I feel like everyone would be happier if you found a different team to be a "casual fan" of and whine incessantly about. You haven't really added anything of value to this board thus far and it's unlikely that you ever will.
Honestly BTG. You REALLY need to stop trying to be the authority on who should or shouldn't be a fan. It's not in your province to make that determination. The mere fact that JayZ750 is even bothering to post on this forum shows that he possesses an interest in the Texans. And to the best of my knowledge he's never come on here spouting nonsense about the Cows or some other team. Now he's entitled to his opinion as are you and if it happens to differ from yours then so what? It does not invalidate what you believe. Making blanket statements like the one above only makes you appear obnoxious and petty. I get the frustration that is felt by folks such as JayZ750 who see an organization continue to spin its wheels while other teams appear to be making positive strides. I also understand how folks such as Hey Now choose to rationalize their continued lack of success. It comes with the territory and if anyone is to blame that would be Uncle Bob who started out doing his best to make sure Texans fans were given the Houston Oilers experience (Just how much disappointment can you take?). Oh well, as Iceman King Parsons always said: "It BEES that way sometime".
I never suggested that he wasn't entitled to his opinion, I'm just tired of seeing it because it's not an informed one, it's just whining from a casual fan that doesn't know enough to know that what he's saying is uninformed.
Here you go again: Care to respond to anything I ACTUALLY said? Mediocre is mediocre. A highly profitable organization despite a bad product is what it is. Feel free to judge that your way. I'm good with my position. You have 300 posts in this forum in the last three weeks. I have 300 posts in this forum since 2007... I feel pretty good about my value/post ratio, lol... talk about incessant... pot, kettle Why are people so taken aback by a fan that is actually being critical of a mediocre organization? By all means, happy to listen to any argument that explains how the organization isn't mediocre...?? I'm just pointing out the obvious, and getting pushback for some reason. I've asked you multiple times to provide a rationale response. Please, provide an informed response. Please explain in a rationale and informed manner how Rick Smith is still the GM, how the Texans are on the path to the ultimate goal, how the organization has taken what it's learned from 12 years of mediocrity and used that data to formulate a better approach?? These are all things successful people and organizations do. They learn, they cull, the change tactics. They have plans that make sense.
Then let him whine all he wants. At the very least it shows that he cares enough to whine. Look: You are a smart guy so I know you can see how JayZ750 and all the others feel frustration and disappointment after watching years of the Texans shooting themselves in the foot over and over again. You don't feel the same way - I get it. But consider this:He could be like me who great up as a boy living and breathing Astros who now, thanks to that ******* POS b*stard Jim Crane couldn't give a rat's ass about them. Haven't watched a game since he bought them and won't ever watch another one EVER. And believe me, the Texans need all the folks they can get to care about them else things will be pretty quiet in Reliant on Sundays in the fall.
Between the two of you, I'd actually be more concerned with your type of "fandom".. willing to throw a beloved team away due to one owner you don't completely agree with. Just make sure you'll continue to not be watching Astros games when Carlos Correa is on the fast track to the HOF and they have players that were just as beloved as Biggio/Bagwell/Berkman and Oswalt were. Its "easy" to say you don't miss them when they're struggling. Likewise, I highly doubt NRG will "ever" be quiet... the NFL is just too big now, especially here.
Smith was, and still is, a patsy... he's not the architect of any of these teams. He's a cap manager that negotiates contracts, recruits free agents, and oversees things... but he's not calling the shots. As far as "changing tactics", I'd say there's been a complete 180 between BOB and the Kubiak era. No more catering to sentiment... no more standing by a player due to "loyalty". Only thing that matters is results. We're in year 2 of this current regime.... you can choose to look at the organization as one continuous run of mediocrity, or you can break it down by regime and judge them individually (which would be the more accurate assessment tool).
I didn't throw the team away - the team threw fans like myself into the trash bin. Selig and Crane raised their collective hind legs and pissed in the faces of fans like myself who had lived and died with this team for decades. Fifty years of history in the NL screwed away for what? So they can play the Rangers? So the Brewers didn't have to move BACK to the AL? I must have missed the memo that pointed out the burning desire amongst baseball fans in Houston to play the Angels and the Royals. Look: I already lived through the screw job that was John McMullen. No way was I going to go through getting F'ed like that again by a lying b*stard like him. Don't even know who's on the ALastros now and could care less now, next year and ten years from now. I am done with them and baseball forever. You obviously weren't around during the bad old days of the Oilers when they were a staple on the NFL Football Follies, people with bags on their heads on national TV, the incessant mediocrity and failed football and having to deal with legions of Cows fans throwing their "success" in your face on a daily basis. This is nothing. McNair may be clueless but at least he isn't the overbearing and abrasive ******* that was Bud Adams.
I'm trying... like I said, I'm still on the wagon. Also, I think Smith is more than patsy. And patsy or no patsy, he's still employed. Must have pictures of something...
Oh man, nothing is more worn out than cranky old fan whining about everything and using details from 20 years ago to support his argument. If you were really over the Astros you'd stop whining about them on this BBS 4 years later!
