Moments after learning of the passing of Denver Nuggets legend Doug Moe at 87, Woody Paige, Ron Zappolo, and Tom Green reflect on the life, legacy, and larger-than-life personality of one of the most influential figures in Colorado sports history. From the ABA to the Nuggets sideline, from radio studios to golf courses and roast stages, Moe was more than a coach — he was a cultural pillar. This heartfelt, emotional tribute captures the stories, laughter, tears, and unforgettable impact of a man who transcended basketball and embodied Denver sports for decades.
This special edition of After the Horn was recorded immediately after the news broke that Doug Moe had passed away at the age of 87. Woody Paige, Ron Zappolo, and Tom Green share deeply personal reflections on Moe’s career, character, and influence, both professionally and privately. The conversation covers Moe’s ABA roots, his fiery competitiveness, his unforgettable Nuggets tenure, his unique media presence, and the countless stories that defined him — from locker room tirades to golf course pranks to his enduring love for “Big Jane” and his family. More than a coaching résumé, this episode honors Doug Moe the man: loyal friend, relentless competitor, generous mentor, and one of the most beloved figures in Colorado sports history. His banner may hang in Ball Arena, but his legacy lives far beyond numbers and wins. If you knew him, you understand. If you didn’t, this is a window into why he mattered so much.
00:00 – Immediate reaction to Doug Moe’s passing
02:00 – Moe’s colorful life: player, coach, character
05:00 – North Carolina roots & ABA history
07:30 – Personal stories: family, friendship & loyalty
10:45 – The famous Doug Moe competitiveness
15:30 – “When I’m dead, do I give a f—?” – perspective on milestones
18:00 – Courtroom, roasts & radio moments
22:00 – Why Doug transcended sports in Denver
27:00 – Fear of flying & road trip stories
31:30 – The coach players loved (even when he screamed)
37:00 – “Hockey Doug” & the radio years
44:00 – San Antonio, Italy & NBA respect
49:00 – Why everyone felt like Moe’s best friend
52:00 – Banner at Ball Arena & Nuggets legacy
55:00+ – Final reflections & what Doug meant to Colorado
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00:00:00:12 - 00:00:19:25
Tom Green
Hi there, Tom green, along with the Ron DiPaolo and Woody Page, from After the Horn. And, just as we concluded taping this week's show, we got word that our good friend Doug Moe had passed away. He'd been sick for quite a while, but, at 87 years old, Doug left us one of Colorado's great legends.
00:00:19:25 - 00:00:39:14
Tom Green
And we just wanted to take a few minutes to share our thoughts. For all of us, I speak for Woody and Ron as well. When I say that this is not. This is very personal for all of us who had very close and different, separate relationships with Doug. Ron, I think yours was the closest, and I'd love for you to.
00:00:39:17 - 00:00:58:02
Ron Zappolo
You know, if I can get through this, but, Doug is cancer was. Doug is, of all the people that I've ever covered in my life and all the people I've ever met in my life.
00:00:58:05 - 00:01:23:03
Ron Zappolo
He was one of the most real people I've ever dealt with. And he treated everybody the same way with with joy, with laughter, with great putdowns. And he was such a good friend. You talk for a minute.
00:01:23:05 - 00:02:00:12
Woody Paige
I was stunned when he took me to Brooklyn on a trip one year, and we went to where Ebbets Field was, and he said, that's where I was born. Left field corner. Just on the side of that. And I don't know that I until that moment, really grasped his history as a player and, as a coach and as a person, as Ron just talked about, that he had.
00:02:00:14 - 00:02:06:10
Woody Paige
This is used too often. He had one of the most colorful lives of anybody that we've.
00:02:06:10 - 00:02:07:16
Ron Zappolo
Known with, with with.
00:02:07:16 - 00:02:46:04
Woody Paige
The combination of about 130 years of the three of us doing sports, he was the most colorful, charisma, terror characters in the world. And we could all tell 50 stories about him. But a born life at Ebbets Field sort of starts all of that. That an incredible college basketball player. Didn't get the attributes for being an incredible professional player.
00:02:46:10 - 00:03:10:22
Woody Paige
Head injuries, head problems. Didn't get the credit for being one of the great coaches of all time, because he was such a character and didn't take it to face where people felt like he wasn't being serious about it and nobody was more serious about it. And he would say to me and say it to you and everybody else.
00:03:10:27 - 00:03:25:14
Woody Paige
He really cared about defense, but they led the league in offense. And he said, you don't understand that if you're playing the kind of style of defense we're playing that that's overlooked because we're averaging 130 points a game.
00:03:25:16 - 00:03:31:07
Ron Zappolo
But you did a radio show with them. You got to know him in an incredibly personal way.
00:03:31:08 - 00:03:56:17
Tom Green
It was interesting because I think of it, you talk about he didn't necessarily get that respect, but boy, did he get love and respect from the people who actually did know him. The people you know, who played for him, all those players all those years. And, I, you know, the stories are blurring through my mind of all the things I learned in two years of sitting in a room for four hours a day doing talk radio with Doug.
00:03:56:20 - 00:04:16:21
Tom Green
But, before I got to do radio with Doug, I came to town as a very young sportscaster, and there were only two books I ever could find about sportscasting. I knew I wanted to do it, but I needed to learn how Ken Coleman wrote a book called So You Want to Be a Sportscaster? And Gary Bender wrote a book called call of the game.
00:04:16:24 - 00:04:34:22
Tom Green
And call of the game says, whenever you meet people, introduce yourself, introduce yourself, introduce yourself, even if you see them over and over again. And I just remember going to Doug, it's like the fifth time I saw him. I go, hey, this is Tom Greene from nine news. He looked at me. He goes, I know who the fuck you are.
00:04:34:25 - 00:04:55:21
Tom Green
I'm like, all right, we're going to be great. So I loved covering Doug. But the great blessing in my life was my pairing with Doug on the radio, which was entirely the accident of life. That was so beautiful. And, I got to learn a lot about his youth, in commercial breaks and, and stuff we talk about on the air.
00:04:55:21 - 00:05:06:27
Tom Green
But going to Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn, where he went, which is like Barbra Streisand, Barbra Streisand, Neil Diamond, all these people went there and and then, you know, all the.
00:05:06:28 - 00:05:08:00
Woody Paige
Laughs and.
00:05:08:02 - 00:05:11:07
Tom Green
No know he was at power or Power Memorial, but he went.
00:05:11:07 - 00:05:12:05
Woody Paige
Al Davis.
00:05:12:08 - 00:05:26:18
Tom Green
Yes, Al Davis residence hall, but he ended up, you know, going to Bullis Prep and between going to North Carolina and he won. He Dean Smith was the guy who shepherded him through his collegiate career.
00:05:26:21 - 00:05:29:16
Ron Zappolo
As Doug said, he was the only guy that could call him Smitty.
00:05:29:22 - 00:05:31:29
Tom Green
Well, but also he would call him Lloyd.
00:05:32:04 - 00:05:33:01
Ron Zappolo
And El Dino.
00:05:33:01 - 00:05:40:19
Tom Green
And all the other North Carolina guys would look at Doug like, you can't say that to Dean Smith. And he was the only guy who could say, Lloyd.
00:05:40:25 - 00:06:06:19
Ron Zappolo
No, you know, it was the best thing about Doug. Yeah, it wasn't how he treated us. It was how we treated people in our orbit. The way he treated my wife. I remember taking one of my sons to a shootaround, and Doug knew him, but I hadn't spent a lot of time around him. He looked at me and said, hey, you mind if I take him in the locker room, talk to the team?
