Woody Paige: It started with a phone call from ESPN 20 years ago; reflecting on 600.5 wins on Around the Horn – Part 1

It began with an innocuous phone call from ESPN 20 years ago.

And, on Monday, Sept. 23, 2019, my association with the sports network – the Worldwide Leader – continued, shockingly, with my record 600.5^th victory, in more than 2,600 shows, on Around The Horn.

What a remarkable two decades.

       ***

On the last night of the 20^th century, I was in the middle of the Panama Canal.

The new millennium was only hours from beginning, and millions of people around the world were thinking the world might come to an end. There were fears that computer clocks would go haywire, lights would go out everywhere around the globe, and life as we knew it would totally change.

My long-time girlfriend and I decided to get far away from the maddening crowd, so we took a cruise from the Caribbean down to Panama and through the locks into the giant artificial Lake Gutan south of Colon.

It seemed safe enough.

On New Year’s Eve, 1999, we were drinking champagne in our suite on the ship and preparing to go to an all-night celebration featuring a concert by Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr. of the famed five, The Fifth Dimension (“Up, Up and Away’’, “One Less Bell to Answer’’ and “”The Age of Aquarius’’, among others).

The TV was on so we could watch some of the festivities back in the United States.

And Pamela suddenly screamed: “You’re on.’’

“What?’’

“You’re talking on the screen.’’

“WHAT?’’

I turned around, and there I was, talking about Michael Jordan.

So it was.

The NBA superstar had been named the No. 1 athlete of the century by ESPN and Sports Classic, one of the network’s alternative channels.

“What are you doing?’’ she asked.

“They came to talk to me a couple of times this year about the best athletes in history. I told a few stories about Michael. But I have no idea why they would use my stuff.’’

We watched for a while; the program ended, and we went off to get drunk, play blackjack, dance to the music of the night and bring in the new year, the new century and the new millennium.

What a way to finish the old year, the old century and the old millennium! I was on TV. Pamela kissed me.

Go, figure.

       ***

So, an executive from ESPN had called me and said ESPN Classic was doing an anthology called “Sports Century,” and they wanted to interview me about great athletes, including John Elway, the Broncos’ quarterback who had retired that year.

“Sure,” I (not thinking) replied. I had appeared on ESPN’s SportsCenter a few times and actually had been a co-host on a special two-hour show the previous year from Denver about the history, and shutting down, of Mile High Stadium, home of the Broncos (who had won back-to-back Super Bowls with Elway the previous two seasons).

Why me? I thought.

Perhaps Chris Fowler, a University of Colorado graduate who had become a prominent ESPN announcer and anchor, was the prime host and perhaps had recommend me.

I’ve never found out.

Before the show, I met with several of the ESPN producer-director-types in in a dining room at the downtown Denver “Chop House’’ restaurant-bar. We’d be on a stage at the front of the place taking turns interviewing former and current players for the Broncos. One of the people in the room was a young guy named Mark Shapiro, who I assumed was an intern.

After the first segment, a floor director came up to me and said: “Shapiro says you shouldn’t talk so much. Let the guests talk.”

I thought, “who is this Shapiro kid to tell me what to do?’’

I later learned that this wunderkind was president of ESPN Classic.

Uh, oh. End of my national TV career.

So I thought.

I must not have screwed up that bad — they didn’t ban me from “Sports Century’’ several months later. Apparently, Mark Shapiro believed I was worth something.

The gig paid about $250.

I arrived at a downtown Denver hotel about 9 a.m. and was shown into a ballroom. There were lights, cameras and not much action. The set was right out of an English drawing room, with old trophies and a desk and a couple of chairs and a bookcase.

The director handed me a list with a bunch of athletes’ names on it and said: “We’ll say a name behind the camera, and you just give us your best opinions and stories about them.’’

Sounded simple enough.

Action.

“John Elway,” someone said from the darkness. I was blinded by the gigantic light in my face.

I told a story about “The helicopter ride’’ in the Super Bowl and a tale from the early Elway years – for instance when he lined up behind the guard instead of the center – and talked about “The Drive’’.

OK.

“Secretariat,’’ the voice said.

“Secretariat?’’ I had nothing.

“Ted Williams?’’

“Greatest hitter ever, when I was a boy. Never saw him play.’’  

This went on for about five hours, with an occasional water break.

Not quite what I bought into. Maybe I should have held out for $275.

I must have been asked about 100 athletes.

One was Michael Jordan. I told a story about playing blackjack alongside him and Charles Barkley in Monte Carlo when the Olympic “Dream Team’’ was practicing for the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. I was one of only a dozen journalists who had made the “hard’’ road trip to Monaco.

I talked about Jordan at the Olympics, at NBA championships and the famous game in which he played while terribly sick.

I was sitting outside back of the arena on a picnic table waiting for the Bulls-Jazz playoff game when Jordan got out of the car and walked up. I was shocked he’d actually be coming to the arena. He said hello, remembering me from previous interviews and the blackjack, and I asked, naturally, how he was feeling. He said not so good, then walked behind a wall and threw up.

He had an incredible game and stuck out his tongue.

I think that was the story on TV in the Panama Canal.

ESPN used me in about two dozen segments of “Sports Century” shows, then invited me back for another day of shooting for more shows about other athletes.

I got another $250.

Then the network did a full hour show on Larry Brown, a coach I had covered for years, and included my stories. And I was somewhat featured a few other shows.

I made about $1,000.

And I went back to writing columns for The Denver Post and living my rather uneventful life

Then, in 2001, I got another call from ESPN.

Which I will explain in the next chapter — “Around The What?”