Denver Post sports columnist Woody Paige posts Woody’s Mailbag every Thursday on DenverPost.com.
To drop a question into Woody’s Mailbag or visit DenverPost.com’s . And to browse the archive of videos in Woody’s World, .
Woody – I just finished watching and then followed that up with . Each of the four major pro franchises in Denver is underachieving. Which franchise will be first to throw off the shackles of ineptitude?
— Rich, Colorado Springs
Rich – Interesting. Let me go in reverse order.
The Rockies won’t. They’re getting rid of players, and they’re whining again about being a mid-market team, whatever that is. When they were selling out, nobody there talked about not making money. They talked about leading the league in attendance. As far as I can tell, from Major League Baseball revenue and ticket sales, and revenue sharing, etc., the Rockies are in the black every year. Even if they aren’t, the Monforts have spent maybe $150 million as their part of the ownership group and to buy out other owners, and the franchise is valued at about $800 million.
Here’s a bad analogy, given the economic state of the country, but it’s the best I can do: If you, Rich, buy a house for $150,000, and you spend, say, $10,000 a year for electric, painting, clean-up, fix-up, and 15 years later, your house is worth a million dollars, you have significantly improved your investment. The Rockies never mention that the value of the franchise goes up every year, and they could sell and make a tremendous profit. They’d rather say, “Poor us.” The Rockies will be just as bad next year.
The Avalanche made a mistake with Tony Granato, and the Avs are making a mistake with their starting goaltender, and they’ve made some bad personnel decisions. I suppose , they would improve, but this looks to me like a non-playoff team.
The Broncos have to win at least five games the rest of the season to make the playoffs. I don’t see it now. I was wrong about them. This is an 8-8 team, I feel, because Atlanta is better than everyone thought, and Buffalo is a good team, and the Jets have Brett Favre and are in the hunt, and I’m not certain about Cleveland. They’ll beat Oakland and K.C., but this team isn’t breaking any shackles this year.
Which leaves the Nuggets.
I checked a website which has writers I believe in, and they all upgraded the Nuggets to a playoff team after . They’re better now. They need one more player, and Antonio McDyess would have helped, but he feels he was burned (twice) in Denver and will never come back here. We once lived in the same building, and he felt like he made the decision to come back here and help the franchise, and the franchise turned on him. They still need a rebounder. But I think they’ll be good enough to slide into the playoffs, and if they get somebody other than the Lakers or New Orleans or the Jazz or the Spurs or the Rockets, they could win a series. But they won’t get anybody but one of those teams.
To answer your question, nobody. Go, Air Force.
Hey, Woody. Is it just me or is it the same script every season with the Broncos? Good start, high hopes, and then the bottom falls out. Is Mike Shanahan’s style and message growing stale?
— Arce, Steamboat Springs
Arce – Please read (which appeared Wednesday). If the Broncos, in my mind, should not win the division (or six games), Shanahan should step aside completely. He won’t, and Pat Bowlen won’t fire him, although Bowlen once did fire Dan Reeves, who had gotten the Broncos into three Super Bowls (with John Elway).
Shanahan won two (with Elway) and deserved to have a long tenure, and he is a good coach, but this has become a complete mess, as I wrote, and I’ll hope you’ll read. Nobody else is willing to say it, but I did. He should step down if the Broncos continue to go down this season, accept his $17 million buyout and go to the San Francisco 49ers and take the head-coaching job, and the Broncos should hire the New York Giants’ defensive coordinator.
Would you say the Rays are this year’s version of last year’s Rockies? Love to see you on “Around the Horn.”
— Armando Sandoval
Armando – No, if I understand your question. The Rays have quality pitching in Matt Garza, James Shields, Scott Kazmir and young David Price. And they’ll add a quality closer, I think, possibly , and I like their lineup. But they play in the toughest division, and you know Boston and New York will get better.
The Rays no longer are a 60-win team, and I firmly believe with their young talent and their manager (who will be Manager of the Year, even though he totally screwed up the resumption of the game) that they won’t drift back like the Rockies. Check out what Matt Holliday says. , which is one of the reasons he wants out. I’ll have more on that in a few days.
The Rays, I think, will be a contender for a while because they will increase their payroll.