00:06:06:21 - 00:06:30:24
Ron Zappolo
I said, no, he'll be thrilled. And he was like 13 at that time. So he comes out and I said, well, what did coach most say? He said, well, don't let Karl Malone go to his left and be here at 6:00. And that was Doug. The second thing about Doug, we were in Dallas, where my folks lived when they were alive in 87, and it was the game that hands the kid a jump shot to win the game.
00:06:30:27 - 00:06:52:20
Ron Zappolo
And Doug got a group of people Doug Allen, Bristow, chopper hands. And we went to my folks house for a barbecue and my folks had never met Doug, and he was so good to them. And I remember.
00:06:52:23 - 00:07:11:02
Ron Zappolo
Going up to my dad and going, you're a really nice guy. How did you end up with a dipshit like this? And that was Doug. And I can only. And I'll think about a million things here in the next few days. But I must have had 200 lunches at Three Suns with Doug.
00:07:11:02 - 00:07:11:13
Tom Green
Yeah.
00:07:11:13 - 00:07:22:23
Ron Zappolo
And the arguments that we would get into on the road were there. I don't think I've ever met another person in my life like Doug.
00:07:22:23 - 00:07:23:27
Tom Green
No.
00:07:24:00 - 00:07:34:07
Woody Paige
I don't, you said you said what sums him up. The best thing about Doug Moe was being Doug. Mom.
00:07:34:12 - 00:07:35:02
Tom Green
Yeah.
00:07:35:04 - 00:07:41:22
Woody Paige
Yeah. With you're watching three media guys who covered him for the entire time.
00:07:41:22 - 00:07:44:28
Ron Zappolo
Anybody he like does better than he loved guys in the media.
00:07:45:05 - 00:08:03:09
Woody Paige
We are in this moment just hearing this. The heaviest of hearts. Yeah, yeah. Because we want to just break down and cry. We could sit here and do 20 hours on Doug. Most stories, everyone who.
00:08:03:09 - 00:08:04:20
Speaker 2
Is.
00:08:04:23 - 00:08:17:18
Woody Paige
Listening to us or watching this has their own stories about Doug Moe. Even if you didn't know him, you know that he told his team words don't play.
00:08:17:21 - 00:08:21:10
Ron Zappolo
No, I mean out. No, I really mean it. Stand there, don't play any.
00:08:21:16 - 00:08:53:25
Woody Paige
And he had a reason for that. He wanted that team to come out the next game and play their hearts and asses out. But you'd have to really get closer to him to understand that there was nobody that I ever met. If you think of if you have a history of Casey Stengel or Yogi Berra, of guys that you go met incredible people, read our back in basketball.
00:08:53:28 - 00:09:13:24
Woody Paige
In football. Wade Phillips, who we had a chance to coach, Doug Moe, I think extends past all of those guys because he did a show with Tom and one day he's hockey. Doug.
00:09:13:26 - 00:09:16:07
Tom Green
Well, as soon as the Avs came to town, we made, you know.
00:09:16:07 - 00:09:18:07
Ron Zappolo
The other thing he did, I did his team was.
00:09:18:08 - 00:09:18:28
Woody Paige
Basketball.
00:09:19:05 - 00:09:42:26
Ron Zappolo
I've never done a basketball coaches show, and I sold it to Roger Ogden. And Doug made the whole show because he'd have all these other coaches on and they would all sit there and Doug would cut them up like eating. He would take he would kill them. But it didn't matter if it was Hubie Brown or Riley or George Karl.
00:09:42:28 - 00:10:01:21
Ron Zappolo
Whoever it was, Doug would tear them up and they loved it and they would laugh with him and he could get away with saying things that other people couldn't. And we all have our favorites. But to me, Doug.
00:10:01:24 - 00:10:09:28
Ron Zappolo
When it comes to, just figures in Denver is at the top of the list.
00:10:10:00 - 00:10:28:02
Tom Green
And where he where he fit into life. Like for me, it was the mid 90s when I did the radio show. I was new to it, and I, I was not in a great place for most of my life or for that part of my life. And he was very much, a steady hand, a father figure.
00:10:28:02 - 00:10:37:03
Tom Green
And there's a few people who come along. Ron was one with me as well. But people who have who, who shepherd you through difficult time.
00:10:37:03 - 00:10:47:12
Ron Zappolo
You know, what sucks is that you and I have both known for a few months. Yeah. What's going on with Doug? But, there is a when it happens.
00:10:47:14 - 00:10:50:04
Tom Green
No. That's different.
00:10:50:06 - 00:10:51:25
Speaker 2
The,
00:10:51:28 - 00:10:59:04
Woody Paige
Only person in the history of Denver who got fired and held a press conference to announce the firing because.
00:10:59:04 - 00:10:59:14
Ron Zappolo
Doug.
00:10:59:18 - 00:11:21:13
Woody Paige
The team didn't want to come out and announce it, but to go beyond it. Now I have a story you don't know is I left writing a sports column to write a general column. Doug Moe called me only person in sports that called me and said, you're making a big mistake. This is the real world. You're going to find out there.
00:11:21:13 - 00:11:29:07
Woody Paige
Yeah. Writing a general column that that's not the real world. When I came back to sports, he scooped the.
00:11:29:07 - 00:11:30:18
Speaker 2
Story.
00:11:30:18 - 00:12:08:23
Woody Paige
Somebody had told him it was, and he went on radio and said, what? He pages coming back to sports. He called me. He said, I told you this is the real world in his mind and in the minds of so many millions of people. Sports is the real world. It is more of a real world than what we talk about in regard to to what's going on in Congress or in the administration or in real life, that, Doug had a lot of health issues.
00:12:08:25 - 00:12:36:13
Woody Paige
He was the happiest seeming person. You guys knew him even better than me. But I knew him longer than either one of you. Because I knew him. ABBA with the ABBA day. And it's it's really ironic that this past week, this documentary about the ABBA Doug was about the ABBA. Yeah. He was the essence of the ABBA.
00:12:36:20 - 00:12:41:26
Woody Paige
He was, I think.
00:12:41:29 - 00:13:02:04
Woody Paige
A creator of the atmosphere of the ABBA, unlike which was unlike any league that's ever existed in history. And it's almost fitting that this will be a testament to Doug Moe, the ABBA soul power.
00:13:02:06 - 00:13:11:20
Tom Green
Yeah, well, you alluded to it. And Ron as well. I always describe Doug as the best guy ever at being alive. He really enjoyed his day.
00:13:11:27 - 00:13:16:10
Ron Zappolo
What Doug used to say. Tom, I've perfected the art of doing nothing.
00:13:16:12 - 00:13:16:28
Tom Green
Well.
00:13:17:00 - 00:13:19:27
Ron Zappolo
Because when I think you think it's easy, it's not.
00:13:19:29 - 00:13:24:25
Tom Green
But when I think of that, I really think about Big Jane and his wife.
00:13:24:28 - 00:13:38:15
Ron Zappolo
You know, you take a minute Sunday, and I was having breakfast and you texted me and you sent along with Jane had sent you. And it was Doug's competitive spirit kept him alive this long.
00:13:38:22 - 00:14:03:15
Tom Green
He he, struggled these last few months, but he was, you know, you'd see he was living in San Antonio with Jane, and David and Doug were down there, as well as sons and grandchildren and great grandchildren. Yeah. And pictures with great grandchildren. I mean, he you lived 87 years to see it all. Here's one thing that few people know because it is recorded incorrectly in history.
00:14:03:18 - 00:14:10:23
Tom Green
If you look up Doug Moe, it'll always show his birthday in September of 1938. His birthday is October.
00:14:10:23 - 00:14:11:10
Ron Zappolo
October.
00:14:11:15 - 00:14:14:16
Tom Green
And at first he never bothered to fix it or change.
