Two #1 draft picks. The most significant free agent signing in years. Three stadiums, all relatively new. Is this the greatest time to be a Houston sports fan or what?
Yes! God must be a Houstonian! Eh, well. In the movie Bruce Almighty, Jim Carrey is given god-like abilities, and Carrey dated Rene Zellwegger for a while, and she's from Katy, so you see the Houston connection with God? Um...I don't know what I'm talking about....
In just terms of the teams themselves (and not the facilities), 1979-1981 wasn't too bad. The Astros had Ryan and were a couple of outs away from the World Series. The Oilers had Earl and were (potentially) a referee's call away from the Super Bowl and the Rockets had Moses Malone and made it to the NBA finals.
Good question. I think the best time for Houston sports would have probably been around 1980/81. Rockets in the Finals, Oilers in two straight AFC Championship Games, and Astros just signed Nolan Ryan and were in the playoffs. The Rockets championships in 94/95 were probably a better time too. Also 1986, with Rockets in Finals and Astros playing the Mets in an incredible series.
Well, for those of us who weren't alive for those times, I would definately consider this the best time. The 94-95 championships were great, but that was about it. The Astros and the Oilers were both struggling. But the future seems bright indeed, and that's why this time is my favorite.
In 1994 the Astros were possibly on their way to a division title before the strike hit (finishing 1/2 game behind the Reds) and in 1995 they, again, finished in 2nd place. I would not consider that 'struggling'.
They DID win and they won a lot more than other teams. The fact that they did not win their division in either of those years doesn't take away from that.
Timing is everything (said everything). I think this would run a close second. The excitement today is b/c of potential and a returning major sport. '80-'81 was high b/c the teams all did well and the greatest pitcher of the time was coming to the Astros.
from a national perspective?? absolutely... from a houstonian's perspective?? close..but hard to beat early in the hoops season of 1993 when for an entire month all houston teams were undefeated (rockets roll off 15 straight and oilers win 11 in a row to close season 12-4)
Then you should have worded your poll as "The best time for Houston Sports during my lifetime" 1979-81 were easily the best of times ever.
sigh. So if you are using team's finishes as a criteria then how is this time so great? Texans - last place, Astros - 2nd place, Rockets - haven't made the playoffs in a few years. In 1994, the Astros were 66-49 when the strike occurred. In 1995 the Astros lost out on a wild card berth the last game of the season. Those were exciting seasons and it is always good to be a fan of a team that is competing for the playoffs up to the last day of the season. In addition prior to 1995 only 4 teams made the playoffs in all of baseball, so I guess only 4 cities could be excited about their teams. If you can only be excited about a team that wins a championship or a title, then most of the years, you will not be excited. I get excited about the teams that are competitive and vying for playoff spots and/or playing entertaining styles.
that wouldn't really make sense, since people will vote for whatever time they choose, no matter what time they've been alive or involved in houston sports. that was my personal reason for thinking that NOW is the the best time, sure my opinion might change had I experienced a different time period, but that's a big maybe.
jeez. give it a rest, would you? the season was undercut, causing a disappointing end. the reasons I think this is the best time are listed in the -initial- post.
That's what I'm talking about. You can disect it to a T if you want, but in the grand scheme of things.. how is it percieved?
