Give me a break. Dream left on his own greedy account. Curses! Rockets have no Mo luck By FRAN BLINEBURY Copyright 2001 Houston Chronicle Sometimes the gods are just crazy. But sometimes they are vengeful and angry. It is a well-documented trail of misery and misfortune that has followed the Boston Red Sox ever since the fateful day in 1920 when they sold a certain hotdog-swallowing, beer-swilling slugger to the New York Yankees. From Ted Williams to Yaz to Carlton Fisk, from Bill Buckner's error to Nomar's aching wrist and Pedro's tender arm, if it isn't insult, then it's injury that has blocked the Red Sox's path to a World Series title. If it hasn't been a bad break to Jim Lonborg's leg, then it's the worse break of Bucky Dent's home run. Or is it the Curse of the Bambino? You sell away Babe Ruth, and you take your chances. Maybe the gods hang a century of torture around your neck like a chain of lead sausages, just for having sawdust between your ears and showing a legend the door. Which is why it might not be a good idea to walk outside in a thunderstorm in any of the next few decades with members of the Rockets. Zap! Barely one month after Hakeem Olajuwon was unceremoniously sent packing to Toronto, the first lightning bolt hit Maurice Taylor. Playing in a pickup game in his native Michigan on Monday, Taylor suddenly went down. Three different doctors examined the MRI that was taken there and called it a complete tear of the right Achilles' tendon. There it is already -- the Curse of the Dreambino. No longer dressed for success After 17 years and all that he'd done, you didn't really think the Rockets were going to be able to simply sneak Olajuwon across the border like mar1juana in a suitcase and not suffer some kind of repercussions. This is what happens when you try to fool with the natural order of things. Just a superstition? Well, exactly how many banners have the Rockets hung from the rafters since club owner Leslie Alexander changed uniforms from the championship version to the striped lottery pajamas? And speaking of the draft lottery, just how do the Rockets avoid a third straight trip to the world of ping-pong balls and astronomical odds now that the curse has claimed its first victim? With Taylor in the picture, the Rockets were already running in a very crowded race for the playoffs with slim margin for error. Now they have lost at least a step in the race and don't appear to have much room for maneuvering. This is a time when somebody has to pull a rabbit out of a hat. But first they'll have to find a hat. Taylor gave the Rockets a consistent scoring threat on the front line, even if he doesn't play the traditional power forward role. His absence will likely put Kenny Thomas into the starting lineup at the outset of the season and increase the playing time of first-round draft choice Eddie Griffin. Despite the upside potential to Griffin, this is not necessarily a good thing. He is, after all, just 19 years old and cannot be seriously expected to play a significant role on a playoff team. No time like the present While Taylor and his six-year, $48 million contract sit helplessly on the sidelines, so much of the Rockets' season will rest on the young shoulders of Griffin, the old, creaky feet of Glen Rice and the overcooked egg-noodle backbone of Kelvin Cato. Yes, we know Steve Francis and Cuttino Mobley are the backcourt of the future in the 21st-century NBA and that Moochie Norris is wise old Yoda-with-an-Afro beamed in from another planet. But Francis will be in his third year, Mobley will be in his fourth, Norris is a guy who got a life raft from the CBA, and the future is now for a franchise that could become irrelevant in a soon-to-be-bursting local sports scene. It is imperative for the Rockets to make the playoffs, not merely deliver another gritty effort that comes up short. The Astros are on the verge of their fourth division title in five seasons, and maybe this is the year of their playoff breakthrough. Then there is the phenomenon of the Texans, out there beyond the horizon, gathering force and momentum like a giant tsunami. Those are the Rockets sitting on the beach weaving baskets, ready to be washed away from Houston's what-have-you-done-for-me-today consciousness. Certainly no way to sell suites and club seats for the new arena. Call it a bad break for Taylor, which it is. Call it a much tougher road for the Rockets, which it is. Or call it the Curse of the Dreambino. Go ahead. Laugh. But you might not want to stand too close.
I am not even going to bother reading one of Blineburys retarted articles. As if the Rockets have not been one of the teams that always suffer some sort of major injury every year prior to this year.
He's right again. The Rockets are falling behind. They have to make the playoffs to keep the fans. Those of us at Clutchcity just aren't enough.