00:14:14:18 - 00:14:25:21
Ron Zappolo
You know what else I'm thinking about? Just in these first few minutes that we're hearing, this is the people that will be gutted to hear this. Larry Brown, his best friend.
00:14:25:21 - 00:14:26:21
Tom Green
Yeah.
00:14:26:23 - 00:14:33:11
Ron Zappolo
Alan Bristow, bill, Vicky, people that, you know, he was with forever.
00:14:33:11 - 00:14:33:26
Tom Green
Yeah.
00:14:33:26 - 00:14:40:18
Woody Paige
And anybody that you get, you've got to add and and anybody that ever watched him coach.
00:14:40:18 - 00:14:41:05
Tom Green
Yeah.
00:14:41:07 - 00:15:01:29
Woody Paige
Yeah. Every there's no way you could watch him coach and not have some affect on you going forward or that night of watching how he, you know, long before coaches were wearing casual clothes, they were wearing coats and ties and everything. He could open a sweatshirt and he didn't care.
00:15:01:29 - 00:15:18:04
Ron Zappolo
He was great. Remember, he had the, the the, dress code. You know, he got dressed better than me. Shouldn't be that hard. And he said, you know, here's why I look at the NBA. I got the blue sport coat at home. The Auburn one on the road. I never mix it up.
00:15:18:07 - 00:15:19:19
Tom Green
Some guys he said.
00:15:19:22 - 00:15:20:05
Ron Zappolo
He.
00:15:20:08 - 00:15:20:28
Woody Paige
He'd been.
00:15:20:28 - 00:15:21:27
Ron Zappolo
For exactly what.
00:15:21:27 - 00:15:22:25
Tom Green
He said. So I think.
00:15:22:25 - 00:15:30:29
Woody Paige
Been fired twice in the same year by the nuggets. And he took over the Philadelphia 76 years. They fired him because the Up just didn't work well.
00:15:30:29 - 00:15:39:24
Tom Green
He was hired by the 76. Was basically to trade Charles Barkley. Yeah. Harold Katz brought him in because he could make that trade they had to make and they didn't have the guts to do it.
00:15:39:24 - 00:15:53:01
Woody Paige
And I called him and I said, so, Doug, you you got to get another coaching job. Why? And I said, because you're like eight victories away from a thousand. He said, When I'm dead, do I give a fuck?
00:15:53:01 - 00:15:54:07
Speaker 2
Yeah.
00:15:54:10 - 00:16:17:09
Woody Paige
Meaning it didn't. It didn't mean anything to him. What meant to him was winning a game that was in front of him in that didn't know. It's because he lost by 40 for his team, lost by 44 points. And I was afraid. And I have never afraid of Doug Moe. But I was afraid to go up to him because I said, I got to say to him, you got to go to Philadelphia tomorrow night and how you feeling?
00:16:17:13 - 00:16:29:22
Woody Paige
And he said, Woodrow, this is the greatest thing could happen. We're going to go to Philadelphia. We're going to take a long plane ride to Philadelphia tomorrow, and we're going to beat the shit out of them.
00:16:30:00 - 00:16:33:18
Ron Zappolo
That's true. He was a big believer in if you got your ass kicked.
00:16:33:23 - 00:16:34:19
Speaker 2
You were.
00:16:34:22 - 00:16:37:25
Ron Zappolo
You were good to go because I don't have to say too much.
00:16:37:27 - 00:16:59:16
Woody Paige
In my we could talk for hours, but I would like because as you said, both of you been much closer to him lately. My last phone call was he said, call me back. I'm watching Family Feud. Two beers, and that was it. And I was asking about whatever the nuggets were doing at the time. But he's retired.
00:16:59:16 - 00:17:25:10
Woody Paige
He's out at Valley, Country Club, where I belonged. He loved to play golf. And he said when he retired, I've done his groove a bad swing. Yeah, but I'm on the first tee and I'm playing with some friends. And suddenly there's an announcement over the loudspeaker at Valley Country Club. Now on the first tee is the worst golfer in the history of Valley Country Club.
00:17:25:13 - 00:17:49:21
Woody Paige
What do you page. And this will be the only time anybody ever makes an announcement about him at any golf course in the entire world. Have a great would try and break all four of your agencies. That was Doug Moe getting on a PA system in a clubhouse. And I'm now on the PA system saying he was the best that we ever dealt with.
00:17:49:21 - 00:17:50:08
Ron Zappolo
He was.
00:17:50:08 - 00:18:05:05
Tom Green
I would come in to the radio station sometimes lamenting some home improvement project. I was failing at, and he would just look at me and shake his head and go, Thomas, my man! Yeah, that's why they invented the telephone.
00:18:05:07 - 00:18:32:16
Ron Zappolo
You know, I cannot tell you how many roasts I emceed where it would be a star studded dais. And people are all in suits and ties. And here would come Doug in the Adidas warmup suit. And when he got up, I used to tell people, you don't want to follow him. Yeah, you better speak before him, because after he's done, it'll that'll be it.
00:18:32:19 - 00:18:34:19
Ron Zappolo
But he just talked like that, you know.
00:18:34:25 - 00:18:49:01
Tom Green
For the last few years whenever you call him. That was my other favorite Doug Moe. He's just I would love to call him because he would always answer the phone like you found out about family. Yeah. He goes, Thomas, I'm a very busy man.
00:18:49:04 - 00:18:49:16
Speaker 2
You know.
00:18:49:16 - 00:19:29:01
Woody Paige
I was sued by an athlete. You know, the sport that I don't think exists now indoor soccer, indoor something. And my attorneys first witness was Doug Moe, who wore his outfit. His outfit was a sweatsuit with Nike's or whatever. He was wearing it. And he gets up in the courtroom and it's got a big crowd because it's involving an athlete and, you know, media guy and the people there and a judge says to him, you know, I watch you coach and everything.
00:19:29:04 - 00:19:50:07
Woody Paige
And the first question to him is, so do you think, Woody Page's, opinions are wrong? He said, of course they're wrong. He's he doesn't he doesn't have the right. He's defending me. Yeah. He does has the right opinion about it. Okay. He is one of the worst. And then you go to the and the judge said, let's just tortoise.
00:19:50:09 - 00:19:56:03
Woody Paige
Thank you, coach Moe. This case is over. Thank you.
00:19:56:05 - 00:19:56:25
Speaker 2
You're just that.
00:19:56:25 - 00:19:57:21
Tom Green
Was.
00:19:57:23 - 00:20:03:02
Ron Zappolo
You know, the last ten years I would have dismissed it. He a and I didn't call him enough time.
00:20:03:06 - 00:20:04:02
Tom Green
That's,
00:20:04:05 - 00:20:05:19
Ron Zappolo
Which I'm pissed off at.
00:20:05:19 - 00:20:06:22
Tom Green
Yeah.
00:20:06:24 - 00:20:29:06
Ron Zappolo
But I would call him just like you, and I would call him, and I would say, Coach Moe. I'd try to do him. I'd go Coach Moe, reporters of polo here, and he would say the same thing. He's stiff. I'm no longer Coach Moe. And you sure as hell ain't reporters of.
00:20:29:08 - 00:20:31:01
Tom Green
The,
00:20:31:03 - 00:20:40:18
Woody Paige
He was the best of, three of us. All the people we've dealt with in Colorado in sports. Well, he was number one.
00:20:40:20 - 00:20:41:09
Tom Green
Yeah, I know.
00:20:41:15 - 00:20:41:19
Ron Zappolo
He.
00:20:41:19 - 00:20:42:21
Tom Green
Was, he was.
00:20:42:23 - 00:20:43:08
Ron Zappolo
He was.
