Pretty much on the money, the bit that I found interesting was the Steve being late for practices part....very interesting, and very worrisome. DaDakota PS Here is the article... And in conclusion, this team is simply borrrrrrrrrrrrrrring By FRAN BLINEBURY Copyright 2002 Houston Chronicle I'm bored with the Rockets. Not angry, disappointed or frustrated. Not annoyed, exhausted or irritated. Not piqued, enraged, infuriated, incensed, chagrined or disillusioned. Just bored. Stiff. If a once-proud franchise falls in the forest, and there's nobody there to listen, does it make a sound? Another season ended Wednesday night in Portland, not with a bang or a whimper. The Rockets are like a painting of black cows in a field at night. There's nothing to see. I would like to say that at least once or twice during the past five months while watching one of their games on TV -- nobody actually goes, do they? -- I was inclined to pick up a throw pillow off the sofa and, well, throw it. That would mean I'd have to care. And I don't. Because I'm bored. Stiffer than knotty pine. It's the worse thing, really, you can say about a sports team. That nobody gives a flip. Do they? You can turn on the radio to sports talk, and between unsolicited calls about the Rockets, a co-host on one of those miracle diet supplements that let you eat like a horse by just taking a sip before bedtime could have wasted away into Celine Dion. It is a sad state of affairs. Not the Rockets' record, which is their worst since 1984. The sheer, utter boredom. I would rather watch grass grow, paint peel, water boil or snails race than watch another season, month, week or single game of this. C-SPAN gives you better variety and more creative excuses. For three years now, the only reason to even punch the remote and tune in a Rockets game is to guess whether it was Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder or Huggy Bear who dressed my buddy Calvin Murphy on a given night. If it's not the jack-up-another-3 offense that rocks me to sleep, then it's the lack of defense that puts me into a light coma. My eyes are glazed from reading that Rudy Tomjanovich said he liked the effort when for the third straight season this looks like the same 12 hamsters in clown suits running around the wheel. My ears are bleeding from hearing "the shots just didn't fall." I'm bored. Stiffer than Al Gore. Bored from looking at the stunted development of Steve Francis as a point guard. He is a wonderful athlete, a spectacular specimen, and he can jump over the moon. But the Rockets will not take the next step back to the playoffs and become something worthy of my time until Stevie Franchise starts playing as much with his head as with his legs and heart. Francis is supposed to be the team leader, and that means he must act like a professional, from something as serious as getting a thorough evaluation of the health problems that have caused his migraines to something as fundamental as showing up on time for practices, planes and games. It's time for Rudy T to start demanding -- not asking -- more of Francis and of all of them. Rather than continue to cultivate the image on the free-agent market that they will do more to pamper players than a Ritz-Carlton, the Rockets must wake up and deliver a product that stirs our passion again. I have a season ticket's worth of ennui. From hearing Rudy T make comparisons between Michael Jordan and Cuttino Mobley. From hearing general manager Carroll Dawson say time and again that the Rockets have been able to rebuild after the championship years without hitting bottom like Boston and the Lakers. For starters, the Lakers were out of the playoffs for one year. For another, this is the longest non-playoff stretch for the Rockets since 1972-74. If this isn't the bottom, it's close enough to have scraped a few backsides. They are not interesting enough to boo, this collection of conscienceless jump shooters who are sent onto the court every night with a game plan that is a road map to mediocrity. Yes, I am bored with spacing. I am bored with 19-year-old Eddie Griffin being groomed to become the second coming of Matt Bullard. I am bored with Moochie Norris as something other than just an ordinary backup who happens to have funny hair. I am bored with hearing how everything would have been different with Mo Taylor. If he makes that big a difference, then his salary should be tripled. I am bored with the tales of Glen Rice, who is done, finished, over. Bored with the thought of another high lottery pick, another teen chosen and having to wait another three or four years until he gets a clue. Of course, I am bored with Kelvin Cato. Stiffer than a double shot of Wild Turkey. There is dishwater that isn't as dull as this act. Oatmeal that isn't this bland. I saw, in person, every game of the 14-68 season in 1982-83. Those Rockets were bad, horrible, inept. They were, at times, laughable. But never this mind-numbing. The next year's club went 29-53, yet would be en route to putting together Hakeem Olajuwon with Ralph Sampson. And the future was bright. Now, nearly two decades later ... uh ... what were we talking about? Oh yes, the Rockets. I'm bored. Return to top The best deals are at Ad Search. Click here and save! Click Here for Great Savings at Eckerd "Spec's," 17 Locations. Call 713.526.8787. Sesame Palls, Saturday 4/27. Showtimes 12, 2 and 4. Shop Blanche Fine Jewelry Online.
