1. Welcome! Please take a few seconds to create your free account to post threads, make some friends, remove a few ads while surfing and much more. ClutchFans has been bringing fans together to talk Houston Sports since 1996. Join us!

Chron: (Blinebury) Toyota Center's glitz alone can't improve Rockets

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by SmeggySmeg, Oct 13, 2003.

Tags:
  1. SmeggySmeg

    SmeggySmeg Member

    Joined:
    Feb 23, 1999
    Messages:
    14,887
    Likes Received:
    123
    Toyota Center's glitz alone can't improve Rockets
    By FRAN BLINEBURY
    Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle
    YIPPEE, another new building.

    Toyota Center is fresh, clean, bright and comes with all of the requisite bells and whistles.

    In parlance of the business, it has that new car smell.

    You can even roam the main concourse, stick your head inside a 4Runner, Tundra, Camry or assorted Lexii -- surely, the plural of Lexus -- and take a whiff, just to be sure.

    So how come the place wasn't packed and jumping Sunday night for the first NBA game inside its walls, exhibition though it might have been?

    Could it be that, even in this age of conspicuous consumption, we have reached the saturation point for pleasure palaces?

    After all, what's another $235 million basketball/hockey arena when you've already seen the baseball and football versions of Versailles?

    Back in 2000 when Minute Maid Park first opened under the name of the pension thieves, there was the novelty of not only being first, but also being so different from what we were accustomed.

    It was taking the roof off the national pastime for the first time in nearly four decades. It was the retro look, the choo-choo train on the outfield wall, everything that made us look past the Astros' 0-for-forever record in the postseason.

    When the hulking glass edifice of Reliant Stadium threw open its doors last summer, it was a celebration of pro football's return after a five-year absence and symbolized Houston's arrival on the main stage of 21st century celebrity with the outline of the Super Bowl looming on the horizon.

    Who cared if the expansion Texans won only four games all season? What mattered was that we had them.

    Now, finally, comes Toyota Center with its plush suites, club seating, high-tech video screens, yada, yada, yada.

    But the question is how much sushi, grilled salmon, crabcakes, espresso drinks and frou-frou desserts can one city swallow?

    Are we suffering from arena fatigue? Or simply starving for the Rockets to stop serving appetizers and put a winning season on the plate?

    After the baptismal 89-71 loss to the New Orleans Hornets on Sunday night, the Rockets are 0-4 in the preseason and the hunger pangs are growing.

    New coach, new players, new uniforms, new showplace. Old act.

    Which probably goes a long way toward explaining an opening-night crowd of only 10,068 and little buzz around town.

    "I think the building is great," said head coach Jeff Van Gundy. "For the fans to have a first-class place to watch a game is great.

    "For the players, it's great. For the (Rockets) organization and the city to have such a conjunction is unbelievable.

    "At the same time, I've always thought the home-court advantage is about your team doing its job and playing well. Maybe sometimes there will be those last three or four minutes of a game when the crowd can pull you through.

    "But if you're relying on an arena to pull you through -- to make a difference -- that's not going to happen."

    It won't be the extra-wide club level seats that unlock the doors to Eddie Griffin's cabinet to make him the first-round draft choice deliverance that has been promised and long awaited.

    It won't be fancier food at the concession stands that will make the Rockets get back down the floor on defense or play at both ends of the floor with passion and intelligence.

    If the Rockets are going to create the atmosphere and the intensity that they claim to desire bouncing off the spotless walls of their new home, they'll have to do it by starting to play smarter.

    And harder. And better.

    "I've said before that Chicago's home-court advantage went from being unbelievable to nonexistent with the change of just one player," Van Gundy said.

    Or five players. Or all 12 players, if they are finally committed to shaking off the four-year absence from the playoffs and to follow the lead of the new boss, who is determined to push them, shake them out of their lethargy.

    But the regular-season opener is just over two weeks away and things are looking shaky, worrisome.