00:20:43:08 - 00:20:55:10
Tom Green
He was great to cover and know. And then when I worked with him, it all changed so much that, you know, he really, became an important part of my life. And,
00:20:55:13 - 00:21:08:13
Tom Green
So you think of of Jane and Doug and David and all those those people, he he would always see my son, or he'd see someone else's son. He'd say, kid, you got to overcome your gene.
00:21:08:13 - 00:21:10:26
Ron Zappolo
Yeah, he was so he was so.
00:21:10:26 - 00:21:12:28
Speaker 2
Big for that. You. Right. Thank you.
00:21:12:28 - 00:21:24:05
Tom Green
But but I think that Gene's. I think of all those kids, though, who, you know, now of the Doug Moe bloodline that they've now got to overcome their genes because Doug's going there.
00:21:24:05 - 00:21:30:07
Ron Zappolo
Will never, ever, ever, ever be another Doug moment.
00:21:30:10 - 00:21:43:04
Tom Green
No. Well, just, just love to Gene and all the family. And thanks so much to Doug. We loved him, so I loved him so much. And, I know.
00:21:43:05 - 00:21:43:29
Ron Zappolo
Sorry, fellas.
00:21:44:03 - 00:21:50:00
Tom Green
I know a lot of Denver and a lot of Colorado did, too. And you got to know him. He was never a cipher. You knew.
00:21:50:01 - 00:21:50:22
Ron Zappolo
We all knew him.
00:21:50:22 - 00:21:56:14
Tom Green
Everybody knew. Doug. If everybody knew him, that's who he was. He was always him. And that.
00:21:56:21 - 00:21:59:23
Ron Zappolo
Doug. Never big time to anybody in his life.
00:21:59:23 - 00:22:00:13
Tom Green
No.
00:22:00:16 - 00:22:02:10
Ron Zappolo
Wasn't in his DNA.
00:22:02:13 - 00:22:14:00
Woody Paige
So tomorrow morning, he will rest in peace. We use that word. You rest in peace. You want morning? He'll gather with.
00:22:14:03 - 00:22:36:04
Woody Paige
So many friends that he has made millions of friends in a place that we hope better than this. Yeah, and they will have breakfast. And while they're sitting down to eat breakfast, Doug Moe will turn to all of them and say, where are we having lunch today?
00:22:36:05 - 00:22:39:20
Speaker 2
Yes, that's for sure.
00:22:39:22 - 00:23:04:10
Ron Zappolo
And the other thing, in the last few calls I had with Doug. Doug was had a great attitude and was very appreciative of the 87 years that he had here. And there was no woe is me. No, not at all sick. None of that. He. The last time I ever talked to him. Ronnie, I'm having trouble getting the words out.
00:23:04:10 - 00:23:12:03
Ron Zappolo
Just fill in the words for me. Yeah, you know what I mean. And that was Doug.
00:23:12:05 - 00:23:18:09
Tom Green
Well, there's. We have a lot more to say about this, but we just finished.
00:23:18:13 - 00:23:51:05
Woody Paige
And we will. We will others and to each other and to, ourselves. We've got so many thoughts. I'm. I feel fortunate that we were able to react a small moment after hearing this. Yeah. And we haven't done. And Doug Moe Justice, we have just touched a small piece of Doug Moe. We just say, if you knew him, you know what we're talking about.
00:23:51:05 - 00:24:28:10
Woody Paige
If you didn't know him, you have missed a great opportunity in your life. And you should look up his name in Wikipedia. That won't be the story you can call somebody. That won't be the story. You can't tell the story of Doug Moe. It's like trying to tell the story of Jesus in the sense that you don't know everything, that background, you can only know pieces of of Doug's life, but he was, as I said, and I think each one of you should follow me.
00:24:28:10 - 00:24:35:15
Woody Paige
And he was the best there was. There was nobody else like him. You didn't.
00:24:35:15 - 00:24:47:10
Tom Green
Always look forward to seeing everybody in our careers, but you always look forward to seeing Doug, whether he was going to be sitting at the table at big bills and you were going to get a chance to catch up, or whether it was after a tough loss to the.
00:24:47:10 - 00:25:17:10
Ron Zappolo
Mavericks. The tough part was that because of the altitude, Doug couldn't come up here as often like as often he used to. And this is a good example. Now that I kind of got it together, is if there's somebody in your life that means something to you, don't hesitate to pick up the phone, call him, tell him you love him because nothing's guaranteed in life.
00:25:17:10 - 00:25:22:23
Ron Zappolo
And I'm gonna I'm I'm kicking myself.
00:25:22:25 - 00:25:30:02
Ron Zappolo
That I didn't call Doug enough in the last year.
00:25:30:04 - 00:25:31:26
Speaker 2
Well.
00:25:31:28 - 00:25:35:17
Tom Green
You you but you did. You always and I.
00:25:35:19 - 00:25:36:26
Ron Zappolo
I just one of my.
00:25:36:26 - 00:25:40:15
Speaker 2
Best friends, you know, it's just my man was.
00:25:40:22 - 00:26:03:00
Woody Paige
But you did, Ron. See, what I tell people is I don't go to funerals because I go to the people while they're alive. You did that. You did that. I was the one that was. But I probably spent more time in my memories with Doug because I spent so much. Sure. You guys met him all the time.
00:26:03:00 - 00:26:18:19
Woody Paige
I was traveling with teams, particularly in the ABA with him and Larry Brown, and I'd get on an airplane. And Larry Brown was thank you. Was was so afraid of flying and Douglas was.
00:26:18:21 - 00:26:19:05
Ron Zappolo
Some great.
00:26:19:05 - 00:26:27:05
Woody Paige
Doug was supposed to be the take care of him. And what Larry really didn't ever know is Doug was more scared.
00:26:27:08 - 00:26:28:14
Ron Zappolo
Way more scared.
00:26:28:16 - 00:26:38:13
Woody Paige
And I would sit there and they cover the heads with blankets. And I when I'm dealing with two of the most famous coaches in history and they're afraid, you know, they're just like Madden.
00:26:38:17 - 00:27:14:17
Tom Green
In the first year, they sent Doug and I to Chicago to do our radio show from the series with the Blackhawks for the games three and four. There. And all I remember was I was terrified. I'm the easiest player there is, but I was terrified because I knew I was going to have to shepherd Doug on a flight to Chicago and and a flight back, and Jane brings him to the airport, and I take him and we go and we get on the the train and I'm looking at him and he's kind of weave in a little bit and I'm going, oh my God, he's taking something.
00:27:14:20 - 00:27:20:08
Tom Green
And he was on something. But I remember as soon as we took off, he was up out of his chair, just walking up and down.
00:27:20:09 - 00:27:39:21
Ron Zappolo
Always out of his chair, always up and down. I remember once we had a flight from L.A. to Denver and everything was cool. Doug sitting there, I can tell he's upset. He's going to move up and down, and the pilot comes on and says, there's a mechanical failure, there's a problem. Everybody was kind of, oh my God. Doug was the calm sky.
00:27:39:21 - 00:28:05:27
Ron Zappolo
And he goes there, I'm telling you, that's why I'm worried all the time. And he was with Jane. She was on the trip and we got up and got off and and, to Jane, you know, Doug loved Jane, like, like nothing else. I mean, that was a long, long, long partnership. They're the same age. They they fell in love in school.
00:28:06:00 - 00:28:07:11
Tom Green
Big Jane. Yeah.
00:28:07:14 - 00:28:29:06
Ron Zappolo
Big Jane, you know, big Jane. She's been remarkable through this. Yes. And, I know she'll be fine, because Jane's a survivor. And, I just wish that, these kind of stories, you know, they're coming, but it gets you.
