The NFL, Bob Mcnair of the Texans, and the Astros, and Bud Adams have all doanted 100,000 a piece to the flood relief. Good to see Mcnair, drayton Mclane (spelling? McClane maybe?) , the NFL, and bud adams step up. I thought adams disliked houston but this was a class move. Hopefully the Rockets will follow the rest of the teams and donate as well ------------------ Shane "Save Our Rockets" "Life without basketball in Houston........without an arena that is what it will be" [This message has been edited by Rocket Fan (edited June 12, 2001).]
Adams still has business interests here, and I suspect he has at least one home here as well as family. He doesn't hate the city. He just hates Bob Lanier. ------------------
It still doesnt change the fact that everyone in Houston wants Adams' head, and that he has THE SINGLE WORST toupee in history! ------------------ "We make more, but we spend more." Patrick Ewing
bobrek.. w ell as i remember. he was cussing a nd doing other obsene things towards the city of houston when he made the superbowl ------------------ Shane "Save Our Rockets" "Life without basketball in Houston........without an arena that is what it will be"
I'm pretty sure Bud's permanent home is Houston. He's made that clear. I'm kinda surpised that we haven't heard of Les pitching in yet. I would think he would like to dispel his outsider image as easily as possible. ------------------ "norm, would you like to buy an indian scalp ? This deal isn't gonna make or break me Norm, so don't jerk me around." Harry Carey "Norm, if I had a mohawk scalp, I wouldn't be sitting here talking to you."
I recall that his middle-finger salute, etc. was directed towards Bob Lanier, not toward the city of Houston. ------------------ Houston Sports Board Film Dallas.com AntiBud.com
Don't you mean everyone in Houston wants Lanier's head? Both men let ego get in their way, but Lanier rejected Adams proposals which included the Oilers paying a major portion of a new facility. Now, Houston is flipping the bill for Reliant Stadium (thanks to Bob "gonna have another heart bypass" Lanier). IMO, the people who didn't give a damn about the Oilers bought Lanier's side. Every true Oilers fan who attended games at the Astrodome understood that a new facility was needed. The Astrodome was never built for football. Did you see how bad the turf was when the preseason game vs. San Diego was cancelled? I don't hold a grudge vs. Bud - business decision, I would have done the same. Why put up with Bob Lanier - the jack*** - when Nashville is rolling out the red carpet. Why does everyone forget that the NFL did not want a team in Houston, and it was Bud along with other businessmen who brought the AFL to Houston? Weren't the Oilers, Houston's first professional sports team? We were AFL Champions long before the Rockets won the title. Sorry guys I just needed to vent. [This message has been edited by Smokey (edited June 12, 2001).]
mrpaige.. you are probably right.. although i think a few channels ran with it being towards houston. but i think you are probably right ------------------ Shane "Save Our Rockets" "Life without basketball in Houston........without an arena that is what it will be"
I was an oiler season ticket holder...and I couldn't agree less. Lanier held the line when public opinion clearly indicated that a referendum for a new football/basketball stadium wouldn't be passed. More importantly, Bud proposed a plan that would not work...he committed the Rocks to playing in his new dome...WITHOUT EVEN ASKING THE ROCKS!!! The Rockets quickly distanced themselves from the problem, having seen what a dome can do to basketball in SA. Bud then signed an agreement to negotiate with Nashville which prohibited him from negotiating with Houston at all. During that period, Lanier devised a plan to build an open-air stadium to keep the Oilers in town....Bud of course said he could no longer negotiate with Houston. Throughout the entire process, Bud couldn't find ONE friend to step up for him in the business community. Contrast that with McLane, who found that the land he would build his new ballpark on would be purchased for him by some of the cities' largest businesses. Guys like Ken Lay immediately stood up to help McLane..and he had only been a Houston owner for about 5 years. Adams, on the other hand, had been here forever...and yet no one stood up for him. What comes around, goes around. You also have to keep in mind that Bud had bluffed before about moving to Jacksonville...many people, myself included, were very skeptical he would move. I mean, we were still paying the interest on the loans to make the necessary Dome improvements he required in order to stay in H-Town back then. I remember being very doubtful that he would actually move...but once he signed that agreement to begin negotiations with Nashville, he completely shut the door on Houston or any other community from keeping the Oilers here. Needless to say...I am a Texans season ticket holder...and I will be there, no matter how long it takes, when they beat the crap out of the Titans/Oilers/Bud Adams Entry into the NFL in Reliant Stadium!!! ------------------
