To those of you who were there last night: Do you think the Rockets organization intentionally did a half-assed job on the farewell to Compaq Center? The halftime show was an annoying dance routine where a female changed clothes very quickly. Standard NBA filler booked months in advance. Nothing before or after mentioning the significance of the evening. Steve's "farewell" message was more about the end of the season, with the closing of the building only briefly mentioned. The "tribute video" was an edit of Rockets highlights 1980 - 1995 (home AND road), with almost as much time given to the new building as the old. By my count, there were only three especially strong "gee, that was nice" bits for the memory chest: (1) Turbo jumping through an "Adios Compaq Center" banner on his way to a dunk. (2) CD getting a little emotional about the history of the building talking with Gene on the post-game show. (3) The last song after the lights came up and they were shooing people out of the building was the Beatles' "Hello, Goodbye." ...and that was it. I know this wasn't the Astrodome, and Les has never had particularly good feelings about the old girl, but it deserved a bit more reverence than it was given.
the media is also doing a poor job on saying goodbye to the Compaq Center. The only ones I saw were on the news were about 1-2 minutes long. Oh and also, there were only 14,000 people at Compaq last night...I really thought it was a sell-out game. Now imagine if we played Phoenix last night, and Houston was tied with the Suns in the West prior to the game, and the Rox ended up winning it and clinching the #8 playoff spot. Now that would've been kickass.
Its the oldest arena in the league...if anything the franchise should be embarrassed that we took so damn long to get a new one. Uhh, wait, according to TheFreak we should blame Rudy for taking so long to get us one, since, after all Rudy was the one that got it for us...
Better yet, Rox playing Mavs or Lakers last night and the Rox ended up winning it and clinching the #8 playoff spot #1 seed! Now, that would have been kickass.
Twenty Eight years old, and not a bad seat in the house. With the parking perk, it was a *great* building. Were it not for the flood, it would've been a nice venue for quite awhile longer. I'm looking forward to the downtown arena, but no way does Compaq Center deserve to become "Lakewood Church, East."
This wasn't Boston Garden or Comisky Park or the Astrodome. The Summit had its time and it was a good building but it just doesn't seem like a part of Houston history the way the dome does. Better it become a church than be torn down altogether.
Im with you. I love that place (just look at my name ). I know it lacks some ammenities, but the parking was better than anywhere else, and it was tied for the most consession choices in the NBA. Not to mention the great sitelines. I new arena will be awesome, but I will miss The Summit. Most of the memories of our beloved franchise were on that floor.
I think part of that has to do with it being renamed "The Compaq Center". Along with the blue floor and green seats. It's like it's not the same place. Oh well, at least Les got paid.
One of the worst professional venues I've ever been to. I'm ready for the new arena. Nothing historical or remarkable, nationally speaking, occured in The Summit.
I was surprised by the Cabaret Act at Half Time! It sort of seemed out of place but it was quite an act. The Crowd enjoyed it!
I've been to the new American Airlines center in Dallas and SBC in San Antonio in the nosebleed seats in each. I've sat in the nosebleed seats at the Summit. The Summit is by far the best of the three. If they would have just added one of those central scoreboards with a video thing, the building was fine for the average fan. Sure, it doesn't have luxury boxes. Who really gives a crap? I'm not sitting in a luxury box, and quite frankly I'd rather have my cheap seats be closer to the action than to have luxury boxes.
Besides the championship glory days, the place was a dump. I'm glad they finally are getting rid of it. Houston needs to move more into the future, and they are finally doing it w/ the Reliant Center.
Well, most of the higher ups, namely the owner hated that place, they tried to get out of the lease and their own arena several times. It was horrible arena, suited for IHL hockey but that was all.
I think the Rockets really missed the boat on this one. The special tickets were nice...but what they SHOULD have done is given the Yao Ming bobblehead to everyone in attendance. I mean those things probably dont cost much...and they would have only had to buy about three times as many as they did. What a great opportunity to show appreciation for the fans and make sure everyone walked away with something special. I got there as soon as I could which was at 6:45 and they were already long gone from the looks of it. That totally sucks.
I wouldn't call it a dump. It wasn't state of the art, but it wasn't a dump. The Astrodome ended it's days a dump, not the Summit. The fact is local media sucks when it comes to sports coverage. That wasn't always the case, but now it is true. I get more in-depth local coverage on Fox Sports Net. So don't expect alot of attention from the local boys. Secondly, the Rockets themselves really don't do a good job in advertising special events. Like the Hakeem Night for example. I am sure the staff does what it can with the resources they are given, but it seems most of the money went to the billboards this season. Lastly, this was not Les' building. His run ins with Chuck Watson had alot to do with the low-key farewell to the building. I am sure the opening of the new building will be a huge event. I wonder what the first event in the new building will be? Will it be a Rockets game? An NHL exhibition? A Concert?