00:28:29:08 - 00:28:30:24
Tom Green
You know? Well.
00:28:30:27 - 00:29:02:17
Woody Paige
The Broncos came here in 1960. The aviator came here, and, 69 hockey came here much later. Major League Baseball came here in 1993. And you think about Don Baylor in baseball, was the manager in football. Mike Shanahan, Dan Reeves,
00:29:02:20 - 00:29:23:25
Woody Paige
Go back to early in basketball. Larry Brown, George Carl, who was on the show with us recently, another North Carolina great, both of those North Carolina graduates, Doug, went to North Carolina. If you think of the top coaches in terms of.
00:29:23:27 - 00:29:32:07
Woody Paige
Winning character, unusual.
00:29:32:10 - 00:29:36:09
Woody Paige
Delight to be around.
00:29:36:11 - 00:29:48:25
Woody Paige
Whatever adjectives a writer can use, Doug is at the top of that list in terms of if you think through, there were more successful people.
00:29:48:28 - 00:30:24:23
Woody Paige
But Doug was here as a head coach for 12 years. He was an assistant coach for six years here. Only maybe Dan Reeves and Mike Shanahan were here longer, but I don't think so. Doug is an originator of professional sports as far as I'm concerned, in Denver, because he showed up the first day and said to Larry Brown, run them, let's go.
00:30:24:26 - 00:30:55:08
Tom Green
I always said the secret thing about Doug was the player he was, because in the first year of the ABA, he finished a very strong second in the MVP voting. So he still had plenty left until his knees finally gave out. But, because he laughed and because he joked and because he was friendly cosmetically, there may have been some if you didn't go to a game, realize how fiery and competitive he was.
00:30:55:08 - 00:31:20:03
Tom Green
His gift wasn't that he was that competitive and he wasn't there because he was a great coach and because he was a great player. He had all that. I thought the greatest gift he had was ten minutes after the game. Click. He would be friends with the guy he yelled at for four minutes, you know, at hands like Kiki or whoever he was all over, he would be able to turn it right off.
00:31:20:03 - 00:31:36:01
Ron Zappolo
The first Doug most show we ever did. We put a wireless mic on him and producer got it together and was like a seven minute piece, and it was incredible to watch Doug watch the piece because he was uncomfortable.
00:31:36:03 - 00:31:36:26
Tom Green
I don't know that guy.
00:31:36:27 - 00:31:58:14
Ron Zappolo
I don't know that guy because that got that a different guy, than I than the guy that's sitting here. And the other thing I want to say to people that maybe are not as familiar with Doug is the three of us. Altitude did a documentary a few years ago about Doug that I'm sure they're going to run this week like crazy.
00:31:58:17 - 00:32:17:04
Ron Zappolo
And if you want to know more about Doug and just get a feel for who Doug was, go watch that. It'll take 90 minutes, but you'll get it. You'll get more of an idea of who this person was. And it it's hard to sum up Doug in 20 minutes.
00:32:17:04 - 00:32:43:17
Tom Green
He was ahead of his time. And one thing in particular that I remember humorously is nowadays people curse freely, younger people curse cursing in the street. You hear cursing throughout your day. It wasn't the case 40 years ago. Doug was ahead of his time. Doug was very free with his language, and one of the best things was you go into McNichols arena and there'd be 12,500 in in the arena.
00:32:43:17 - 00:33:08:16
Tom Green
So this empty seats and he would all of a sudden either add an official or more likely, at the guy he just took out of the game, start screaming at him in expletives, and he would tell these great stories about, I'm screaming at Elston, or I'm screaming at hands like, or, you know, whoever. And he said, all of a sudden I'd look up and I'd see some kid in the fourth row, like, okay.
00:33:08:19 - 00:33:16:03
Tom Green
And so but then he would finish the story by saying, that's not my fault. Those seats should be R-rated.
00:33:16:05 - 00:33:20:12
Ron Zappolo
Oh, if he did say that you were right ten minutes after the game.
00:33:20:14 - 00:33:21:05
Tom Green
Yeah.
00:33:21:08 - 00:33:35:07
Ron Zappolo
He was fine. But you made a great point and made me laugh. Like I'm trying to think of a Hall of Fame of guys that Doug yelled at. Elston, Hans, look, Dave, Robin, Kiki Vandeweghe, Danny, Danny and Kenny.
00:33:35:07 - 00:33:36:15
Tom Green
Higgs. Yeah.
00:33:36:18 - 00:34:00:26
Ron Zappolo
And he Doug came up with some creative ways to use profanity. And I remember once we were in a coffee shop somewhere and I said to him, I could never play for you. And he goes, hey, you, one of my best friends, you could definitely play for me. I said, no, I would not want to be called what you called your hands of last night, because I don't think I could just get over that.
00:34:00:26 - 00:34:13:16
Ron Zappolo
And the players had a they knew Doug so well that they knew this was him for those two hours. The other 22 hours, he was the easiest guy in the world.
00:34:13:16 - 00:34:17:25
Tom Green
He was. That's the burning to win thing that was forgotten by most people.
00:34:17:25 - 00:34:42:10
Ron Zappolo
One credibly competitive spirit like Gene talked about. Yeah. And I can't tell you how many times in the 80s Doug would come and say, all my friends in the NBA and he'd list and Billy Cunningham, you go down the list, they all think my team sucks. They all think I've got no shot. And Doug, unlike Larry and I love Larry, I think Larry's the greatest basketball coach of all time.
00:34:42:14 - 00:35:15:00
Ron Zappolo
But Larry looked at everybody and saw their deficiencies and wanted to move. Everybody wanted to trade at all times and was always miserable. Doug, on the other hand, was the exact opposite. He would take a player that we looked at and thought, he's limited, and Doug would be, yeah, but he does this one thing really well and I can take a bunch of trades and I can mold them and I can coach him and I can through will and competitiveness.
00:35:15:03 - 00:35:16:07
Ron Zappolo
We're going to win a ton of games.
00:35:16:07 - 00:35:23:04
Tom Green
I can hear him screaming. And he would he would always reach a point where he got to the top of as loud and as.
00:35:23:06 - 00:35:24:04
Ron Zappolo
He'd lose his.
00:35:24:06 - 00:35:29:08
Speaker 2
Hands. Look, he starts squeaking. I start squeaking, remember?
00:35:29:11 - 00:35:31:25
Tom Green
He just he would just redline it a little.
00:35:31:27 - 00:35:39:16
Ron Zappolo
You know, what I also loved is when he really got pissed off, he would turn and then he he wouldn't wait.
00:35:39:19 - 00:35:42:24
Speaker 2
He would. He would walk out.
00:35:42:27 - 00:36:03:04
Ron Zappolo
Because he wanted to get every second of it, you know, and the poor guy would have to just kind of come back and take it. And there were, you know, everybody used to kid to don and say, Doug never yielded to R, and Doug said, hey, he plays defense. I got no reason to yell. And then he would yell at Dan in Endgame and kind of say, Doug, I heard you.
00:36:03:06 - 00:36:10:02
Ron Zappolo
He would yell at Calvin, and Calvin would go.
00:36:10:05 - 00:36:10:25
Tom Green
No, not even these.
00:36:10:25 - 00:36:31:12
Ron Zappolo
Words don't even need a word. Calvin would just go. And I'm thinking of all those guys because they're all every one of them. Alex, Calvin, Kiki, everybody that played for Doug is hurting like we are because they'll all have their own memories. Maybe some of them aren't as close to Doug as we are. Maybe some of them didn't keep up with Doug.
00:36:31:15 - 00:36:39:11
Ron Zappolo
But I know you just had Dan here. Yeah, a few weeks ago. I know Dan's going to be hurting. He's going to be hurting like us.
