On the contrary I thought the ceremony was great. Me and the friend I went to the game with both thought that Rudys speech was the best of all...I dont know how you could say that. It was sincere and Im sure difficult to deliver considering the emotions involved. I had a very hard time choking back tears throughout the ceremony. I would have liked for it to be longer sure...and Im sure there are lots of people who couldve spoken about Dream and done him justice...but they did the best they could in the short time they had, and I for one commend them for that. I do hope that they will have some sort of ceremony when they unveil the statue and cut the ribbon on the new arena. Hopefully Hakeem will show up for that and the real fans can come out and honor him one more time.
I saw a large portion of the ceremony on ESPNews. It was obvious that Rudy was very emotional. He looked awkward, but I think that was true emotion showing. Hakeem was really touched, especially by Rudy's words. After Rudy spoke, they hugged, both with 2 arms, chest to chest, waist to waist. You could hear them both say, "I love you". I'll admit it; I teared up when I saw/heard that. It was a great sports moment. Two guys, from different regions of the world, different ages, different religions, brought together by hoops. That made the whole ceremony great. ----------
I thought the ceremony was great. The atomosphere was electric when they announced the Hakeem statue would be installed outside the new arena. I thought the comments were very sincere and the presentations done well. I also don't know how else you could have done it given it was at a game.
Argh. Why didn't we think of adding the Chomsky debate? We do plan on having a big ceremony when we can unveil the statue, as well. Somebody else upstream already pointed this out. We're not done honoring Hakeem. Tim
Will the statue unveiling be open to the public? I'm guessing probably not, but if so, could you puhleeeez make it on a Saturday so I can drop by?!
BSW, The statue has nothing to do with this and neither does the Hakeem and Rudy's incident last year so why bring that up. The fact it this is a ceremony that is only done once in a liftime, This is Houston's greatest athlete of all time and there will never be a player of his caliber... ever. The ceremony was rushed and that was pathetic, How can you rush this after all Hakeem did over the years. Of course hakeem is gonna be grateful, I dont see the point in posters bringing that up because it has nothing to do with this. The point it was rushed and done wrong and I take that as a "what have done for me lately mentality". As a fan of Hakeem since 86 I personaly feel cheated out of a more legnthy ceremony, I feel that Rodney Mccray was huge part of the Rockets from 84 to 88 and so was Allen Leavell with Dream from 84 to 89. Doesent that mean anything? Personally I could care less about Les Alexander and his financial status he nver played with Dream. I know quite a few fans dont even look back at the 80's to see what Dream did they just focus on the 90's and that is wrong. Hakeem just ripped the league apart in the 80's and to me this ceremony was just remebering the 90's. Anyone that says I am complaining is just silly because this ceremony could have better. This was the last time for me to see Dream on the summit floor and I just wanted it to be special and I wanted it to be shared and remember with players from the 80's. BSW What I would have different is give Hakeem his own night he deserved it make it an 1 or 2 hours long, Why did the ceremony have to come in halftime of a game. It seemed the Rockets were so hard up to sell tickets they had to do this during a game to sell tickets and that is wrong. After all Hakeem did he deserved his own night like Bird, Magic and Jordan did.
Jeff, What does that say about the Rockets when they were worried about a fine for the length of the ceremony? THe Rockets should not have been so greedy for a measly fine...That is pathetic. The fact remains the retirement should have came on a seperate night. Jeff don't you think Hakeem deserved that?
cantcha read hoss?? or dontcha know that the "tim" poster above is from Rox marketing dept? He said that they ARE NOT DONE honoring Hakeem...geeze son... kids...no patience these days...
Rockets2k, I fail to see what the statue has to do with the ceremony. The ceremony was done wrong and it seems marketing played a part in the whole thing. The Rockets just seemed to be more concerned about ticket sales than Hakeems retirement.
how do you know that their future plans dont include some sort of big ceremony outside of the laptop? I dont know that, you dont know that..I pointed out that he said that they arent done with honoring Haleem...now, I dont know excatly what that means, and neither do you. So take a chillpill... BTW,, I watchwed every second of that ceremony at the game...loved every second of it...If you cant see the good in a bad situation (halftime at a game) then I feel for ya bud..
I thought the night was beautiful the only thing I had a problem with was the next day and the BIG STUPID AGGIES COACH PICTURE WHERE THE HAKEEM PHOTO SHOULD HAVE BEEN. The Aggies win one game. Hakeem gave us nearly 20 years. I wish I was a millionaire so I could start a real newspaper in this town, or I'd settle just to go PAstorini on Dale Robertson.
