I see Bosh coming to Houston and here's why: RED COLOR - Bulls, HEAT, Rockets. Tall men - Bulls - none, HEAT - none, Rockets - Hakeem, Yao, Malone, Bosh IT FITS!!!
huge letdown....personally i don't believe clutchfans figured out Bosh wouldnt be in Miami and the Rockets couldnt....... JULY 1, 2:45 AM - MIAMI, FLORIDA Take a good, long look at the picture to your right. Soak in the sheer, awesome audacity of it all. That, ladies and gentlemen, is my hotel room for the evening; otherwise known as “The Comedic Goldmine” (alternate title: “The Place Where My Masculinity Went To Die”). Believe it or not, that pure pimp room also serves as the perfect symbol for one of life’s great lessons: Even the best-laid plans of mice and men go awry every now and then. Allow me to explain. My boss was in charge of securing our party’s room for the evening. After a long trip – we’ve logged more than 1700 miles in three days – he wanted to put us up someplace nice, right next to South Beach. He thought he picked a winner. His intentions were pure (I hope). Nonetheless, the end result fell somewhat short of his intended ideal. Obviously. Unfortunately, a similar fate befell our caravan. Our stated mission from the very beginning was clear: We would heed Daryl Morey’s beck and call, traverse the countryside and ultimately pick him up June 30th and whisk him away to a midnight meeting with the man Morey confirmed was his number one free agent target, All-Star power forward Chris Bosh. With all signs pointing toward Bosh being in Miami, Daryl directed us toward southeast Florida and made plans to meet us there. We arrived Wednesday evening. Daryl, however, did not. He was actually at the airport in Houston preparing for his flight to Miami when word leaked that Bosh was setting up shop in Dallas instead. Plans rapidly changed. Morey made his way to North Texas, where his immediate presence was obviously required. Meanwhile, all we could do in the interim was wish him luck from afar. For once the Rowdies’ endless supply of energy and enthusiasm met its match. Passion and perseverance can take you far in life. What it can’t do, however, is drive three Toyota Tundras from Miami to Dallas in a mere six hours. So in the end, we came up short of our stated mission. But let’s face it, this entire adventure was but a very small part of the far larger goal which was giving Morey an opportunity to present his case to Chris Bosh. And on that front, the evening couldn’t have been a bigger success. Thanks to his tireless efforts, the Rockets’ GM pulled another rabbit out of his hat by bucking the odds and somehow securing a face-to-face meeting with his target. Using a personalized Chris Bosh iPad as part of his presentation, Morey showed the 6-10 Texas-native video testimonials from the likes of Yao Ming, Hakeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler and Elvin Hayes. He also focused on the Rockets’ incredible depth and tremendous supporting cast – perhaps the two key components of Houston’s pitch which sets it apart from the rest of the teams playing the free agent field. In talking to Morey after the fact, it was clear he felt positively about both the meeting and the Rockets’ chances going forward. You can’t ask for a much better start to the free agent frenzy than that. As for the caravan itself, I believe we can drive off into the sunset with our heads held high as well. No member of this traveling party considers this anything close to a failure; far from it in fact – each and every person has already stated their willingness to do it all over again in a nanosecond. Bear in mind, this was something that had never been done before. The Rockets wanted to create some buzz and make known their intent to be players in the free agent market regardless of their underdog status. And to that end, the caravan was a smashing success. It gained international coverage throughout all forms of media, but much more than that, it served as the club’s bold declaration that it is willing to do whatever it takes to improve and become a champion once more. Put simply: it will not allow the fear of failure to hinder its relentless pursuit of success. I began this blog with a quote from Kerouac. Now, as we near our journey, I think the immortal words of Theodore Roosevelt deserve to be heard – and forever remembered: “Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.” This caravan and the Rockets’ quest to recruit the biggest and brightest shone the spotlight on their willingness to dare mighty things, regardless of the inevitable stumble along the way. Like the story of the rosy, red room from which I’m typing this entry, our grand plan didn’t work out quite the way we anticipated. But guess what: outside this room lie a spectacular ocean view and a world of opportunity. And so it goes for Houston as well. Because no matter what transpires over the course of the days and weeks to come, with the return of Yao Ming, a stellar supporting cast, heaps of young talent, invaluable draft picks, a Hall of Fame worthy head coach and a management team that continues to dare mightily on a daily basis, the Rockets’ outlook for the future shines no less brightly than does the sun on South Beach.