00:36:39:13 - 00:36:57:26
Tom Green
When the when Doug and I started our radio show is because the nuggets were moving radio stations. So the fan was born and they said, we're going to have a sports talk format. And they came in and asked me about doing it, and I said I'd be glad to do it. I went to Dave Logan and I said, Dave, you've done talk radio for years.
00:36:57:26 - 00:37:18:09
Tom Green
How how do you, you know, work with a partner? How do you do? And he says, well, you really got to like your partner. And I said, you know, Dave, I get along with everyone. And he just stopped me call. He goes, no, you really got to like your partner. Sounded like somebody who'd been hurt. But so when they came to me with Doug Moe, I was like, oh my God, this is perfect.
00:37:18:11 - 00:37:35:10
Tom Green
Well, a couple months later, the Avs suddenly are coming to town. So we're now also going to be the station for hockey. And thus was born hockey. Doug and I used to always kid him. I said he didn't know anything. I mean, I had to tell him what color the blue line was and then we would go to the games.
00:37:35:10 - 00:37:54:27
Tom Green
And of course, this is a great team that goes on to win a Stanley Cup right away. But we would sit up in the end zone, we do our radio show and then we'd watch a period or two up in the end zone, upper deck, and I would sit with Doug and I realized coaches see stuff. He didn't know anything about hockey, but boy, did he know what was going on in the hockey game.
00:37:54:27 - 00:38:05:06
Tom Green
He knew he saw X's and O's and he he picked it up right away. And one of our famous episodes on the air.
00:38:05:08 - 00:38:11:08
Tom Green
Was hockey. Doug was in full flight, and some caller challenges Doug saying.
00:38:11:11 - 00:38:11:28
Ron Zappolo
You don't know.
00:38:11:28 - 00:38:33:12
Tom Green
You don't know anything about hockey. And Doug gets all fake umbrage and goes, I know everything about hockey there is to know. And I think the Calgary Flames were in town and some guy yeah. Well who's the backup goalie for the flames? So I write it down right away. I put it in front of him and he goes, Trevor kid.
00:38:33:14 - 00:38:34:13
Tom Green
And the guy's like.
00:38:34:16 - 00:38:35:15
Speaker 2
Hey.
00:38:35:17 - 00:38:43:16
Tom Green
So the next day or something, we go out to Coors Field and Irv Brown comes up to Doug and goes, wow, I didn't know you.
00:38:43:18 - 00:39:04:00
Tom Green
He pulled it off, except he confessed to Irv. He gave up the the gag. But, you know, I was kidding. Kim Christiansen did my show with me. And, you know, obviously I love Kim, but we talked about our partnership, and I said, I gotta admit, you're not my favorite partner ever, because I had Doug Moe. Yeah.
00:39:04:00 - 00:39:04:28
Tom Green
Still true.
00:39:05:00 - 00:39:05:14
Ron Zappolo
You know.
00:39:05:21 - 00:39:10:05
Tom Green
You were always jealous that I got that radio. You and Doug would have been a radio show.
00:39:10:08 - 00:39:25:23
Ron Zappolo
Would have been fun, but we had. You know, I had it three years of, doing a TV show with them. And, I'll think a lot about that today, and I. You know, it's funny, I'm sitting here and, cried too much. This. You cried with you?
00:39:25:25 - 00:39:27:10
Tom Green
Yeah.
00:39:27:12 - 00:39:29:24
Ron Zappolo
Krugman. I lost my best friend Kim, who's.
00:39:29:24 - 00:39:30:12
Tom Green
Now there.
00:39:30:14 - 00:39:47:21
Ron Zappolo
And now. And now Doug. And I think it makes you your own mortality. Kind of hits you in the face a little bit. You know, when I think of the nuggets, I think Carl Shear, Doug Chopper and, you.
00:39:47:21 - 00:39:48:28
Woody Paige
Know, Larry Brown.
00:39:49:00 - 00:39:51:15
Ron Zappolo
Yeah. But these guys are you know.
00:39:51:18 - 00:39:55:19
Tom Green
But you also have to appreciate use that in your good times to appreciate life.
00:39:55:20 - 00:40:21:27
Ron Zappolo
And and I do the relationship. You know what. When I'm done feeling shitty about this and I'm going to go home and tell my wife and she's going to cry because she's close to them. And, Tom, I hope Woody's right, because tomorrow I'm going to wake up and call somebody I don't know who and just tell funny stories.
00:40:21:29 - 00:40:25:16
Tom Green
You can tell that friendship that's there.
00:40:25:17 - 00:40:35:25
Ron Zappolo
I don't want to, you know, and my wife always tells me, oh, you'll never get over Kim's passing. I don't know if I'll ever get over Doug's passing, but I want to be able to,
00:40:35:27 - 00:40:38:04
Woody Paige
Well, go have breakfast, take some friends.
00:40:38:04 - 00:40:39:17
Ron Zappolo
Yeah, and think about it.
00:40:39:17 - 00:40:40:15
Tom Green
And you don't have to get up.
00:40:40:16 - 00:40:41:04
Speaker 2
Let me just tell.
00:40:41:04 - 00:40:43:07
Woody Paige
Where are we and where are we having lunch? And.
00:40:43:09 - 00:40:44:05
Ron Zappolo
Yeah, I'll do that.
00:40:44:05 - 00:40:44:28
Woody Paige
I hopped in.
00:40:44:29 - 00:40:47:06
Ron Zappolo
Yeah, that. And you're right. I don't have to get over.
00:40:47:06 - 00:41:00:10
Woody Paige
You mentioned that both. I think I came in 74. I'm not a native Coloradan, but 50 years. I consider that that's pretty 50 years.
00:41:00:12 - 00:41:18:12
Woody Paige
Two people. Oprah. Doug. Moe. Yeah. That there's not anybody else in the state of Colorado in any field. Media, sports, business, politics.
00:41:18:14 - 00:41:33:12
Woody Paige
That you can say Doug Moe and Herb Brown. And we've lost both of them in recent years. Now, today, Doug Moe, died.
00:41:33:14 - 00:41:38:04
Woody Paige
He didn't pass away. He will never pass away. No offense. You said that.
00:41:38:04 - 00:41:38:14
Ron Zappolo
Earlier.
00:41:38:15 - 00:41:48:20
Woody Paige
I know he can't pass away like a brown would ever. Or Brown is mentioned today, or Brown is mentioned every day by somebody because of the.
00:41:48:23 - 00:41:49:11
Tom Green
Who he was.
00:41:49:16 - 00:42:04:22
Woody Paige
The man he was, the personality. He was the character. The. Affect that both of them had on the state of Colorado. We're talking about people leaving Colorado or going to Texas and.
00:42:04:25 - 00:42:33:20
Woody Paige
I think about the history of sports in Colorado, starting with Whizzer White and one of the greatest heavyweight fighters of all time and basketball players. But Doug Moe and or Brown lead the cast. They were the superstars of what I consider to be, sports in Colorado.
00:42:33:25 - 00:42:34:21
Tom Green
That's the upside.
00:42:34:21 - 00:42:40:10
Ron Zappolo
Yeah, they were unique. They had a lot in common, Woody. They were both unique, and they were both one of a kind.
00:42:40:10 - 00:42:48:12
Tom Green
Salt of the earth. And they also the part of how you measure your luck in life that we got to be around them. We would talk about it.
00:42:48:17 - 00:43:09:05
Woody Paige
I worked with Irv on the radio. I was fortunate enough that I was on the show before you and Doug, before you and Dennis Hill and I'd leave the show every day, and I and I, you probably don't remember. I've left it in a good place for you. And Doug would laugh because he said, you have fucked it up totally for us.
