I'm exactly the same way, but you'd be surprised at some whose biggest complaint is "they don't throw enough t-shirts into my section."
That's nice that some of you don't care for the trinkets, but many - especially the kids, do. It's not nice when after repeatedly getting to games early that everything is gone b/c somehow, despite having to provide thousands less products than the Stros or Texans, the Rockets somehow run out. Now you want me to list the food that sucks? Lemme do this, lemme list the food that DOESN'T suck there. 1.) The ice cream. 2.) The fries. 3.) The Turkey BBQ sammich. EVERYTHING else = teh suck. Seriously, and I have sampled everything in an attempt to find something edible. Nachos taste like ass. Burger tastes like middle school cafeteria burger. Pizza = cardboard. Chicken was always cold or lukewarm. If you are beginning to favorable compare the food at TC to the food at CC, then you are on crack. At CC we had Wburger, Pappa's, etc, etc. We had real restaurants & a real selection. Not whatever mass produced, high school stadium food Aramark has to offer. Some of you may not care & that's great for you. But when you pay good money to get in the stadium, it's NOT just about what's on the court. NBA games are "events" now, and when that event costs you about 50 bucks a head to get a good seat, it's not just about what's on the court. If that were the case, we'd still be playing in the CpqCtr. Guess what, the view of what's going on "on the court" is better at home. You think families, w/ their gaggles of little kids, really just go to see Mo-Tshoot an 18 footer? Like I said, the Rockets are world-class when it comes to the on-the-court product, but when it comes to the game support (broadcast quality) & amenities (foodm etc), they are severely lacking.
In moderate defense of the Rockets, they have spent a TON of time on the food. There was a certain meeting I recall (Another Brother, you wit me?) where a group of fans just lambasted team pres George Postolos over the food and food service for over an hour. Personally, I like the nachos and the pizza is ok. I don't really get food at the games though.
I actually think the Rockets were hoping Calvin Murphy would be back this season and maybe expected him to be ready to announce the season. I just wish they had taken the situation as a "he won't be there" situation and took matters better and really searched for an announcer.
I went to a game last year and HATED the nachos. I don't see how anyone could like those cold, plastic tasting disasters. The margaritas rocked! Jeff, did anyone talk about letting fast food or restaurant franchises being set up there? It always seems like these independent food businesses end up having a heavy mass-produced tastes to them.
Many asked. We were told that the Rockets wanted total control over the food quality and choices. They said that it was MUCH more difficult to control and manage the quality of food or service if they had to deal with 15 or 20 different vendors than if they managed it on their own. There were an awful lot of complaints at Compaq over that.
They had plenty of time to find someone else, and the continuing use of Coop is ridiculous. No excuse. I don't even care if it was some quid pro quo for these two signing contracts here. It's asinine and it's an insult to the fanbase that has to listen to them. Broadcasting issues aside, as for the food, I don't know what they could be spending the money on. Better meat grades? Better cheese? Why not just renew the contracts with Whataburger & the Pappas restaurants. I remember that noone ever had an issue with going to the games without eating Cpq Cnter - you KNEW there was quality food to be had during the game. If anything it increased the casual fans wanting to head to a Rockets game in the evening. At TC you kinda have to plan around it b/c the food sucks. Maybe it's because I'm now a Texans season ticket holder, as well as a frequent attendee of MMPark, but there is DEFINITELY a drop off in the "game experience" between those two and Toyota center. This is especially obvious in light of the tremendous price differential in attending a Rockets game.
With all due respect, how could you possibly know no one ever had an issue? In fact, it was exactly the opposite. It was the single biggest complaint from fans. You may not have heard the complaints but they were loud and plentiful at Compaq. The quality of the food, the overall value, the service - all were major complaints by large numbers of regular Rocket fans. I personally am not a big fan of the TC way of doing food. When I want french fries, I don't want seasoned curly fries. I just want some plain ol' french fries. It just feels like they are trying to stretch bleecher food into gourmet dining, which is not only impossible, but out of place for a game, IMO.
Oh, and despite the Rockets "assurances," it's much more likely that the issues they had with the vendors involved money - especially the sharing of it - not "food quality" issues. Do you really believe that two Texas restaurant giants like Pappas Bros. & Whataburger had so many problems with the quality of their food, that the Rockets had to step in to improve on it? Were they using one kind of food product at their restaurants, then subbing in crap at the Compaq Center? Unlikely! Hmmmm, maybe we should also ask those companies reps what they think about having their product called out by the Rockets. I call bull****. Sorry, it had to have been about revenue sharing. The only kind of control the Rockets wanted to assert over the food was over the revenue generated from it. That's fine and all, but our tastes buds don't lie. Don't tell me your stadium food swill is the same as Pappas' BBQ sammich. A Whataburger w/ bacon, cheese, & jalapenos is not the same as whatever crap the Rockets are selling as a cheeseburger right now. I pay good money as I follow my team along, don't treat me like an idiot. Again, to get back to the main point. I don't understand how a team that is 100% committed to winning on the court, seems so skimpy when it comes to creating a better experience for the fans. I'm still waiting to hear DaDakota's experience mentioned above.
