Truth be known, I missed the first half of the Texans Monday Night Football game against the Titans because I was catching up on Grey’s Anatomy on my DVR. Say what you will, but I’ll tell you, this season of Grey’s has been a helluva lot more entertaining than the Texans season.
Apparently I was one of the few people in Houston who wasn’t heartbroken over the Texans loss to the Titans on Monday Night Football. No, I wasn’t sad about the outcome, I was absolutely disgusted, angry and disappointed. Of the five losses this season, THREE of them have been in the so-called friendly confines of Reliant Stadium. That is inexcuseable. You know how I’ve felt this season, and I’m not here to dance on the Texans grave. I will, however, give you a few observations about this game. For the record, as far as I’m concerned, this season is over.
1. Fix Mario Williams!
There is something wrong with Mario Williams. I don’t know what it is, but I understand it has something to do with his shoulder. He’s been conspicuously absent from the defense this season, and that isn’t a criticism. If he’s playing hurt to be THE MAN, fine, but there’s not a lot to play for anymore. Take him out, get him fixed. He’s useless to me unless he is standing over the tackled body of Peyton Manning and Vince Young.
2. Make Kris Brown compete for his job. . . next season.
We need to be open to getting a new kicker. While I have much love for the only remaining original Texan, he is starting to look like the same kicker the Pittsburgh Steelers let go in the expansion draft when Houston rejoined the NFL. I wasn’t upset after the miss at the end of the Indianapolis game, but I have serious issues when his foot has cost us back-to-back games.
3. Kick Kubiak to the KURB
You lose three games at home to inferior teams, it’s coaching. You fail to get a running game established with decent personnel, it’s coaching. I would also really like to know why Kubiak, when facing a long 3rd and Goal in the third quarter, called for a screen pass. I’d also like to know why we wasted a play at the end of the game, just to get to the center of the field. There was enough time for one more play that could have gotten us closer to for the tying field goal. Kubiak doesn’t seem to have faith in his offense when he needs to. That, or he just doesn’t have the balls to go for it.
For the record, I think this team is talented enough to compete in the NFL. I don’t blame the players for the 5-5 record, and while I do believe his head is screwed up, I’m not all that down on Kris Brown either. However, I can’t get behind this team while Kubiak is at the helm. I just have ZERO faith in his abilities. He’s a good guy, and he very well may be more a Pete Carroll type. i.e. A GREAT college football coach. It’s time for another change. We need the playoffs, and we need them now. Mr. McNair, go out there and find us a coach that will make you and the rest of the city proud of your team.
So you love you some Art Cars, but can’t stand the heat of the annual parade? Well then you’re gonna want to check this out.
I figure if you’re not sick of your family by Saturday night, you could also bring them to Discovery Green. It is a nice place for the out of towner scene. However, a quick word. In Houston, Holidays + Free Events = LOTS of people. Plan accordingly. Stop by the Green for some ice skating before the big show. Pack a pic-a-nic basket of Thanksgiving leftovers, and enjoy the show!
Tix and info @ www.illuminatedartcarparade.com
So you should know that the Texans and I have been trying at a reconciliation. I’ve tried dating other people, but Sundays just don’t feel the same without a little Battle Red. However, yesterday’s loss was hard to take. Let’s talk brass tax, Houston lost, on the road, to arguably the best team in the NFL. At the end of the day, I can’t get very upset about that. The only problem is they were in a position to win the game, and came up short like they always seem to against the Colts.
The biggest question I have this morning is, “How many times are we going to settle for coming close against the Colts?” It’s clear to me watching the Texans are very capable of keeping up with the Colts, but what or who is it going to take to get past what has to be a total psychological block? Andre Johnson couldn’t do it, Mario Williams didn’t do it, and Matt Schaub, while clearly becoming one of the best QB’s in the NFL, can’t do it either. A win yesterday would have immediately catapulted the Texans into legitimacy. Now we’re a team who has to go at least 5-2 (more likely 6-1) to make the playoffs.
Do I think it cane be done? Yes, but the team that could do that would have won yesterday’s game.