    "We should all be on the clock and the clock is ticking to show some improvement," Van Gundy said. "One thing I don't want to hear is, `How long will it take your guys to gel?'

    "Come on, those are just excuses to me, used by people who are not ready to win. I don't want our guys given that excuse and I don't want them to take it."

    Not while relaxing in their luxurious new locker room digs or showing off their new togs on the new hardwood floor.

    "I think what the fans will appreciate is just how far Les (Alexander) and the city went to make this an unbelievable place," Van Gundy said. "But at the end of the day, what every fan wants is to see a good product.

    "I've been here a short time. But I think what our fans want from this team right now, this season, is for them to play really hard, really together, really smart."

    The fancy espresso drinks and biscotti we can get at Starbucks.
     
    #1 SmeggySmeg, Oct 13, 2003
    Last edited: Oct 13, 2003
  2. AroundTheWorld

    AroundTheWorld Member

    Joined:
    Feb 3, 2000
    Messages:
    83,288
    Likes Received:
    62,281
    Good article. The time for being patient is over, I think we have been patient long enough.
     
    #2 AroundTheWorld, Oct 13, 2003
  3. tacoma park legend

    tacoma park legend Member

    Joined:
    Jul 31, 2000
    Messages:
    2,224
    Likes Received:
    1
    I'm just depressed right now.

    I walked into this concrete monstrosity of a building tonight and felt absolutely nothing.....no connection, no conviction, only a sense that I was walking through a portrait without a face.

    Maybe it's just that I had a routine with the Compaq Center...same eats, same seats, same feeling. I could always count on the goofy, nappy haired security guard to be courtside at every game; Calvin taking his pre-game strut; Malowsky cantering by...

    Oh well, I'm sure I'll come to like it in the end.

    And hell, I did get to hang out with an off-duty power dancer, so life's not all bad.
     
    #3 tacoma park legend, Oct 13, 2003
  4. sweetie

    sweetie Member

    Joined:
    Aug 1, 2003
    Messages:
    306
    Likes Received:
    0
    where to begin.

    I think if we are to have winning team,Les wil have to go into lux tax territory just to compete in the west. I also would take a page out of the Cuban playbook and bring in nuts that fans might like. Id sign Rodman,Mason,then trade for Artest. That alone would create a MAJOR buzz that espn would talk about and on national tv would boost ratings. As far as winning,I dont know. We cant tank a season to get a high pick. Cant sign anybody since we are over the cap. The only way is trades. If this team isnt winning,and fans dont care,then why hang onto the players? New blood = more buzz. This lineup would be fun to watch:

    francis/wilks
    artest/paitkowski
    boki/jackson
    taylor/rodman
    ming/cato/mason
     
    #4 sweetie, Oct 13, 2003
  5. Doctor Robert

    Doctor Robert Member

    Joined:
    Feb 16, 1999
    Messages:
    3,304
    Likes Received:
    863
    Take a vacation Fran. I think you need to do some soul searching because you don't seem to be having any fun.

    There are plenty of arguments that you could have made about sports arenas, basketball culture in Texas, preseason basketball, or maybe even the Rockets. Instead you did a nonsense essay with sarcasm being the only real glue that pulls the random points together.
     
    #5 Doctor Robert, Oct 13, 2003
  6. Doctor Robert

    Doctor Robert Member

    Joined:
    Feb 16, 1999
    Messages:
    3,304
    Likes Received:
    863
    One more point to make... the entire concept for this particular column is pathetic. The title isn't good for more than 2 sentences otherwise a full length piece, which is the reason that it immediately reverts to complaining instead of support for some kind of point.
     
    #6 Doctor Robert, Oct 13, 2003
  7. wizkid83

    wizkid83 Member

    Joined:
    May 20, 2002
    Messages:
    6,347
    Likes Received:
    850
    Sigh.... I missed the good ol day of when Fran's articles would be bashed to hell on this board for being unsupportive of the rox, how this bbs had changed.