Maybe it was all part of the plan. Send the Tundras to Miami and throw off the other teams. That's how Morey was able to sneak into Dallas for the first 1-on-1 meeting with Bosh.
Wow thats pretty sad bosh has been in dallas since monday i find it a bit sad that no one on the rockets staff knew that until "last minute"
It still sounds fun to go on a road trip organized by the Rockets, hang out with Rowdies and jfritz, and meet Kevin Martin!
yeah, for the people that went... Even that was a fail in my book...the caravan couldnt even represent the Rockets since league rules dont allow them to sport Rocket flags/decals within a certain radius of NBA cities...so how lame was that...anyone who saw them would think it was just a random group of people in red.
As ludicrous as it might sound, I wouldn't be surprised if this was true. You know Morey has been in contact with Bosh's agent throughout this entire process, and I'm sure they had a meeting setup already.....you don't just show up at someone's door without knowing for sure if they actually want to see you. If anything, it's a win-win for the Rockets: you get it out in the media that you're involving the fans in the free agency process, and getting some really good PR out of the whole thing. And, if you DO end up signing the guy you want, you can always point back to the fans and say, "Hey, you guys might not have been there in person to help, but Player X saw your enthusiasm, and loved it."
that's the thing...no one saw this enthusiasm! Other than a couple shout outs in one of the vids, there was hardly anything trying to persuade bosh or a FA or even cheering for Houston. Liek i mentioned before, they couldnt even wear or show rockets gear...they traveled wearing red 4th of july-looking shirts.....that's why the media couldnt really follow it, other than at the starting point, because locals werent saying "hey there's the Rockets Caravan"...theywere just thinking there's another vacationing group......Other teams didnt even know they were going to miami, unless they were following clutchfans of course
I think they knew it at the beginning. But, dallas is too close. They need the effect of long journey.
If Bosh signs with the Rockets, I'm going to celebrate by purchasing season tickets. But, instead of going to the Toyota Center, I'm going to drive to the arena of the visiting team every game.
you were one of the rowdies that went right? I dont doubt y'all were enthusiastic...i'm happy y'all got to experience that, i'm sure it's a once in a lifetime type of thing, but my point is no one else saw that enthusiasm. I dont know if it doesnt appear that way to y'all, as y'all were the ones living it, but from the outside lookign in, i didnt feel it and i followed it pretty closesly. Did anyone else here, that didnt participate, feel it? Are there any reports of locals checking out the caravan? Did it get significant media attention after leaving houston? I read the initial reports, but havent heard much, if anything reported during the trip by outside media. I'm not trying to be a jerk about it, but i think it's fair to say a lot of us here feel like this didnt live up to the hype. Im not disappointed that the trip didnt lead to bosh (although their excuse is ridiculous), but i hoped for something at the end, other than just turning back. Not to mention this trip seemed to provide more advertising for Toyota than for the Houston Rockets.
Any PR stunt that gets 29 pages on Clutchfans can probably be counted as a win for the Rockets whether or not anyone else saw the enthusiasm.
i dont know...the response was due to the anticipation, not the actual ride/process....we were eager to track their path to see where the end point was, not because the ride over seemed exciting. It's like hype surrounding a new gadget before anything is known about it, it can attract a million responses, but if in the end the product is a letdown, or in this case it doesnt even happen, then all those responses are nothing more than speculation and hype and get closer to negative PR than positive. Besides, about half of those pages were posts by me :grin:
Exactly. Plus, the Rockets still own the caravan and can use it drive Bosh from Dallas to Houston. :grin: They could use it for any time a Rocket makes a special guest appearance in town. They could use it to shuttle Austin fans to Houston for a game.