I woke up this morning to Van Halen’s Right Now. It put me in a good mood, and I figure you can hit play below, then read the rest of the post. It’s got my brain working, maybe sooner than I would have liked, and makes for good background music to this post.
Another mayoral election, another runoff. It’s November in Houston, TX.
When the dust settled, two candidates remain. Annise Parker and Gene Locke. There is irony here because I am sure if you asked someone anywhere in the United States to pick the two runoff candidates in a mayoral election in Houston that featured a white guy, black guy, a lesbian or Hispanic guy, they’d probably pick the white and Hispanic guys.
I have a few thoughts about the election going forward.
1. Will he, won’t he, will he, won’t he, will he endorse a Mayor?
While this was surely a bitter defeat for Peter Brown, he does find himself in the position to choose the next mayor of Houston. Part of me would be disappointed to see him come to endorse either candidate. Frankly, I don’t want to see it be that easy for Parker or Locke at this point. Still, I have a hard time seeing Brown endorse Locke after the way the election unfolded down the stretch. It would seem evident Parker would get an endorsement from Brown, if one is to be given.
2. Black voters?
There was a lot of talk about the power of the black voters in Houston. If we are to believe the candidates, there was apparently a divide amongst the community between Locke and Brown. Now that Brown is out of the race, where do his voters go? There was indignation amongst Brown’s voters when it was suggested by the Locke campaign their votes were bought. Will that ill will prevent them from supporting Locke in the runoff?
3. Somewhere over the rainbow?
Annise Parker stands to become the first gay mayor of a major U.S. city. While a lot will be made of the political impact of this event, I am more interested in the cultural impact. Electing a gay mayor to be a major step for Houston to be recognized as a major cosmopolitan city.
But let’s not pull the rainbow bus up to the steps of City Hall just yet.
Annise isn’t the first gay candidate to get to this point. Dallas was in the same situation in 2007. Their mayoral election even netted them a glowing article in TIME magazine. Ultimately, Ed Oakley lost to Tom Leppert to the tune of 58% to 42%. I couldn’t find the numbers of the general election that brought the runoff, but it is important to point out a different campaign quickly emerged that included anti-gay robocalls and general crazy conservative rhetoric.
The gay card has remained in the deck thus far in this election. While I do not expect Locke’s campaign to play it now, I am VERY concerned about the possibility of an anti-gay campaign to emerge from the shadows. In the end, Annise Parker being gay in irrelevant; it has no bearing whatsoever on her abilities to be mayor of a major metropolitan city. If she loses the runoff because of her sexuality, it will be a sad day for us all.
4. The other White guy?
While I mentioned Peter having the ability to decide the election with an endorsement, there there is another endorsement that could have a bigger impact. Will Bill White throw his support behind one of the candidates now? A White endorsement would certainly add a bit of flavor to what has generally been regarded as a pretty vanilla campaign.
When I first set myself to writing a series of posts about the last decade in Houston, this post was going to be about Bill White, and his decision to bring evacuees to Houston after Hurricane Katrina. It was, I thought, one of his brightest accomplishments during his tenure. That it is published today, November 3rd, 2009, shouldn’t be hard to figure out. Frankly I have struggled to write this post because on one hand, I didn’t want to write a gushing tribute to Bill White because while I do believe he is one of the greatest mayors in the history of this city, he’s not perfect. On the other hand, there is something to be said for the fact that no one in the current race has been able to openly criticize him for fear of losing voters. At the end of the day, this city, for the most part, loves them some Bill White.
So as I sit down to write about our beloved outgoing Mayor, I would like to pay special attention to one of the most definitive moments of his tenure, Hurricane Katrina. It is no secret Houston is an entrepreneurial city. Oftentimes, we are downright opportunistic, maybe to a fault. The Port of Houston stands as the most visible testament to our ability to take advantage of some else’s misfortune. At the turn of the 20th Century, Galveston was thriving as a major commercial center of Texas. In 1900, the hurricane of all hurricanes hit, and the Port of Galveston was severely damaged. It killed over 6,000 people, and changed the Texas Gulf Coast forever. The biggest change came as a result of the opportunistic leaders of Houston. They quickly pointed out to Washington that it was a bad idea to keep a major U.S. port in such dangerous waters. Houston, a good 50 miles inland, was a better option, they argued. Thus the Port of Houston was born, and the histories of these two cities was never the same.