mrpaige -- I agree entirely. Lanier thought he had more time than he did...I don't think any of us anticipated that Bud would sign an agreement that would keep him from negotiating with Houston at all...particularly after just ripping up the Astrodome for him. I disagree that the playing surface on the Dome was too bad for football. That was an excuse to push Adams' agenda forward. Ever seen Candlestick???? That is a ridiculous playing surface, but they don't cancel games because of it. The Astrodome was just fine for football...fine enough for Bud to sign a lease extension. He wanted out because he wanted additional revenue (nothing wrong with that)...not because of the playing surface. How you treat people is what matters most in business. Bud gained a reputation for being a jackass and it came back to bite him in the butt. Yes, his team has met success in Tennessee..but there's no way you can tell me that he doesn't wish they were still called the Oilers and still playing in his hometown. Ultimately, McNair stepped up...and I'd take my chance with him everyday of the week as compared with Adams. GO TEXANS! ------------------
MadMax, Didn't the business community step up to help Drayton after he threatned to move the team? I don't remember exactly but he threatned to get into serious discussions with (Bill Collins?) Northern Virginia if some season ticket limit was not reached. The city had already lost the Oilers, there was no way that we were going to lose two major teams. Also, Bud was willing to pay a major portion of that stadium. As a season ticket holder, I'm sure you had a first hand look at the poor condition of the Astrodome. Both men had ego - Bud shouldn't have included the Rockets without their permission, but Bob Lanier should have stepped up sooner. He waited until it was too late to come up with a proposal. Why would Bud negotiate with a man who did not want a new facility? ------------------
It has been said by some who would know that Drayton and Collins had a deal to sell the Astros to Collins and move them to NoVA to become the Virginia Fury. Len Coleman (then NL President) reportedly stepped in and told Drayton that he had to give Houston one more chance to come through with a ballpark. As far as Lanier and the Oilers go, I think Lanier thought like a lot of us though. Bud would bluster about wanting to move, even going so far as to pick a city and be seen on TV touring stadium sites with that city's mayor, etc. just like he did several times before, but before actually agreeing to move, Bud would give Houston another chance to do something and the Oilers would stay with something less than they wanted, but still an upgrade from what they had at the Dome. Since the Oilers lease ran through 1998, I'm sure Lanier thought there would be time to do things like they had always been done. Lanier told Bud to get the business community behind him, but Bud wasn't really willing to work the community like some others have in some other towns. Bud apparently thought it wasn't his job to do that. When Nashville came through and offered the sweetheart deal (better than anything Bud had ever been offered before), I'm sure it was simply too good to resist. On the other hand, Bud could have stayed in Houston had he wanted to. Bud still had an escape clause with Nashville AFTER the stadium funding measure passed (and by that time, Lanier was ready to make a deal to keep the Oilers), but Bud chose not to take the escape clause and stay in Houston. In the end, it's probably worked out better for Houston that the Oilers left. And Nashville has gotten a different Bud than what Houston had (Bud hired a GM and isn't nearly as hands-on as he was when the team was in Houston), so that's probably a plus for them. I guarantee that McNair will run a better organization than what Bud ran during his time in Houston, and the absense of football (and no decades of bad blood like with Bud) has made fans more appreciative of what McNair is doing and will likely make them more apt to support the new team. The Texans are entering the League at the top of the revenue scale because the stadium deal is better than what Bud probably could've gotten in Houston. I miss the Oilers, and there is no way that anyone could've predicted that Houston would be able to get a new team so quickly (just think of all the things that had to happen for Houston to get this expansion team) and all that. I think both Lanier and Adams deserve the blame for the Oilers leaving (and Jeff. If he had just started Save Our Oilers, the team would still be in Houston. ), but we're (Houston NFL fans) are ending up with a pretty good deal in the end. ------------------ Houston Sports Board Film Dallas.com AntiBud.com
