With all of this talk about Cat possibly leaving, I was wondering what anyone though could happen to the possibility of our new stadium. Would a good team enable the new stadium to happen more easily, or am I making too much out of back-to-back lottery seasons. What do you all think? ------------------
No. The referendum will happen before any significant amount of the season is played. Most people won't know how good or bad the Rockets will be when they vote. ------------------ Rockets Draft Obligations Summary http://www.gaffordstudios.cjb.net/
The truth is that a very good team LAST YEAR would've had a significant impact on the vote this year. But, because the team is young and relatively exciting, it really shouldn't apply. ------------------ "No one gets out ALIVE!" SaveOurRockets.com
Jeff, I realize you are running a site dedicated to keeping the Rockets here in Houston. And, I realize that Clutchcity is a site dedicated to and run by Rocket fans. But, either you are sugar coating the situation for others, or you are not seeing the whole picture. What are there more of? A. Bandwagon fans B. True dedicated fans C. Anti-arena people I think we want to believe that all Rocket fans are all ultra intelligent and devoted, but the truth is that winning brings in fans and losing ...... well loses fans. As in just about every election it will be the fence sitters who sway the balance one way or the other. Those "fence sitters" need some sort of push or incentive to vote FOR instead of AGAINST. I truly believe that if the Rockets show no real effort to improve the team we had last year that the voter support for the arena will decline enough to make passing another referendum very unlikely. Besides the people (Rocket fans or not) who are lobbying against the new arena deal, there will be others who will be reluctant to vote for a new arena with a stagnant or even worse team. P.S. - I will be voting FOR. (Just in case that was in question.) ------------------ I have a dream.........his name's Hakeem. DREAMer's Rocket Page
DREAMer: your logic would be justified if it weren't for the fact that fans have almost no impact on elections. In most issue elections, 15% represent ALWAYS FOR and 15% represent ALWAYS AGAINST. The real problem is that the ALWAYS AGAINST vote every time and the ALWAYS FOR almost never vote. The vast majority (70%) vote for political, economic and other non-sports-related reasons. The fact is that fans represent only a very small portion of the voting block. I can't tell you how many people I know who are fans but don't vote (even though many of them are this time around). The fact is that YOU are the one not seening the big picture. This isn't about parades and championships and good teams. This is about tax dollars, downtown re-development and politics. While a championship would certainly help, anything short of that really is immaterial. In your question, you asked who are there more of. Well, actually, at this point you would probably have to say #3 - anti-arena people. But the real answer would be #4 - people who are more concerned with the impact on the city. While getting fans to vote is a priority, fans won't win this referendum with their votes but they may be able to win it with their voices. The other 70% will have to be swayed with the emotional support of people who don't want to see the Rockets or Comets move out of Houston. If they are not swayed enough, we lose. It is that simple. ------------------ "No one gets out ALIVE!" SaveOurRockets.com
As Jeff says, its mostly political so it shouldnt really matter. One interesting thing to note though, LAst year both the Rockets and Spurs have arena referendums and the Spurs, coming off a championship year and at that point hoping to do very well again, have tehir referndum passed. The ROckets, having been dissapointed the previous season, having gone through the turmoil of the Pippen fiasco fail to have their referndum passed. I am surely simplifying things a lot and I dont know the exact degree of POLITICAL support or lack thereof in San Antonio, but you see what Im getting at. ------------------ When I die I want to go peacefully like my grandfather. Not screaming like the passengers in the back seat!
Let me tell you my story. The Rockets poor play and decisions during the offseason may not have effected the Arena vote significantly, but from my POV, it played a part in the NO vote. My friends and I had no access to see or hear the Rockets last year. All we could do was to read about them online. When it came time to vote, I was the only one who drove to Houston to cast my ballot for YES. They stayed back. There were many people like them that were easily swayed by what they read about the Rockets across the country. You may call them ignorant bandwagon fans, but they watched all the National TV Rockets games with me. Last seasons frustration was so high with the basic handing over of Pippen to the Blazers that it pissed many people off. To add to that this team didn't play too well in the preseason. By not voting they voted NO to the Arena and hopefully they will not do the same, but Collier and Langhi and the possible signing of Croshere to Houston and Mobley to Toronto is not going to make things any better. I remember watching Greg Papa and Sean Elliott on TV thrilled that their Arena had passed. Of course they were the defending NBA champions. ------------------ Home of Rashard Lewis and the Mighty Rams - Alief Elsik [This message has been edited by Smokey (edited July 20, 2000).]
Like Jeff so eloquently stated above, its not the "fans" vote that will decide this issue, it is the democrat/republican vote that will decide it. The Rockets must garner the support of both parties in order to get the arena deal passed. The key being, to educate the voters to the proposal. If they have all the (correct)information, they will make the "right" decision and vote YES ------------------ "Get up, stand up. Stand up for your right"-Bob Marley