However, despite the fact that the fortunes of these two cities was irreversibly altered, in the end, it made a whole helluva lot of sense. Fast forward 104 years later when Hurricane Katrina unleashed its fury on the city of New Orleans. We all remember the images, we all remember the outrage and sorrow. It was the 21st Century, how could this happen? Will anyone step in to help these people? In Houston, that call was answered.
When I went looking for an image for this post, I was shocked by what I found. I mean, I remember the images from the Dome, but to see them again now, I was taken aback. This is THE Astrodome, the House of Pain, the Eighth Wonder of the World, being used as a hurricane shelter. I honestly don’t know if there were many cities that would have thought up this idea so quickly. I’ll pause here to say I do not want to sound like I am bragging. This was a horrible event in the history of this country, but I can’t apologize for being proud that my city was able to do what it did for the people of New Orleans. Houston did what it does best, it opened its arms to people in need, and didn’t care who you were, only that you got what you needed. However, I will readily admit the decision to allow the evacuees to come to Houston wasn’t totally fueled by altruistic motivations.
As far as Houston was concerned, many were glad to help, others were wary about what we had let into our city. It is not worth bringing up here, but it wasn’t a match made in heaven. There were issues, there were problems and the city found out quickly it had to cope with the burden of a large group of people that were scared and desperate.
Frankly, I have little time for criticism over this situation. Particularly when those throwing barbs did not, nor ever intended, to likewise open their doors to help these people. I am not saying Houston was the only city to step up, but we did take on a greater burden.
While this post was to be more about Bill White, as I close, it is really more about Houston. As with the previous subjects of the X Marks the Spot series, it isn’t about the events themselves, rather the way they fit together to create a perfect harmony that allowed Houston to emerge as a greater city then we knew a decade ago. It would be ignorant to say some Houstonians didn’t recall the grisly images following Tropical Storm Allison when the coverage from New Orleans poured in. Nor would the fear of unemployment not haunt those of us who lost their jobs in the aftermath of the collapse of Enron. Houston knew what it felt like to fend for yourself in your darkest hours.
And no other time in this decade was that more evident than when a man by the name of Ike came ashore three years later . . .
I got an update yesterday about the Texas Bowl I would like to share with you. If Navy beats Temple tomorrow in Annapolis, they will stamp their ticket to the 2009 Texas Bowl. While it would appear inevitable the Midshipmen will be playing in Houston in December, it is still important for them to book their tickets as soon as possible to start building momentum for this year’s big game. That is why I am asking you to cheer them on to victory tomorrow!
You should also know that tickets to the game go on sale THIS Monday, November 2nd. Should Navy win, tickets on their side of the field will go quickly. That said, you might want to start checking out the ticket packages that are currently available.
Let’s go Blue and Gold!
Now sit right down and you’ll hear a tale, A tale of a faithful trip.
That started from a Downtown port,
Aboard a pontoon boat.
The mate was an urban Houstonian,
The skipper Captain Ray.
16 passengers set sail that day
For a two hour tour, a two hour tour.
The weather was beautiful,
The tiny ship flowed true.
If not for the courage of the Partnership
The bayou would be lost, the bayou would be lost.
The ship set ground on the shore near Waugh Street Bridge
With Chardonnay, and Merlot too
Mexican Free-Tailed bats, and their pups
Appetizers
Really great friends and a camera man
Here on Buffalo Bayou!
I was excited when I was asked by my friends at the Buffalo Bayou Partnership to host a Bat Boat Tour on Buffalo Bayou. I had previously ridden their pontoon boat through the pylons of Downtown Houston at a previous BBP event at the Sabine Promenade. This tour would be my first legitimate jaunt down the Bayou, and my first intentional viewing of the burgeoning new stars of Houston pop culture, the Waugh Street Bat Colony.
Our journey began at the boat launch in Sabine Promenade park in the shadows of the Sabine Street Bridge. If you haven’t yet visited the Sabine Promenade, I highly recommend you make a visit. There is free parking available in City Lot H, enter off of Memorial. There is a map available here. From there you head west under the Sabine Street Bridge. 