I agree with costashater2 that the ceremony was rushed and awkward. As long as Hakeem enjoyed it, though. I DO NOT understand, however, if time and hence potential fines were facotrs, why wasn't didn't we have a pre or post game celebration? I've never liked hald-time shows anyway (e.g. the Super Bowl). -d
What if half the stadium is empty for the pre-game celebration? What if half the stadium has left the arena for the post-game celebration? Result : utter embarrassment for both Hakeem and Houston. We're talking about fickle Texas fans here. I was sitting in front of a group of loud guys that were screaming "Put the big man in Rudy!" Of course they were referring to Ming. A couple of "real Rockets fans" behind me were chatting about the stock market and their business, and promptly responded "Which big man is that guy talking about? They're all big!" Hmm. I'm guessing those guys wouldn't have stayed. Half the section in front of me sat down during the ceremony while the rest of the stadium was standing and clapping throughout. These are the people I'd be worried about not showing up for a post or pre-game ceremony. Either could have been an embarrassment. I mean, think about it : the stadium wasn't even sold out for this. That's pathetic. And you actually have faith that the rest of the folks that bothered to show up would show up earlier or later for a ceremony? I doubt more than 50-60% would. As it stands, I thought the ceremony was great. The ceremony went over 20 minutes as-is. What did you want? A 4 hour ceremony with empty stands? In my opinion those who are b****ing about it are just whining. The only thing I can complain about is the fact that I didn't see the game advertised outside the arena, like on the sign that faces 59 in front of the arena. Again, maybe I just missed it...
Ha! I didn't realize thinking the ceremony was "rushed and awkward" was anti-ClutchBBS. I guess I'll keep my comments to myself... ...nah. I like to opine. Dr of Censorship, whoops, I mean Dunk, we can play the "What If" game all day long but I still believe a post or pre game would have been more appropriate. I completely agree, however, that the event was poorly publicized (and no I did not see the Hakeem event of the I-59 sinage). Later...
Dude, DoD wasnt censoring you...he was providing a logical argument to the post/pre game ideas....They made great sense to me...why cant you see it?
I think this thread should die and go away. Costa made his arguments and everyone else disagreed. Nothing more to say : ). Actually this is heading towards a banishment...I can feel it.
I agree the ceremony was certainly not a highlight for the Rockets organization. And that is a shame! If it were not for Dream the rockets most likely wouldn’t have had the success they enjoyed and the new arena to play in next season. The Barkley and Clyde ceremonies were much better. Those ceremonies were befitting of the accomplishments these outstanding players made during their careers wearing the rockets jersey. From what I have heard, unfortunately for the fans and Dream this was the first ceremony planned and executed by the “new” staff at the rockets. Apparently, in the middle of last season les, george, and tim decided to “clean house”. They got rid of the staff that was responsible for the great ceremonies we had come to enjoy and expect. So give tim and his “department” a break. They are a bunch of beer guys from out of town who think they know how to market a NBA team. Give them a few more seasons to get it right.
Montgo, When you say there are better thing to worry about(I am not gonna use the profane word you did) what did you mean? I really dont understand that type of mentallity because I feel this was very important, In fact I felt this retirement ceremony is important than any Rockets game that will ever be played in the future. Dr of Dunk, I didnt relaize fans were that bad in Houston but I think if the ceremony was for free the and well advertised the place would have been packed. I would have even made the trip and I am happy I didnt go to the bogus ceremony for Hakeem because it waspathetic. We all know Hakeem was and so was everyone who viewed but the bottom line is when you look back at this ceremony it was really a low class effort by the Rockets organization. Dr of Dunk, Where do you get off talking about whining and b###hing, I have been following Hakeem since 86 and voice in this incident is 100 percent legit, I should not be questioned about being a moaner.
Okay, I usually refrain from responding to such obvious trolling, but there is a need to set the record straight here. There's been no "cleaning house." Turnover has been very small since I arrived at the Rockets. Sure, we've made some changes, but about 85% of the people that were there when I arrived are still there. That's low turnover over a 14-month period for any industry, especially sports. Everybody is entitled to their opinion about the ceremony. The feedback we've gotten has been, with very few exceptions, extremely positive. We have a good team in our department. I'm proud of how they handled Hakeem's retirement. And yes, many of them are the same people that worked on Clyde's and Charles' retirement ceremony. Their input on how to put these events together -- and how to make them even better -- has been invaluable. All opinions are welcome. Mistatements of "facts" under a false presumption of "insider knowledge" are a bit different. Over and out, Tim
