Denver Post sports columnist Woody Paige posts Woody’s Mailbag on Thursdays. The next installment is slated for early July.
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Hey, Woody. With all of the attention that the “big market” teams get, does it ever make you wish you were back in New York or in a bigger market? I love our dusty old cowtown, but it seems that there is certainly more action on the coasts than here in Denver, where .
— Ryan, Evergreen
Ryan – Interesting question for everybody. Would you rather live in L.A. or New York or Chicago than in, say, Pittsburgh, which doesn’t have an NBA team, or Atlanta, which has four teams but poor fan support?
Before I came to Denver, I was offered a job in Atlanta to write about the four major-league teams, which was a major boon for me after being a columnist in Memphis, which didn’t have a team in any of the four major-league sports (and still doesn’t, unless you count the Grizzlies, and I don’t). An offer came along to come to Denver, which had a dying ABA team, minor league baseball and hockey, and a football team whose games I turned off because the Broncos were a joke. It turned out great here for all of us, even with the struggles of the teams over the years. I’d rather be here.
When I was in New York for 2 1/2 years, I went out to see all the teams, but, truthfully, the enjoyment for me was taking my daughter to the U.S. (tennis) Open, going with her on the subway to Yankees Stadium and hanging out in the bars around the stadium (where it was great fun to meet a whole bunch of people who watch the ESPN show) and sitting behind the left-field foul pole and eating hot dogs and drinking beers.
The other fun for me was walking across the street from my TV studio to the Knicks games, even though they were awful. Larry Brown is a very close long-time friend, and even though the Knicks were awful, I loved hanging out with Larry again. He became the coach of the Nuggets when I got to Denver, and Larry, Doug Moe and I had sort of grown up around the ABA. Larry took me out to play golf in the Hamptons on my 60th birthday, and we didn’t talk a moment about basketball. (He did tell me he’d never come back to the NBA. Never say never again, Larry.)
So it was not about New York having all those teams — trips to Shea Stadium and Giants Stadium were sort of bores for me — but the personal stuff. There was a U.S. (golf) Open that was fun (Phil Mickelson blew it). But I loved the museums and the Broadway shows and going up to West Point for a football game and being able to take the train to Philly for a game. But I had my time there and don’t miss it.
The past couple of years — Rockies in World Series, the Nuggets’ run, the changes in the Broncos, the Avalanche fall from grace, the college sports in the area, the high school championships, all the other stories in Colorado — are enough for me. I think the most fun I had in my past as a sports fan was going with my dad on the train to St. Louis for a three-game series and going with my daughter (who has no interest in sports and doesn’t know the NBA Finals are going on) to sports and a museum on Father’s Day and taking my mom out to Coors Field last year. Colorado is my home, and there’s plenty here for everybody. Someday all four sports teams (and maybe those assorted other teams in soccer, etc.) will have great seasons at once. A parade downtown every week.
Hi, Woody. I was extremely disappointed in George Karl during the Game 6 loss. When he should have been pushing the Nuggets tooth and nail, it seemed he had conceded the game before it had begun!
— Andy, Boston
Andy – I was equally disappointed. I was sitting with two other Post guys, and we all knew that the Nuggets were flatter than day-old Coke. He had to call timeouts, make changes, maybe put Renaldo Balkman in for an energy lift. Karl wasn’t much different than in the previous playoff games, but that’s when the Nuggets really needed him. He didn’t concede before or after the game, but he didn’t do enough to stop the flow. You’re in your last game, and you’ve got to do everything. He didn’t.
Disappointing, but give him credit for all the others (except those inbounds pass calls). He turned the Nuggets into a defensive pressure unit this season and got more than could be anticipated, and you would agree, from Nene, J.R. Smith, Chris Andersen, Kenyon Martin and even Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups — C-squared. It was, as I just said, a good run, and I think you and everyone else would have been thrilled before the season to know that the Nuggets would be two victories away from The Finals, and probably would have beaten Orlando.
Ian Stewart has got to start every day at third base. His bat and glove can’t be ignored. Even I know that. Why can’t Jim Tracy see that?
— Gary, Denver
Gary – Tracy does. I’m sure your e-mail must be a few days stale. Tracy made a bold move by putting Stewart in the lineup every day and dumping Garrett Atkins on the bench. They’ve got to get what they can for Atkins and let him go. Stewart is not an outfielder; he hates being a second baseman; he is a third baseman and has the glove and the power to be the man there for years (until the Rox ownership trades him away). Ryan Spilborghs and Atkins are the odd men out.
The Rockies movie this year must be “There Will Be New Blood.” Carlos Gonzalez and Dexter Fowler must play almost every day, , and you must have missed it, because I also wrote that Stewart had to be starting at third daily. A day later he was named , and as of this writing.
I really think you move Atkins, Spilborghs, Yorvit Torrealba — and our best wishes are with Torrealba after a kidnapping that, thankfully, was resolved peaceably and with — and Omar Quintanilla. Bring up a couple of other kids (Mike McCoy and Eric Young Jr.) and please get one quality starter and one quality setup man, and maybe the Rockies will be fun to watch this summer and at least be competitive and a .500 team.