While most of your trek will be in between Memorial Drive and Allen Parkway, shortly have leaving the Downtown area, you find yourself drifting underneath Memorial Drive.
One thing that struck me from the beginning is how lush the shores of the Bayou are. I don’t know if there are many cities in the world with this kind of natural resource literally sitting in its backyard. There has been a lot of talk about the idea of turning the Bayou into San Antonio’s Riverwalk. I’ve been a proponent of such a plan in the past, but after doing a Huckleberry Finn up the Buffalo Bayou, I have to say we need to keep it just the way it is. Of course, I would like to see more development along the Bayou, but not of the restaurant, cafe and residential variety. I want to see more parks like Sabine Promenade. I am anxiously anticipating the completion of the renovation of the International Coffee Building, the Partnership’s next great project along the Bayou.
So let’s talk about the Boat and the Tours. Your vessel is the Osprey, a 20-person pontoon boat. As you can see from the picture above, it seats everyone quite comfortably. You are asked to sit down while the boat is travelling. Nature has a habit of sticking logs in unlikely places along the bayou, so unexpected bumps are sometimes part of your tour. On our tour, we only had one small bump. In any case, your captain will regale you about the history of Buffalo Bayou while you drift slowly towards the Waugh Street Bridge.
You might ask yourself what’s the big deal about the Waugh Street Bridge. Where did these bats come from? Well, take a gander at the photo above of the Montrose Street Bridge. You see the gaps between the beams? The Montrose bridge’s supports go across the bridge between cement beams. Now look underneath the Waugh Street Bridge.
Instead of supports going across the bridge, the expansion spans are placed side-by-side the entire length of the bridge. The expansion gaps between the beams then became the perfect home for Mexican Free-Tailed Bats. Roughly 250,000 bats live under the Waugh Street Bridge. The famous bats of the Congress Bridge in Austin number 1,500,000.
The first thing you notice once you run aground near the Bridge, is the tell tale twittering of the bats under the bridge. The thing I find so fantastic about this whole experience is the location. I drive over the Waugh Street bridge multiple times a week. Here I was, sipping wine with friends underneath a bridge waiting for bats, and lots of ‘em, to take flight into the Houston evening. It’s certainly belongs on the list of things to do in Houston. For my part, I am going to plan personal cruises bi-annually; one near my birthday in April and another one weekend in October. One thing to know is you can pretty much book a cruise whenever you like. Give the Partnership at least two weeks, maybe more, and find 20 people. As long as they can find a captain, you’re in good shape. There is more information available about their public tours here. Whether you want to cruise the Bayou or see the bats, the Buffalo Bayou Partnership has you covered.
Now, without further ado, I give you the stars of our Bayou, the Waugh Bridge Bat Colony!
This is going to be a real hard season to be a fan of the Houston Rockets. It’s not that the team is going to be bad, quite the contrary. However, without Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady, there isn’t a lot of hope in H-Town for a serious run at the NBA title. Well, that’s what they say.
For my part, while I agree a title is something of a pipe dream, but I believe this team is a lot better than anyone is giving them credit for. They were, for the most part, was the only squad to give the eventual NBA Champion, the Los Angeles Lakers, any competition in last year’s playoffs. Despite being without Yao and T-Mac, the team that will take the floor tonight in Portland is better than the team that pushed the Lakers to seven games in last year’s Western Conference Semifinals. Of course, a lot of teams are better than they were last season.
Despite the lack of hope, I find myself incredibly excited about this new NBA season. A lot of it has to do with the residual pride left over from last year’s playoff match-up with the Lakers. Outside of the two NBA championships, there isn’t a moment I was more proud to be a Rockets fan than games 4 and 6 last season. This team is capable of more than it appears on paper, and it’s going to make for an interesting season. I feel it is also going to pay INCREDIBLE dividends when the Rockets do, finally?, get Yao and Tracy back next season and beyond. These guys went to war last season, and they know how good they are when they work as a team. Together, they can become a third superstar Houston has been lacking to offset those nights when Yao or Tracy was unable to produce.
