In the past, if you played for the Houston Texans it was like being in the witness protection program. Most of your friends took your word when you said you played in the N.F.L., but they never saw you on national tv.
God knows they thought you were big enough, but to see you on the big screen was real validation.

It gave people a chance to say , wow that Mario Williams was really worth the number 1 pick in the draft. Outside of Houston, Steve Slaton might as well be Sam Slade. But after scoring 2 touchdowns in Monday night's win over Jacksonville with America watching, Slaton's jersey might pop up on MTV's cribs. Its possible.

Continue reading "Texans need more rollover minutes after MNF"

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Rice is headed to the Texas Bowl ....Mike Hampton is back with the Astros ...... Tracy McGrady is back on the shelf, Matt Schaub is back as the Texans starting quarterback and bye, bye Comets. The WNBA disbands the 4-time League Champs.

Continue reading "Wandering Through Wednesday ....Hoping For Greatness..."

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News Item: Rockets Owner Les Alexander releases a statement regarding the disbanding of the Houston Comets:
"This is a sad day for me personally, as well as for all who worked so hard to bring women's basketball to our great city, the Comets were a source of deep pride for all Houstonians... The team was a great source of inspiration and had a great impact on thousands of young women everywhere."
In a word, Please!
Talk about disingenuous, the moment the Rockets owner decided he needed to sell the team it was the moment the Comets were put on life support, sadly the league finally pulled the plug.

From the start, the WNBA was all about cross ownership with the NBA.
It was part of Comissioner David Stern's grand plan, and not a bad one mind you. Stern believed then, and does today the NBA needs to use its influence to further the game as a whole. Part of this was through NBA International, and also with the WNBA.

At the outset there were other women's pro leagues, but nothing at this grand scale. With Stern's might, the WNBA had something the other leagues didn't, major league visibility. From the start the Comets and the other teams had television and marketing contracts. Remember the slogan "We've got next!"

Alexander didn't have a problem with the Comets so long as they were winning championships, and yes, they were good years.
I'll never forget when then Rockets General Manager Carroll Dawson told us he hired Van Chancellor to be the coach. We said who? Van turned out not only to be a showman, but an outstanding leader. Not only did he win the first four WNBA championships, he was named coach of the US Olympic team and his international record is unmatched. 38-0 with an Olympic Gold medal. Not bad for a "Southern boy from Mississippi."

But as with all eras, they come to an end. While the big three, "Cooper, Swoopes and Thompson" may not have been best of friends off the court, together the troika was unstoppable. That is until the eventual happened. Cooper who was the senior member of the group retired, and nagging injuries befelled Swoopes and Thompson.
With the team no longer winning, they were no longer an attraction. This happens to all professional teams, yes even the Yankees.

I'm sure Alexander had his reasons to sell the Comets and I'm sure the bottom line was high on his list. However that's when things started to get ugly. Without the protection and money from the NBA franchise, the Comets were left out in the cold, literally. Have you ever watched a basketball game at Reliant Arena? The Rice Owls were sentenced there last season while Autry Court, excuse me, Tudor Fieldhouse was being rebuilt. With all due respect to the Texans organization which has made Reliant Stadium one of the NFL showplaces, Reliant Arena is not Toyota Center. Not only were the Comets made to feel like they were second class, they were now playing in a second rate venue. The fans felt it, and the crowds were dismal. I read today the average at Reliant Arena was down to about 6,000 a game. That might have been the number of tickets sold, but not the number in attendance, because there were a lot of empty seat there last summer.

With Alexander's remarks today he is at least taking the team's loss personally. I do too. As a father of two young women, I was happy they had female sports stars to look up while they were growing up, much like I did when I was a young boy idolizing several baseball, football and basketball players. Sadly, I never did learn to dunk like Dr. J., but I could at least enjoy his love of the game. While my girls are nearly adults now and have other dreams, I feel for the other young girls who now don't have a team in Houston. So much for their dreams.

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Texans win 30-17, stand out players for Houston were:

Slaton finished with 21 carries for 130 yards and 2 TD's

Mario finished with 3 sacks, which gives him the AFC lead in sacks

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Jacksonville will onside it here hoping to get it back, but unless they pull out a major miracle, the Texans have this one in the bag.... winning 30-17

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David Garrard connects with Reggie Williams for a passing touchdown to make it 30-17 TEXANS

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The Jags are trying to add some last minute points to make their loss look a bit better, with 53 seconds left, Jacksonville has the ball on the 18 yard line

Texans lead 30-10

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