When several Rockets employees accompanied the team to the Alamodome earlier this year (on the night Vernon Maxwell's buzzer-beating three-pointer sealed an eight-point, fourth-quarter comeback), they were not impressed.
"I don't like it," says one employee. "It's a nice building. For football it must be great. But for basketball, Hemisfair Arena was much louder with 16,090 people than the Alamodome is with 32,000.... From a fan's point of view, I'd rather play in a place like [the Summit] and pack it every time."
A lack of noise hasn't been the only complaint about the Alamodome. Spurs fans initially complained that the luxury suites are too far from the floor, and that $5 nosebleed seats do not beat watching the game on television. When Spurs' season-ticket holders were brought in for the first time, they were upset that their seats, which had been so cozy in the Hemisfair, were now a good 25 feet from the floor.
"So what [Spurs management] did was build a five-foot extension around the floor to make it look like you were closer," adds another Rockets employee. "There were times when the coaches would be right up on the sideline coaching -- you know, like Rudy T. does -- and the officials would run behind [the coaches] going up and down the floor, because there's so much room."
Extending the floor to convince the audience they're close to the action sounds a lot like the concept of a roof that lowers to create the illusion that a fan is watching a game in an intimate arena.
But according to the Oilers' McClure, there will be "no similarities between the concepts of basketball configuration ... and what they did in San Antonio."
Luckily for the home team, the first game of the Astros' 1965 season was played in the Astrodome. Because of their outlandish uniforms, the inaugural Astros became a laughingstock in opposing venues, especially Yankee Stadium. And because the organization mandated that the team travel in nothing but western wear, the Astros' airport receptions were oftentimes no better.
The team was mocked at home games too. Parking attendants wore orange ten-gallon hats and overalls, while female ushers -- "Spacettes" -- were outfitted in gold miniskirts and space boots. In the days before an electric green stuff called Astroturf was installed, the team experimented with natural grass. When Astrodome operators discovered that nothing could grow under the grey dome, they painted the hard, brown stubble a healthy green hue. Despite these comical beginnings, eventually the Astrodome -- for good or ill -- created a new trend in the construction of behemoth sports facilities, and one, two, many domes would follow.
But in the evolution of Houston's sports franchises, it's not simply a matter of keeping up with the Joneses, per se. Houston sports entrepreneurs seem to need to go beyond their predecessors. In 1965, Houston introduced indoor baseball to the world -- certainly a most dubious gift to humanity.
This time around is no different. While other cities are building expensive retractable roofs, Houston insists on a movable inner roof. Part of the reasoning stems from what is said to be lower cost, but already the chorus has begun: No other city in the world has a movable inner roof.
"Houston could capture the interest of the nation and the world," explains a prominent local businessman. "I think that we can create a real neat facility that hasn't been built yet, which is adjustable. Somebody else will beat us to it if we don't get up and go."
There's been a recent surge in the daily newspapers' editorial pages about how the Oilers' playoff loss to Kansas City will doom possible dome speculation. While the ugly loss might delay Bud's plan, it certainly won't end it.
For Adams, this is just a stage in his cycle -- with four years left in his lease, it's time to renegotiate. In the professional sports world, threats and hardball are the norm. And no matter how bad the media might make the deal out to be, the city of Houston will probably find a way to pay -- professional sports are widely considered to be one of the advantages of living in the big city.
Should the downtown dome become a reality, Oilers management claims they will be content for the next 30 years. Of course, they also claimed they were satisfied after the Astrodome renovations in 1989 -- five years ago.
Says Mike McClure, "This new domed stadium would enable all three pro sports franchises to have larger responsibilities to the county and city.
"If the mayor came back to us and said, 'We like everything about your deal, but we've decided to put your stadium in Allen Parkway Village,' what would we say? We would probably say, 'Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Wherever you want to put us is fine.'