Yes I'm sure the 1-15 record the Texans put up the first year will just blow the Rockets off the Houston sports map. And WTF is with the time being now for this franchise b/c francis is in his 3rd year and Mobley is in his fourth. Didn't the old Dreambino win it all in his 10th season.
Please. There will still be fans if we don't make the playoffs. Just not as many. This team <b>will</b> get better and will make the playoffs. If not this season, then the next. But don't make it sound like we are in danger of losing the team if we don't make the playoffs this season.
ZRB, the last person to talk about being a fan is you. A fan sticks with his team thru the good times and the bad. A fan is cheering for his team when the score is tied in the fourth quarter of a game when his team has lost nine straight games. A fan does not scream "It's over" in the first quarter because a rebound goes astray. A fan looks forward to training camp after a 14-68 season. A fan does not berate his team because his favorite player chose to go to another team. Blinebury is a bandwagonner, jumping on an unlucky break to a player to sell his papers. Jump on, ZRB, and follow Blinebury all season. Me? I'm following the Rockets, like I have for 25 years.
I will try not to be too disrespectful of you .... a merit that you may also try to employ with your fellow CC.net colleagues from time to time... When you say things like one player (Dream) "is the Rockets" ... something you have asserted in the past, or when you say things like the Rockets have to "make the playoffs to keep fans" .... well I get the distinct impression that you are a real fly-by-night fan ... just waiting for the bandwagon to slow down enough to either jump on or jump off .... Rocket's long history is full of ups and downs , some are surprising subtle, others more blatantly obvious .... but one of the ingredients of a Rocket fan .... in my opinion anyway ... is an inherent love for the team regardless of where they are in thier development ... with a hurrah when they are up and a hurrah when they are struggling to get back up .... ... I never quite got the inclination to agree with public sports "journalists", naysayers and so called experts who kick my team when they are having trouble ... it would make me feel disloyal ... even dirty all over ... silly huh?
Blinebury is the epitomy of Houston sports. The fact that this guy has not been run out of town yet goes to show how weak the support for local teams is. That is, there is little support for the local teams, whether they are winning or not. He is a big part of the reason why I never go to the Chronicle for sports information. I generally find better information and critiques on the BBS. It's typical...just typical!
Does this guy even think before he writes!? And is it just me, or does this guy seem giddy and excited and in a great mood now that Mo Taylor is out with an injury? Any ounce of respect for that guy I had went out when he wrote this article.
Totally agree with you, RM. It's like this guy "had" to write something, so he conjured up this inane or cutesy approach. I look for sportwriters to tell me something I don't know, or give me a new and insightful perspective. This piece is pitiful!
Blineburys is an idoit. He can take his superstion bull to Boston for all im concernd. Mo Taylor will be missed but the Rockets must find away to win without him. I think they will.GO ROCKETS...
What ?-bino curse was it that blew out Barkley's quad when Hakeem was here? What ?-bino curse was it that caused John Lucas, Sweet Lew, and Mitch Wiggins to possibly snort our playoffs away when Hakeem was here? What ?-bino curse was it that caused us to acquire Scottie Pippen when Hakeem was here? What ?-bino curse caused us to pass up Rashard Lewis? What ?-bino curse caused us to draft Hakeem instead of Jordan (don't kid yourself, Jordan was better on both a marketing and basketball level). As for how many championships we've won since we changed our uni's, how many did we win before we changed our uni's? Seems as if we were pretty futile the 20+ years before, too. I dub Fran Blinebury, Dumbino, if for no other reason than he rarely says anything substantive about basketball and comes up with some really lame-ass columns with no substance. I know that much of his job entails writing columns that get people thinking, but my God man, don't get people thinking you're a dolt.
Blinebury is right. Trading an ancient superstar who will be lucky to play half of the season next year for two draft picks that could actually help the team in the future is exactly like selling the greatest player of all time for some cash to finance a non-sprots related venture.
Blinebury must be really bored. That's the only explanation that I can come up for his "cute" article. Or the fact that he is mentally challenged.
Blinebury sucks big ole donkey d*** ........................if ya' smell................word!!!!!!!!!!!
Jeez... nobody in Boston takes the curse of the Bambino seriously. Cut the melodrama about Hakeem. I agree with RM95... that article seemed positively spiteful.