We agree here (except for ALastros). By my reckoning, this is the 2nd major rebuilding of the Texans. The first was under Kubiak which was tasked with undoing the damage created by Capers and Co. And now we have BoB undoing the damage created by Kubes and Co. But I can certainly see and understand how folks can see what's going down now as just another chapter in a continuing football mediocrity dating back to the 1960s. In fact, it's really hard not to take that POV so for the Texans fan, it really pays to have a selective memory.
Yeah, I'm cranky alright - you nailed that one! But the reality is that I'm more beaten down than cranky as far as the ALastros go. Things just reached a point where I simply couldn't swallow their BS anymore so I became totally apathetic and quit. My reference to them was as an example to show BTG that the fact that folks are whining shows interest in the Texans. Folks that don't care don't bother to post (or watch games or buy tickets and merchandise).
You keep posting about them though and even use a silly immature nickname to make sure to be derisive as you mention them. You are just like that guy who kept posting about "pigball." I don't even like the Astros. I don't care if you never root for them again, just don't talk about it anymore, please.
Sure... and that's why I said it wouldn't happen now because of where the NFL is compared to where it was when the Oilers were bad. And lets be honest, the Texans are still far removed from being as chronically bad as it takes to get fandom to that level... and even then, Houston is even more of an NFL-centric town than when before the Oilers left, with the country itself more NFL-centric, and thus you have a situation where this cannot happen. As far as the Astros go... you just sound like a grumpy old man. I'd get over it if I loved the team (and baseball) that much.
Oh no! Not the "pigball" guy! What can I say - hate is eternal. But you're right in that I never should have mentioned it. I was trying to make a point to BTG. Should have used a different example like the ***** storm currently going on up here in Dallas over DeMarco Murray going to Philly. The Cowsheep are ableating!
Nothing lasts forever and even though it's riding high right now, things can change for the almighty NFL. All it would take is an inept arrogant dumbass like a Goodell to do something that proves to be a game changer. Never underestimate the ability of powerful, rich and arrogant white men to F up a good thing. Yes I AM a grumpy old man:
Yeah, my bad. I made a fairly reasonable assumption that the guy continually griping about the back-up QB might be fairly invested. And I don't think your opinions are wrong (none are). But I do think they're too often surface-level deep, steeped in anger, and seemingly immune to any opinion that doesn’t confirm your own bias. Yes; ie some of their draft picks, free agents and/or hires have been good; some have been bad. That is normal. They actually have, frankly – but fans simply refuse to acknowledge that luck plays a large role in success. They’d rather pretend it’s clutchy leadership and hustle; screaming coaches, dirty uniforms and all these other fundamentally silly things fans seem to wrap their axels around. Oh, and that every team should use hindsight to retroactively make what is now the OBVIOUS decision… Quote away; your ability to copy and paste doesn’t make up for your apparent inability to comprehend. I thought he should have been fired with Kubiak – but more from a “clean house” perspective. My best guess – and it’s just a guess – is that Smith is as good as the head coaches, who seem to have their fingerprints all over the roster and should ultimately be held responsible for player development. I don't think, for instance, Rick Smith brought Ryan Fitzpatrick to Bill O’Brien - do you? Again, it’s nuanced enough that many fans don’t want to indulge in the conversation – but not everything is created equal. Aaron Rodgers is a terrifically talented QB; but does he achieve the same success if, say, the Raiders draft him? His success, at least in part, is built on the foundation of Ted Thompson’s tremendous player evaluation and Mike McCarthy’s offensive system. I think there are guys who were failures here not because they were necessarily bad picks but because Capers/Kubiak (and their staffs) either failed to develop them or failed to properly incorporate them into the system. At the same time, I think there are guys who were amazingly successful here because they proved to be great fits. Matt Schaub comes to mind – I thought he was a really good QB in this system. Not sure his limitations work in many other systems – but he was very good here. The ambiguity around Smith's role leads to a lot of specious conclusions and confirmation bias. When the picks are bad, he should be fired. When they're good (JJ Watt), it was someone's else's decision. Seems wildly convenient. Should I be? Do you expect every subsequent partner/spouse to carry the burden of your previous partner/spouse? Seems inherently defeating. It is luck; more so than it is cunning skill (or certainly as much) - unless you’re content to believe that everything is equal. And therein lies the issue – those teams HAVE missed out. You’re conveniently cherry-picking when they didn’t. Again, Seattle didn’t draft Russell Wilson because they thought he’d be their starting QB; no, they invested money in Matt Flynn because they thought *he’d* be their starting QB. You can’t live in a vacuum of no context. Yes, the pick of Wilson was shrewd and has turned out to indeed be a good one. But to commend Seattle as some paragon of drafting excellence when, again, they had already put their eggs in Matt Flynn’s basket is intellectually dishonest and a pristine example of your consistent willingness to view everything at the surface and reject any critical thinking. So, you’re not actually interested in the team winning, per se – what really interests you is relevance? I couldn’t care less what the Texans' ratings are – why do you? Is this your favorite team? Or an accessory?