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, .
The first Broncos game I went to was the playoff game against Oakland 1977. The first time I went to the new stadium was Sept. 14 for . The old Mile High magic, jinxed visiting teams with crowd noise, weird coaching, weird ref calls, weather and assorted anomalies. Did the magic come back because I did, the Obama DNC love-in, or does it take a new stadium seven years?
— Steve, Manitou Springs
Steve – It was all because of you. Where have you been? Where were you when the Broncos needed you in all those lean years? And, by the way, how did they go to and eventually win Super Bowls without you? Are there manitous in those springs? Or just weird water?
The crowd noise is not the same and never will be because of three issues:
1. The stadium noise escapes in the new stadium.
2. The poor old South Standers were run out of their seats and way up in the stadium because of ticket prices.
3. The people in the club-level seating run indoors at the first hint of rain or snow and stand at the bars, and I can assure that on Sunday when the Chargers scored, thousands of people got up to leave and probably weren’t even in their cars when all the action happened at the end. They gave up Karma for their Carmas.
I never have understood why somebody would spend three hours in a parking lot before the game drinking and eating ratty hot dogs, but would leave before a close game. Where do they have to be? I know, traffic. I know for a fact that if you wait in the parking lot for 30 minutes after the game, there’s no traffic. And would they leave a movie theater showing a thriller 10 minutes before the end, when “who done it” has not been shown?
Truthfully, it’s a different crowd from 1977 and ’78, when the Broncos had a 42-0 lead or something over the Patriots and there was a snowstorm, and I looked around at the old stadium, and nobody had gone home. I think a lot of fans have been priced out, and a lot of the new ones sit in luxury boxes and pay no attention to anything but wings and whiskey and talking business deals.
Having said that, the Broncos had the magic against the Raiders and the Steelers and the Vikings last year with odd finishes, and it has happened again. Maybe their is magic down. A couple of years ago the people wanted magic: They just wanted the Broncos to make themselves disappear. Welcome back. One man, one fan, can turn it around.
Ned Yost fired with two weeks to go? And the Brewers in the hunt? Have you ever seen such a thing?
— Nelson, Milwaukee
Yes, I have, Nelson. Dick Williams was fired by the Montreal Expos in the strike-shortened season of ’81 (I think that was the year, maybe ’83), and the Expos won 16 of 27 to get in the playoffs. Your own Brewers did fire Buck Rodgers around the same time, earlier in the season, and Harvey Kuenn took over, and the Brewers, Harvey’s Wallbangers, went to the World Series.
A new manager usually gets a jolt out of the players, who usually care only about what’s on the postgame buffet table. They couldn’t fire the players.
Yost took it with grace. You may remember the collapse of the Brewers last season. I think they’re in a fix, though. Mets or Phillies (Mets, I think) will get the wild card, and the Brewers can’t catch the Cubs. But they made a gallant try getting CC Sabathia. Have a brat for me.
Hey, Woody. The Broncos’ plan of attack seems to be a bit more unbalanced between the pass and the run so far this year. Is this becoming a pass-first offense?
— Ed, Boise, Idaho
Ed – The Broncos will pass a lot more this season, for rather obvious reasons. They don’t have a Terrell Davis or a Clinton Portis who can run for 1,500 yards. They have a younger offensive line that can pass block better than run block.
Jay Cutler is totally familiar with the offensive system and has a great arm. He threw one ball 65 yards with ease last season. He has, as you’ve noticed, receivers. Mike Shanahan likes to throw. And for the first time since John Elway, Shanahan is using the whole playbook.
I always recall Shanahan telling me when he was the San Francisco 49ers offensive coordinator, he loved to use the same passing plays from his 20-yard line as he did at the other team’s 20. I have chided him over the years for getting away from that, but it’s back. The Patriots and the Colts have accomplished what they did with a pass-dominated attack, and Shanahan finally is in a position to do it, too.
Do you see Todd Helton in the starting lineup for the Rockies next season? Even on the team?
— Matt L., Denver
I was thinking about the Todd thing this morning, Matt. It’s a difficult situation that has ramifications beyond Helton. I was in Phoenix the day the Rockies gave him that long, massive contract, and I was standing there thinking the Rockies’ ownership had made a great commitment to a player who would be very good for a long time. Now, they’re afraid to do it again with Matt Holliday because of what’s happened to Helton.
Just as they won’t get a big-time star pitcher because of the Mike Hampton fiasco. What’s generally forgotten in the Hampton mess was he had a great first half, and made the all-star team, and the Rockies ownership got rid of his catcher, Brett Mayne, because it was owed $1 million. Hampton was way, over-the-top upset and never was the same pitcher again.
To answer your question, though, no other team wants Todd. He doesn’t want to leave. He has a ranch here. He doesn’t want to retire. I see no settlement forthcoming, and the Rockies, and I, believe that Todd will always be a Gold Glove kind of first baseman and hit .280 or better, but few home runs, and he’s no longer a No. 3 or 4 hitter. I think he’ll play two or three more years, and he will be a starter at first. Garrett Atkins is not a great defensive first baseman. I see Helton at first, Atkins gone, and Holliday gone soon, because they won’t give him an eight-year contract (because of the Helton factor). Ian Stewart at third, Ryan Spilborghs in left, Dexter Fowler in center and Brad Hawpe in right, with Seth Smith off the bench in the outfield.
Oddly enough, I was watching the other night when Fowler started in center, and it was the only time I remember all season that every Rockies player on the field was home grown. (Ubaldo Jimenez was the pitcher.) Yorvit Torrealba used to catch more, several of the pitchers came from other teams, and Willy Taveras and Scott Podsednik came from other teams. I’m too lazy to check every boxscore to see if that was the first time all nine starters came from the farm system, but it says something.
If I were in charge, I would get rid of Taveras, put Fowler in center, sign Holliday, trade Atkins to get a pitcher, put Stewart at third and leave Clint Barmes at second full time. Of course, I’d go after CC, but the payroll would reach $100 million, and the Monforts say they can’t afford it. They don’t understand, still, that you spend money to make money. Attendance rose this year because of the World Series. It will drop next season. If the Rockies had gotten an ace and been where they should have been, at the top of the standings, they would have made enough money at the gate to break even, and isn’t that all that should be asked?
Karl Paymah got toasted in the San Diego game. Is he the best player at that position the Broncos have? It seemed like whenever San Diego needed a completion it was done in front, beside or behind Paymah.
— Jim Rodgers, Ocala, Fla.
Jack Williams.
Woody – What do you think of training again for the Tour de France? They say the Leadville Trail 100 mountain bike race inspired him.
— Scott, Aspen
Scott – When I drove a car on the Leadville Road, which is only open after July 4, it inspired me. Inspired me never to travel on that road again, inspired me to live a better life because I might fall off the side and fall 1,000 feet down the side of the mountain, inspired me to talk to God, inspired me to wet my pants. So I can see how it would inspire someone to say, “Get me off here, and I’ll ride in the Tour de France.”
Woody – Just wondering if you will ever go back to “ESPN First Take.” I miss you and Skip arguing over everything. I also miss Professor Screwloose.
— Adam, Denver
Adam – Only if I can do “ESPN Last Take” from Denver, without Skip, without Professional Screwloose, without eating cold pizza every morning, without having to get up at 3:30 a.m., without my mind. But thanks for caring and asking. To-to-loo.
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 .
