks, Sterling
100 percent. I was on the Hall of Fame committee for about 15 years, and I can guarantee you that Shannon, because of his Super Bowl rings and his accomplishments as a tight end and his mouth, will get in, likely on the first ballot. He’s next, and the last for a while from Denver.
Do journalists protect their hands and fingers like concert pianists – you know, like eating hamburgers with a fork and knife lest they bite them?
— Shawn Graham, Littleton
I’m from the South. I eat with my fingers, Shawn. Most sports writers don’t know the difference between a fork and a knife. Plus, we mostly eat hot dogs in press boxes.
I broke the ring finger on my left hand this winter, and I thought I was going to have to type words that had no S’s in them. But I learned to type with pain.
Many long years ago, I went to Hawaii for the first time, and five minutes after getting to the condo, I stuck my hand in the overhand fan. I dropped to the floor and held my hand in a shirt. I was afraid if I let go, my fingers would just fall out. My next thought was: “A writer can lose his ear or his nose or his car, but not his fingers.” Fortunately, for me, unfortunately for the rest of the world, my fingers were intact (and bloodied). Not a great way to start a vacation, and it might have messed up my golf game, although nothing could mess up my golf game.
Now, what was your question? If a concert pianist had my fingers, he couldn’t get a job in a house of ill repute. I eat with my fingers and count with my toes.
Woody – How come some of the very best NBA head coaches are fired if their teams do not win the championship for a few years while Mike Shanahan, with a mediocre record over several years, appears to have been anointed Head Coach for Life?
— John Lowe, Westminster
Mike Shanahan does not coach in the NBA.
Have you ever covered anything like the X Games or Teva Games?
— Chuck, Denver
Yes and No. I don’t even know, Chuck, what the Teva Games are. But I’m available. The Winter X Games in Aspen I’ve covered several times, and I love them, honestly. All the events of the X Games will be in the Olympics someday. I have TiVo. Are you sure they aren’t the TiVo Games? I could participate in the TiVo Games. If you ever get a chance, everyone, go up to the X Games, and they’ll take American Express.
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 .
