Crane has a couple of restaurants compared to the hundreds that Tilman owns. Potente is most likely better than every Tilman restaurant combined. Some people just get things done.
Thanks. I didn't think you were. It was difficult for me to accept at the time, having been going to games since the beginning with my Dad. A lot of history there for longtime Astros fans. Still, the team is doing fantastic now, and I've been going to games with family in Houston when we get the chance. It's a beautiful stadium and a great team on the field. No doubt about it.
Selig gets all the blame from me. Protected his Brewers and screwed the Astros. It was part of the sale of the team and the only way Crane could get his approval if I remember correctly.
I'm sure if Morey had the wealth of assets from 5 years of tanking the Rockets could make some big moves too. Funny how we forget the foundation the Astros are now built on was made from absolute ****. The Tanking the Astros did was akin to the 76ers in pure garbage. But hey, here we are. Let's go ahead and compare the two franchises.
1) Tanking was the right thing. The owner hired a genius and empowered him to execute a plan without meddling. It worked and has delivered a world series and has made them the favorites for another. That's what ownership should do. 2) I agree that the comparison in general is a little off. The Rockets franchise has been a great franchise. The Astros got to the promised land, but it isn't like the Rockets have been some clown show. The Rockets have been one of the top 5 franchises in the NBA, they just can't get across that last hurdle. 3) It's still up in the air whether Tilman is a good owner. He definitely inherited a good franchise with a good management team.
Wait what? How did you get this from that? Why would anyone who pays attention to the Astros forget that they had three consecutive years of 100 losses? Of course Morey would do a masterful job tanking, but he had Les who wanted to ride the mediocrity treadmill until a star appeared and Tilman who hasn't a clue of what he wants to do except win at all costs unless it puts him over the luxury tax. I was talking solely about the owners.
Couldn’t agree more. Both the Rockets and Astros have the best front offices in their respective sports. The difference is the Astros have an owner that is willing to do whatever it takes to win while he has a championship-caliber roster, and the Rockets don’t.
If i am tillman i am not going into LT for a guy that has several months of shooting spell every single year
2 consecutive 100 loss seasons and a tear down never seen before since the 76ers but people don't talk about that.
I don't want Iggy but it's not because of the tax it will cost a billionaire. Let's see if he spends it this year and how deep in it he is willing to go. Right now I see it this way. He bought a team knowing it was going to have to go into the tax after year 1 of CP3 (He was at about $24M in year one) and Harden (hadn't started his mega extension) to really really compete due to the fact that both of those guys made up a bulk of the salary cap. Having two guys getting paid over $70M combined is not necessarily conducive to building a balanced team unless you are willing to go deep into the tax. Especially considering that both of those guys are at the guard spot. Leslie knew this and didn't want to spend the money. Morey miraculously found a way to avoid repeater tax in year 1 of 4. Tilman claimed an oopsie but we all know it was no mistake how hard Morey worked to dump Ryan Anderson into Knight and Chriss and Chriss and Knight into Shump. Tilman and Harden decided they wanted Russ. Same salary but one year longer. Harden doesn't think about salary but Tilman definitely does. He knows that the money is equal but Russ is the bigger name and this move will prove to the world he's a go-getter despite the fact that he spent nothing extra to get it done. Most likely : Morey either has to find a way to avoid the repeater tax one of the next four years, if Tilman will even spend over the tax in any year. Or better yet he has to convince Tilman that his fear of the repeater tax is silly. Mostly likely Russ will not finish his contract here because if they don't win the championship in the next two seasons this whole experiment is going to get blown up. Tilman needs to go heavily into the tax for the next two seasons while Russ still has that burst and Harden is still in his peak prime. I don't care if it's Iggy or Robert Covington or Justise Winslow or Kevin Love or getting Eric extended on a big number. Tilman cannot continue to talk about spending while adding nothing to the payroll.
Astros owner does whatever it takes. Gordon mentioned. exactly the same? Rockets owner does whatever it takes. Tilman mentioned.
Seem to recall the knock on the NL Astros which rationalized the move was that there was no winning tradition to hold on to there. From my perspective, they had at least made it to a World Series while in the NL, and had made serious hay in NLCS appearances previous to that. So... why not the Expos/Nationals? They could have picked up the Senators name again and restored AL tradition to its rightful place. Totally in line with the other old men here holding the same lament...
I turned my back on the Astros as soon as they left the NL. Like I said earlier, I was pretty angry about it. I'm over that, however. The Astros have settled into the AL very nicely, won a championship (!), still have a great team and a good chance at another World Series. That, and a beautiful stadium. Can't ask for more from a baseball team, it's management, or the owner. In fact, I wish our new owner would sit at Crane's knee and take lessons on how to run a professional sports franchise. It wouldn't hurt Tilman any, and might do some good, in my opinion.
