Exactly and it cost the city roughly 3 times more for the Texans than it would have to keep the Oilers. Good job Lanier !!! Smart business....NOT ! DD
Bud Adams is an old creep, and if Houston had caved to his demands, the Rockets and Oilers would be playing in some cavernous Alamodome monstrosity. You'd think he would have asked Les Alexander if he had even the slightest interest in sharing a facility before he pitched it publicly to the city, but rich old coots have a tendency to get caught up in their little visions. That deal was never going to happen, and Bud's backup plan was... to move the team. Today, there is zero chance Les would trade the enormously profitable Toyota Center for half of a football stadium shared with Bud freaking Adams.
Reliant stadium is/was a terrible financial investment for the city. While Uncle Bob is making millions the sports authority is not in good shape. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=ar_NNbL0pGa4
The city/county is still paying for Bud's Astrodome remodeling. How's that for a "bad deal". Also, the sports authority was responsible for Enron as well as Toyota Center... its all the bonds involved, not just the ones for Reliant. I'm still happier with three state of the art stadiums/arenas instead of potential Bud-dome, Astros probably moving to virginia as Bud Dome proves a failure, and then Les pining for an arena of his own which may or may not ever happen. The Oilers leaving did unite the city leaders as well as the voters to help push the new stadiums through.
the problem is every signature moment has been stale, and mind numbing all at once. I have been completely underwhelmed since that first texans game where they came out and beat the cowboys. That was awesome moment to fall so far from that feeling. it's been tragedy since then. The oilers just have a cool name ,and I remember them being a formidable team with the crazy receiver set and the killer defense. We had a squad, and I associated the team with a good feeling, and winning albeit the lovable loser type too.. but they had an energy about them.. very likable guys,likable team. Same with the rockets where you have the high energy guy like lowry or hayes.. These oilers teams were scrappy. I remember them going sf and beating steve young. good times. Something is not right with this texans name, and it all feels very fabricated. Im not buying into it ,and I am wanting back the oilers name. I tried to get used to the texans name and if feels like a small condom. just not fitting.. As soon as adams croaks I want to get back the oilers name.. if he won't sell it now then I say we hostile take it over. The texans is a corny name. The bullets changed their name to wizards. Money talks lets all give adams something to buy the name back.. or perhaps buy him a better rascal to pudd around in.. that thing is hideous
Well, you must have forgot 20 years of the Oilers kicking their fanbase in the nuts. That "scrappy" team you referred to was in the late 70's and died when Bum Phillips was fired. The late 80's and 90's version were the most infuriating team ever. They had Super Bowl talent and embarrassed themselves and the city over and over again. Forget Buffalo, how about getting their asses kicked 61-7 by the f-ing Bengals? How about the choke jobs in Denver and at home against the Chiefs? Your rosy memories are pretty f-ing selective.
At least they actually did something and had winning seasons. The Oilers played in the House of Pain, the Texans are considered Charmin soft. <object width="425" height="349"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/fDbFT5nW7oU?version=3&hl=en_US&start=68"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/fDbFT5nW7oU?version=3&hl=en_US&start=68" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="349" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>
Seriously cool story, bro. I tried to rep you but I must spread it around more. How random is it to see Bud Adams at a freakin' Costco. I despise what he did, but it is kind of sad to see him in seemingly such poor health.
Yep... but if they took a retroactive poll now, you really think it would be that close? The city has embraced and jam packed all three of those places for the last 10 years.... well maybe not Toyota Center (as much), but that's more because of the high priced NBA and lack of a true contender there.
The truth was the Astrodome sucked for football, and as soon as he left Drayton switched from "it is a great sports venue" to..."We need a new stadium"..... Bud was just ahead of the curve, and trying to increase his revenue streams....but what most people forget is that he was willing to put like $90 million of his OWN MONEY into the new stadium. Which, uh, none of the other owners did. He gets a major bad wrap, IMO. DD
He also asked for the screen to be taken down and 67 million in work on the Dome then said it was not good enough.
sorry the texans name is gay.. bring back the tradition and lets buy back the oilers name. There is no tradition in houston and leave it to houston to trash the only history it has.. yeah my memory is pretty f-ing selective I guess and filled with rage
I know we've had this discussion a bazillion times....but none of what Bud offered was real. I've never seen you respond to that. He offered up a multi-purpose downtown Dome, saying the Rockets would agree to play there. The Rockets said they had never agreed to that, and had zero desire to start playing inside a dome. What he offered was entirely illusory...and was made so close in time to the County meeting his demands for expanded seating at the Dome. We were still paying interest on that debt when he started talking about wanting a new stadium. The only real offer in that whole exchange with the Oilers was the city offering up an open-air venue. Bud rejected that and took his ball to Tennessee. He didn't get a bad rap because of that, alone. He already had a bad rap. A very bad one. No one...and I mean literally no one...in the business community stood up to rally around him.
Cool pics. In 50 years, the Texans will have similiar ones. Baltimore adapted to the Ravens without crying about the Colts... and they had even more tradition than the Oilers. They also weren't allowed to keep their name/history, as it is still currently in use.
