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June 2008
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July 2007 ArchivesIf you ever watched an old Beverly Hillbillies episode on TV you would be familiar with Jethro and the cement pond ... which he called the swimming pool. Well ... this story is about a Jethro who doesn't have anything to do with a cement pond ... but he does have everything to do with make Mario Williams a better football player. Jethro Franklin is the Texans new defensive line coach this season. This will mark his 7th season coaching in the NFL ....but it's not his first stint in Houston. As a player .... he was an 11th round draft pick by the Oilers back in 1988. Franklin is happy to be bac... Texans linebacker coach Johnny Holland was part of the Texas A&M football team in the early 1980's .... when the Aggies sported one of the best defensive units in the country. That unit was anchored by the linebackers .... who aptly earned the nickname of "The Wrecking Crew." Those linebackers wreacked havoc on opposing offenses ...and it's that kind of attitude that linebackers coach Johnny Holland brings to the Texans. The Texans' best defensive player last season was middle linebacker Demeco Ryans. The consensus Rookie Defensive Player of the Year in the NFL in 2006 is football wise beyond his years ... It'll take a while for Texans quarterback Matt Schaub to become a household name. Currently people call the new signal caller .... Schaub or Schwab ..... or just the new kid. Whatever they call him Schaub needs to stay focused on his business of becoming a quality NFL quarterback. Friday was the first time the Texans allowed cameras into a full squad practice ....and wouldn't you know it ...... 2 of the first 3 snaps from center were bobbled by Schaub. Continuous play like that will make his name worse than Schwab ....it'll be mud. Texans head coach Gary Kubiak held a news briefing Wednesday in preparation for this year's training camp and the best thing he did during the discussion was to admit that,"Although we look good on paper now .... we won't know for sure how we'll be until we play some games on the field." No truer words can ever be spoken. I agree that G..M. Rick Smith and Kubiak have assembled more talent on the roster this off-season but we still have to wait and see how it will mesh together. The biggest blow to the new-look offense is the loss of left offensive tackle Charles Spencer ...who will be placed in the p... At least all the pro sports teams in Houston can agree on one thing ..... steroids are bad. In researching this story .....photographer George Jensen and I came across a story I did in 1983 about steroids and the first really big controversy invloving athletes and international competition. Some weightlifters at the Pan Am games that year tested positive for the drug. At the time Tom Tellez ...who doubled as both the head track coach at U.H. and an assistant Olympic coach explained that steroids are a synthetic drug used to increase muscle mass on a human being. At the time he expressed the hope that society ... As I write this column or blog ....or whatever these things are properly called .... it's 11pm on Tuesday night. I'm sweaty and worn out from a very long day and night at Minute Maid Park. Just like the thousands of fans that were there with me. It's July 24th and it's a day I'll never forget ...nor will any fans of Craig Biggio and the Astros. The day began with Craig Biggio announcing that he would officially retire at the end of the season after 20 seasons in the majors. All with the Astros. It ended ... fairy-tale style ..... with Biggio hitting a grand slam homer to win the game. Earlier in the ... When "Dandy" Don Meredith served as the color commentator for Monday NIght Football in it's ABC "hey-days" .... he used to sing part of an old song that went ....."Turn out the lights ...the party's over. They say all good things must end ......" He would get those two lines out of his mouth .....before either Howard Cosell or Frank Gifford would get him to stop singing ....but everyone watching back in those days knew that song meant one thing ....and one thing only. It meant that "Dandy" Don thought the game was over ...... even if there was a lot of time left on the game clock. Now the question is ... I've done a couple of stories on Channel-11 about the Pro City basketball league that plays at Fonde Rec. center on Monday and Wednesday nights this summer, but I haven't really given you a lot of the details. So here goes. Here's what happens at Fonde on those nights throughout the summer. NBA players who either live here full-time or workout here during the summer play on different teams with former college players or European Pro players to form an eight team league. The championship game will be played on August 15th. Players such as T.J. Ford, Rashard Lewis, Gerald Green, Steve Francis, Mi... The Rockets introduced the newest member of their team Tuesday and he's a talented and intelligent 27 year old named Luis Scola. The 6 foot 9 inch power forward helped Argentina win an Olympic gold medal in the 2004 games. He also has been the MVP of the Spanish League twice. From Scola's perspective this is a dream come true. He says he's been dreaming of this day since he was a small child. From the Rockets perspective though ..... it's the fullfillment of a wish that General Manager Daryl Morey has had since he took the job. Specifically .... Morey wanted to acquire a power forward who was still in hi... When I outlined the ways the Astros could turn their season around a couple of weeks ago(1. Keep producing offensively 2. Brad Lidge has to return to his old form 3. The team needs to acquire another solid pitcher) .....I also believed they would get off to a better start after the All-Star break. Geez ....are you kidding me?? They lost 3 straight to the Cubs at Wrigley?? How bad of a team are you when you lead 5-0 after 1 1/2 innings ...and then give up 6 in the bottom of the 2nd??? When was the last time the Astros made a big pitch or made a big play in a critical situation ....in a road game?? These guys ... How about that for a headline?? I remember when KHOU.COM first became an entity ...and I talked with the man in charge at that time about doing a weekly column. His response was, "Sure ..if you think you can fit it in your schedule." Now the question is ....what don't we fit into our schedule in the local TV business?? I run across tons of sto... If Mike James fails in his attempt to make this Rockets team better with his presence..... it won't because he didn't try hard enough. There's one spot left on the National League All-Star roster and the fans get to fill it. ...With so many people wanting the Astros to blow up the roster and start all over again and plan for the future in the 2nd half of the season ..... I guess I'm like the proverbial salmon swimming upstream when I say this but ........ I still believe they can get back in contention if 3 key things happen: |
