All three teams seem to be falling apart at the seams in some form or fashion this year. First the Astros' scandal comes to light in January (**** you Fiers) and the single worst thing that's happened this year is losing Luhnow. Yordan, Verlander and Osuna go down for the year, have a pretty good playoff run all things considered (about the only point of excitement in Houston sports this year) but then Springer is most likely leaving. The Texans blow a 24-point lead and they return the favor by beating us by 20 after it looked like we might be going to our first ever AFC Championship Game as the Texans. Then Bill O'Brien gets the shaft far too late, already having wrecked the frachise's future. Now JJ Watt may be playing his final games in Houston. The Rockets finally, first got Tilman'd and traded CP3 for Westbrook, who himself ended up getting injured and missed the part of the playoffs and played awfully when he came back. Managed to somehow beat the Lakers in Game 1 of the semis before getting blown out in four straight. Westbrook wants out, and now even Harden's future here is not certain. Morey has stepped down, making all 3 GMs (as well as all 3 coaches) in Houston that have left town, for better (BOB) or worse. I've thought about how the past three years has been a high point in Houston sports overall. The Astros won it all in 2017, and were division champs in 2018 and '19, AL champs in '19, and went to their fourth straight ALCS this year. Texans for the most part owned the AFC South the last decade, including winning the AFC South from 2015-2019 except '17 and just ran into Brady and the Patriots. Or the Chiefs. Ugh. Rockets have so far won the division 3 years in a row and came a CP3 hamstring short of winning the title in 2018, which would have destroyed the narrative about Harden choking in the playoffs. So overall we've actually had it pretty good, all three teams had a shot at winning it all practically at the same time, with the Astros doing it in '17, and it's looking like they're the only team that might still have at least one good year left to seriously contend. Shame how 2020's gone down in Houston Sports. Just a cursed year on so many different levels it seems.
We had a good run. The Texans are screwed for a while, the Rox appear to be heading off a cliff as well. The only hope is the Astros. Still have a good core and some great young pitching.
The Texans still have a good young quarterback, and a chance to pick a dynamic head coach. They will undoubtedly blow it, but theoretically they are set up ok.
Astros got that eye of Sauron on them full blast now that Rockets aren't a threat. It's harder to rig w/ shitty umps but you know they're still gonna try.
Astros won't be as good, but no reason to be alarmed. They should still be in the mix for a title, and if they do have to rebuild there's no reason to think they won't succeed at it. The Texans...are better off without asschin, but no reason to expect success from this ownership. However if they do somehow luck into the right coach ownership will give him all he needs to win. The Rockets are f**ked for a long time. That's the only franchise that's truly headed south.
There's always pro Soccer and Rugby. Crowds are more engaged, loyal, and far more fun (especially Rugby). Oh, and there's a Houston Cricket League. World's second most popular sport! http://www.houstoncricket.org/
You can flip a 30th ranked defense to 14th ranked within 2 seasons and you have Deshaun. Dumb owners allowing these Patriots rejects to give away talent is concerning. but I'm hoping a new GM and Coaching staff can make us forget about the ownership. It shouldn't be so difficult being an owner. Go to massage parlors, shop for kicks, date ladies 30 years younger and not be so naive to let chumps take over your organization when they haven't won anything. With the Astros, you have the core of players coming back minus Springer. Verlander and Greinke will expire soon. They have a GM that can build a rocket engine with 3 dollars. The Rockets: they're in quite the hole. Mostly because Harden's teen wolf ways does not mix well with others.
October/ November of 2017 marks the absolute high for local sports. World Series win, Deshaun’s coming out party and the beginning of the best regular season in Rockets history. It’s been a slow downward trajectory since then. Torn ACL for Watson, CP injury, 0 for 27, game 7 against the Nats, the Chiefs game, Luhnowgate, Verlander injury... The good news is the Astros should still be competitive and NFL rebuilds can happen pretty quickly. Of course that requires salary cap money and draft picks.
