What this city needs is a good sports quote.
We need somebody with loose lips. We need somebody with a bit of bravado. Somebody who spices up his answers with a wicked dash of humor. We need somebody with stature who tells it like it is.
We used to have a few of those guys around.
Former Broncos tight end Shannon Sharpe once said, “I like to talk. I admit it. If I can’t talk, I’m crippled, blind, deaf and dumb.”
And boy could he talk.
After the Broncos beat the Steelers in the 1997 AFC title game, Sharpe offered some words of advice for the Steel City’s heartbroken fans: “Stay away from the Allegheny, the Ohio and the Monongahela! I hope they freeze those three rivers tonight because I’d hate to see anybody plunging to the bottom of ’em.”
Love him or hate him, Sharpe was entertaining. His teammates loved him. And he had three Super Bowl rings to back up his words.
Before Sharpe’s tongue, we had Nuggets coach Doug Moe, the basketball lifer who loved to call his players “stiffs.” Usually it was a term of endearment. Sometimes he meant it.
Once, Moe was asked to explain his team’s lax dress code. Being a notoriously bad dresser himself, all Moe could say was, “My only rule is that you have to dress better than me to be acceptable.”
When Moe was named NBA coach of the year in 1987, he quipped: “I really didn’t want it, but now that I’ve won it, it’s nice. It’s an honor. It’s nice to know people don’t think you’re a total idiot. … It must have been a poor year for coaches.”
Then there was Avalanche goaltender Patrick Roy. came during the 1996 Western Conference semifinals between the Avs and the Blackhawks. Jeremy Roenick fired the first shot, saying, “I’d like to know where Patrick was in Game 3, probably up trying to get his jock out of the rafters.”
Roy retorted with his famous zinger:
But these days, it’s tough to find a quotable athlete in the Mile High City. Where has all the fun gone?
The Broncos? Quotes out of Dove Valley are as bland as an American cheese sandwich on white bread.
The Rockies? Great bunch of guys, but most of them took interview lessons from Crash Davis. Now, if we could publish Todd Helton’s hilarious off-the-record comments, we’d really have something.
The Avs? Good guys, but their public words are homogenized.
The Nuggets? Chauncey Billups gets candid from time to time, but he’s not an entertaining talker.
Bottom line: We’ve got plenty of players with good character in this city. I just wish we had a few more “characters.”
Trivia time
Sharpe once said, “I was a terrible student. I didn’t graduate magna cum laude, I graduated ‘Thank you, Lawdy!'” Where did Sharpe get his college degree? (Answer below)
Quotable
“What do I care about speculation? I’ve been doing this 23 1/2 years and I’m going to be worried about speculation? No, it doesn’t bother me a bit. People can speculate all they want. The people that matter are the people I work for.” — Cubs manager Lou Piniella in the Chicago Tribune, talking about rumors he’ll be fired.
Reader’s rant
“The good news is that (Dan) Hawkins is only five years away from fielding a winning team. The bad news, the earth is destroyed by a comet impact on 12-21-12.” — Brian Anderson, posting on The Post’s story about the Colorado football coach saying the Buffs are close to being a winner.
In case you missed it
Cleveland fans are doing whatever they can to convince Cavaliers hoops superstar LeBron James to stay in Cleveland.
Throughout the city there are “stay LeBron” banners and clothing. There is a petition circulating, and at least two music videos, one featuring the Cleveland Orchestra, have been produced.
James, who grew up in nearby Akron, becomes a free agent on July 1.
This day in sports
On this day in 1946, Reggie Jackson, “Mr. October,” was born in Wyncote, Penn.
Trivia answer
Savannah (Ga.) State. His degree was in criminal justice.
Patrick Saunders: 303-954-1720 or psaunders@denverpost.com
