The Oilers ruined the Oilers long before Cal and Jack came around. This nostalgia for a shitty franchise that also brought us nothing but pain and heartache needs to stop.
EXACTLY! It was his final "**** You!" to the city and those poor folks who'd stood by that sorry excuse for a professional football team for over 3 decades. If the urge to wax nostalgic over the Oilers is that overpowering then by all means feel free to undertake a pilgrimage to Nashville and visit the Oilers' final resting place.
Grew up wathcing them. Learned the game by watching them before I played. Most of those years they did suck. Better than anything the Texans ever fielded though.
Had the Astros moved to VA, you could say the same thing...yet it was intensely meaningful that they wore orange (not brick red or metallic gold) when they finally broke through and won a WS. (I'd also argue it was meaningful because Crane didn't change the name of the team, as he considered doing -- when they won it was our Houston baseball team with the name Astros and wearing the colors we connected them with since we were kids) Branding in sports is entirely around nostalgia...the best brands are those that have lasted the longest. Ultimately, as Seinfeld said, players come and go...only the laundry stays. We're rooting for laundry...though I'd argue its the connection of that laundry to our city. The Oilers brand transcends the play of that team on the field today. It's why you still see people wearing Oilers gear who are Texans fans...because, ultimately, they're HOUSTON fans, and that's what connects. Hell, the Rockets are wearing Oiler colors an a tribute to the city...clearly it transcends. Do I think it's likely to happen? No. Would I love if it did? Absolutely. The Texans brand is as boring as it gets...and connects to just as much dog **** as the Oilers brand did, without the nostalgia.
I agree with many of your points. People associated with The Oilers because they are the first and original Houston football team. If the Texans had a good and successful history people would probably get on board and embrace the brand more but they are just as bad or even worse then the Oilers ever were. That’s why people in Charlotte chose to go back to the Hornets even though the first time they really didn’t have much success either but it was their first love and attachment to a basketball team in their city and the Bob Cats were even more horrible and did nothing for their brand to have people attach to them.
Most compelling argument I've read. And, I always loved the look of those Oilers. But, I'm still not convinced. Stubborn, I guess. When they ditched Houston, I ditched them--the nostalgia, the Columbia Blue, all of it. Munchak, Matthews, Campbell and Moon are hanging from the rafters of an arena in freaking Neckville. So, I moved on. The new 'thing' was fun for a while, but meh. It's incredible how a franchise can make a Houston homer like me adopt the team from New Orleans as my team. Way to go, Cal. I don't think rebranding this turd would draw me back, and certainly not dressing like our ex, even though the look was nice.
The team name wouldn't pass muster nowadays, even with Edmonton still around. The franchise was crap most of the time and the three successful eras had fatal flaws: Glanville's unnecessary self promotion and antagonistic culture with the defense, Pardee's telegraphing the entire game plan by not drafting, signing or suiting a single full back or tight end, and Phillips failing to staff an offensive coordinator. They didn't fix their underlying cultural problem, a lack of coaching continuity and Adams' impulse to penny-pinch and micromanage a sports franchise the same way you run an independent oil and gas firm, until Fisher and the relocation. Watching the Steelers leap-frog us in the early '90s and beyond after keeping Chuck Knoll for a decade too long was gut-wrenching.
New Orleans, however, is almost the blueprint the Texans are currently following. Be bad or irrelevant for years on end, with wasted careers and few notable players amongst the history. Be in consideration to be moved constantly due to either poor support, poor results or just apathy. Then get forced to relocate for a year due to a natural disaster... and allofasudden, become one of the premier franchises of the league.
The Oilers will forever be HOUSTON's. That team was representative and part of the fabric of our community in a special/organic way.... long before modern technology linked folks. Bud & Co. in Tennessee was something different altogether..the Titans..whatever. Folks that don't understand this basic principle...I don't know what to tell you, other than...You didn't live or comprehend the totality of It all. As to the ridiculous notion of giving this ass backwards joke of an organization the privilege of that name....NEVER! The "Oilers" won't be used again and shouldn't.
Exactly right. People that weren’t around Houston in the early 90s (or late 70s for that matter) can’t appreciate what it’s like to field a legitimate Super Bowl-talent level team all the way around. They tore at our heartstrings and came up short, but they gave us multiple seasons of ultra competitive football and being fully capable of winning it all (without a long trail of blowout regular and postseason embarrassments to top level teams that this organization has given throughout its tenure). The Texans have arguably had one season (Schaub’s injury-shortened year) where they were seen as a credible championship threat.
Exactly, the OIlers were trash, that's why we let them head to the sticks and just replaced them with a new team.....a new team that has won the division the "Oilers" are in 6 out of the last 10 seasons....how many times has the "Oilers" won that division? One. How many times did the "Oilers" win their division in the final 40 years of them using that name? 2, with one of them happening in the old AFL. They were an absolutely trash franchise, even compared to the current one here.
She says that until McNair tells her they will provide 100 million dollars for the right to the name, history and color scheme of the Oilers. I suspect she may feel different at that time as they need liquidity. Having said that, Cal would never do it. He is a Texans fan, he relates the team to his dead father and he wants an organization that is the exact opposite of who and what the Oilers were. I could deal with the Texans leaving town, I knew another team would come along.... losing the history and name is what has been really hard. I have to say the history, ownership and even the logo of the Texans all reeks of mediocrity. The Bears don't exactly have a great history the last 60 years.... they are an old franchise, they have the 85 Bears and Walter Payton.... but their fans have suffered a LOT.... and even then Hub told me that for all the issues, he can at least say they aren't boring like the Texans or Cardinals..... that really hit home.
The Cowboys own the state as far as football is concerned and will as long as we are alive. The history and branding has made it a national treasure. As for the Oilers, I remember the Buffalo let down.... I remember Lad and the wedding and everything else... I remember Adams and his bitter ending. All of that is relevant, but at the end of the day, the free wheeling and ups and downs fit the city of Houston really well. They never should have left.
I hear you on all this, but I think it's way too deep into the weeds. The colors and logo still sell here, despite everything you just said...and despite the fact that those colors and logo still are the property of a division rival to the team that currently inhabits our city. I don't look at the Oiler's logo or old uniforms and think of any of the things you wrote about. I think about Houston and the connection of those colors and that logo to this city.