Thanks for posting it. I thought that 14-68 season was worse, but pretty spot on otherwise. Didn't realize Rudy puffed up Cuttino's ego by comparing him with Michael Jordan. A bit of an overstatement.
Rudy must be reading my posts because I compared Mobley to Jordan last year(or the one before). Seriously, Fran is right. They are boring. I haven't actually watched an entire quarter, let alone an entire game in almost 2 months. I have better things to do with my time than watch boring, unimaginative basketball. I will watch next season when "everyone is healthy", but it's going to be up to Steve, Cuttino, Rudy and Co to keep my interest. Mo Taylor coming back will help, but it will take much more than that to keep me in my seat.
Fran rips the Rockets! The Sun rises in the East! I think I may have disagreed with everything Fran Blinebury has ever written or said. I'd rather read the tax code, than Blinebury. It needs not be said - I disagree with this.
Fran has never gotten over the fact that the Rockets let go of his wanna-be lover Hakeem. It's easy to kick a team when they are down. os
Bline-dingle-bury is just pissed that the only source he ever had is now playing in Toronto. What I have to wonder about this is just how badly he burned his bridge. I mean, there is taking a shot at a team (or player) and then there is absolutely unloading with both barrels. I've been reading columns from Houston Chron and Post writers for a long time and the last one this bad that I can recall got Dale Robertson a black eye from Dan Pastorini. Blinebury may never get close to a source with the Rockets again.
Fran must be a poster on this board He makes some very valid points. The Rockets are difficult to watch at times and it has nothing to do with injuries. They don't play fundamentally sound basketball.
Twerps like Blinebury would never show up at a Rockets facility to face the players after ripping them like that. Some reporters are notorious for that. That's why the beat writers tend to be easier on the teams they cover. Comlumnists on the other hand are like cowards who hurl crap over a wall and run. os
Much of what he said wasn't really a big deal. The team has sucked and they better get it together or the **** will hit the fan next year, period. However, how he said it was beyond WRONG. But, that's Buttbury for you. His ego is almost as big as his ass.
He wasn't going to be outdone by Robertson I guess. What's the point of having two articles ripping the Rockets in the same week. Wasn't one enough? I really wish they would write something constructive about what the Rockets can do in the offseason, or who they could possibly get in order to improve. I think its pretty obvious he is very bitter about the Rockets <i>mistreatment</i> of Hakeem.
I guess narrowly missing the playoffs last year isnt good enough for our little Franny??? It was a year everyone would like to forget, but I think he was a little too harsh on the team. If they suck next year, then I think his points may hold some validity. Fran is putz who loves bringing up the negatives.
Blinebury's right....and based on attendance (as he referenced in the article), many fans agree. One more year of this and heads will roll - injuires or not, including Rudy. Les simply cannot afford to have fans stay at home, especially once the new arena is open for business.
I can guarantee you that Blinebury is speaking for the majority of the city's sports fans here. This is the same stuff that's been said on this board all year long. The fact is that most people don't have pleasant thoughts when the Rockets are mentioned -- no one in Houston cares about them. Go read Feigen if you want a touchy-feely article about how Jason Collier and Dan Langhi are relishing these last few games to get some reps in -- I'm sure there's one on the back page of the Chronicle, right next to the section on women's college lacrosse.
Freak, Bingo, I think Rudy is an icon, but my support for him is seriously waning. In my opinion, Rudy did a TERRIBLE job adjusting to the new zone defenses this year, and he was exposed as a less then stellar X's and O's coach. He really needs to expand the playbook beyond ISO left and ISO right and High PnRoll. Also, the part about holding Francis accountable for being on time gets to me the most. If your leader is not leading, then the team is going to stink. If they are this bad next year, it may be time to break up the Cat and Fancy love fest. DaDakota
I wish I could be die-hard Rocket fans like some of you, but I have to agree with the guy 100%......we just suck IMO. From running nothing but ISOs and dribbling out the shotclock to not even know how to play Defense.......we just suck. And I was excited about the way we finished last year, but maybe it was a "fluke"........I guess this up coming season will prove either way. I don't know.........maybe I'd feel different if I saw some improvement towards the end of this season, but we've gotten worse. -We're horrible at passing. -We don't have an Offense. -We don't have a defense. -We don't have a legitimate "leader".....you can go ahead and put Franchise in the same category as Duncan, Tmac, Shaq, etc, but I won't. -Scares me that people actually think MoTaylor and Glen Rice would have made such an impact Personally, the only thing I'm excited about is our draft picks and what we can do with them.
Blinebury is exactly what is wrong with newspaper sports columnists. It's obvious that he didn't get enough attention from his parents when he was a child growing up.