This season will be a clinic on adversity, and fighting through it. In the end, they are going to know how to get things done when they need to. Right now, I believe the Rockets will be in the thick of things for either the seventh or eighth seed in the Western Conference. That will likely result in a first round dance with the Los Angeles Lakers or San Antonio Spurs, and a likely first round ouster. However, if the best the Rockets can do is a first round and out, I’m going to be a very happy fan indeed.
I’m liking the San Antonio Spurs this season, and will even go so far as to say this will be Tim Duncan’s last championship. In any case, it’s entirely way too early to make any predictions. That’s why they play the games. I just wish more people would take that into account before writing this year’s Rockets.
I look forward to watching them surprise us all.
I don’t know if you are aware, but Houston has quietly built itself a very respectable collegiate bowl game in the Texas Bowl. I have had the wonderful opportunity to be involved with it since its inception in 2006.
Houston was in danger of losing its bowl license due to the lack of a strong corporate sponsor. If you want to get an idea of how bad things were, you can read this article by ESPN’s Sports Guy, Bill Simmons. (NOTE: While the article does a fair number of good points, Mr. Simmons is still a Boston writer and, therefore, unable to write a wholly objective article about anything to do with Houston.)
So, Houston was about to lose its bowl, but a gentleman by the name of Bob McNair (most AWESOME Houston sports team owner EVER!) felt Houston and collegiate bowls should not be separated again. (Houston lost its bowl once before when the Bluebonnet Bowl, our original bowl game, folded in 1987.) He stepped in, and created the Texas Bowl, a celebration of culture, heritage and football tradition of the Lone Star State. While it’ll never have the regal charm of a Rose or Orange Bowl, I’ll take the Texas Bowl over Meineke Car Care or Chick-Fil-A Bowls and day of the week and twice on Sundays.
The biggest challenge for the Texas Bowl has always been its match-up. On paper, they haven’t always had the best choices when it came to teams to invite to Houston to play in Reliant Stadium. And, let’s be honest, who wants to play a game in Houston when you have Hawaii, Las Vegas and San Antonio as alternate sites? Still, with an amazing amount of dedication and hard work, the Texas Bowl has been able to improve its match-up by choosing the #6 in the Big 12 and Big 10 Conferences. The Texas Bowl has always had a relationship with the Big 12 harkening back to the old days when the Southwest Conference seeded the teams for the Bluebonnet Bowl. Now they have an opportunity to bring in a “better” school. Even better, with the new agreement from the Big Ten Conference, Houston is assured of a quality match-up every year! With this new conference alignment, I have little doubt the Texas Bowl will be able to negotiate a Tier One Bowl (one step below BCS) contract going into the next round of conference negotiations.
I doubt the Texas Bowl will ever break into the vaunted bowls of the BCS, but that will have more to do with the lack of the Big Four (Rose, Orange, Sugar and Fiesta) allowing any new members into their exclusive club. They just don’t appear to be very willing to expand the group beyond the current four.
In any case, the Texas Bowl needs your help. For any bowl game to be successful, there must be local support. This means you buy tickets regardless of what the match-up is. The new agreement will further guarantee you get a good match-up, so this shouldn’t be hard. As for this year, the bowl game is starting to look like a great match-up between (cross your fingers) Navy and a school from the Big 12. The current Bowl Projections over at ESPN are split between Navy playing either Kansas State or Iowa State. These teams have played in Houston in recent years, Kansas State in the 2006 Texas Bowl and Iowa State in the 2005 EV1.net Bowl. I prefer Kansas State because I saw what how well their fans travel, and combining them with the fans of the Midshipmen, this match-up could set Houston bowl attendance records.
I’m going to be writing more about the Texas Bowl in the coming weeks as we get closer to the announcement during the first week of December and the big game on Thursday, December 31. In the meantime, cheer the heck out of Navy. They need only two more victories to qualify for a trip to the Texas Bowl. Regardless of their opponent, I feel like their participation is the best way to close the first chapter Texas Bowl history as we look forward to new and exciting match-ups between the Big 12 and Big 10!
