I just read about Stern's comments about Houston and the Rockets on ESPN website. How much water is he really holding here? What makes him so sure that no NBA team would want to move to Houston if Les decides to move the team. Not to sound like an arrogant Texan over here but Houston is a very hard city to pass up for an NBA franchise. There is no question that a new state of the art arena for basketball will be built one day. The only question is when.
Maybe because Houston couldn't sell out a game until they first won a championship and that the fans suck, other than us there are no true sports fans in Houston, just a bunch of bandwagoning idiots. ------------------ "We need to fockass".....Dream back in the day
(snip)sabirk: Uhh, maybe because every other team has a new arena and they are locked in for about thirty years. Maybe Houston will get a new team, in the 2030's. (/snip) Does anyone really believe that the owners would be willing to go without a team in the #4 TV for 10+ years? Expansion won't be an option like it was for football. The last expansion was disaster(the Canadians teams aren't living up to expectations and quality really dropped due to the spreading of a thin talent pool). Since none of the other team's leases will allow them to bolt for Houston, the Rox moving would be the end of the NBA in Houston for a long time. I think Stern is bluffing. [This message has been edited by jumper (edited February 13, 2000).]
it's a hard bluff to call though. Stern's going to give complete support to the owners because they are his clients not the host cities. I'd also warn against questioning the owners' willingness to punish a city that doesn't cooperate with one of their own. I assume they'd pull rank merely to remind their own host cities to 'give it up' when it's legitimately asked for. I am amazed by the HSA's ignorance as to who's in the position of power here. [This message has been edited by Achebe (edited February 13, 2000).]
I don't think the owners would have any quell in allowing the Rockets to leave the number 4 population market. I believe its lower in media though. They all want the ability to move if the same situation ever occured in their hometown. Look at the NFL. They don't have anything in LA. Who hold about 3 times as many people as HOuston.
The reason LA doesn't have a NFL team is becuase they screwed up about 30 times with their stadium deal. It took about 12 meetings before the owners figured LA would not get it together. THey sure wanted LA badly though. But they will not do the same for Houston becuase Houston always gets crapped on. I will play it safe and vote YES now to secure the Rockets. I really do not want them to get a new stadium becuase the deals that came up were BS to the tax payers, but I could not see the Rockets skip town so I'm forced to.
I agree with Scarface that most people in Houston only care when the teams are winning. Oh sure there are some diehards out there who eat, sleep and drink Houston sports, but a majority of people could care less if a Houston team wins or loses on any given day. When the new arena is built, the "fans" will flock to it until the newness wears out. Hopefully les will continue to shell out big bucks to keep the Rockets a winner or else it will be a BIG empty arena.
Spencer, I'm under the impression that the only taxes levied in Houston would be for rental cars & hotels. In what way would the tax payer get screwed??? It seems like tourists would float the bill. I'm not from Houston, so I didn't get to hear the opposition's side. From what I can infer from others on the BBS, there was just alot of rhetoric about the poor tax payer, etc. Was any of it valid or just bs political ideologue? ps: My inquisitiveness doesn't indicate that I've backed down from my 'you silly Houstonians' viewpoint... I was just curious to see what the electorate's mindset was last November. By the way, if you want to see what you're up against (and gauge Les's intuition)... think about being dumped in the course of a nasty argument. Now that girl (or boy as the case may be) comes back to you all apologetically, willing to work things out. What do you do?
Yel, Sterns buffing and you'll get another team real soon - NOT... Thats the kind of thinking that caused the vote to be defeated to the joy of the Republicans. But continue to believe you have Les where you want him and then figure out what NBA team you want to follow from a distance. Six teams in the NBA moved into new arenas this year and the ones they moved out of is bigger then what the Rockets play in, and none had a championship in the last ten years like the Rockets. Go ahead and think you have them and they will do as the voters say and play where they are told and Les can pay for the top players and play in the smallest place in the NBA. The voters spoke and now if the damage is to be repaired it will take a new arena with a sweetheart lease to keep the Rockets in Houston. From the sound of the people in this string, it is not getting to some of the people that will say later, I just don't know what happened!!
Uhh, maybe because every other team has a new arena and they are locked in for about thirty years. Maybe Houston will get a new team, in the 2030's. My feeling is if we can't keep the rockets, we don't deserve another team. Why build an arena "one day" for no team when we have a team right now that needs a new arena?
Also, regarding LA's attempts to secure the 32nd NFL team, they were hampered by two competing groups that were trying to come up with a financing plan for the team. Houston has the opposite problem: we've got two groups competing for political spoils.
As much as I hate to admit it, Houston does suck when it comes to sports. Just an example. As pathetic and moronic most of the people in NYC are, the Knicks have the longest waiting list for basketball tickets in the history of history. How long is long? Well, my friend is in line to get season tickets for the Knicks. Whats his number in the line? Try 14,238. I am not kidding! How is that for rabid b-ball fans? ------------------ Live Rocketball. Breathe Rocketball. Die with Rocketball.
Juan, I don't think it is like that in every other town. For one, Houston is the 4th largest city in the country, so they're at an advantage right there with more people. You can find examples in every major sports team Houston has had: The Rockets in 1994, were hosting the first game of the 2nd round of the playoffs against Phoenix. This was a Sunday afternoon. They hadn't made it out of the 1st round in 7 years. They're finally in the 2nd round, with homecourt advantage, an excellent chance to win their first title. What happens? 2,000 empty seats in the Summit. That doesn't happen in every town. The Oilers -- when they consistently had one of the best teams in the NFL, Randall's had to buy up the remaining tickets for home games every week, just so the game wouldn't be blacked out locally. The Astros -- 2nd best record of any National League team in the 90s, yet consistently at the bottom as far as attendance. If the Rockets leave, who in their right mind would want to bring a team to Houston?
The Freak is absolutely correct. Not to mention that Bud Adams offered to pay 75 million out of his own pocket to help finance a stadium..What happened? Houston said NO !! Now they are paying 3 times the money for a new team...and the old Oilers are Super Bowl contenders again..ARGH !!! DaDakota
If you guys want to get a taste of just how rabid Knick fans are, go to the new york times knicks forum. [This message has been edited by BobFinn* (edited February 14, 2000).]
In Summary: 1. No new stadium --> no Rockets; 2. There will be no new expansion in the league (Sterne has said in previous interviews that he thinks the talent level throughout the league is running thin anyway); 3. None of the existing teams will relocate to Houston because 28 have relatively new stadiums. Sounds like to me we need to push the politicians and get the deal done!
