I've always enjoyed the political commentary of George F. Will. I probably am a little more liberal than he is, but I admire his clear thinking; his writing skill; and what seems to me to be a sort of independent streak. He's the last conservative columnist to blindly accept the current party line on any subject. The sig line on my outgoing emails quotes him on one of his observations about baseball, and I DO give him credit for the phrase.

I know he's on television regularly on one of those Sunday morning talk shows, but I almost never watch them, so I can't comment on his input there.

But, he is a baseball fan. Ken Burns included his views on baseball in his PBS documentary of a few years ago, and one of the best baseball books I ever read is Will's MEN AT WORK. It's one of the few books I've read and wanted to keep.

So a few weeks ago when I looked up to see him entering the reception lobby, I was delighted. He asked for GM Dan O'Dowd's assistant, and introduced himself. I placed the call; she was on her way down; so I asked if I could shake his hand. He complied, but without a smile and with a less than enthusiastic grip.

I tried to engage him in conversation, telling him of my quoting him in my sig line. He made some non committal monosyllabic reply and turned his back on me.

I found out later that he asked a co worker if there was any way he could get a drink of water; and Miles, who had observed our exchange and overheard his brief reply, told him that, no, we didn't have any water in the lobby. Miles also told me that he would have gone to get Will a drink, except for the way I had been brushed off.

For what it's worth, I was also dissed in similar fashion a few years ago by the wife of a well known and widely admired heavy hitter who plays for another National League team.

Mostly, I was disappointed. To be face to face with someone I admire, to the point of quoting him at least once a day when I send an email, was sort of a downer.

But, almost on cue, the head of the Rockies international scouting walked through the lobby a few minutes later. Rolando is close to a living breathing embodiment of classic Latin grace and courtesy. He has a gorgeous smile as well. His face lit up when he caught my eye, he came to shake hands and tell me how nice it was to see me again, and visited briefly before he went on to greet the people waiting to meet him. When he returned, he introduced all of us working in the lobby to his guests.

On a scale of importance in the Rockies organization, Rolando is near the top and those of us in the lobby in the evenings are fairly near the bottom. But he always makes us feel important in a very genuine way.

So from a dis to a beautiful smile. I went home in a good mood.