    But I do think that Les needs to go into luxury but he won't. The new CBA is just too stupid imo. You really punish an owner for the luxury and just rewards the heck out of those that don't. Honestly, I've read articles where if you're just 1 mil above the luxury, you are guaranteed to lose money but if you are just 1 mil below it, you are guaranteed to make 10 - 20 mil.

    I sincerely hope there's a new strike once players realize how this is really hurting their contracts and just get a new agreement in place.
     
    #7 wizkid83, Oct 13, 2003
  8. R0ckets03

    R0ckets03 Member

    Joined:
    Nov 11, 1999
    Messages:
    16,326
    Likes Received:
    2,042
    Someone please explain to me why Blindbury has a job?
     
    #8 R0ckets03, Oct 13, 2003
  9. AroundTheWorld

    AroundTheWorld Member

    Joined:
    Feb 3, 2000
    Messages:
    83,288
    Likes Received:
    62,281
    I think that in general, many of his metaphoric expressions are ridiculous, but what is so bad about this article?

    What is it that you cannot agree with if his main point (if I do not completely misunderstand the article) is that fans will not come just to admire a glitzy building, but that they come to see an attractive, winning team?
     
    #9 AroundTheWorld, Oct 13, 2003
  10. SmeggySmeg

    SmeggySmeg Member

    Joined:
    Feb 23, 1999
    Messages:
    14,887
    Likes Received:
    123
    i think the reaction in this thread shows why has a job

    great stuff keep it Fran, the curse of Dreambino continues;)
     
    #10 SmeggySmeg, Oct 13, 2003
  11. Gutter Snipe

    Gutter Snipe Member

    Joined:
    Jul 30, 2001
    Messages:
    2,987
    Likes Received:
    65
    You prefer baseball with no salary cap? Or the NHL, where they don't have a cap and and have teams that nearly sell out every game and yet lose money? (Edmonton Oilers) I think basketball has a great system, where the really good players get rewarded and teams are penalized for giving out bad contracts.
     
    #11 Gutter Snipe, Oct 13, 2003
  12. Rasselas

    Rasselas Member

    Joined:
    Nov 23, 2002
    Messages:
    1,604
    Likes Received:
    120
    "The Showroom" never really caught on, did it? ;) If there was ever a time to trot it out there, this is it.
     
    #12 Rasselas, Oct 13, 2003
  13. Crocketball Fan

    Crocketball Fan Member

    Joined:
    Feb 21, 2003
    Messages:
    48
    Likes Received:
    4
    Fran's column and the other posts on Clutchcity.net make an interesting initial reaction to Toyota Center. Sure- great arena, new, shiny, money everywhere. Guess what Les? You're the third in line for the new arena and you'd better be careful not to piss too many people off by saying stupid things (we will win at least 2 championships now that we have this line up (of Yao and Stevie plus the rest)) and charging more than people(even rich folks) can pay for "extras" like ticket fees and parking. The team is not looking that good- yes it's the same team we had last year. New coach and Yao has had another season of non NBA experience to learn from. The game is basketball, and if the game is lame the arena will not be full. I am curious to see how many games the Rockets sell out this year and what Les will blame it on when it's a disappointment. I say it's price, price, price, for a C rate basketball team, although I'm hoping for the best. Maybe an upper management level house cleaning with some proven talent will help. That and cut with the nickel and diming! I used to hate Fran Blinebury's columns in the championship days and now I almost agree with them a lot of the time. This sucks!
     
    #13 Crocketball Fan, Oct 13, 2003
  14. Jeff

    Jeff Clutch Crew

    Joined:
    Feb 14, 1999
    Messages:
    22,412
    Likes Received:
    362
    Of course, Fran bothered to mention that it is a preseason game and the home opener is sold out. :rolleyes:
     
    #14 Jeff, Oct 13, 2003
(You must log in or sign up to post here.)

Share This Page