I was just in the same location as Rocketman95 was when he had his dave matthews encounter.... Unfourtunately the "celebrity" I saw less than 24 hrs later was not dave matthews... it was none other than Bud Adams... Walking to my car on such a beautiful day to go to lunch and all of the sudden I see Bud Adams, and I think I've lost my appetite... Any precautions I should take since i was so close to him? And no I didn't take pictures.. I had a camera in my bag but I don't think I want Bud Adams pictures.. I'm glad I have lots of texans clothing to wear up here..
Oh to add to this.. I met mike munchak later that evening in the same location so.. I guess that makes up for it somewhat..
I like the man. He was a great owner for the Oilers, always spent a lot of money trying to win. If he and Lanier could have worked out personal issues, we would be rooting for a Super Bowl contender instead of watching a struggling new franchise. DD
But then you'd lose the whole - "And Houston sets another franchise record with it's 17 yard pass - the longest in franchise history" in the first quarter. And then later in the third "And with that completed pass Houston sets another franchise record with it's 27 yard pass - the longest in franchise history. Or, at the end of the first quarter: "...with that missed tackle, Matt Stevens sets the franchise record for missed tackles in a quarter". And then later in the third, "Matt Stevens sets...." you know where I'm going with this. I have figured out this strategy with respect to watching the Texans. Kickoff to halftime - Cheer like Crazy. Immediately upon the beginning of halftime - take a two hour nap. I'm much more relaxed after that.
If we would have given in to Butt Adams like we did the first time he blackmailed the city with a move to Jacksonville (for a few extra seats in the Dome for a Superbowl ), we wouldn't have Reliant Stadium OR Toyota Center. Hell, we might not even have the Rockets anymore. He wanted to build a football/basketball stadium for the Oilers and Rockets. The plan was very short sighted and he would have probably already been screaming for a new stadium by now if it would have come to fruition because that stadium would already be obsolete. That said, he did vote for Houston over LA for an expansion franchise but then...so did Jerry Jones.
I was very young when it all came about so I don't know all the details.. i just remember him making crazy claims about moving to montgomery county or something?? maybe i'm wrong on that I suppose what he did really isn't that much different than the rockets and astros threatening to leave except he followed thru...
I'm pretty sure Matt Stevens has already set the NFL record for missed tackles in a season... If the Oilers hadn't choked in two consecutive postseason games, they would probably still be here
Bottom line is that it cost the tax payers of Harris County 3 to 5 times as much money to get the Texans as it would have been to keep the Oilers. Pretty simple math if you ask me. DD
I was really hoping the Texans would call themselves the Oilers. If the new Browns can be called the Browns, why couldn't the Houston NFL team be called Oilers? We didn't lose much. A couple of AFL championships, division titles, hall of famers, and oh yeah memories.
Bud nixed that very early on. Modell left the name and the team history in Cleveland as a show of "goodwill" if I remember correctly. I don't think Houston would have wanted the "new Oilers" anyway. Too many bad memories. Personally, I would have liked to keep the name, but the Texans name has grown on me.
It was part of the settlement that allowed the Browns to leave Cleveland with two years left on their lease. Harris County settled for some cash and some land to let the Oilers leave two years early. The Browns, though, were always bigger than Art Modell, even though he had been the owner for many years. They had a history beyond him, though. The Oilers were always Bud's team, and I think that makes a difference as to people wanting to retain the Oilers name, as it seemed there was a large faction more wanting a new start rather than a retention of the Oilers history and logos.
I think ima is right for the most part, but IIRC, Cleveland fans whined and complained so much about Modell leaving them that a deal was made with the NFL that they would get the next expansion team and that it WOULD be the Browns and that it would continue the history of the old Browns. As far as I know that is the only example in sports where a franchise has done that. The only other example I can think of is in baseball with the Washington Senators. From 1901 to 1960 there was a baseball team in Washington known as the Senators (their most famous player was Walter Johnson), but they left to go to Minnesota for the 1961 season and became known as the Twins. However, the American League expanded for the '61 season and brought in 2 new teams in the Los Angeles (now Anaheim) Angels and yup, you guessed it, another Washington Senators team. I think it was after the '71 season but it might have been after the '72 season when this version left DC and became the Texas Rangers. Of course, I have no idea if the "2nd" Senators considered the past of the original Senators as their own like the current Browns do. But I do not consider the current Browns to be the old ones; I think of the Ravens as the old Browns.
Probably not. I don't know that had the Oilers stayed in Houston, things would've aligned to allow the Oilers to become what they've become in Nashville. I mean, hiring Jeff Diamond was huge, and giving him and Fisher as much power as they have does not fit with the way the team was run during its days in Houston. I think having some distance between Adams and his team has made for a better team. Plus, the Oilers just had such a history of bad luck. It was almost as if they were cursed. I'm not a superstitious man, but their string of things just going wrong at inopportune times has softened my anti-superstition stance.
I don't think they do. The Rangers will sometimes acknowledge the franchise records of the Senators, but they are always the post-1961 Senators. The history of the original Senators is kept with that of the Twins. So while we may well see a 3rd Senators team, it would start from scratch in terms of records, etc. While the Browns retain the official history and records from the original franchise. The Ravens history starts with their first year in Baltimore.
It would have been nice to keep our history. Well, not all the history. I would settle for everything before 1980 and Bruce Matthews and Mike Munchak. It kills me to see Stacy Mack wearing #34. That number along with #63 and #74 should be retired even though it's not our history anymore. It just doesn't seem right.