00:43:09:08 - 00:43:10:03
Speaker 2
Well.
00:43:10:06 - 00:43:37:06
Woody Paige
Because I would, you know, strong opinions, opinionated stuff and that you guys would come into the studio. So we had he did all those shows with him. You did all those shows with him? I traveled with, him and Larry Brown, and we'd sit at a bar in San Antonio, and I was the only one drinking. And that's when a famous Larry Brown goes, you know, the only thing Doug's the only thing good about San Antonio.
00:43:37:08 - 00:43:52:05
Woody Paige
It's a guacamole. Which became a famous thing. They both coached in San Antonio and had to. They didn't live down that because people. Doug Moe was loved everywhere. He was not screamed at.
00:43:52:05 - 00:44:24:09
Tom Green
So one year when we were on the radio, the NBA All-Star game was in San Antonio. So they sent us to that. And the NBA All-Star game was a different animal 40 years ago. But, or 30 years ago when we went and what I remember more than anything was in San Antonio. Doug Moe is a made guy because of his years there, coaching and the funniest thing is you'd sit there and you'd see all these legends, you know, floating around the hotel and floating around the different events and the like, and they would all light up.
00:44:24:09 - 00:44:49:09
Tom Green
And the one I remember more than any other was George Gervin, because George Gervin, you know, didn't have the best post basketball life gone. And he's he's really done well lately. But he lit up and he saw Doug and he couldn't hug that man anymore. And it was just it was Doug was that guy. He would walk into the room and everyone is thrilled to see him.
00:44:49:09 - 00:44:51:27
Ron Zappolo
He was also a made guy in Italy.
00:44:51:29 - 00:44:52:27
Tom Green
Padua was.
00:44:53:04 - 00:44:54:01
Ron Zappolo
Wolves. Yeah.
00:44:54:01 - 00:44:55:03
Tom Green
Stomping grounds.
00:44:55:03 - 00:45:02:28
Ron Zappolo
Yep. He used to always say, hey, you may be Italian, but if I go back there, I'm the king.
00:45:03:01 - 00:45:11:22
Woody Paige
I think if you look back, though, he may be the only other person that. But bo nix to have one syllable and each one of.
00:45:11:22 - 00:45:12:07
Tom Green
His.
00:45:12:10 - 00:45:14:12
Ron Zappolo
Names one to Doug, Moe.
00:45:14:14 - 00:45:22:18
Woody Paige
Doug, Moe. And you say Doug Moe as one word. Yeah. You never said Moe. You never said Doug. You say, Doug. Moe.
00:45:22:18 - 00:45:29:07
Ron Zappolo
Well, you know, when we did the show on TV, it was affectionately called the Moe Run Show.
00:45:29:09 - 00:45:29:18
Tom Green
Moe.
00:45:29:18 - 00:45:30:08
Ron Zappolo
And it.
00:45:30:08 - 00:45:31:15
Speaker 2
Fit.
00:45:31:17 - 00:45:32:20
Ron Zappolo
More on.
00:45:32:22 - 00:45:52:03
Woody Paige
Our best of the family. Yep. And he leaves an incredible family. He leaves an incredible number of friends and family, and I don't think he leaves. Those are two f words. Friends and family foes. They're no foes.
00:45:52:06 - 00:45:56:24
Tom Green
Pat Riley or whatever. He had little, you know, things that they'd be kind of even material.
00:45:56:24 - 00:46:07:18
Ron Zappolo
Even Pat Riley, he he I went through all that stuff. Feuds. Yeah, yeah, there was all those Jack Ramsay, Pat Riley. They all knew Doug. They knew what he was. Woody's right.
00:46:07:19 - 00:46:09:27
Tom Green
He did tell me a story, too, about did you.
00:46:09:27 - 00:46:12:27
Woody Paige
Ever meet anybody that was his folk? No. Talked about.
00:46:12:28 - 00:46:30:09
Tom Green
He told the story to me about Dick Motta. He and Jane were in Hawaii, and he'd always. For what? He. And I don't think he knew why. He said I never got along with Dick Motta, never liked Dick Motta. And then one day, Dan and I are on the beach. We run into Dick and his wife. We went out and had dinner and Dick and I, we came to get you.
00:46:30:14 - 00:46:33:06
Tom Green
We were. You didn't know why you didn't like him. Something must have happened.
00:46:33:06 - 00:46:55:11
Ron Zappolo
We had to be brown on the show once. And Doug says, cleaned it up. He goes, you be. You're just such a fucking jerk. And Doug looks at him and goes, you don't mind me calling you a fucking jerk, do you? And he goes, absolutely not. I've been called a fucking jerk by much better people than you. And that was Doug, that show that was.
00:46:55:17 - 00:46:55:27
Ron Zappolo
Yeah.
00:46:55:28 - 00:47:24:06
Woody Paige
You know, that's why I say I look back on the history of Colorado 50 years. Obviously, the sports history goes back 100 years. And I'd say again, it's like Whizzer White was the star of sports. And then, whatever after that, the man who sent it to big in Supreme Court that I met and.
00:47:24:09 - 00:47:47:06
Woody Paige
Doug is in the top two with or Brown of the people who had more effect on more people for more reasons. Coaching, playing on radio in the community, doing charities, showing up at pizza restaurants.
00:47:47:08 - 00:47:50:02
Ron Zappolo
He loved hanging out everybody. He loved hanging out.
00:47:50:02 - 00:47:55:13
Woody Paige
We we we we, miss someone.
00:47:55:16 - 00:48:13:09
Tom Green
Yeah, we lost an incredibly special man, a person, and like I said, are obviously our best to his family. To all his friends. I think of all the other coaches he coached with and against and the players he played with and against and those he coached.
00:48:13:11 - 00:48:25:19
Ron Zappolo
I think you're going to hear quite a bit the next couple days nationally from a lot of people about Doug and, it'll all be good. Yeah, it'll all be good.
00:48:25:21 - 00:48:35:28
Woody Paige
And I think that what we're doing here minutes after we hear that. Yeah, he's passed away. This is the forward. There will be a long.
00:48:35:29 - 00:48:37:15
Ron Zappolo
There'll be a long.
00:48:37:17 - 00:48:54:03
Woody Paige
Passage of chapters told after this forward. All we've done is kind of set a primer of everybody is going to have a Doug Moe story. Everybody is going to have a great feeling about, you know, Woody.
00:48:54:03 - 00:49:15:29
Ron Zappolo
That's a great point because I think one of Doug's greatest attributes, and there's a lot of them. Everybody in his life he made feel like, oh, I'm one of his best friends. Yeah, I'm really close to him because it wasn't you. It was him. He made everybody that he came in contact feel that way and feel good about it.
00:49:16:07 - 00:49:26:03
Ron Zappolo
And I don't know if you can say something better about somebody than if he liked you. He made you feel like you were one of his close friends.
00:49:26:05 - 00:49:34:07
Tom Green
Yeah, well, there be a lot more. And as Ron said, that Altitude Special, anything you can read or. Yeah, talk about it with Doug is go.
00:49:34:07 - 00:49:36:16
Ron Zappolo
Look at any old video. Anything.
00:49:36:16 - 00:49:47:05
Tom Green
It'll be it'll be a great ride. And the less you know, the more there's available for you to learn about him. And if you know a lot and if you knew Doug. Well, we feel for you as well. If you didn't.
00:49:47:05 - 00:49:47:16
Woody Paige
Know him.
00:49:47:16 - 00:49:49:28
Tom Green
Well. Yeah, there's a.
00:49:49:28 - 00:50:21:03
Ron Zappolo
Lot. Go find out about him. Yeah. He would. He set it right. He was a special, special, special person in our community. Go find out about him. Because we don't have anybody like him anymore. He. It transcends sports. Doug was. Doug was us. He was the best of us. He was a public figure who treated everybody that he came in contact with.
