Why are you a Rockets fan? Where were you during our championship runs?

I first became a Rockets fan in the early 90's- I can't remember the exact year, but I know it was before we won the championship in 94. I remember watching Hakeem Olajuwon pulling off his Dreamshake move, and being absolutely amazed. Everyone talked about MJ and Sir Charles in those days, but I stood by Hakeem. And when we won the championship I remember talking about it at school with my friends, and how annoyed they were that the Rockets won.

It has now been about 3 years since I watched my last Houston Rockets game, I only ever get to see the highlights from NBA.com and other sports sites. But I'm still going to be a fan, even if I never see another Rockets game!

 

Because I'm come from China,and now Yao Ming has joined the Rocket. I hope he give us great performance and help the Rocket
go further.

So,now I am the Rockets fan!

 

Why are you a Rockets fan? Where were you during our championship runs?

Hakeem Olajuwon
In front da tv

 

Why am I a Rockets fan?

I started out liking all the Texas teams, but I was a little bias since the Rockets were better. When I realized I couldn't do that, I picked Houston, partly due to the fact it was the closest city to me. When I REALLY got into basketball, I learned about the team. Hakeem and Barkley were the main reasons why I began getting into the games. It was Steve's rookie year, and I just heard he was pretty good. Hardly anything more. Been crazy ever since.

Where was I during the championship runs?

Probably playing tag or something. I grew into sports pretty late. Sure, I would watch the occasional game, but I didn't really care for sports. Cartoons, games, and candy were apart of my life a lot during those years. I didn't even know they won them till several years later.

Man, I feel like I wasted too many years on dumb things.

 

I am a Rocets' fan because I was born in Houston. When I started to like basketball, the Rockets were always my fav. team.

 

IIRC, I remember reading about and watching Robert Reid, Calvin Murphy and Rudy T, pulling for Moses against Boston, Murphy setting the free throw record. Being eternally disappointed in the playoffs, until I happened to go on a trip to Vegas and the Rockets win. Why oh why didn't I bet on them! It's my hometown team.

 

I was raised in Houston, and started following the Rockets in the mid-70's. I still remember sitting a cars outside parties in High School listening to Rockets games.

My wife and I lived in LA during the championship runs, watching on satellite.

 

I was raised in Illinois and had a teacher that was a Rockets fan. He would always talk about the games, so I decided to watch. I became enthralled with the Rockets and basketball (this was a year before championship #1). Now I live in Houston and get to watch every game. It's like a dream come true (when they play team ball).

 

raised in Houston and become a fan the year Moses took us to the finals. Man I used to hate the Celtics as much as I hate the Jazz.

 

living in houston i always rooted for the rockets but i was more of an astros fan growing up. all i really knew was that hakeem was a good player. the first time i really started following basketball was the portland-chicago finals when clyde and mj were going at it. after that i followed the rockets every game and was just in time to enjoy those championships to the fullest.

and now i'm more excited than ever and it's fueled by all the scoops and info we get from this site. the talent is here. how great would it be to win a ring with a group that have all pretty much come in at the same time and are growing together? that's why i get so pissed when people want to trade guys or breakup them up 4 games into a season. we got something special guys.

 

Good topic! I was afraid someone would start a Keith Jones-bashing thread before much longer.

I started following the Rockets when they first arrived in Houston, with Elvin Hayes as the returning hometown hero. I remember cutting coupons off of milk cartons to get discount tickets, then sitting in a nearly-empty Summit to watch these guys play.

Suffered through the highs and lows of the Twin Towers experiment. In 1987, I moved to L.A. and refused to become a Laker fan, even at the height of Showtime.

In 1994, I moved to Manhattan, arriving just in time to nearly get my a$$ kicked in sports bars as the locals cheered in vain for their Knicks.

In '95, I was working for MTV and had the bright idea that I'd hang out after work to watch game 4 of the Rox-Magic finals on this humongous TV they had in a conference room there. I had to jimmy the lock to get into the room, but it was worth it. During the 4th quarter, I lost control and started screaming so loudly that security showed up to see what was going on. Luckily, the security guard was a Knick-hater, so we watched the rest of the game together.

 

Well I have been a Rockets fan since about '92.

Wanna talk about some NBA Finals experiences, well then read below.

During the '94 playoffs I started off by going to basically every single home game of the playoffs. I attended the first two games of the Finals in Houston before flying to New York on my way out of the country. I got my hands on tickets to Game 3 at Madison Square Garden and went to that game as well!!! I was decked out head to toe in Rockets gear and was almost assaulted numerous times before the game even started. I was probably one of only about 20 or 30 Rockets fans in the whole building, but boy was I loud and boy did I piss of the Knick fans around. (This, of course, was the game where Houston came back by some heroics by Sam Cassell and won the game) By the end of the game, I had pretty much every single concession item in the arena on me. The Knick fans had thrown beer, soft drinks, ketchup, mustard, hot dogs, etc all over me, but that didnt stop me. I almost got my ass kicked after the game as well waiting for a cab, but hey thats what happens sometimes.

Unfortunately, I was out of the country for the other games, but I still had fun even then. For game 7 I had my hotel in London give me a 3 am wake up call just so I could see the game live. I proceeded to actually wake up some guests with my late night cheers and received some complaint calls which quieted me down a bit. Oh this is bringing back such lovely memories . . .

The '95 run was the same way as I attended every game of the playoffs, including the sweep of the Magic. I then headed out and partied on Richmond for hours with the thousands of other Rocket fans!!

