wrong forum BUT a new arena is far from a done deal

Actually, from all indications, the Rockets are NOT in the process of negotiating with other cities in the formal sense but other cities are still calling.

According to the Rockets, they are focused on negotiating with the Sports Authority and Houston. As for people scrambling for jobs, they lost their marketing guy to Charlotte because his wife is from there and they've lost some coaches, etc, but I haven't heard anything else.

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"No one gets out ALIVE!"
SaveOurRockets.com

 

OK, to set some of the record straight...

I have heard that the employee turnover we are hearing about is not the result of out and out fear the Rockets may leave. In fact, the Rockets recieving a lucrative new deal here or elsewhere could potentially be good for employees - more revenue, higher pay. In this case, it is a case of opportunites cropping up for various employees. Turnover in organizations like the Rockets/Comets is common between seasons.

However, as popeye mentioned, there is concern because the brass is NOT talking about a deal with Houston or any other cities even within the organization. This is not just for the sake of negotiations, but also because the Sports Authority asked them to be private about this to avoid public furor until they have a deal.

In fact, George Postolos said this very thing on KILT a couple of weeks ago.

Now, as for my gut feeling, I can only tell you what I think about the Rockets and, in particular, Mr. Postolos.

I believe him to be a man of his word and a good guy. I think the Rockets genuinely want to stay here because I believe they think it is ultimately in the best interest of the team long term. I also belive that they are VERY cognisent of the fact that the slightest misstep in the media could mean disaster.

That is the reason for silence on these issues. When the Sports Authority and/or the Rockets have news they feel is appropriate to mention, BELIEVE ME, we will hear about it. The Sports Authority and the business community are already in the process of hiring some of the best pollsters and campaign organizations in the country to run a campaign and they are SERIOUS about it.

The involvement of the business community (the Greater Houston Partnership, the downtown business district, et al) adds a new dimension to these negotiations, anyway. Ken Lay, Bob Eury, Drayton McLane and others who have a vested interest in a new arena are on full alert and have been doing more back-room campaigning than you can imagine.

There are other large businesses in Houston (real estate, property management, legal, oil, you name it) that are also hard at work on this. This is a far larger undertaking than I think any of us can imagine. The negotiating of the Sports Authority and the Rockets is only one part of this (albeit a BIG part), but, honestly, I don't even see it as the most important part.

I firmly believe that the city and Rockets will be able to craft an agreement that they can both agree upon. I also believe that most business interests will be satisfied. The question is, will last year's opposition be able to save face in this and be able to put their support behind a referendum? More importantly, can a campaign by the city and the Rockets beat ANY opposition in the polls?

To me, those are bigger issues than the deal itself.

To leave you with a positive, I am confident we will have a new arena deal in place by the end of the year and the Rockets will be here indefinitely. At this point, there is no reason not to be optimistic and I prefer not to allow negative thoughts in there anyway. Why bother thinking about what I don't want? It is a waste of time and energy!

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"No one gets out ALIVE!"
SaveOurRockets.com

 

JR,

Please post this type of thing on SOR. I check it daily, and have friends that do the same. It's just that with the talks being done privately, there hasn't been much to say on the board. I've tried to think of good topics -- there's just not much going on (publicly).

This is some good behind the scenes info. -- but I'm afraid it will just get lost on the main board with all of the other posts.

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Clutch,

I think the cautious approach is best. People, and Texans in general, have a gut reflex to threats -- "Come on... Try me." It would turn into an us vs them situation, which is the last thing the Rockets should do. The 'us working together for the good of the city' approach works much better. That's part of what went wrong with the last deal -- too much win at all costs and beat up the opposition.

The Rockets have the best possible examples to follow -- right here.

Approach 1 -- Build me a new stadium or I'm leaving. I promise. I'm talking to other cities, and they'll be happy to have me. There's a perfect opportunity in Tenissee. -- Bud Adams, Oilers

Approach 2 -- Let's work together to build a stadium that will be a centerpiece for the community, revitalize the town, and be something for the city to be proud of. We may have to leave if we can't compete, but we don't want to. Help us stay here and be a part of the community. -- Drayton McLane, Astros

Which approach worked better? Does anyone have any real regrets about how it worked out?

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I agree with Jeff.

Note:

Maybe the lower echelon employees have begun to worry because the Rockets are doing two things they did not do previously:

1. The front office suits are keeping their collective mouths shut and not allowing any info that is not "controlled spin" to leak out. This would be concerning to an employee ... the fear of the unknown sort of thing. Especially from an organization that historically prides itself on being fairly upfront with it's employees.

2. The suits are presenting a more pessimistic view than optimistic view, when given the choice between the two. They are basically erring their judgement on the side of caution this time around.

I have a nicely placed source that assures me that the working principle is that they will be staying in Houston.

Cheers.

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DC: damn straight! Have you ever seen the original Texas flag when the state was still a republic?



Kinda sums up that reactionary tendency you mentioned huh?

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"No one gets out ALIVE!"
SaveOurRockets.com

[This message has been edited by Jeff (edited April 15, 2000).]

 

Who can explain the story behind that slogan and where that battle took place? (Place where that battle took place? Sheesh!)

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[This message has been edited by grummett (edited April 15, 2000).]

 

I thought it was at Goliad, but found out it was Gonzales.

A short story about the flag and battle:
http://www.lsjunction.com/events/gonzales.htm

A picture of that flag and other Texas flags.
http://www.lsjunction.com/facts/flags.htm


Mango

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The Serious Police are watching

Donate Blood

 

JW: I've heard the same thing from the SA, but basically I heard that private financing for an arena is a last resort, but they were keeping that in their back pocket just in case.

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"No one gets out ALIVE!"
SaveOurRockets.com

 

The problem with resorting to private financing isn't that it's a bad deal -- it's that if a business pays for it, they will want their name on it. Les wants to keep the naming rights -- so they hold that possibility in reserve. I'll bet they alread have sources identified.

The difference between "private financing" and "naming rights" is whether the money goes into construction, or someone's pocket.

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