Hey, Woody. Do you have any plans to check out the this month at Infinity Park. Thanks.
— Andy, Denver
Yes, Andy. I love the stadium. I love rugby. I love the people of Glendale. I love the format. I just wish that they had figured out the schedule better for the media. (It’s always about the media). The U.S. team played last Sunday night. Should have played in the afternoon, and I would have gone and written about it. But the night game was too late for deadlines. I know you don’t care about my problems, but that’s the truth.
I’ll be there sometime because this is the biggest rugby event to ever hit Denver, and I don’t think that many people realize what a good game it is. When I was in England one time, and my daughter was going to school there, I went to a big-time rugby contest. Did it again in Australia, and I fell in love. One rugby player (who, with the others, exposed his bottom in a nearby bar after a victory, a custom, it seems) told me: “I like American football, but I don’t understand why you have a committee conference every few seconds.” He’s right.
In Australia years ago, the Broncos played an exhibition against the San Diego Chargers at the opening of the Olympic Stadium. The two nights before there was an Aussie Rules (football) game and a rugby game. To me, rugby was No. 1, barely, over Aussie Rules, and the NFL was a bad third.
I believe Kenyon Martin’s poor shooting had a large negative impact on the series with the Lakers. They left him open to shoot knowing he couldn’t make 2 with a pencil. Do you think this is the position that needs to change during the offseason?
— Jim, Pagosa Springs
Jim – I addressed this issue last week. I don’t want to repeat myself.
I’ll bring up a couple of other aspects. Martin’s shot doesn’t bother me, although if I had a dog that ugly, I’d shave his butt and make him walk backward. But I thought, and I saw all the playoff games, that his percentage with the shot was pretty high. Teams pulled back to make him shoot, and he was fine.
Martin used to average 16-19 points with the Nets, and nobody questioned his shot. He doesn’t shoot 25 times. You want J.R. and Carmelo shooting that many. When you combine Martin with Andersen and Balkman and even Nene, you’ve got no extra threat. The Nuggets should use their $10 million exemption and/or their mid-level exemption (about $5 mil) on another backcourt shooter and a big man who can hit a 10-footer with frequency.
I repeat from last week; I must disagree with most people. I like what Martin did. He was a defensive presence; he was a good man in the locker room; and he gave the Nuggets newfound respect. And, maybe most important, where you going to move him to (tell me a team that does want him at the $14 million price)? And what you going to get for him? And who’s going to replace what he does defensively? Get back to me when you find a team drooling for Martin.
Had the Broncos not drafted Jay Cutler in 2006 and stayed the course with Jake Plummer, where do you think they would be at this point?
— Nick Webster, Honolulu
Nick – Hmmmm. Nowhere, really. Neither Jay nor Jake played defense. I think Jake would still be the smarter choice. I liked his game more than most, although I was in New York for part of his stay in Denver. I will say this: When Jake took his shirt off, he had the worst upper body I’ve ever seen for a pro quarterback. , and he must have figured that out, too.
Jake did help the Broncos get to the AFC title game, and he was mobile. But it didn’t work here. Other teams would take him back in a minute. But the Broncos didn’t do enough defensively to help him or Cutler. Who would they have drafted if it hadn’t been Cutler? Probably another quarterback. Mike Shanahan wanted someone else. He got his man. He and his man are gone.
I was wondering whether the Nuggets had thought of turning J.R. Smith into a point guard. Seems like he has the athleticism and a good mentor in Chauncey Billups to make it happen.
— Wes, Austin, Texas
Wes – He’s a shooting guard who can occasionally play point guard. You don’t want another Allen Iverson, the point guard who shoots first, asks questions later. Won’t be done. Shouldn’t be done.
Chauncey’s going nowhere. The Nuggets should get another young point guard. I think they will somewhere soon. Here’s a secret. Don’t tell anybody. Karl doesn’t like Sonny Weems. He’ll be dealt.
Woody – I’ve been a reader/watcher of yours for years, and have to commend you on succeeding as a writer who is made of equal parts talent, knowledge and whimsy. I hope you continue to thumb your nose at the rest of the sports-world writers who take themselves far too seriously. … If you had to pick the first Colorado team to break us out of this coquettish nightmare of false hopes and title teases, who would it be? I can’t take many more wouldas or couldas.
— Brendan, Baltimore
Brendan – Thank you, all the way from Baltimore, where I’m not loved.
People who post comments at the bottom of these mailbags and send e-mails, often, don’t understand I’ve never taken myself seriously. As a no-talent kid, all I had was my desire to write, my willingness to work hard (like my family back in Mississippi and Tennessee) and my attitude that sports should be a diversion.
I love to study history, and if you follow history, the Greeks, the Romans, the Native Americans in their villages in the southwest, the rest of the world had sports diversions, just to give the populous something to do when it wasn’t working all the time. When the original Olympics were held, wars were stopped during that period. Soccer (football) gave Europeans a diversion. So I don’t think sports are the end-all. I don’t take sports outcomes that seriously; I do take my craft seriously, and I care about kids and their love of sports. End of sermon. There was a time when I was a kid I wanted to be a Southern Baptist preacher.
Woody Paige first joined The Denver Post in 1981 as a sports columnist. , or . Also, .