00:50:21:05 - 00:50:24:10
Ron Zappolo
Like a close friend.
00:50:24:13 - 00:50:26:14
Tom Green
It wasn't an act. Nope. That was that.
00:50:26:18 - 00:50:26:28
Ron Zappolo
Made it.
00:50:26:29 - 00:51:04:21
Woody Paige
Straight. I was good friends with a lot of ABA referees, and one of them said to me at dinner after the game, I said, why didn't you give Doug? Doug used his colorful vocabulary tonight. He said he would curse at me more mercifully, mercilessly than anybody else. But I never took any of it seriously. No, he said, I gave him fewer fouls because I knew he didn't really mean it.
00:51:04:24 - 00:51:21:16
Woody Paige
And it didn't really. It just bounced off me. Yep, that he was when he said, coaches that, you go, man, that guy's just chewed my butt out. And I've got to give him two. And he got a, you know, kick him out of the game. Doug didn't get kicked out much because, you.
00:51:21:19 - 00:51:23:03
Ron Zappolo
Know the little longer leash.
00:51:23:08 - 00:51:24:23
Woody Paige
Yeah. And they liked him.
00:51:24:23 - 00:51:29:16
Ron Zappolo
They liked him. You know what they were like everybody else. They liked him.
00:51:29:18 - 00:51:32:28
Tom Green
Yeah. Next time you go to Ball Arena, that banner up there. Yep.
00:51:32:28 - 00:51:33:21
Ron Zappolo
Go take a look.
00:51:33:28 - 00:51:46:05
Tom Green
Take a look. But also, you'll know that that is barely the tip of the iceberg, that it was never about a number for him. It was always about, you know, that day that that game that.
00:51:46:07 - 00:52:04:12
Ron Zappolo
You know, something else to tag that number up there. I know that Michael Malone eclipsed it and I don't know Michael Malone. I've met him a few times, but I'm willing to bet you he'll come out this week and he'll tell you I might. I'm the second most successful coach of the nuggets. Doug Moe was the top.
00:52:04:15 - 00:52:12:19
Tom Green
Yeah, thanks. Thanks for, I'm glad we had this this time, you guys. Yeah. I'm glad we had a chance to sit down and do this.
00:52:12:19 - 00:52:34:03
Ron Zappolo
Yeah, I'm glad we did, too, because I was just going to do this privately. Might as well just do it now. So it's. Yeah, I'm glad I did. Yeah, I'm glad that, you know, I had an argument with a guy the other day about, people seeing you cry. I don't think it's embarrassing. I don't think it's makes anybody less of a man.
00:52:34:06 - 00:52:42:01
Ron Zappolo
I think it's part of the human condition. And when you lose somebody that's close to you, I don't think I have to.
00:52:42:01 - 00:52:43:02
Tom Green
When you don't.
00:52:43:05 - 00:52:47:03
Ron Zappolo
Be embarrassed or apologize. But it's emotion.
00:52:47:03 - 00:52:57:07
Woody Paige
But do this. I cried when my dad died. I cried when my mother died. I'm crying when Doug dies. You know what he wants us to do? Laugh.
00:52:57:10 - 00:52:57:22
Ron Zappolo
Yeah.
00:52:57:28 - 00:52:58:29
Woody Paige
So you cry.
00:52:58:29 - 00:53:02:13
Tom Green
And it's just honesty. When you cry. That's just. You're being honest, you know?
00:53:02:13 - 00:53:10:29
Ron Zappolo
So no, I cried, my parents died, too, and I'm with you. There's something about friends that.
00:53:11:02 - 00:53:12:11
Woody Paige
He would want.
00:53:12:13 - 00:53:12:28
Ron Zappolo
Just to.
00:53:12:28 - 00:53:14:07
Woody Paige
Laugh. You to laugh.
00:53:14:09 - 00:53:25:15
Ron Zappolo
He'd want us to go out to lunch of a big Italian lunch, cut each other up, and then, you know, go to a basketball game and watch his team.
00:53:25:21 - 00:53:30:03
Woody Paige
Watch the NBC and say, as we walk out the door, let's meet for dinner.
00:53:30:03 - 00:53:31:07
Ron Zappolo
Let's meet for dinner.
00:53:31:09 - 00:53:44:16
Woody Paige
Where are we going for dinner? That was. Where are we going for breakfast? Where are we going for lunch? And I go, you're going to have a shoot around today? No, I'm having lunch, fellas. We're now going.
00:53:44:22 - 00:53:45:03
Tom Green
To the,
00:53:45:06 - 00:53:46:21
Woody Paige
We're now going to laugh. Guys.
00:53:46:21 - 00:53:47:13
Ron Zappolo
We cried.
00:53:47:17 - 00:54:02:13
Tom Green
This is the right group to to talk about this. So thanks. I'm glad I was here with you, too. And, we will. We'll miss Doug forever, and so will everyone. But what a what a what an interesting legacy. It's not a.
00:54:02:13 - 00:54:14:11
Ron Zappolo
Sport. You said it best the other day when we were talking about it. How lucky we were to have Doug in our lives for as long as we did.
00:54:14:14 - 00:54:17:23
Woody Paige
And how many people can you say that about?
00:54:17:23 - 00:54:41:00
Ron Zappolo
Not that many. That's what makes it tough, because I don't have that many that that mean as much to me. And that's what makes losing somebody like that, so important. And Doug had a great run. He had a great life. And, we all love him. Yeah.
00:54:41:03 - 00:54:42:19
Woody Paige
And and we did love him.
00:54:42:19 - 00:54:43:04
Ron Zappolo
Yep.
00:54:43:07 - 00:54:45:09
Woody Paige
Just like, a love.
00:54:45:09 - 00:54:46:10
Tom Green
And we learned from him.
00:54:46:10 - 00:54:47:17
Woody Paige
We love you, Tasha.
00:54:47:24 - 00:54:50:07
Ron Zappolo
Yep. She's over here looking.
00:54:50:10 - 00:54:56:13
Speaker 5
I'm like, I hope that anybody were to speak as kindly about me when I pass is you guys said, hey.
00:54:56:15 - 00:54:57:25
Ron Zappolo
On the talks, I gotta tell you.
00:54:57:26 - 00:55:00:01
Speaker 5
Strive for. Truly. That was all very beautiful.
00:55:00:01 - 00:55:04:12
Ron Zappolo
Tell you what, we didn't do a good enough job.
00:55:04:15 - 00:55:12:09
Speaker 5
Well, I can tell that the effort and that there will never be enough words. But I think that you guys got pretty close. So I'll definitely be one of those people that.
00:55:12:11 - 00:55:40:20
Ron Zappolo
And we and the three of us, each about three of us. And it's kind of emotional for us, but the three of us are just three out of hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people today who, when they hear this news, will have the same feeling. Alan Bristow will cry down in Florida on uncontrollably. I can only imagine what big is doing over there today.
00:55:40:21 - 00:55:42:11
Ron Zappolo
Yeah, there's a lot of people.
00:55:42:11 - 00:55:47:10
Woody Paige
There's a guy that's saying he called me a stiff.
00:55:47:13 - 00:55:53:26
Woody Paige
That's what he said. That was the worst thing he could say about you, which he didn't mean was your stiff.
00:55:53:28 - 00:55:57:13
Tom Green
Yeah, but he said he was a stiff too. Yeah. So if it was all there.
00:55:57:14 - 00:55:58:06
Woody Paige
Thank you guys.
00:55:58:10 - 00:55:59:08
Tom Green
You bet. Thanks.