Does it really? Matters in what way? The headlines the next day shouted in big letters: "Astros Considering New Name" Whether he meant for it to be important or it was a complete after thought, he said it...and it drowned out EVERYTHING ELSE he said.
It's a good name... way better than the Texans. If that's the best our football team could come up with, I doubt baseball would do much better.
I hated Texans as much as anybody else when the name first came into being...but after 8-10 years, the name just makes sense. Stallions? Apollos? Please. The only thing that would have been better is obviously Oilers.
Toros was the only thing, unless they had the balls to do 1836's but they wouldn't have. Texas Toros ain't all that bad. Still have trouble saying the Houston Texans.
Fortunately, I know you're an intelligent dude who doesn't base his personal opinion on headlines. Especially in today's day and age. How about YOU figure out the nature and context in which he made the statement, and then respond. The context here paints it completely as we're exploring every possibility just because that's the prudent thing to do. Which it is.
wait..you're missing the point. you have a press conference to communicate something...they set out to do that and then effectively drowned out their own communication by the name issue. i worked for a group that trained corporate spokespersons to deal with the media in crisis situations. These guys are trained to stay on message. This wasn't even a crisis situation...it was as close to a scripted event as you can get. it was dumb...and as Ric said, I bet he regrets it now. and the timing was particularly sucky given that the franchise's fanbase is already dealing with the change of a league.
I know the name isn't going to change, but it's annoying to turn on the radio and hear some carpetbagger radio host have the gall to tell us that a name change wouldn't be a big deal as if we were some expansion team with less than a decade of history. Then to have moronic callers who agree giving their idiotic input. Its almost enough to make me call...almost.
The name "Texans" completely embraces everything this state represents. That's basically the argument I heard when they interviewed McNair several weeks ago and they were talking about the name. And it made sense to me. Apollos to me is just a lame attempt at identifiying with the space program. It doesn't scream pro football. I'd say the worst name in the league is probably the Browns, with the worst logo to boot. Outside the NFL, you got the Wizards, Nets, Bobcats, A's, maybe Rockies that I think are worse. And honestly how is Texans any different than the Yankees, Phillies, Mets, Knicks and Canadiens?
Right on. Agree wholeheartedly. I like the name, and I couldn't see this team have any other. Like you said, it fits. The whole go back to the Oilers thing doesn't work for me. They split and left town, to hell with them. I want my team to have its own identity, and history. Just my 2 cents.
As uninspired as I think this is, I really love that in the same way Astros gets shortened to 'stros, Dragoons would be shortened to The Houston 'goons. I could almost root for a team in the AL called the Goons.
In some cases team names get shortened to the first symbol like "Rockets" to "Rox" so the team could be referred to as "The Drags".
Leave it up to (by my estimation) the biggest hunter on the board to suggest a new name that is about outdoor spaces, and then to promptly suggest we have a camo color scheme. (Nothing against you RoxRan. I don't like it though) Give me Astros. Give me the rainbow-sleeved jerseys. I wore a Nolan Ryan 1980 jersey through Midway in Chicago last week and got three compliments from random people. Give me those jerseys back. Love the font. Love the simplicity. Love the funk. If for some god-awful reason we lose Astros, I will accept nothing other than Oilers, with the classic logo. Either with the 80's color scheme, or the Oilers color scheme. Keep the funky sleeves, too.
Max, it’s a matter of perception. Whether it was a slip or an innocent, throwaway statement he didn't think would be a big deal – the bottom line is that he obviously didn’t intend for it to dominate the headlines or he would have, as you described it, taken ”the mic at the press conference the other day and dropped the name change deal.” It would have been his lead, or at least mixed into the other “headlines.” But that it came well after the fact, and was not part of his messaging during the actual press conference, paints him, and the name change idea, in a far more different light, IMO: It simply wasn’t that important; it greatly lessens its relevance. The media runs with it because it's a far more interesting story than cheaper hot dogs - but any fan putting any stock in it needs to understand the context of when it was said because that renders it pretty insignificant. Ahem, “MadMax”… I would appreciate you respecting the user name change, which has a purpose.
I'm not disagreeing with any of that...but as you know, in public relations, perception is everything. That's why you have press conferences..to shape perceptions of your organization. And I completely agree he did not intend for this to happen. It still leaves a sour taste. And most people don't take the time to go back and watch the press conference...they get the headlines, which the press conference IS DESIGNED to generate. sorry about that. duly noted.
I honestly didn't like any of the options, Apollos included. The other choices were Bobcats, Stallions, and Wildcatters.
If this were a general discussion about public relations, I would agree with you. Heck, I do agree with you, regardless. Say what you gotta say, get the heck out of there. But here, I’m specifically addressing YOUR perception; providing YOU the proper context. You’ve repeatedly said he mentioned this at the press conference. He did not. And that ever-so-slight but important distinction grants the information a much lesser relevance; it’s far less significant and, thus, not worth getting upset about. No probs. WitPro is on my keester, is all [/”Justified”]
Max, this is basically what I'm parroting. Your points are all right. He did mess up. But as I noted, you're an intelligent dude who understands he messed up. Meaning, yes, he made a mistake. and yes, a name change is clearly a possibility. and yes, if that happens, and you personally want to abandon the team, all within your right. But, no, it SHOULDN'T be as big of a deal, right now as it is, ESPECIALLY to you as an intelligent interview. one, it wasn't technically part of the press conference. two, you've concluded (likely rightly), that it was a slip up to say anyway, and if not for the slip up the thread wouldn't even exist. three, it hasn't happened yet. four, which you may disagree with but I agree with, it IS the appropriate type of thing to consider... not to do, but to consider. all of the above points to interesting slip up, but a rational observance of the facts should point to not much to argue about yet.
it's not a big deal to me at this point...i've said numerous times in here (particularly the day AFTER the story was everywhere) that I didn't think this would happen and that I'm sure Crane likely regretted the whole deal. it will be a big deal to me if I'm wrong on that.