According to Pat Bowlen, Mike Shanahan is in for life as the Broncos’ “Top Guy” — behind Pat himself, of course. If the Broncos continue to wallow in mediocrity or worse, how long do you really think Shanahan has?
— Peter Sasquatch, Durango
Peter – See above. .
Although Shanahan has said, before the season, he wants to see this Jay Cutler thing through, believing he can do with Cutler what he did with Elway, I don’t think Bowlen and Shanahan can go through another (2009) season. Bowlen has spent a ton of money, and what does he have to show for it? But, despite what I say and write, Bowlen will not fire Shanahan, and Shanahan will not quit because he is certain in his mind he can turn this around. After a while, as I wrote, even Tom Landry, Chuck Noll and Don Shula had to go.
Hey, Woody. If not, who? Thanks.
— Jason D., Denver
Glad you asked, Jason. No, honestly. I like Alabama a lot, and its quarterback a lot. I don’t like the coach personally, but he can coach.
Here’s what I truly believe will happen. Florida will beat Alabama in the SEC championship. Alabama is muddling along, and Florida is playing great now. I think that Texas Tech will lose to Oklahoma and/or Oklahoma State. I think Oklahoma will win the Big 12. I think Penn State will go undefeated, but, because of the inferiority this year of the Big Ten (and what happened to Ohio State the last two seasons in the BCS championship) and the inferiority of Penn State’s non-conference schedule — Temple, Coastal Carolina — that the Lions will be the odd team out. I now like Florida and Oklahoma in the national championship game, and I still like my preseason pick of Florida to win it all, although so many will say that USC, Texas and (especially) Penn State should be national champions.
Playoffs! The president-elect is in favor of playoffs. Bobby Stoops and Pete Carroll have come around. The coaches need to unite to get it done. Alabama comes up short, to answer your question.
Do you think Jay Cutler is capable of calling his own plays?
— Chad Wilson, Los Angeles
No, Chad. He has enough to worry about. Nobody calls his own plays now, except Peyton Manning on occasion. Defenses are too sophisticated. So quarterbacks are given pass plays that have several variables; they read the defensive coverages and are supposed to throw where the defense is weakest.
For example, if defenses are in cover 2, in which safeties play deep, help the cornerbacks and read the quarterback, Cutler is to recognize it and throw underneath. Too many times this season he has thrown in double deep coverage, forcing the ball toward Brandon Marshall.
Cutler has enough problems without calling his own plays. See how it’s working out for Manning this year. This is not Bart Starr or Johnny Unitas football anymore. Elway was given the right to call his own plays one season, and that lasted about three games. He didn’t want to do it.
Hey, Woody. I saw your . What do you think of Denver’s chances of hosting a Super Bowl? Is the threat of snow too much for the NFL brass to handle?
— Don, Boulder
Don – Denver will never host a Super Bowl, and I have no problem with that. If Denver had built a dome stadium, it would have gotten the game. But, if you notice, Denver has about two games a year in bad weather (out of eight in the regular season). Last Sunday it was 76 at kickoff.
Denver should not have a dome stadium just for one game. Detroit built a domed stadium, which it needs, and got one Super Bowl as a payoff from the NFL to the taxpayers. But Detroit will not get another Super Bowl in your lifetime. The circuit is Miami, New Orleans, Los Angeles, with occasional games in San Diego, Dallas (with the new stadium) and Tampa, and rare games in places like Houston and Atlanta. Denver, Kansas City, Philadelphia, etc., will never get a Super Bowl.
The NFL has it right. Play it (most times) in a warm-weather city in late January to early February, and let the fans go there and enjoy it like a bowl. Baseball will never get it right, although I’ve had a number of media people now agree with me, and even e-mail me, that they’re now on my side about the neutral World Series site, although only one likes the Hawaii idea.
What did you think of the that flew over Invesco Field at Mile High on Sunday? I thought it was pretty funny. Wish I thought of it.
— Mike, Denver
Mike – I didn’t see it. I’m more interested in the flybys at the Air Force Academy, with the jets. There used to be a banner that flew over every week about a strip club, and I couldn’t imagine anybody going there after the game. McCain is not a Raiders fan. Nobody is a Raiders fan anymore.
You’ve been a great crowd. Drive home safely.
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 .