Now, it has been tougher to follow the team as I now go to school in DC, but I still made it to the Rockets game last year here in DC. Go Rockets!!!

Great thread man, you just rejuvenated my Rockets spirit

 

I am a third generation native Houstonian, so my Dad taught me to root for all Houston teams at a VERY early age. He contributed to my sports addiction in any way he could.

I was in Houston during the 1994 run and in College Station in 1995. I was watching the games with my best friend and sports addiction compadre for both titles (as well as a random smattering of other buddies).

In 1995 we uncorked champaigne when we swept the Magic.

 

I was growing up in Houston and I started playing little league basketball. I really liked it, so when I was about 7 my dad took me to my first Rockets game in 89 against the Hawks. Ever since then, I have been in love. During the first championship, we had mini season tickets, but you go to go to every playoff game. So I got to see every game of the Finals, inculding Game 7. It was amazing being there, I will never forget it. June 22, 1994: one of the best days of my life.

 

Rockets fan? Home town is HOuston, and Hakeem. I was in Saudi Arabia during the Championship run. living overseas...

 

I am from Malaysia and started to watch NBA right when the Houston makes their championship run and have loved this team ever since!!

 

I became a Rockets fan during game 3 of the first round of the Playoffs in '81. I was doing some yardwork for some neighbors and saw they had the game on inside. I watched through the window and couldn't believe that a team with Kareem on it was getting beaten. I went on to follow the rest of the playoff run as they defeated San Antonio in a series in which neither team won two games in a row. I remember Moses getting all the boards and Mike Dunleavy hitting some clutch shots. And Billy Paultz- could you believe he was an effective professional athlete. Then losing in the finals to Cornbread Maxwell and the Celtics.
I went to college on the east coast during the mid eighties and took a lot of abuse from Larry Bird fans and Celtics fans in general during the 86' run. I was driving home during the Western Conference Championship against the Lakers and had to stay up late watching the games. I remember my friend who was riding with me who was not a sports fan was telling me how fun it was to watch the games, with all the fast breaks. That Lew Lloyd could get out on the break.
I moved to the West coast in '91 and only kept touch by reading box scores and watching the occasional game on TV. I taped some of the playoff games in '94 and '95 and still watch them occasionally. My favorite one to watch is Game 1 of the '95 finals vs. the Magic.
I mostly keep in touch by reading this site and BBS now. I'd like to get the League Pass, but I have family obligations that are more important to me now. I'm looking forward to the next several years- they should be pretty exciting for us.

 

I was born in the Philippines and have been raised in Houston the past 20 years. In all honesty, MJ got me in to watching basketball in 1990. After a few months getting into the game, i realized that "Hey, I have got to root for the home team." Since then I following the Rockets. I was there when Hakeem was signing autographs at the Dillards Galleria before his prime. I was there when Akeem put the H in his name and came back from his eye injury. I begged my father to go just because gave out foam goggles as giveaways and he did. I still have a tape of the Rockets/Bulls game from 03/1990 where they were towards the end of their 13(?) game winning streak in which ended they lost to Orlando. Kenny Smith/Mad Max/OT/Sleepy/Buck-o-Roo (Buck Johnson) were my favorite role players.I was heart broken after they lost the series to Seattle during the 92-93 season.

During the first championship, I was glued to the TV throughout the playoffs. I didnt attend any of the games because I was in Middle School and my parents had the mentality that its not as good going to the game than watching it on TV. I remember the times where I had to wait and anitcipate to see if the game was sold out so they are legal to broadcast the game on NBC (some TV regualtion rule they had to follow I guess). During the Western Conference finals, I was in New York for a family reunion. Of course, my NY relatives were Knicks fans, so it was great to have our 2 teams in the finals. I came back to Houston in time for the finals. They won game 7 the day after my birthday and couldnt ask for more. After the game, my sister drove my other sister and I around the area here in East Houston and just pretend it was Richmond (wasnt even close!). I attended the parade, in which I have some of that confetti pinned to my wall.

The next year, I was unfortunatly in the Philippines throughout the Finals. I was still able to watch it, but had a 30 min delay. What was funny is that since there was a delay, right when the Rocks needed a 3 to go to OT, they had a message on the bottom of the screen saying the the regular scheduled program will be aired RIGHT AFTER the game ends. From then on, I knew that it was going to OT.

Since then, I have still have followed the Rockets no matter what. I have attended more games last season, and will attend more this season.

 

Well for me I started watching the Rockets on 20 Vision back in 1990-1991 when I was 11. I remember the 3-0 playoff sweep to the Lakers and then Don Chaney's departure after the meltdown to the T-Wolves (like a 24pt comeback). The first draft I remember is when we got Robert Horry.

I really liked Sleepy Floyd, Akeem and Larry Smith. I got hooked on the late night West Coast games and Mad Max and Sleepy Floyd buzzer beaters.

I remember being heart broken losing to the Sonics in 7 games in OT. Then all of the magic of the 93-94/94-95. Those two season alone still inspire me to never give up on the Rockets.

Strange enough I have really never had a favorite player on the Rockets, I just always loved the team, although my favorite player in the NBA would have to be a Rocket.

During both runs I was at home in Spring(Houston) watching with my family. After the second championship my buddy was 16 and we drove through the neighborhoods with brooms yelling like idiots. Good Times. During the second run I had rituals and many prayers for the Rockets to win - I am still convinced that I caused the Phoenix (Clutchcity/Kiss of Death) comeback.

Boy I would sure love to be able to buy some pay per view playoff games this year.


Great thread DVauthrin!