Of course I can't know about every complaint. I do know that personally I think it's worse, EVERYONE I personally have gone to games with thinks it's worse, and the people and families sitting around me are constantly b****ing about it. I didn't hear this many complaints when people had a dozen different REAL restaurants to choose from. Are you still gonna tell me that the Rockets kicked the vendors out b/c their food sucked? Service? Don't even TRY to say the Rockets improved the food service. Did they increase the hiring standards over what the vendors at Cpq Center have? The people working the food lines at Toyota center seem to have been picked out of some sort of remedial fired fast food worker center. Jeff, I realize you're just passing along what the Rockets have told you, and I realize that for personal reasons the food & other little things are of no consequence to you, but to others they really are. When you are spending about 50 bucks a seat to try and get a remotely decent view, you expect to enjoy a certain level of quality in the things that come along with going to an NBA game. Things like the food that's available, the promo stuff that gets handed out - especially when you take kids, not having to listen to linguistically handicapped announcers & analysts... Sorry, but having gone to the Texans & Astros these last few weeks REALLY highlights the differences. Of course, I'm a sucker for the Rockets, and I still buy the tickets b/c I have to see my team play despite the rest...
On the food issue, I'll say that the food/service for the expensive seats (lower deck, mid-court) is miles beyond what's offered to the unwashed masses who can't afford $125 tickets. Now, I expect there to be some difference here, because money talks, but I was amazed at how night & day it was. As far as the servers, I believe both the Astros and the Rockets have been forced to use Aramark in order to appease certain minority interests. I think that arrangement limits how much they can control quality of service.
Allright, enough about the food. Clearly the most important issue in this thread is the announcers. I mean, how many games do you go to a year versus how many you watch on TV? If Van Chancellor is the color commentator for the rest of the year I will just flat out have to NOT watch the games unfortunately. I can't stand him on 610AM for the few minutes when he is on there and I cannot even imagine the hell it would be to listen to this guy for a few hours while I watch the game. As for muting them and listening to the radio, the delay is distracting and even worse with TiVo from what I remember. Besides, I shouldnt have to ghetto-rig my viewing experience, this is an NBA franchise and they should put forth a broadcast that is indicitive of the quality of the franchise. Where is Tim at on this? Is this under his scope of responsibility? How many nationally televised games do I have to look forward to? FREE CALVIN DAMNIT!!!
Attn: Tim Do you know how much publicity you could generate by promoting a "Dream Job" type contest for Coop's position? It would be awsome. Get some of the local talent involved. Give some of the fans a chance to report on a Rockets broadcast. It would be pandamonium.
You know I'm wit cha, b****ing and whining wore everybody out. I did call Joel Blank as advised and he never called me back.
Cooper needs to be sent to a school of journalism and broadcasting. It's like any other skill. Training helps! (sarcasm).
last time i checked, people went to a basketball game for the game and not to eat fine cuisine. and if i was at a rockets game, i wouldn't even remember about van or coop since my ass is AT the game. just remember: if you think you have it bad, it can always be worse
We should have a thread praising Bill. He is the best in the business! How lucky we are to have him! Man, he is good. How cruddy would it be if he wasn't here.
So completely missing the point. NBA games are events now, it's not just about "the game." Witness the cheesy halftime shows, bands playing, etc. - it's an entire production. Hell, a third of the crowd goes to the games late and leaves early. They spend their time, eating, chatting with friends, chatting on the phone, entertaining clients... If "the game" was all that mattered in the NBA, then you could just have the Rockets play at Hofheinz, and serve corndogs. You know damn well that the Rockets would go broke in one week if they did that and told people, "don't worry about the rest, it's about the game after all." Not about fine cuisine? Why did they open a "fine cuisine" type of restaurant in TC? I guess they realize not everyone is enraptured by Charlie Ward's passing for 4 qtrs. When you are at the game, T-Gray affects the game quality - on TV Coop & Van affect the game quality, unless you are lucky enough to be a full season tick holder. The point is that if the Rockets are gonna be 1st class on the court, they should also try to be 1st class "around" it as well. They shouldn't throw crap announcers out there & they shouldn't give us crap food, then try to say that it's better than what Pappas & Wburger had. From AB's post, it looks like they blew off the fan feedback re: the food anyway...
